B&B Tour in England, Scotland, Wales

euro

euro

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DW and I are considering a driving vacation (backroads, small towns, castles, etc) in one or more regions of the UK (e.g. Lake District, Cotswolds, etc). What is the best time (avoid peak holiday season, but still have a good chance at decent weather)? Also, is it feasible to find accommodation (we are pretty flexible as to type, B&B, Airbnb, hotel, but would prefer to keep average cost below £150-175 a night) “on the fly”?
Ideally, we’d map out a “big picture” route, and then keep the rest flexible. We travel that way in the US all the time, but the travel infrastructure is obviously more “automobile centered” here.
Any comments or recommendations? Also, what are your favorite regions?
 
We did something like that a few years ago in early June and it wasn't bad at all.

One bit of advice for a driving vacation: Do NOT rely on your satnav (GPS) when outside cities (particularly in the Lake District). Ask a local for driving directions. Don't ask me how I know. :facepalm: :LOL:
 
My late wife and I traveled extensively in England and Scotland. In the Lake District I recommend the Burn How Hotel in Bowness near Windermere. For something different, you might want to take the steamer across the lake and ride the Lakeshore and Haverthwaite steam RR.
If you PM me with a proposed itinerary, I can give you some ideas. I can also e-mail you some of our trip stories
 
Avoid the summer school holidays which are usually 6 weeks and can vary between school districts. In general avoid July and August.

Google Maps works extremely well, even without data turned on. Download the maps of the areas you will be driving ahead of time while in WiFi. Of course with the data on it will suggest new routes as traffic conditions change.

We like to book B&Bs ahead of time for popular areas such as the Lake District.
 
euro said:
DW and I are considering a driving vacation (backroads, small towns, castles, etc) in one or more regions of the UK (e.g. Lake District, Cotswolds, etc). What is the best time (avoid peak holiday season, but still have a good chance at decent weather)? Also, is it feasible to find accommodation (we are pretty flexible as to type, B&B, Airbnb, hotel, but would prefer to keep average cost below £150-175 a night) “on the fly”?
Ideally, we’d map out a “big picture” route, and then keep the rest flexible. We travel that way in the US all the time, but the travel infrastructure is obviously more “automobile centered” here.
Any comments or recommendations? Also, what are your favorite regions?
Click to expand...

July was great for this as the weather was lovely. We visited Yorkshire, Wales, Salisbury, lots of places.

We never booked a B&B ahead but went to the town tourist center to get recommendations and they would call. This was pre-internet.
 
Thanks everyone for your help! We are not necessarily locked in on Lake District or Cotswolds - those were just examples. We have been avid watchers of “Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages” and, as one would expect, there seems to be plenty to see in EVERY part of the Kingdom. Like many others, we particularly like to see castles and cathedrals, so we will likely try to cobble together a route that will also, hit on some of those that we haven’t already visited.
Personally, I have always been intrigued by the Northwest cost of Scotland as well (though, obviously, few castles or cathedrals there), mainly because in my younger days, I used to travel Britain by train a lot (britrail passes - don’t know if they still exist) and that part of the country was/is not really accessible by train.
In any event, based on what was said here, we’d probably shoot for late August or September to avoid some of the crowds. Is it save to assume that most B&Bs operate year-round?
 
You should have no problem getting B&Bs year round. We just returned from 2 weeks in Cornwall (Scilly Isles) and had wonderful weather.
 
Our first trip to England and Scotland was over 25 years ago, pre internet and cell phone. We had a "Good Pub Guide" and a "Good B&B Guide". We would drive in the morning and look for a pub around noon. If we liked the area, we would consult the B&B guide and stay the night. We had a couple of pre booked rooms, but most were chosen the day of the stay. This was one of our most memorable trips and I don't recall any issues with bookings. Some places took more time than others, but we always found a good place to stay. Have a great trip.
 
flintnational said:
Our first trip to England and Scotland was over 25 years ago, pre internet and cell phone. We had a "Good Pub Guide" and a "Good B&B Guide". We would drive in the morning and look for a pub around noon. If we liked the area, we would consult the B&B guide and stay the night. We had a couple of pre booked rooms, but most were chosen the day of the stay. This was one of our most memorable trips and I don't recall any issues with bookings. Some places took more time than others, but we always found a good place to stay. Have a great trip.
Click to expand...


