When are you booking your next trip??

Quoting ToonSarah

You'd be wise to leave Scotland for a separate trip, as two weeks isn't long.

So many places and so little time!

Quoting ToonSarah

A good but busy tour could be to have a couple of days in London at the start, then pick up your hire car (I would recommend in the suburbs or at Heathrow, not in the centre of town), drive north and overnight (or better, two) in York, spend a few nights in the Dales, then go further north for a few more in Northumberland, then back to London with, if you can manage to fit it in, an overnight en route at either Newcastle or Durham, and a final night in London before flying home.

And of course if you're in London t would be fun to meet

That I was thinking too, day or two in London at the beginning and end also I think that the picking up the car would be wise in suburbs

Aaand, meeting up sounds perfect!

But year is a long time to plan things so lets see what I will come with!

In a shameless plug (moderators, please look the other way!) I have a whole series of blog entries about Northumberland which may be useful, which is why I dare to suggest you take a look: https://toonsarahnorthumbria.travellerspoint.com/1/

Agree absolutely about not trying to squeeze in Scotland on this trip.

You might think about hiring a car in Oxford. In normal times there are frequent train and long-distance bus links from London as well as straightforward access to the motorway system, slightly lower hire rates and...of course...it's interesting in itself.

Alternatively, leave London for another time and see if you can fly into e.g. Manchester or Newcastle. It's quicker and easier to get to Yorkshire from either city than from London....and even two weeks isn't long enough to see all Yorkshire has to offer!

[ Edit: Edited on 20-May-2020, 11:15 GMT by leics2 ]

Quoting leics2

Agree absolutely about not trying to squeeze in Scotland on this trip.

You might think about hiring a car in Oxford. In normal times there are frequent train and long-distance bus links from London as well as straightforward access to the motorway system, slightly lower hire rates and...of course...it's interesting in itself.

Alternatively, leave London for another time and see if you can fly into e.g. Manchester or Newcastle. It's quicker and easier to get to Yorkshire from either city than from London....and even two weeks isn't long enough to see all Yorkshire has to offer!

You could also catch the train from London to York (only two hours), spend a couple of nights there and then hire a car to explore the country areas in Yorkshire and Northumberland. That way you wouldn't have to drive such long distances and would avoid big city driving altogether while still having a couple of days in London if you would like to.

>You could also catch the train from London to York (only two hours),

That's an even better idea, Sarah...and, if London is left for another trip, getting to York would be just as easy by train from Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, Newcastle, Liverpool and Edinburgh airports.

York itself is unmissable for anyone visiting Yorkshire (a huge county) for the first time, imo.

[ Edit: Edited on 20-May-2020, 13:20 GMT by leics2 ]

We flew into Manchester on our northern UK trip and it was really nice to escape London traffic. Highly recommended. It's a short and lovely drive into Yorkshire from there. Great idea.

We have straight flights from here to London so I think I will want to use them But train to York and car for couple of days from there could be an good idea

Finnair fly direct from Helsinki to Manchester & Edinburgh. :-)

Quoting leics2

Finnair fly direct from Helsinki to Manchester & Edinburgh. :-)

Oh, hmmm, those must have passed me by

Definitely worth investigating if London isn't essential. :-)