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Where to go from York in a rental car - trip update

In mid-October, I'm heading to York by train and will stay in town for several nights. Then I plan to get a rental car and spend 3 nights sight-seeing and will return the car to York. I'm looking for ideas of where to go and what to visit during those three days. I don't want to drive too many hours because it will be my first time driving in the UK so I imagine there will be a certain level of stress as I adjust to the change. I'm up to visit/stay most places - nature, castles, history, etc. If you had three nights, where would you go?

**** UPDATE

I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions and update you on what I ended up visiting.

I picked up a rental car from Enterprise near the York train station. Even though I can easily drive a manual, I opted to rent an automatic for this trip. Glad I did just so I had less to think about. My goal that first day was to get to Durham where we would stay the next 3 nights at Farnley Tower Guesthouse. We stopped at the town of Thirsk along the way and visited the James Herriot museum for several hours and ate lunch at Upstairs Downstairs before proceeding the remainder of the way to Durham. The next day we headed to Housesteads (and Hadrian’s wall) and Vindolanda, Roman forts not far from Hexham. Both were really fascinating but Vindolanda had a stellar tour guide that day.
The next day we visited Durham - cathedral tour, the library, the castle, the tower, the botanical gardens and the Oriental Museum (it was open late that day). 8 miles of walking on a gorgeous autumn day.
The last day, we needed to catch a train at 2pm from York back to London so we looked for some place close to York for sightseeing. We opted to see the castle ruins at Knaresborough. There’s a small museum in addition to the ruins as well as a lovely view of the river below. The town is quite cute as well. I wish we had had another hour or two to spend there. But we had a train to catch.
Overall - I achieved my main two objectives. I wanted to see Hadrian’s wall and I wanted to try driving to see if we can venture forth more into the countryside on future trips. Yes to the last part. It’s a little stressful to drive on the opposite side of the road but manageable. There’s so much more to see in that part of England that I can’t wait to go back!

Posted by
3953 posts

Oh, sounds lovely! I will be in York for 5 nights without a car. Places on my wishlist that would be easier with a car (but wouldn’t necessarily require changing hotels) are Fountains Abbey, Castle Howard, Whitby, Salt urn-by-the-Sea. Further is somewhere for Bamburg Castle and the Holy Isle, and I DO have a Durham on my plan for Durham Cathedral and maybe Beamish open air museum. Or over to Hawes. My problem is there are way too many wonderful places I want to visit.

Posted by
501 posts

The Yorkshire Dales. Middleham Castle is a great ruined castle.

Or the North York Moors. Rievaulx Abbey is fantastic.

Posted by
8572 posts

Harewood House, the Moors, Bolton Castle, Yorkshire Dales…to name a few things.

Posted by
1161 posts

Yorkshire Dales.
Druids Circle
Buttertubs Pass
Ingelton waterfall trail
Tan Hill Inn
Swaledale.
Coldstones Cut.

Posted by
32523 posts

The North Yorks Moors steam railway is operating until 30 October so you can have the opportunity to ride on one of premier preserved steam railways in the world. https://www.nymr.co.uk/

Posted by
30 posts

These all sound super interesting. I wish I had more than 3 days to explore the area. I'll start doing some research on these. Thanks so much!

Posted by
7453 posts

A popular one is to the coast to Whitby, October might be a bit late in the season, but things to do there.

Harrogate is not far, known for the James Herriot novels in the "All things Great and Small" vein, and well known for their tea and tea rooms.

If you fancy beer, probably the best beer/brewery tour I have ever been on was a working Victorian brewery in Masham, the Theakston Brewery. The small town also has a more modern Craft Brewery, the Black Sheep Brewery, and the town itself is an interesting old small town.

Posted by
1321 posts

I’d suggest Durham, the cathedral is amazing and the entire city centre is gorgeous.

Posted by
1275 posts

Hi -

You have a ton of good places to check out here, more in fact than you could ever get through in the time you have available. Maybe do a bit of searching and fine tuning and then we can advise on the details. Happy to give you more specific information once you’ve narrowed down to what you want to go see! I mean, people are right in saying ‘Yorkshire Dales’ but there’s a heck of a lot of that!

Ian

Posted by
30 posts

The more I research, the more places I want to visit! I wish I had more than 3 days. Thank you for all the suggestions.

Posted by
1275 posts

It’s not going anywhere to the best of my knowledge, so you could plan a return….

Posted by
14 posts

Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby and Staithes are all amazing and would definitely be a great option. Wherever you choose however, you cannae go wrong with anyplace that has been suggested on this forum. Good luck and happy travels!

