Travel Recommendations for upcoming trip to UK

That would depend on their interests. Folks here can give advice once that’s settled, but this isn’t a travel agency, just a forum to help folks with more specific questions and some sort of travel plans.

They have both been to London and not interested in visiting big cities, but instead want to explore the English countryside. He is interested in staying in a castle hotel for a couple nights.

Have they looked in a guidebook to see what’s available? There’s a popular guy on this website named Rick Steves who has one. 😀

My wife and I are seasoned travelers and trying to help these young adults out. We have at least a dozen guide books on the area to include two of Rick Steves. I am sorry to have bothered you. There are plenty of other forums.

Not trying to offend, and, not knowing that you have travel experience and several travel guides, was just trying to get you started. Sorry.

I do suggest that they pore over some guidebooks. Not sure why they want to go to Dover. It is a stop over on the ferry.

Going to Isle of Sky and then through lake district, seems like a lot of area to cover. If it were me, I would pick an area and focus on that.

Have they been to London before? that's 3-4 days by itself. For only 9 days, I may focus on lake district, if they want to see some country.

With only 9 - 10 days they really can't do both the Isle of Skye and the Lake District so I would suggest that they pick one. Since there is an interest in staying in a castle, the Lake District would be a better choice - there aren't any castle accommodations on the Isle of Skye. Having been to both, Skye has more dramatic scenery, IMO and plenty of hiking opportunities if that is of interest. It's a bit of a trek from Heathrow to Skye, so if they wish to maximize their time, again the Lake District would be a better choice.

What is your daughter-in-law hoping to see in Dover?

If the trip is for September 2018, not 2019, then I would suggest that the Isle of Skye be dropped, as it’s become so popular over the past couple of years that accommodation gets booked up months in advance and September is a popular holiday month for those not tied to school holidays. The Lake District will also be very busy. These areas and Cornwall are about the only places in the UK that I would consider myself too late to be booking, as the best accommodation will have been taken months ago, so personally, I would be considering other areas, but it isn’t my holiday.

If they wanted to see Scotland, it would make more sense for them to fly into Edinburgh rather than Heathrow. Are the flights booked?

How many days will they have in the UK not counting the arrival and departure days?

Although they may not want to spend time in London, this is the only sensible base for Dover, which is in the opposite direction to the other areas you have mentioned. What do they want to see in Dover? The tunnels are interesting, but the town itself is a dump and it takes over an hour by train from London on the high speed service and two hours on the regular trains.

Except for Dover, all the places you mention are north, so it would make sense to take the train north or fly up to Scotland on arrival, then hire a car on day 2. If they want to see the countryside, this is far easier with a car than by public transport. It isn’t a good idea to hire a car day 1 at the airport when jet lagged.

I must admit I'm one of those travellers woho looks for my accommodation first and then decide whether the area holds enough interest foe me and the family. P reaps if they want tomstay somewhere iconic but have no strong feelings about where to go maybe they should try that approach. Take a look at properties on offer via The Landmark Trust. Choose a couple that fit their style and budget and then research p, via this form or otherwise, whether it would make a suitable base for 4/5 nights.

Scrap Dover. Other than the splendid castle it’s a very disappointing little town; and there are plenty of other castles. And the white cliffs are best seen from the sea on the ferry from France.

There, that’s made your trip much easier.

Like the others, I’m not sure what else I can offer except stay up north - plenty to see there. The Lake District repays several days spent hiking, not a whistle stop driveby en route to somewhere else.

Incidentally if they have 9-10 days to see England, is that separate from the Scottish part of the journey or are you using England loosely to mean the Scotland as well? Because really don’t do that!

One other piece of advice is to add around 30% to any driving times you get from google maps.

Haven't been to the Isle of Sky, but have spent three nights in Keswick in the Lake District. It is a very scenic area and worth a visit. Many of the people that go there are into hiking and such. We were there in late October and it was a bit too chilly for us, but we still enjoyed our visit. I would not spend more than three days there unless you liked hiking, camping, boating, etc.

If you like historical areas none of those areas would be high on my list.

The north of England is amazing, we loved York, the Yorkshire Moors, Whitby and Durham. Also, it seemed less crowded than the south of England.

...and not interested in visiting big cities, but instead want to explore the English countryside...

My suggestion would be either the lakes district or the southwestern part of England. Both are really laid back compared to the larger cities.

There are as many possible itineraries as you could imagine given such a brief "to do" list. The Isle of Skye (note the e) is pretty much as far from Heathrow as you can get and makes little sense as a starting destination, it's akin to flying to NYC when you actualy want to visit Savannah, GA (which would actually be an easier drive than Heathrow to Skye).

