Where should I go on a short road trip through the UK in March?

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Typewriter

Go to the UK

floppsy

I know that you Americans think nothing to driving for hours at a time, so why don't you drive up here to Scotland the scenery is breathtaking up in the highlands at that time of the year, it would take approx 10 to 12 hours driving from London, or why not fly and then hire your car from Scotland and tour the Highlands, 1 hour flying time from heathrow to Edinburgh, and then you could travel up to the highlands from there 3 to 4 hours gets you to glenshee etc etc whatever you decide have a great holiday and I hope your mother enjoys her surprise.

astonite40

Try the Cotswolds, Go to Oford, then the small villages, Go to Blenheim Palace . Chipping Camden, Chipping Norton, Bourton on the water are beautiful places.
Wherever you go, enjoy yourselves!

SaRaH

Try travelling through the south wales country side and through the valleys where you can pass the brecon beacons or snowdonia!

da24pimp

Leeds castle isn't too far from London. About an hour or so by car but don't quote me on that. :) It's in Kent and has lovely views as well as a lot of history.

Places like Wales can take up to four or five hours drive depending on which part you go to. For that you could always drive to another city! Liverpool is only a four hour drive away.

If you are planning on taking that amount of time on a trip and want somewhere thats worth a couple of days try somewhere in Cornwall or Devon. Beautiful scenery there!
Hope I could be of some help. :)

Cyclops

The Brecon Beacons in Wales

Sam Sock Puppet

The lake district

the chav lad

There is Oxford, Cambridge,, st albans, The Midlands (Straford up on Avon0 not too far drives from London from the North/North West of London.

Brighton, Eastbourne, Hasting's to the South.

North east, - there are plenty of places too, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire to the West are nice too.

Hope this help's.

reardwen

South Wales via Oxford. ( I would say the Lake District, but the drive could be up to 6 hours in bad traffic.)

Head for Oxford on the M40 and park in the Park&Ride, then catch a bus to the city centre. There's a twee ride called The Oxford Story which is quite amusing. After 12 noon you can get lunch in the Eagle and Child in St Giles where CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien et al (the Inklings) used to whet their imaginations whilst slating their thirsts. Tolkien is buried in Oxford. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2005/12/31/edpint31.xml

Take the A40 on into South Wales (or the A44 if you want to take in Stratford on Avon - Shakespeare country; this leaves you handy for the wilds of central Wales). You could head up north to Snowdonia, or west to Pembrokeshire and St Davids - a jewel in the crown of Great Britain, with beautiful coastal walks and fantastic sunsets when the weather's right. It has castles too: http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/pembrokeshire/castles/index.htm If you take the more southerly route, you can travel through the very underrated Brecon Beacons and the charming town of Abergavenny. One local attraction is a coal mine, Big Pit, which has free entry and is the National Coal Museum: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/bigpit/ (If you click the Cymraeg link, you can read the site in Welsh)

If you like old books, divert off to Hay on Wye (near Ross) on your way back, you will find yourself in the famous book town. http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/

You could also visit Gloucester; the Cathedral there was one of the sets for the Harry Potter films. http://www.information-britain.co.uk/showPlace.cfm?Place_ID=4671

Jas B

I lived in Scotland for many years and would recommend that everyone go to visit especially the highlands, it is a stunning part of the UK, but not in March. Spring comes late that far north and snow is certainly not unusual at that time of year which can make driving both difficult and dangerous with blocked roads etc and it is usually still very cold.

You could consider Derbyshire which is certainly much closer to London. You would have the Peak District National Park with its dales and valleys , rock faces, caves, rolling hills meadows, rivers and streams to explore if the weather is fine.

If the weather is not so kind there are a wealth of beautiful castles and county houses such as Chatsworth. In addition you have many lovely towns such as Buxton to visit.

You are also close enough to visit the medieval city of York and the yorkshire dales.

Alternatively you could visit the far west of England Cornwall and Devon, this is one of the mildest parts of the UK and has an amazing scenery with a rugged coastline with beautiful little towns and fishing villages.

There are county houses, castles and gardens to visit. In addition there is Bodmin and Dartmoor

A few websites to wet you appetite, wherever you choose to go I wish you an enjoyable trip.

zzz still awake zzz

Your looking at about 5/6 hours to scotland and approx 2 hours to wales. Although the distances are not that much, the traffic can be a pain in the wrong place ( avoid 7am to 9am and 16.00pm to 18.00pm).
Seasides and theme parks are pretty good ( although theme parks dont compare well agains American ones). Weymouth has a good beach (south) and I suppose Blackpool is pretty good aswell (north). The theaters are also worth visiting in London .

murphywingedspur

You could do the Lake District. You can do a round trip, taking in Hardknot Pass, passing by most of the lakes, finishing up in Bowness on Windermere....Its about a hundred miles round trip...but well worth it.
Otherwise, taking a trip along the Fosseway, take in the Cotswolds! Bourton on the Water, Stow on The Wold, Upper and Lower Slaughter.......Broadway.....some beautiful villages on this route....you won't be disappointed! Enjoy!!
Check out your routes on www.theaa.com, and www.getmethere.co.uk.

losershaven

I personally love the midlands. Wonderful and diverse area with lots of beautiful countryside and several smaller cities, each with its own unique character. You can check out Sheffield, Leicester, Manchester, Birmingham and my favourite, Nottingham, to name a few. Also there is Stratford-upon-Avon - where Shakespeare was from!! The midlands has something for everyone: castles, cathedrals, war sites, historical walks, shopping, clubbing, great restaurants - you name it, you got it!! :)

Tim D

Firstly, if you're going to visit Oxford scrub the Oxford Story ride from your plans, it's closing at the end of October.
I'd include Ironbridge, the home of the Industrial Revolution, and the Beamish Museum further North if you like industrial archaeology.
Dover Castle's really good.
Corfe Castle in Dorset was trashed in 1646 but it's in a lovely corner of the country.