Posted by
111 posts

Love these suggestions. I agree! I really liked seeing Whitby, especially the Abbey ruins, and Durham, particularly the Cathedral. Durham has docents who will take you around and give you a free one-on-one tour. I did and it was excellent! If you're at all interested in Harry Potter film sites (which usually happen to be cool attractions on their own), there is one on the way to Whitby - Goathland. The train station in Goathland was where they filmed the Hogwart's Express arriving (theoretically at Hogsmeade station--it was Goathland). It's fun to see it, and a short diversion. Also, they filmed a scene from the first Harry Potter movie at Durham Cathedral in the Cloisters; however, the stone fountain from the movie was added - it's not actually there anymore. Fun fact! But, the Cathedral is 11th century and AMAZING! Beautiful place to visit. Enjoy your time in the UK!

Posted by
2 posts

Castle Howard (where they filmed Bridgerton and Brideshead Revisited) is a beautiful estate and park/garden worth a trip from York and is an easy drive. Also be aware that if you’re doing the North Yorkshire Moors what does not show up on the map is the difficulty of the drive if you’re not familiar with driving in UK through higher elevations, steep drops, narrow roads etc. We did a great 8 person minivan tour through the Moors with North Yorkshire Tours a few weeks ago to Whitby and back on the North Yorkshire Railway as noted above and I was glad I decided on the minivan tour rather than driving which was my first plan when I looked at the map. But I’m not an experienced UK driver so might not be the same for others.

Posted by
37 posts

If you are going during the summer months, you can see puffins and other sea birds nesting here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/bempton-cliffs/
It is about an hour's drive from York, and then another hour north to Whitby. It is an amazing sight.
The route does go on some narrow country roads at time, so you may want to get comfortable with driving on the left for a bit before you do that venture.

Posted by
13 posts

Worth keeping in mind that during October the amount of daylength you will have will be decreasing rapidly - from about 11.5 hours at the start of the month, to just 9.5 hours at the end - and between 1 and 2 of these hours will be before 9am when anything opens. Of course it depends on how confident you are driving - but I would suggest lower light conditions are more challenging, especially on country lanes. It might be worth keeping this in mind when planning your routes.
Check out the sunrise/sunset times here:
https://www.visitnorthwest.com/sunrise-sunset-times/york/

Posted by
30 posts

I’d love to see the puffins but I won’t be there until October. I still haven’t figured out my itinerary for that time but thank you for the reminder about the reduced daylight and driving. I think driving on the left will be challenging enough without adding darkness to the mix.

Posted by
1 posts

Newby Hall (Victoria has been filmed here!)
Nun Munkton (serene small village with some lovely paths for walking and a good local pub)

Posted by
32173 posts

If you're interested in WW-2 history, have a look at Eden Camp - https://www.edencamp.co.uk/ . I found it to be fascinating and spent the better part of a full day there. As I recall, it's an easy drive from York.

Posted by
1275 posts

Quite a few US visitors at Shibden Hall at the end of last week (I know this because we took one and I chatted to some more). The Ann Lister/ ‘Gentleman Jack’ connections are clearly the reasons for this! Near Halifax and a tad tricky to locate - sat nav is your friend!

Check opening times mid October first though!

Ian

Posted by
317 posts

My first question is - why would you drive? Durham is easily accessed by train. Castle Howard can be done by bus or train/bus. Even Whitby can be done in a day out via train/bus. You arent driving, so you get to watch the scenery and see the countryside. It is true that the car can make some of these places easier to get to - but it isnt an absolute necessity.

Public transport in the UK is quite good compared to a lot of places in the US. If you've never driven in the UK and stress about driving on undulating small roads, I'd consider giving the car a miss. Remember too the price of fuel is quite a bit more in the UK than you are likely used to.

Posted by
337 posts

Next time I'm in England I will visit York, and plan to ride to Grassington, which is the setting for the town of Darrowby in the new adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small. I like the other suggestions too, and will incorporate some of them also!

Posted by
4256 posts

Tom, what public transportation would one use to see Yorkshire Dales from York? Thanks

Posted by
3719 posts

I noticed that thompson.amy (up this thread a bit) wrote this:
"We did a great 8 person minivan tour through the Moors with North Yorkshire Tours a few weeks ago to Whitby and back on the North Yorkshire Railway as noted above and I was glad I decided on the minivan tour rather than driving"

Thanks for this, Amy. I will see if I can find their tours online.