Calling on the Brits for advice. Travel.

[bigleonski]

Hello there.
My daughter and partner are flying to London next week, to live and work for the next 2-3 years.

That gives us the excuse to visit Great Britain/Eire, something I’ve wanted since I learned as a child three of my grandparents were Irish and one a Scot. We’ve traveled regularly overseas, and once to Europe, but never really had the chance to do an extended trip longer than 2-3 weeks.

I’m thinking we’ll visit around April/May next year.
So call it 4-5 weeks, less time in London and visiting a good mate who’s just returned home to St Ives after 20 years in Oz.

So my question to you, is how do I spend my extra 3-4 weeks.
Without rushing at a million miles an hour all the time, what are the must sees, experiencing the landscape and the culture and the people without necessarily hitting the high tourist destinations.
And is April/May a sound choice as to when to visit?

I’d be grateful for any input to help me plan a rough itinerary.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TheDocAUS]

Make sure you visit York, Bath, Oxford and Cambridge for starters.

London is a given.

 

[CRH]

Hello there.
My daughter and partner are flying to London next week, to live and work for the next 2-3 years.

That gives us the excuse to visit Great Britain/Eire, something I’ve wanted since I learned as a child three of my grandparents were Irish and one a Scot. We’ve traveled regularly overseas, and once to Europe, but never really had the chance to do an extended trip longer than 2-3 weeks.

I’m thinking we’ll visit around April/May next year.
So call it 4-5 weeks, less time in London and visiting a good mate who’s just returned home to St Ives after 20 years in Oz.

So my question to you, is how do I spend my extra 3-4 weeks.
Without rushing at a million miles an hour all the time, what are the must sees, experiencing the landscape and the culture and the people without necessarily hitting the high tourist destinations.
And is April/May a sound choice as to when to visit?

I’d be grateful for any input to help me plan a rough itinerary.

Thanks in advance.

Assuming St Ives is the one in Cornwall and not Cambridge then you will be going to Cornwall, so that box is ticked.
If you want history, Chester for thr Roman Walls and the Rows which date from around the 13th century. Chester gets lots of Chinese & American tourists and is a safe place to visit.
Bath has the Roman baths plus much more, again, huge amount of tourists.
If you prefer outside and a few less tourists then Hadrian's wall, another Roman feature that separated the English from the Scottish. Plenty of remains and lots of walls to walk with good scenery. Sadly some knob and his mate cut the tree down that was in Robin Hood with Kevin Costner. You can combine this with the Lakedistrict and all that has to offer too. Or go to the East Coast and Bamburgh Castle, Holy Island (check tide times). Alnwick Castle (Hogwarts) & Whitby & North York Moors and back down to York.

Your other options are Scotland, Edinburgh & Stirling for their castles and history then the open country side for the escape. The NC500 is apparently busy in tourist seasons and if you don't want to rush just look for the best bits. Not sure on your idea of rushing but to us Brits, travelling around Scotland is much bigger than England or Wales.

South East of England has the Norfolk broads and lots of tourists go for boat holidays. I have been to the area a couple of times, some nice places but it wasn't somewhere I'd go for a holiday over others in the UK, sorry if that offends anyone. Some for North & Mid Wales, South Wales has some nice places but if limited to time my personal opinion is you have better options with more places to go.