Your dates include Good Friday and Easter Sunday so check opening times for your intentions, some places may vary their hours or close altogether!

shelagh.medic@talk21.com

The Lake District is deffinitely the place to visit! I live there and wonder every day at the beauty of the place. Although there are some wonderful places in Scotland too, I love the Highlands, I would deffinitely say you have to visit the Lakes.

Brian

Go to the London Bridge (Not the Fergie song). It is quite pleasent there! :)

Richard S

Some idea of you and your mothers ages would held, but presuming your both reasonably fit, and with only three or four days, if you wan't a proper look round at what you see, stay close to London.
First head North to St Albans, the Abbey is unmissable, although the rest of it is a bit of a let down, apart from Romeland and Fishpool Street, free parking at the bottom of the hill, and a stroll through the park to the Cathederal.
Then head for Whipsnade up the old A5 and well sign posted, an out post of London Zoo and the only zoo I know you can take the car in and use if the legs are flagging.
That's enough for one day, sleep local although accom in Woburn might be easier. So go from there to Wobourn once again up the old A5, and on your right after Dunstable, well signposted, Woburn House is lovely, and you do have a Safari Park there, whatever takes your fancy. But the village it's self is caught in time, all old buildings, plenty of Antique shops, some lovely old hotels, and a few decent pubs, never to be forgotten.
Your in the Chiltern Hills a bit North if anything, which extends from around twenty miles to your east, and heads down to the south west running out of steam near the Southern Downs, walked 2/3 of them but am a bit vague where exactly they stop. Head that way, get you self a Landranger Map or two No's 165/166 and 174/175, pick your route down to the south west. Plenty of old towns villages that remain unspoilt, lots to do, and a fair few places to have your money taken off you in quaint shops.
What ever you choose though, good luck, just don't rush, you'll miss the best bits.

Paul

Well, My advice would be to take a train to Newcastle, and hire a car there, as the North East is about 5hrs drive. Theres some great Walking, good nightlife, good musuems and attractions - try www.northeastengland.co.uk or email me if u want any more ideas

howdy

you should definatley go and see glasgow , its amazing an very tourist - friendly

Jordan P

Ooook. First things first on times. Whoever said 2 hours from London to Wales is a total unrealistic numpty. I live in south wales(roughly in the middle, in bridgend) and that takes like 3 hours from west london. From East your looking at 3 1/2. and that's just to the border I swear.
Anyway, about places, I can tell you that cause there are places that are awesome to go and places that are really undewhelming.
I will focus on places I have been myself, and these are mainly countryside areas.

1. Lake District, Cumbria
This is by MILES the most beautiful region of England, it's like a mini switzerland, lots of huge fells(mountains) and beautiful lakes like buttermere. It's got awesome towns and youth hostels there are almost like hotels. Go to Kendal and Keswick.
There is honestly so much to do there you could spend a whole vacation there easy.

2. SCOTLAND!
Scotland is a BIG country, it's about 4 times the size of wales and not much smaller than England so your NEVER gonna see even 1/4 of it properly in the time you have. But try and see a few of the lowland lochs and see Edinburgh, or the caladonian forests. There really is so much there and Scotland is probably the most extreme of places in Britain in terms of mountain ranges, if you wanted to climb some mountains there are world class ones there. Glasgow is what I call a powerhouse city. It's not for tourists, it's just a plain old big city.

3.Wales.
I live here so I am a bit bioused. From experience I know that a lot of the place sthat are amazingly beautiful in South Wales are not located in national parks. I live in Bridgend County and we have really beautiful countryside all around, like the big sand dunes and beaches, the forests and woodland(afan forest) and the beautiful valleys and rolling hills. But on your trip your probably not going to go to those type of obscure places your going to see the big national parks. I would say the Gower FOR SURE, cardiff, swansea, brecon beacons, snowdonia, anglesey?!
The list really is endless.

I got to go now and I have typed this in about 5 minutes but at least I typed something. There really is so much in this forests and I bet you will never see 95% of it on your visit, but while your here, enjoy it.

slightlystoutbob

I'm from Scotland,and I know that if you went even just to the Border areas,it would take up to two of your days on traveling.Hardly worth it,leave that until you have more time.The south east coast of England has a place that I'd like to go to,and certainly would if I were based in London with a few days break,and it's called Sandwich,reputedly where the sandwich was created but more than likely just where the word originates,I guess.Anyway,that is not its attraction,at least not for me.Apparently it's about the most genuine example of one of those small,medieval English towns,because somewhere along the line a by-pass was built around it which stripped it of all importance,so it missed out on a lot of development and modernization.You could look into that and see if the surrounding area appeals to you too,and if it does,well,there you go,you've got your road trip.

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