Coming from states to North Yorkshire and north

After watching All Creatures Great and Small, I decided it could be fun to travel around the Dales and Moors, then head north to Hadrians Wall area, taking our time though. We are not interested in any cities, just countryside. We would probably fly in Manchester airport, then head north and stay around the Harrogate area(I have an intersting looking b&b lined up in Brearton). I have a few castles and gardens to see, I was thinking of Fountain Abbey and Cliffe Castle, where a Darwin exhibit is.  One area I would like to see is that cute small stone bridge that is in the series All Creatures Great and Small, it may be between the villages of Reeth and Langthwaite. If we were staying around Harrogate, would that be too long a drive to take or should we stay around Askrigg or Thirsk if we wanted to ride around interesting countryside? When we head a bit north to see the Hadrians Wall area, would that be a long drive or could it be a day excursion? We will have around two weeks total and want to have no grand itinerary, just preferring to find some picturesque areas and drive around.  I've also been researching the Landmark Trust properties to rent, they seem very interesting. But our exchange rate is currently not very favorable to us so even the smallest property may be out of our price range.  Can you recommend other interesting places to visit that we could be overlooking?

Hi nancy and welcome to Poe. (Pictures of England) you are talking my country here (although I'm a Lancastrian lol) its usualy less expensive to fly into Manchester from the States. if you are hiring a car its 'motorway' (freeway) from the airport, around Manchester and on over the Penines (hill chain) towards Yorkshire.

If you log on to the AA (Automobile Association) or RAC (Royal Automobile Club) Web sites in the UK you will get loads of info. also mileage and time calculator.

If, as you suguest you base yourself around the Thirsk/Harrogate area are you will find something of interest each and every day, a maximum of 2 hours drive in any direction. Must see's are-

York, a walled city with a fine 'minster' and supurb museums.

Howarth, Olde worlde village, home of the famous 'Brontes', you can even go into their house and see there writing desks and clothing and furniture they used. Its worth reading up on them before you go so that you dont miss anything. Steam railway too!

A two hour drive could take you to the fantastic English Lake district (You wont want to leave) 

or if you want a bit of fun, pop over the border into beautiful Lancashire and head for a day in Blackpool. i dont think you'll be disapointed.

Good Luck (Check the towns and attractions before you go by clicking on the information here on the left hand side of this page) Bet you cant makeup your mind lol)

You could also

try this site Nancy

www.bottomsfarm.co.uk

www.bottomsfarm.co.uk

Hello, Nancy.  Welcome to POE.  Good choice of a county to stay in.  North Yorkshire is heaven on earth!  My husband and I stayed there about a year and a half ago.  We drove thru Harrogate on our little tour.  A few miles to the west of Harrogate on the A59 is the ruins of Bolton Abbey/Priory.  It's simply gorgeous there, and is part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  A few more miles west on the 59 is the market town of Skipton.  They have Norman era castle there that's open for tours.

When we were there, we then went north out of Skipton on the B6265 right up thru the heart of the Dales.  It was a feast for the eyes around every curve. Some of the little villages there are Threshfield, Kilnsey, Kettlewell, Starbotton.  If you continue east on the A684 you come to Leyburn and Middleham Castle is nearby.  (home of Richard III in the 15th century).

If you go over to the east side of N Yks, Whitby is a fantastic town!  And to get there, you drive thru the stark beauty of the North York Moors National Park.  The drive along the coast there is also fabulous, as is the town of Robin Hood's Bay.  Another wonderful little town not too far from Thirsk (which I think is the All Creatures town) is the town of Helmsley, outside of which is Rievaulx Abbey.  If you check out my pictures, most are from N. Yks.  And of course, like Michael said, the city of York is not to be missed.

I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.  Surf this site by county and you'll have hundreds of N. Yks photos to view.  That's how we ended up picking N. Yks as our destination.

Hi Nancy

Welcome to the website,

Ray.