UK Anyone? (Where shall we recommend in the UK)?

> I thought Coastliner was the name of the bus company that ran those busses

Coastliner is just the name of the bus. It's operated by Transdev.

There is no 'best'. There is only one bus that runs Leeds > York > Whitby: the 840/843 Coastliner. It's operated by Transdev. The number difference relates to the route

https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/coastliner/services/YCD/840

The Coastliner Express is the same bus but, on some runs, it cuts out some of the usual stops so the journey is faster. It only operates in the summer months so it's not relevant to your trip.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 18:38 GMT by leics2 ]

One route prettier than the other or both got the Yorkshire Moors?

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 18:39 GMT by Trebor Illusion ]

Both take the same route: Leeds > York > Malton > over the moors > Whitby.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 18:56 GMT by leics2 ]

So tempted to book for Stonehenge this year at solstice.

I almost booked 3 nights the other night, I hope the rooms are still available.

I think I've pretty much got Whitby planned out in terms of what to do when I get there, and I can worry about the finer details of getting there and back best closer to the trip, but a lot of the knowledge of the local area have been most helpful and convenient however; I just hope time tables don't change too much when I need them...

So I'm thinking, either...

1 night; stay out all night watching the sun at Stonehenge or...
3 nights, with the solstice in the middle but, have nothing else to do but watch TV for 2 days while I sleep off an over nighter out in the field to save a rude awakening checkout of 1 night.

That would be another bucket list thing for me, what better year I keep asking myself.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 19:56 GMT by Trebor Illusion ]

No decision about whether the summer solstice at Stonehenge will be available for visitors has yet been made.

The solstice is 21st June which is also the earliest date for the majority of Covid restrictions to be lifted. English Heritage did not allow visitors for the summer or winter solstices in 2020 and, frankly, I think the chance of visitors being allowed for the 2021 summer solstice is pretty small. If it happens at all it's likely to be a ticketed event for EH members only.

Imo you'd do better to put Stonehenge on your 2022 list.

By the way, you wouldn't be able to sleep on the Stonehenge site (which is extensive and patrolled by security guards) and you'd have to walk a pretty long way to find a convenient field in which to (illegally) sleep.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 21:22 GMT by leics2 ]

Check out the Ring of Brodgar, on Orkney. Much more impressive, IMO.

>Check out the Ring of Brodgar, on Orkney. Much more impressive, IMO.

Impressive in a different way but much more atmospheric because of the lack of people. :-)

PS Did you know that they have fairly recently accurately located the original 'quarry' site of the Stonehenge bluestones? They come from the Preseli mountains in Pembrokeshire, almost 180 miles from Stonehenge.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 21:18 GMT by leics2 ]

Quoting leics2

No decision about whether the summer solstice at Stonehenge will be available for visitors has yet been made.

The solstice is 21st June which is also the earliest date for the majority of Covid restrictions to be lifted. English Heritage did not allow visitors for the summer or winter solstices in 2020 and, frankly, I think the chance of visitors being allowed for the 2021 summer solstice is pretty small. If it happens at all it's likely to be a ticketed event for EH members only.

Imo you'd do better to put Stonehenge on your 2022 list.

By the way, you wouldn't be able to sleep on the Stonehenge site (which is extensive and patrolled by security guards) and you'd have to walk a pretty long way to find a convenient field in which to (illegally) sleep.

I was tempted to join EH this year if I booked Stonehenge because Stonehenge and Whitby Abbey are both EH and things I'd want this year, so an annual memebership; They'd still let you in for a fee at the door if they are open, right? So maybe a year membership for 2 EH sites might be overkill, but seeing EH running these things, I was tempted.

But... IDK if these things would be open, I already had the pub hotel in Whitby tell me food isn't happening but I can order in. So I guess it's not business as usual.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 21:36 GMT by Trebor Illusion ]

>I already had the pub hotel in Whitby tell me food isn't happening

Unless the owner had decided to abandon the food side altogether no pub or hotel could or would say definitely one way or another about an October booking. I suspect that either a) whoever you spoke to at the pub hotel in Whitby didn't realise you weren't visiting until the end of October or b) had been told by the boss not to say anything about the food side in future until it's clear what restrictions, if any, there will be.

>They'd still let you in for a fee at the door if they are open, right?

Not necessarily. EH and NT sites have online booking systems and for months many have required advance booking (inclduing for members) because visitor numbers must be restricted. You could easily turn up on the day and find that all the visitor slots had been already taken.

[ Edit: Edited on 24 Apr 2021, 21:55 GMT by leics2 ]