You are bringing back memories of our trip to England and Scotland in the early 80's. We had to purchase a timetable and route map of Britrail that was a good 2 inches thick.
The map had numbers on it that corresponded to key numbers in the timetable.
The internet and smartphones has made the tasks infinitely easier.
 
1983 my late wife & I tracked the castles of Edward I in Wales, (plus Caerphilly Castle which I particularly liked), Conwy/Harlech/Caernarfon, etc.

They put one's imagination to work.
 
Here is the temperature chart from https://weatherspark.com/y/41906/Average-Weather-in-York-United-Kingdom-Year-Round


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We went on a trip in May and froze to death. Well DW who is sensitive to cold froze. I think now I'd shoot for late August. Pay attention to the lower parts of the high band (red). You can see in May it goes quite low. So not everyone's experience will match. The May that we traveled, temperatures varied between the 40's and the 50's with rain and some sleet.

We enjoyed York and rented a car there. Drove to Pickering to see Castle Howard. Then to Ripon to see Rievaulx Abbey and Fountains Abbey. From there we heated to Haws and Keswick (Lake District). Ended the drive in Edinburgh. Robbie's tours is good for a short tour of the Scottish highlands.
 
B&B Tour in England, Scotland, Wales

DW and I are going late August through mid September. We are spending 3 days in Edinburgh, then 8 days walking the West Highland Way, then another 4 days on the Isle of Skye. Never been to Scotland before, and I’m really looking forward to it. Only hope the midges are gone by the beginning of September for our walk.
We have mostly B&B’s booked along the way.
 
Thanks everyone - very useful info! Muir, we might see you there!
 
MuirWannabe said:
DW and I are going late August through mid September. We are spending 3 days in Edinburgh, then 8 days walking the West Highland Way, then another 4 days on the Isle of Skye. Never been to Scotland before, and I’m really looking forward to it. Only hope the midges are gone by the beginning of September for our walk.
We have mostly B&B’s booked along the way.
Click to expand...

How did you arrange the walking? And how many miles do you do per day? Sounds like fun.
 
We are in Scotland now. Just did Ireland last week. I like this time of year in Europe because it's just prior to the holidays and kids getting out of school. Have had nice weather depending on location.
 
Lsbcal said:
How did you arrange the walking? And how many miles do you do per day? Sounds like fun.
Click to expand...


Just designed the trip based on internet research and a book I bought about the WHW. It varies between 8-15 mile days. Most days in the 12-13 range. Shouldn’t be too bad. Going with DW, my brother and his wife. Weather is unpredictable, but that’s part of the fun.

Euro...hope you have a great trip.

Muir
 
Lsbcal said:
How did you arrange the walking? And how many miles do you do per day? Sounds like fun.
Click to expand...

We've done three walking tours in England (Lake District and Cotswolds). We used a company that arranged the B&B's, gave us maps and detailed instructions and had our luggage transferred every day. I liked the ease of having the details arranged for us so all we had to do was walk.
 
We have had good luck in Sept. for weather and lower crowds. We used to book B&B's on the fly from the tourist information centers that were everywhere. This year we are just back from Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall but we booked lodging online in advance.
 
B&Bs are regarded as cheap accommodation in the UK (unlike the US, as I understand it). You can get a very comfortable room indeed for £100, and often quite a bit less, depending on where you are staying. However, it may involved padding three steps across the upstairs landing to the bathroom, and the room may be a little smaller than you are used to.

B&Bs are not as well set up as hotel chains for electronic booking, even if most of them are available on sites like Booking.com. For example, if a Mom-and-Pop B&B has no bookings by 5pm, Mom and Pop might decide to go out for the evening.
 
My 8 months in Britain over 2 years says there's no overlap between good weather & off peak season except random luck. Was 85 in London first week of May - they had no idea what to do with that - and low 50's in Scotland in August.

That said, we had good success with B&B's in early aughts in England & Scotland. Some (many?) towns had tourist info either live or at least posted in a public area.

Remember that the driver stays to the middle of the road there too.
 
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