Traveling in England with out driving

Two of my favorite side trips from London were York and Canterbury. Both were easily accessible by train and short walking distance to the town centers. In York, we stayed at the Best Western Dean York Court Hotel which was directly across from the York Minster. York had a free walking tour which was a wonderful historical overview of the town. We made York our halfway point to Edinburgh. Another fascinating city. While at Canterbury, we stayed on the grounds of the Cathedral at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. Comfortable accommodations with special views of the cathedral. Have fun planning your trip to an amazing country. So much to explore!

I only ever travel on public transport in the United Kingdom and it is very easy and accessible. The train system is excellent and what it doesn't cover, you can usually reach by bus.

I think your biggest challenge is to start with what you want to see and where you want to go. Once you know that, people on the forum can easily help you figure out your transportation options.

I notice that you aren't interested in London or large cities, but sometimes the smaller cities make for a great base for day trips out into the countryside.

If you look on the Watch, Read, Listen Tab on the left side of this forum, it will take you to some videos of the UK and some of the sights that others have considered interesting. You might want to watch these and see if anything really catches your interest.

I instantly thought about the Hadrian's Wall area when I read your post. Country walks along the wall, a bus that will get you just about anywhere you want to go, fascinating historical sites, and very friendly people. You can take the train to Haltwhistle or Corbridge and then the bus to local sights. Peter Carney, is a local guide, who you can hire to drive you around for a day and give you an orientation to the sights. Then spend the next few days just enjoying the countryside armed with your new knowledge.

For your accommodation, you will only find hostels in larger places, other than the YHA, which is rurally based and designed for walkers. In towns, the Premier Inn chain is as good value as you will find, although due to its dynamic pricing, many places will already have sold the cheapest rooms for September/October, particularly at the weekend. What is your nightly budget in GBP?

Train travel is easy in the UK, although if you want to get truly off the beaten track, a car is essential. York is a good base, from which you can take day trips to the North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales for walking. There are some pretty market towns around such as Pickering and Harrogate.

If you want a smaller town base, Skipton provides access to Bolton Abbey, the Yorkshire Dales and Bronte country in Haworth. Flying into Manchester would be easier than London for these options.

Durham - the city, the excellent Beamish Museum, Hadrian’s Wall or Finchale Priory and a walk along the river on the long distance footpath, the Weardale Way.

If you will spend over £100 on trains on your journey you may want to consider investing £30 in a Senior Railcard https://www.senior-railcard.co.uk/ which will give you 34% off almost all train tickets (restrictions before 9:30 midweek if travel is entirely London and Southeast). Easily obtainable at any staffed rail station.

Some great advice above. Especially from Carol:

I think your biggest challenge is to start with what you want to see
and where you want to go. Once you know that, people on the forum can
easily help you figure out your transportation options.

As Jennifer said:

For your accommodation, you will only find hostels in larger places,
other than the YHA, which is rurally based and designed for walkers.
In towns, the Premier Inn chain is as good value as you will find,
although due to its dynamic pricing, many places will already have
sold the cheapest rooms for September/October, particularly at the
weekend. What is your nightly budget in GBP?

That last question is important. My favorite tool for converting dollars to GBP is https://www.xe.com. (Remember, that's the optimum exchange rate and consumers get a slightly less favorable rate; that's just how it works.)

Also good to know, as Jennifer pointed out, many of the cheapest rooms are already sold out for September and October. For example, I stayed at the Bar Convent in York a couple of years ago. It's one of the best values for money I've ever experienced in lodging (breakfast is included!). I checked their calendar for the first week in October. Their rooms are mostly already booked, especially the cheapest single (£40). https://www.bar-convent.org.uk/accommodation.htm

I'm more of a city girl, but was based in York for a few days and enjoyed walking around to all the interesting sites there, and a few day trips (by train).

If you don't mind chilly-to-cold weather, you may find more accommodations are available in November. But a cold rainy day doesn't seem to me to be ideal for enjoying the countryside.

As to transportation, besides the rail system, there are inter-city buses (in England they are called "coaches" while "buses" generally mean in-town buses) which if you're not in a hurry can give you some interesting rides, with some attractively low fares. The website for the national system is here: https://www.nationalexpress.com/en. Maybe our UK friends can chime in with info on any local bus/coach systems once you develop your destination wish lists.

I love visiting the UK, and encourage you to work up an itinerary for your trip, and make it happen. There are lots of tips for money-saving travel on this forum and elsewhere online. If I'd waited to travel till I got rich I'd have never gone anywhere!

P.S.: I may be stating the obvious and if so I apologize, but don't forget that you can check out travel guides from your public library, a thrifty way to narrow down your wish list.

It is my understanding that purchasing train tickets(2nd class is fne) in advance is usually much cheaper than waiting until you're ready to travel. If your plans change, it is less expensive to travel after 9:30. If its a day trip, you want to get the ticket that includes your return trip.

I definitely think you want to go to York-the Castle Museum is really good. You probably already know that Marks and Spencer grocery stores have great sandwich deals.

Hi,

Take a look at this great article from the local quality newspaper Guardian. It has not only great ideas for 100% Public transport trip, but it includes the practical details as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/may/18/10-classic-uk-trips-public-transport-train-bus-ferry

I'm recommending this book too: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6854373-britain-from-the-rails

If you love country walks that's great, because Britain has many amazing hiking trails and a well developed hiking culture, with many budget accommodation catering to people in muddy boots located along the trails.

The Coast to Coast walk is supposed to be one of the best.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_to_Coast_Walk

Trailblazer guides have a guidebook series covering many great long-distance walks: https://www.trailblazer-guides.com/

If you're after less walking, and more extensive train travel getting some version of the Eurail Pass may be worth it, but you have to do the math comparing it with point to point tickets as rangers/ramblers.

https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm

You can easily spend 3 weeks or more in England alone, but with good planning it's not impossible to add a bit of Wales or Scotland or the Isle of Man(it's a paradise for public transport fans).

I also love exploring England and know that driving there would be the end of my marriage.

One of our favorite trips ever was an autumn trip to the North Yorkshire Moors, mentioned third in the Guardian article linked above. We were blessed with great (for England) weather. We stayed in Pickering, Whiby, and York, used the Coastliner bus and the steam train to get around, including for a couple hikes, including the stunning Hole of Horcrum and a walk that took us here. Really can't recommend this area enough. You could also reach it pretty easily from Manchester airport.

I never rent a car in England. The trains are a superb way of seeing the country.

I am a senior woman and just returned from a wonderful trip to England. I did stay in London and made it my home base but I would like to offer a couple of suggestions: Spend the money on Rick Steves' Great Britain guidebook. Also, check into rail passes. There are several to choose from. Compare the price of single tickets with the pass. The pass will save you money and, on the days you use it, you can hop on and off trains whenever you want, making several stops in one day if you wish. Save the rail pass for the long trips. You may also be able to supplement it and pay the difference to a location beyond the pass.