Wales to Northeast England to Scotland: Suggestions?

Never been to Whitby. I loved Hadrian's Wall. We stayed a couple nights in Haltwhistle -- walk along the wall to get an appreciation for how remote the Wall is and be sure to visit excavations. We also spent a couple nights in northern Northumberland -- visited Holy Island, walked along the coast, many castles! Also enjoyed Borders on Scottish side. This is my favorite part of England (and Scotland). Also, I adore Durham.

Enjoyed northern Wales as well. We hiked in Snowdonia and spent quite a bit of time exploring Edward I castles.

Ideas for NE England: Saltburn, Durham, Barnard Castle, Beamish Museum, Lumley Castle, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tynemouth, Alnwick, Alnmouth, Northumberland National Park, Chillingham Castle, Cragside Hall, Bamburgh, Holy Islands, Seahouses, Farne Islands, Berwick. Among others!

We did a four week drive tour of S. Wales and England in October. Wonderful trip, even if I had to drive on the left.

Here is my review of our trip on cruise critic (because we took a transatlantic cruise after the trip)
28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

We visited South Wales (Cardiff, Tenby and Llanddewi Brefi). We saw St. David's Cathedral, several castles and Tintern Abbey while in Wales. We had visited N. Wales in 2013, Conway and some of the scenic parks.

Bath is great, just to see the Roman Bath Museum.

We loved York as well as Pickering, the Yorkshire Moors and Whitby. We only spent the day in Whitby, but were so glad we did. It didn't feel touristy. One thing about driving in Britain, when you go to places like Wales and N. England, traffic is not so bad, since you are away from London, Birmingham and Manchester with all those other cars.
Also, we loved Durham, Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District (Cumbria in NW England).

Thanks, Eef. We have seen Hadrian’s Wall and some of the excavations. Drove there while staying near Keswick in Cumbria and I remember it being very windy that day. We probably will check out Snowdonia in Wales and Lindisfarne in Northumberland.

Akkejakke, we thought we’d go to Newcastle upon Tyne and Durham. I had never heard of Seahouses! The rest I will investigate. Do you have a suggestion for a base in the general area? Thanks.

Thanks, geovagriffith. We loved York, too, found it very walkable, and that’s why we may revisit. I’ll definitely consider your suggestions. It doesn’t bother us too much to drive on the left. My husband is from Australia so that was a way of life. I’ve done it there, too, quite a bit. I just don’t want to have to drive a stick shift AND drive on the left at the same time. I read much of your review - it’s extensive - and especially your gps issues. I cannot remember whether we had one last time, though we probably did. And maybe it would work better to use B&Bs again because breakfast.

Qatar are starting flights to and from Cardiff this May so worth checking if that would work for you ( I'm not sure if the flights to the US will be direct or not but it will be a breeze using Cardiff airport if you can (even more so as a departure airport as it's so small). If not, Heathrow is probably your best bet. From there it's about 2.5 hours to Wales depending on time of day and traffic. Don't know how long you have to cover Wales but the good news is that if your husband liked Aberystwyth there are plenty of equally nice and better places to visit. The most obvious route would be to go along the M4, continue onto the A48 when you reach Carmarthenshire, explore Pembrokeshire, work you way up along the west coast and head towards Snowdonia before leaving Wales via the A55.

You mention small towns rather than big cities and most of Wales is just that. Cardiff, whilst being a city is small and walkable but with some great places to see. If you like impressionist art there is a great collection in the National Museum in the city centre (the best is concentrated in a single gallery so it can be quite a quick visit). Nearby is Cardiff Castle. Down at Cardiff Bay is the Millennium Centre which is a fine concert venue if you want to catch a show. Two noteworthy mentions on the edge of Cardiff are St Fagans museum of Welsh history and Castell Coch. From Cardiff head in to the Vale of Glamorgan, there are lovely villages you could drive through such as Llancarfan, Llantrithyd, Dyfryn - there's a nice albeit small country house and gardens there -Dyfrynn Gardens. Take a stop in Cowbridge, lovely independent shops and places to eat. There are fantastic sand dunes to walk around at Merthyr Mawr. Once you leave the Vale of Glamorgan I would push on until Carmarthenshire unless you want to enjoy the lovely beaches of the Gower Peninsula near Swansea. In Carmarthenshire you can visit the national Botanical gardens of Wales and Aberglasney gardens. There are lots of accessible Castle ruins to see. . Pembrokeshire has some fantastic coastline and a coastal path so you can walk for hours if you want! Saundersfoot or Tenby are well worth a stop, St Davids too. As you head out of Pembrokeshire don't bypass Aberaeron - maybe nicer than nearby Aberystwyth. The route up to Snowdonia zig zags frustratingly along. If you end up traveling up through mid Wales instead ( and there are nice places to see on route if you do) Rhayader would be a nice overnight stop.

For a home base, I’d probably say Durham or Newcastle. Not much between them that’s super scenic, sadly. It’s easy to get between the two via public transport. If you want to venture up to Northumberland though a car is vital.

A few years ago we flew into Manchester, rented a car, and spent three nights each in Chester, Conwy, York, Durham, Edinburgh (four nights), and Keswick before returning. This was in mid-May and we could have used better weather but generally it was OK. A great trip, highlights including Conwy and Carnaerfon Castles, Durham Cathedral and College, Hadrian's Wall, Alnwick and Bambergh Castles, many Edinburgh sights, and others in places you've been like York and Keswick.

Manchester was a good starting point for north Wales, Icelandair flies there from Reykjavik with connections to various US cities. They also fly out of Glasgow so you could so open-jaw flights. I'm sure there are other choices too.

We visited Housesteads and Vindolanda near the east end of Hadrian's Wall. While the wall itself probably looks much the same, you'll find interesting sites like those if you have time to look. Hexham might be a good base, close to Newcastle and the wall, easy to drive in and out of, a town not a city. We missed Lindisfarne because the tides were adverse, you can google a tide table and try to plan accordingly. Also haven't been to Whitby but from what I've heard it would be a good choice.

ryan & gill offer sound advice for Wales - start in the SE with the lower Wyes Valley (Tintern Abbey - which is a ruin) & gradually work west to Pembrokeshire - then up the west coast to Snowdonia - or go up the middle via A470 from Cardiff. Llanddewi Brefi has been mentioned - this is really out of the way and the American who visited did so because ancestors came from that village.

If you want more advice on Wales - read back through posts on the Wales forum.

Qatar Airlines are indeed starting a long haul route from Doha to Cardiff. Whilst this might be of some use to aussies coming from Australia, it is no use to Americans. http://www.visitwales.com