Skipton, Liverpool and Lake District. How would you plan the transportation?

Either MAN connecting at New York or Dublin, or LPL connecting at Dublin on Aer Lingus.

Burnley has three railway stations of which Burnley Manchester Road is the easiest to reach- that station has an hourly direct train from Manchester VICTORIA.

Hourly train from Liverpool to Victoria then Victoria to Manchester Road, or hourly train to Preston, change for a York train which calls at Manchester Road. That is the best station for taxis. Or a Colne train to Burnley Barracks or Central then taxi, but I don't think there is a rank at either Barracks or Central.

I assume they mean Reedley Marina, so taxi from Manchester Road.

At Skipton you arrive in the town centre. by boat.

Skipton has it's own railway station.

Take the 1057 train to Lancaster, change there for the 1300 train direct to Windermere.

For Keswick change at Lancaster for a train to Penrith for the every 30 minutes bus to Keswick. Or at Carnforth, cross the street and take the 555 bus up through Windermere straight to Keswick.

You really do not need a car in the Lake District. There is excellent public transportation, which has been further enhanced this summer. Going to Leeds is going in the wrong direction.

In any event Keswick has no car rental facilities- those are in Kendal and Penrith.

It will be Reedley Marina, which is a bit north of Burnley. Frustratingly the railway runs right behind the marina but there is no station there. I would contact the company running your cruise and ask if they have any arrangements either to collect you themselves locally or arrange transport for you - that is usual for canal boat holidays for overseas visitors.
Manchester Airport probably has more options to fly into from the US but as yet no direct flights from the west coast but there are plenty of one stop options into both MAN and LPL. MAN will have good options via Amsterdam or Paris if you have a preferred airline alliance with flights there.
To be honest you can probably order this trip in any way you wish.

Hi Derek -

I think because there are probably more options it would be easiest to fly to Manchester, then rail to Burnley to pick up the canal tour. You could then make the transfer by rail as detailed above from Skipton to the Lakes. You don’t need to go into Leeds (I say that as a ‘Loiner’, a native of Leeds) unless you specifically want to visit. It has its charms although they are not obvious and as I’ve said in these pages before, it’s hardly ‘tourist central’. You’d only end up backtracking on your route too. As Stuart mentioned, there’s excellent public transport in the Lakes and the 555 bus from Windermere station (the bus stop is mere yards from the station platform) will take you scenically into Keswick. You don’t say want your particular interests are but most people away from the major towns are in the Lakes for the hillwalking. Whatever your interests there should be a way of getting to wherever you need to go by bus. Finally I would bus back to Windermere and head south to Liverpool by train and then by train again to London. Because you are ‘rail heavy’ I would investigate whether the various railcards, i.e. ‘Two Together’ for instance, would work to your advantage in cutting costs (they probably will).

That would be my option, but as others have said, you can do this whichever way you wanted and other ways might suit your needs better. Whichever way you choose, have a great trip!

Ian

Thank you to all who replied. Lots of good information to start a tour itinerary and route. as whether to fly into Liverpool or manchester? I guess it depends on what flights are available and convenient when it's time to book. Manchester does have more flights.

Yes, it is Reedley Marina, near Burnley.

Thank you again.

Derek