Your son and daughter in law would be better off sitting down and researching the UK and deciding what they want to see and visit. At that point members of this forum would be better placed to come up with an itinerary. I don't understand this concept of picking a country to visit and then asking complete strangers what you should do and see. When I decide to go somewhere on holiday I make my decisions based on what I want to do and see, I may ask for advice about particular sights, routes etc but certainly not to plan my whole holiday!

The isle of Skye would be better seen starting from Edinburgh. With 9-10 days, maybe do the Dover option. Some possible towns to see Tonbridge, Canterbury, Margate, Ramgate, Dover, Rye, Hastings/Battle, Brighton, Portsmouth, then head north at visit Windsor. Some places to see might include Chartwell, Igtham Mote, Leeds Castle, Dover Castle & WW-II tunnels, Portsmouth Navy yard with the HMS Victory, and Bodium Castle. If you do the Lake District, then look for places to see in that area and forget Dover. You don’t have time to both the Lake District and Dover.

Flying into Heathrow, Isle of Skye would not be on my radar screen. I don't know if with ten days in Scotland alone I would make it there. I have researched a 14 day itinerary flying into Manchester, train to York, then Edinburgh-Oban-Inverness-Pilotchry(?). Skye is spectacular but lots of places in Scotland are, and the word is that Skye is visited out of proportion to the tourist infrastructure (think overpriced lodging for what you get). Plus it takes some getting to even from Edinburgh, let alone London. If you want to go to Scotland, best advice is to fly into an airport in Scotland.

Also in England easiest is to stick to an east-west or north-south axis from Heathrow, if you think you will ever be back. Dover Castle is magnificent--you don't have to stay in Dover, you can visit from Rye for instance, which my wife and I did on our 2000 trip. I am a castle enthusiast and this one is amazing. If flying into Heathrow I might consider sticking to the west-east axis. My wife and I did this on our 2013 England trip and did great. Dartmoor area is really great. We have not visited Dorset and the Jurassic Coast but my research suggests that area would be very interesting. Also have not been to Canterbury but want to, looks amazing. I am running out of superlatives for England. Salisbury Cathedral is tied with Chartres for my number one cathedral ever out of dozens. We did not go north of the Cotswolds on that trip and did fine.

Young people especially should follow Rick's advice to assume you will return, don't try and cover too much ground or do too much. OK this reminds me, I want to back to England.

If the Isle of Skye is their top destination, then I would focus an itinerary around Scotland and fly to Edinburgh from Heathrow (if tickets have already been purchased, buy a British Airways flight from LHR to EDI). Like others have mentioned, scratch Dover. It is in the opposite direction and it is not a pretty town. Another idea would be to try Yorkshire and the Lake District. Instead of renting a car from London to drive 6+ hours to York, they could take the 2 hour train and then rent a car. Explore the Yorkshire Moors and Yorkshire East coast (Check out towns/villages such as Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay, Helmsley). Then head West to the Yorkshire Dales (Settle, Dent), then onto the Lake District. This would be a fairly easy itinerary. Stay in local B&B's. Drop the car off in York and train back to London the night before for the flight home. Unless your focus is Scotland, the Isle of Skye is just really too far to go.

Margaret

I don’t think the OP is coming back......

Sorry for the delay, I didn't get lost. I have been working. All the information has been very helpful. My wife and I have been also planning a trip to France for the same timeframe. The twist has been that our son had previously promised our daughter-in-law a trip to the English countryside. Because they are both working it has been hard to get them engaged or committed to what they really want. We have decided, with the help of all the input, to recommend that they stay to the South West, Bath etc. Any recommendations for Castle Hotels? Once again, thanks for everyones input.

Because they are both working it has been hard to get them engaged or
committed to what they really want.
We have decided, with the help of all the input, to recommend that
they stay to the South West, Bath etc.

Hard to get them engaged about what they want? Perhaps they are just not communicating that with you but are very much communicating plans with each other. Why not tell either or both them about this forum and if they have questions about planning, they can ask here on their own.

My wife and I have been also planning a trip to France for the same
timeframe. The twist has been that our son had previously promised our
daughter-in-law a trip to the English countryside.

You and your wife can plan your trip to France -- may I assume your son and DIL aren't pushing themselves on your plans? From your words, they are VERY engaged about where they want to travel from what you said is your son's promise to his wife. They want to be in England, not France. Thus no need to worry about engaging them.

Have never stayed in a castle so can't comment personally. However, this great website might be helpful. https://www.historic-uk.com/England/SouthWest/CastleHotels/