Short UK break ideas (adults, no children, open-minded, almost any area)

kloana

I've travelled fairly far and wide abroad, but have been to pitifully few places in the UK. I want to discover more of this country - it's about time!

Looking for somewhere to spend 2-3 nights in early June. We're in the North West, and would consider anywhere within a 4-5hr drive of Manchester. Thus counting out the very far south of England, or the very far north of Scotland.

Desired criteria are as follows:

Civilisation - i.e. not highly rural - we’re not outdoorsy people. We don't want somewhere where the only attractions are outdoorsy activities. That said, nice walks would be nice (including town/city walks...and including long walks...we do love walking) - but not essential

Nightlife - namely restaurants and pubs (independents preferred over chains). Nightclubs and fancy bars wouldn’t attract us. Nightlife to be reached on foot, or short taxi/public transport ride - we’ll have the car, but we both like a drink

Shopping - mostly for window shopping, as we’re not shopaholics. Quaint, independent shops would be nice (not vast indoor shopping centres)

Culture/arts/architecture - something nice to look at, or just look around amongst. Museums and galleries that’d appeal mostly to an adult clientele, rather than school trip clientele, ideally We’re not frequent theatre-goers or concert-goers, but somewhere with a decent theatre/arena to just check the listings for our dates would be nice - but not essential

Open-minded and interested in various types of places, from small-ish villages, to cities (picturesque and quaint preferred over grim and grey!). Mainland UK only (no planes/boats!). Unless there's somewhere we've severely overlooked, we'd prefer somewhere outside of Lancashire/Greater Manchester/Merseyside/Cheshire - as this is our everyday stomping ground. Not London or Edinburgh, as we've visited both recently.

Any ideas? If so, any recommendations on specific things to do/see, or places to stay? (again, open-minded on accommodation - en-suite is essential though). Budget not massively important at this point - we'd like to pin down a decent location first, then work around our options/budget.

PS: We're a couple in our 30s and 40s - no children. We'd be travelling over the weekend, either Thurs-Sun, or Fri-Mon.

benjus

What about Bath combined with a look around the Cotswolds?

WeAreGhosts

York fits the bill. Some nice independent shops in the area around the Minster, lots of places to eat, the city walls for a nice evening stroll, lots of museums and historical places right in the city, and then you've got the countryside surrounding it. the Yorkshire Wolds [to the east of the city] are lovely.

*manda*

Cardiff? Plenty to see and do, lots of independent bars/restaurants. Bay Area very nice. Good hotels and usually reasonably priced. We go quite often.

Brighton would be ideal but probably a little far.

Cambridge/Oxford are both great too, lots of bars/shops/eccentricity.

Funnily enough you tick the exact same boxes as me and my fella. I know you're not him though, he relies on me to sort everything and then tell him where to drive! Our next jaunt is actually to Manchester!

hamsterfan1

Oxford - if you go out of term time it's a lovely place

PompeyPete

Llandudno. It's on your doorstep, and a beautiful part of the world...

http://www.visitllandudno.org.uk/

Or, why not the Isle of Man? Get the car ferry from Liverpool or Heysham, and away you go...

http://www.visitisleofman.com/

susancs

hamsterfan1 wrote: »

Oxford - if you go out of term time it's a lovely place

Agree with this. We stayed at the Devere Milton House Hotel in Abingdon in the gate house Garden cottage part of the old Georgain Manor House which was lovely. There was an ugly looking block that guests can also stay in, but both the gate house and manor house itself are lovely. You can usually get special offers for it as they have sales every couple of months on the devere website . Nice swimming pool, health club and grounds, plus free coffee machines and lovely leather chairs to sit in the main manor house part. There is a pub at entrance road leading to the hotel that does food and ok for a drink ( The Packhorse I think it was called). We drove to Redbridge park and ride. Abingdon itself is a small town on the Thames with a nice pub that in summer you can sit outside at and wait the boats sail past. it is a short cab ride (or car ride away). You also have Didcot steam railway about 10 mins drive away.
http://www.deverevenues.co.uk/en/venues/milton-hill-house/gallery/

I know you said no boats or planes, but Belfast is great to visit and you can usually get cheap fares outside of the school holidays. You could hire a car to visit the Giants Causeway and old Gaol museum in Down. Great Ulster Folk and Transport museum, with the folk part being a whole re-assembled village. Short train journey to Cultra from Belfast city centre.

Isle Of Wight is very pretty and only involves a short ferry boat ride to get to it.

lisa110rry

Here's another vote for Llandudno!

Or what about...a boat on the Norfolk Broads? Loads of pubs, you could moor in Norwich (but be careful with your ropes) and sample the night life, then another evening moor on the mudweight in Surlingham Broad and just listen to the silence.

johnmcga

I'd consider Bristol and/or Bath.

For my money Bristol is the more interesting of the two cities, but Bath has more big tourist sights and history. The good news is that you can travel between them in 10 - 15 minutes by train, so you can quite easily explore both.

Of other places mentioned in the thread, I've spent time in York and Oxford. Both are lovely!

PenguinOfDeath

Not as far of a drive, how about Keswick? We have visited a few times recently and it's my favourite area of the Lakes and nice and easy to get to

kloana wrote: »

Desired criteria are as follows:

Civilisation - i.e. not highly rural - we’re not outdoorsy people. We don't want somewhere where the only attractions are outdoorsy activities. That said, nice walks would be nice (including town/city walks...and including long walks...we do love walking) - but not essential

A nice town to walk around with plenty of others to explore nearby, with obvious walking possibilities around if desired, you can't beat a wander around Buttermere on a sunny day with a stop off at the pub half way round

Nightlife - namely restaurants and pubs (independents preferred over chains). Nightclubs and fancy bars wouldn’t attract us. Nightlife to be reached on foot, or short taxi/public transport ride - we’ll have the car, but we both like a drink

Not the most active but plenty of pubs, bars and restaurants around, mostly down to earth independents, the only one close is a Wetherspoons that has only just opened. The town is easy to walk around so no transport required, plenty of good guest house accommodation around too within easy walking distance

Shopping - mostly for window shopping, as we’re not shopaholics. Quaint, independent shops would be nice (not vast indoor shopping centres)
Got its fair share of nice looking independent shops (even discounting the 'outdoorsy' ones)

Culture/arts/architecture - something nice to look at, or just look around amongst. Museums and galleries that’d appeal mostly to an adult clientele, rather than school trip clientele, ideally We’re not frequent theatre-goers or concert-goers, but somewhere with a decent theatre/arena to just check the listings for our dates would be nice - but not essential
Not the strongest area for the town as far as I know, but they do have a nice looking theatre near the lake and a couple of museums (you like pencils, yes? )

penguingirl

We're similar circumstances and also north west based. Good breaks for us have been York, Bath, Ambleside, Conwy (possibly too quiet for you), Alnwick in Northumberland (possibly too outdoorsy), glasgow and Inverness (possibly too far-it was 6 hours for us and we're a bit north of Manchester)

My picks from your list world be York or bath