London Travel Answers

Leicester if you want to break your journey quite soon after leaving London. Or, much better but a bit further form the A1/M1, Lincoln with its stunning Medieval cathedral, castle/Victorian prison and Roman remains. Or Newark-on-Trent, which is a very pleasant little town with a lot of history. And York, most definitely. You need at least an overnight stay there, if not two nights. In Northumberland: Hexham or Corbridge for Hadrian's Wall and excellent Roman sites. Alnwick for its castle its castle gardens and because it's a lovely little town. Seaside settlements such as Bamburgh or Craster or Seahouses for sea, kippers, castles, exhilarating coastal walks... The magical, entirely unique and historically massively important island of Lindisfarne (accessed by road cuaseway at low tide). Berwick-on-Tweed, for its border history and its history. The VT destination pages (including mine)have info and tips about the places I've mentioned. Just put the placename into the searchbox top right of this page. There are loads of other possibilities too, of course. If you can only choose one, I'd suggest you break your journey with a couple of nights in York.

What are you interested in seeing? Historical cities, quaint villages, industrial heritage, castles, coastal resorts, countryside etc? How long is your trip? How many days are you planning to stop off en route? Let us know a bit more, and We'll do our best to help you.

Your question is rather general - and as suvanki indicates - "One man's meat is another mans's poison". Please tell us what your main interests are and what your hopes/expectations are regarding this trip. Historical sites and ruins (palaces,castles etc)? Rural towns and villages? Literary associations- e.g. Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Hardy. Country mansions and estates? Centres of industrial heritage? Important sporting destinations? Rivers, lakes, moorland and mountains? Botanical gardens, zoos and theme parks? Whichever route you take most of these would be possible

Hello Johnny, as has been mentioned an idea of your likes and dislikes would be useful. Also, how many nights do you want to take to get there? You could easily spend a couple of weeks doing this drive in a leisurely fashion, although this is possibly not an option for you. Do you intend to take the direct route up the East Coast? If time permits, you could do a more Westerly route perhaps taking in Stratford-upon-Avon, Chester, Liverpool, thde Lake District, Glasgow and then Edinburgh. Obviously, you could omit some of them if you are on a tight schedule. I would definitely second the suggestion for York at some point on your drive if you go the East route. It is a hugely historic city with a good tourist infraatructure and more than enough to see. The Northumberland Coast is beautiful and you may want to consider Alnwick and Bamburgh castles as previously suggested and also I would recommend Lindisfarne (Holy Island) which is well worth a visit. Make sure you time the tides right, though! The area of the Scottish Borders is very scenic and places like Hawick, Kelso, Jedburgh etc. are worth a visit. A couple of good starting points are the official Tourist Boards of the respective countries and here are a couple of links. For England http://www.enjoyengland.com/ For Scotland http://www.visitscotland.com/ Hope this assists, fergy.

I would also second York and Durham. Also Newark and Lincoln. And a huge vote for the Border Country, which is often overlooked. Stamford, off the A1, about an hour before you reach Newark is lovely and full of history. Then there's Alnwick further up in Northumberland...... all would make a good hub to visit with a good selection of day trips from them.

Do you need to drive? The only practical way to do the journey by car is a mix of motorways or motorway standard A roads probably interspersed with trying to drive into cities that were designed for horse and cart. I grew up in York and even though I can drive through the city I tend to take the bus from my parent's house. If you want to visit a mix of attractive towns and cities, then York and Durham are both on the East Coast mainline, as is Berwick which I've always enjoyed. With train changes, Oxford and the Cotswolds are easily accessible.

hi there we spent 5 hours at Warwick Castle a short trip from Stratford upon Avon. The castle was also a "stately home" and there is lots to experience there. We toured the accomodations, paid extra for the dungeon experience and walked the ramparts. we loved every moment. The Castle experience included details of the people who once lived there and catered for all our curiosities. this castle is different to Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh Castle is much more of a museum. (However we still managed to spend all day at e. castle). We had one of our best meals at the old thatch tavern at stratford. Heres the link stratforduponavon.uk.com/foo.... we were there in Jan 2012 and still talk about the meal and quaint surroundings.

I also wonder if you need to drive? I hope your accommodation in Edinburgh has either on-site parking or plenty of availability of street parking. Quite frankly, a car in Edinburgh is totally redundant, very expensive to park, and a darned nuisance.