What's a relaxing way to the Dales, and what do I do when I get there?
May 4, 2015 5:59 AM Subscribe
A trip to England is in our future, help us with itineraries to the North.
My spouse & I are headed to England for 10 days in a couple of weeks. We don't usually make many plans for our trips except for the last night's stay before we fly back home. However on this trip we're not really as comfortable not knowing where we're going, or which way we're getting there...
We've been to the the south & southwestern parts of England and thought we'd go to the Yorkshire Dales for something different. But we don't want to step off the plane in London and into a car for 4 hours or so the very first day. Any recommendations for ways to get there and back, or a good overnight stay maybe 2/3 or 1/2 way along the way? Also - we don't necessarily have to spend the majority of time in the Yorkshire area..
Also, any recommended itineraries, places to see, places to stay for the Dales? We like: country walks, pubs with real ale, non-fancy B&B's, scenic areas. Not as interested in: cathedrals, stately homes, guided tours.
My spouse & I are headed to England for 10 days in a couple of weeks. We don't usually make many plans for our trips except for the last night's stay before we fly back home. However on this trip we're not really as comfortable not knowing where we're going, or which way we're getting there...
We've been to the the south & southwestern parts of England and thought we'd go to the Yorkshire Dales for something different. But we don't want to step off the plane in London and into a car for 4 hours or so the very first day. Any recommendations for ways to get there and back, or a good overnight stay maybe 2/3 or 1/2 way along the way? Also - we don't necessarily have to spend the majority of time in the Yorkshire area..
Also, any recommended itineraries, places to see, places to stay for the Dales? We like: country walks, pubs with real ale, non-fancy B&B's, scenic areas. Not as interested in: cathedrals, stately homes, guided tours.
Response by poster: @winterhill: Thanks! We already have the rental car booked out of London, so we're stuck there. I was hoping for some ideas about towns to stop through heading north.
posted by dukes909 at 7:27 AM on May 4, 2015
posted by dukes909 at 7:27 AM on May 4, 2015
If you're stuck with the car from London, and heading to the south or east of the Dales first off, then it's going to be best to stick to the least adventurous route north: M1, then A1(M). Because the British motorway system mostly goes between towns and cities and not through them, that doesn't give you many obvious stopping points. Chesterfield? Burton-on-Trent? The pragmatic answer might be Leicester Forest East service station.
If your first destination in the Dales is on the western side, or even Hawes in the middle, then there's an argument for taking the M40/M6 around Birmingham and west of the Pennines, which gets you as far north as Stoke or Stafford half-way, Liverpool or Manchester or possibly Chester a bit after that. But again, you're not going to be passing through many places.
If you can make it as far north as the southern edge of Yorkshire, then as winterhill says, your options open up a bit with the old Pennine industrial towns: Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield, Keighley, Wakefield, Barnsley.
I am not going to pass judgement on the parmo, and I wouldn't recommend a trip to sunny Teesside, but the towns between the Dales and Moors, from Richmond down through Ripon and Masham to Harrogate, are all good options for pubs and markets and places to stay. And you should at least take the train along some of Settle-Carlisle line: Settle to Kirkby Stephen and back will do the trick.
posted by holgate at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
If your first destination in the Dales is on the western side, or even Hawes in the middle, then there's an argument for taking the M40/M6 around Birmingham and west of the Pennines, which gets you as far north as Stoke or Stafford half-way, Liverpool or Manchester or possibly Chester a bit after that. But again, you're not going to be passing through many places.
If you can make it as far north as the southern edge of Yorkshire, then as winterhill says, your options open up a bit with the old Pennine industrial towns: Hebden Bridge, Huddersfield, Keighley, Wakefield, Barnsley.
I am not going to pass judgement on the parmo, and I wouldn't recommend a trip to sunny Teesside, but the towns between the Dales and Moors, from Richmond down through Ripon and Masham to Harrogate, are all good options for pubs and markets and places to stay. And you should at least take the train along some of Settle-Carlisle line: Settle to Kirkby Stephen and back will do the trick.
posted by holgate at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
You don't have to do the M1: you could at least opt for the A1, aka the Great North Road. Granted it's not that much better in itself, but it would be easier to wander off now and then and find more interesting places for the odd break.
posted by Segundus at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Segundus at 8:06 AM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't mind the A1, not least because you can still find some of the last few old-school transport cafes along the way, and by the time you're two hours north, you're in Grantham, which isn't a terrible place to stop.
However: you're switching between from A1(M) to A1 and back again, and encounter motorway traffic on non-motorway roads, which isn't ideal for people getting off a plane from the US and having to drive on the left. Better, I think, to be on dull motorways continuously from the outset.
posted by holgate at 9:17 AM on May 4, 2015
However: you're switching between from A1(M) to A1 and back again, and encounter motorway traffic on non-motorway roads, which isn't ideal for people getting off a plane from the US and having to drive on the left. Better, I think, to be on dull motorways continuously from the outset.
posted by holgate at 9:17 AM on May 4, 2015
You might spend the night in Lincolnshire... There's woodhall spa which is great and Lincoln is a pretty little cathedral city and Lincolnshire is an interesting county that outsiders rarely have a reason to go to and the people are very friendly... But it's very flat, has gorgeous skies, and has the fenland... To me it looks like the Netherlands... Which is funny because it's actually what's right across...
Ps- you're lucky you're driving, the last few times I had to take the train north, they ran late and things were not at all straight forward... I've vowed not to take the train again anytime soon!
posted by catspajammies at 9:33 AM on May 4, 2015
Ps- you're lucky you're driving, the last few times I had to take the train north, they ran late and things were not at all straight forward... I've vowed not to take the train again anytime soon!
posted by catspajammies at 9:33 AM on May 4, 2015
My recommended route would be take the M40 north to Birmingham, M42 round Birmingham. then M6 to Lancaster and head east to the Dales. This is a better route than the M1 / A1(M) not least because you have much less of the M25 to circumnavigate
You can stop at Oxford (~1hr from Heathrow) or Stratford on Avon (~90 mins) going this way. Or even Warwick (cool castle) or Leamington Spa.
In the dales:
Malham Cove (amazing limestone cliff) and Gordale Scar (limestone gorge) - connected together these make a fabulous circular walk
Hardraw Force (England's tallest waterfall, in the back garden of the Green Dragon pub)
Gaping Gill One of England's deepest caves
The 3 peaks walk if you fancy a challenge (serious mountain walk, 24 miles)
the Tan Hill Inn - England's highest pub
posted by el_presidente at 6:29 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
You can stop at Oxford (~1hr from Heathrow) or Stratford on Avon (~90 mins) going this way. Or even Warwick (cool castle) or Leamington Spa.
In the dales:
Malham Cove (amazing limestone cliff) and Gordale Scar (limestone gorge) - connected together these make a fabulous circular walk
Hardraw Force (England's tallest waterfall, in the back garden of the Green Dragon pub)
Gaping Gill One of England's deepest caves
The 3 peaks walk if you fancy a challenge (serious mountain walk, 24 miles)
the Tan Hill Inn - England's highest pub
posted by el_presidente at 6:29 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Blasdelb at 6:41 AM on May 4, 2015 [2 favorites]