Any ideas where would suit us for a short break?

ripplyuk

My partner and I want to have a 4/5 day holiday somewhere in Britain. We're having trouble deciding where to go. I love national trust/English heritage type houses and my partner likes some of them, mainly old castles.

He also likes caves and really enjoyed Hawkstones follies when we were staying in Lichfield, though that sort of thing seems hard to find.

We've been to Derbyshire a couple of times, and Edinburgh. We can't afford London prices so might be best to avoid the south east.

Has anyone any suggestions? We're thinking of Durham/Teesdale as I'd love to see Beamish museum and there's National Trust houses to see but I'm not sure if there's much for my partner. We've also thought about Cornwall, and Wales, but we're open to any ideas.

WeAreGhosts

How about Snowdonia and the Lleyn Peninsula?
A number of slate caves/tours like http://www.llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk/
Lots of castles! Caernarfon, Criccieth, Conwy, Harlech ...
You'd probably like Portmeirion ... I don't know anyone who doesn't, it's unique! http://www.portmeirion-village.com/
And of course there's the scenery, the mountains, the beaches, the tourist trains etc ...

13Kent

Cheddar Gorge for caves, there are a few National Trust places in the area too.

Tuesday_Tenor

Shropshire?

As you mentioned Beamish I thought of Ironbridge:

http://www.ironbridge.org.uk

Lots of history , but of the start of the industrial revolution/ engineering/ manufacturing rather than the stately home-type. With the Victorian village too, and the homes of the Darby Family (but small, so not a mega part of the day). Set in the lovely Severn Valley for nice walks too,

Also a Victorian Working Farm at Acton Scott:
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186367-d212407-Reviews-Acton_Scott_Historic_Working_Farm-Ludlow_Shropshire_England.html

Castles at Ludlow and Shrewsbury ( not been in the latter so not sure what's there).

Lovely small medieval fortified manor house ( mini castle) at Stokesay near Craven Arms.

Several National Trust places, such as Attingham (website mention geocache trail there).

Wroxeter Roman city.

RAF Museum at Cosford.

No other caves, but you could go back to Hawkstone!

If you want more walking there's Wenlock Edge and the Long Mynd areas.

So quite a variety allowing you to take turns to each choose a few different things.

ripplyuk

We went to Shropshire and Staffordshire a couple of years ago, which was really perfect for me as there are so many NT houses to visit. Attingham was amazing, though Shugborough was my favourite because of their fantastic museum. My partner enjoyed Ironbridge too. I'd love to go back but he would prefer to try a new place.

I'm actually quite easy to please and like most 'touristy' activities. Only thing is I'm not that keen on walking. I do like nice gardens and places, just not hill walking or anything too taxing. My partner is a nightmare to please. He doesn't seem to have anything specific he wants to do/see or anything he's really interested in. He really liked Haddon Hall in Derbyshire but it's hard to find something similar in an area with other things to do. I think he imagines I can work miracles and just find amazing things that he'll love

He's now suggested staying in Durham for 2 nights and then going to York as he imagines it will be quaint old English streets and very pretty but I have doubts and imagine York as a big bustling city.

I really appreciate all the replies and any other suggestions would be great too. We're also considering Snowdonia for a future trip, because we haven't been to Wales at all.

p00hsticks

ripplyuk wrote: »

He's now suggested staying in Durham for 2 nights and then going to York as he imagines it will be quaint old English streets and very pretty but I have doubts and imagine York as a big bustling city.

York is a lovely compact old city with lots of 'touristy' thngs to do. If you go and enjoy it, consider a visit to Chester for the future as well.

You don;t say where in the country you are from, but if you like the idea of Beamish, then if you are ever in the Birmingham area consider a visit to the Black Country Living Museum, which is a simialr concept
https://www.bclm.co.uk/

From there you can also go on an underground canal trip through the old limestone mines which might well appeal to oyur OH's liking of caves
http://www.bclm.co.uk/locations/dudley-canal-tunnel-and-the-birmingham-canal-navigations/25.htm#.V5OtzxIXcvk

greenface

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

How about Snowdonia and the Lleyn Peninsula?
A number of slate caves/tours like http://www.llechwedd-slate-caverns.co.uk/
Lots of castles! Caernarfon, Criccieth, Conwy, Harlech ...
You'd probably like Portmeirion ... I don't know anyone who doesn't, it's unique! http://www.portmeirion-village.com/
And of course there's the scenery, the mountains, the beaches, the tourist trains etc ...

cannot argue with this . gods backyard. More castles than anywhere else in the world . Penrhyn is under rated . Beaumaris stunning town . lots to do and see .

ripplyuk

We've been going round in circles all weekend trying to decide:rotfl:

Wales certainly has beautiful castles but I think one would be enough for my partner. One of the places on my 'must see' list is Erddig but that's nearer to Wrexham. The snowdon railway would be lovely too.
Cornwall would be nice as I'd love to see Lanhydrock but I can't find much else.

Atm, we thinking of somewhere in North Yorkshire, possibly Ripon as it seems central enough. My partner wants to see Brimham Rocks which is nearby and it looks close enough to have a day in York. Does anyone know if it would be feasible to travel from Ripon to Beamish museum for a day trip? It doesn't look too bad on the maps but we have no idea about the traffic.

We're still considering staying in York but we would need to travel out of it most days. I'm worried that would be too much hassle which is why we thought of staying in a smaller Yorkshire town.

p00hsticks

ripplyuk wrote: »

We're still considering staying in York but we would need to travel out of it most days. I'm worried that would be too much hassle which is why we thought of staying in a smaller Yorkshire town.

If you're going by car, then I'd say don't stay in York itself, especially if you;re only using it as a base for travelling elsewhere in the area. York has little parking and what there is is very expensive - you'll certainly pay a premium to stay anywhere with parking. I agree you;d be better off finding somewhere else to stay and when you want to visit York either come in by train (the rail station is central) or use one of the various park and rides.

I don't really know Ripon but I would think that Ripon to Beamish is a reasonable journey. One tip for Beamish os to aim to get there when it opens (10am) and expext to stay until closing when we went we spent a very full day and there were still a couple of things we didn't see.

ripplyuk

Sorry to drag this out!

Thinking of Wales again. It has Erddig, Chirk Castle and the Snowdonia railway which would suit both of us perfectly. Could anyone tell me where would be best to stay to be able to see all of those? I'm not sure where would be a good base. Somewhere pretty but not too busy would be nice.

keithkeith

Betws-y-Coed is a great place to start in Snowdonia