Suggestions for UK family break with adult-children

penguingirl

Hi,

It is my 30th in April, and as I am a twin my mum has decided she would like a family weekend away to celebrate. There will be 7 of us going- my parents (mid-60s, very active), me and my partner, my twin and his partner and my older brother (age range 29-33). We live near South Manchester, my twin and his gf live in London and my parents/ older brother live in Merseyside.

I'm trying to think of somewhere we can go in the UK from a Friday- Sunday. Ideally not more than a 2/3 hours for anyone. From London they will need to travel by train, we would prefer train from Manchester/Wilmslow/ Stockport but would drive and my parents/ brother aren't bothered.

We'd probably not want to spend more than £100 a night and would be happy with premier inn/ holiday inn etc. although would be open to doing something like renting a house. I'm not really looking for specific accommodation recommendations at this stage, more a general area to stay in. I'm looking for somewhere where there will be lots of choice for things to do, easy to find places to eat and basically the flexibility for us to do stuff as a family but also where we can separate a bit as I think we will drive each other mad after a short period of time. Happy to visit museums, historical sites, places of interest etc.

Any suggestions? So far I've thought of Chester, but my parents particularly have been there quite a lot before; Cheltenham, but I don't really know anything about it; Stratford but I don't know if there'd be enough choice of things to do there and I know my parents have done all the Shakespeare sites.

Any ideas MSEers?

PasturesNew

Cardiff? River/boats/harbour, town/shopping/arcades and independents, lots of food, green spaces, tourist buses, a small castle, stuff within 2-3 miles (e.g. St Fagans). Beaches not far away for chips/ice cream and a stroll/throwing pebbles into water.

penguingirl

It's possibly a bit far for us. Google reckons it's just under 4 hours for my parents to drive and the train is 3+hrs from Manchester, and similar from London (by the time my brother gets from his house). Also my partner would be a bit miffed by that one as he works in South Wales quite a lot so probably wants to avoid it on holiday!

penguingirl

Anyone know what Nottingham is like? Would there be much for us to do? I'm literally just looking at a map and guessing random places!

mimmy1977

Shropshire
You got the Shropshire hills,Shrewsbury for shopping,Ironbridge and loads of museums.Loads of things to do in our beautiful part of the world.

penguingirl

Ooh actually Shropshire is a good call, I remember we had a fantastic caravan holiday there as a kid. Would it be ok for those who don't have a car though (my brother and his gf)?

missbiggles1

penguingirl wrote: »

Ooh actually Shropshire is a good call, I remember we had a fantastic caravan holiday there as a kid. Would it be ok for those who don't have a car though (my brother and his gf)?

You don't need a car in Shrewsbury or Ironbridge (unless anybody has mobility problems) but you'd need a car to travel between the two.

penguingirl

missbiggles1 wrote: »

You don't need a car in Shrewsbury or Ironbridge (unless anybody has mobility problems) but you'd need a car to travel between the two.

No, none of us have mobility problems, it's just the Londoners who don't have a car, and it would sway mine and my partner's choice about getting the train or driving. I just want to avoid somewhere where anyone is reliant on other family members for lifts as that reduces the flexibility of things to do and I think we definitely need to maintain some independence as we all need a bit of space

Elsewhere

How about Birmingham? I bet there's lots to do there (not least the Cadbury Factory ). We had a great day at the Black Country Museum some years back http://www.bclm.co.uk/

Have you ever hired a canal boat? You are in Manchester but I find people often don't do what's on their doorstep. Or you could get one at Trevor, which wouldn't be far for you - train to Wrexham, then taxi. You could go over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and also visit Llangollen in a weekend.

penguingirl

Birmingham I had thought of, will look into it a bit more. I love the idea of a canal boat, but not with my family! The thought of the 7 of us in a confined space is terrifying.

mimmy1977

Shrewsbury has good transport links and in Spring think they do like a shuttle bus over to the hills.There is bus to Ironbridge.Trains to Birmingham,Telford,Chester ect.
They just opened a new Premier Inn next to Shrewsbury bus station so if you could get a cheapy that be good,you wouldnt need a car