UK roadtrip: Wales + England itinerary
How to see the most of the UK in only 10 days and still enjoy it? Well, if you’re anything like us, a rented car, a tent and an over-excited dog will do. Add a few beautiful mountains and a couple of pale ales and you’re good to go.
There are many ways to travel in England. Most of the cities have very good train connections and the tickets won’t ruin your budget (like in France for example). You are also allowed to travel with your dog completely free of charge so that’s another plus. However, considering carrying a huge tent and, once again, an over-excited Buddy, we’ve decided that the only way to do it (and not go crazy) is by car.
Drivy offered us the most comfortable and best cost-effective option, even though it didn’t include unlimited mileage. We found a car just down the street from our place, big and cheap enough. 10 days and 1200 miles (2000 km) later, we would still highly recommend it.
Accommodation was surprisingly the more complicated topic since it seems to be very expensive wherever you go. Partly because of this, and partly because we just enjoy being close to nature, we decided to book half of the nights on camping sites and half in hotels (sadly, Airbnb is extremely overpriced in the UK…). To be honest, we enjoyed our camping accommodation much more having found some truly incredible locations.
Day 1-3: South Wales & Snowdonia
First direction: West! Straight from London we headed to discover Wales for the very first time - you can read all about it more in details here. The biggest highlight - Snowdonia (I mean, look at these views!). Both camping sites we stayed on were absolutely amazing too.
Day 4: Liverpool
Ok, I’m going to be honest here. Liverpool was the biggest disappointment of the trip and we actually regretted staying there. The city was rather boring, not offering much apart from The Beatles on every corner, and the hotel we stayed at didn’t awe us either so I won’t recommend it.
Needless to say, we were excited to rush back into the nature!
Day 5-6: Lake District
Even though the weather didn’t exactly work in our favour once we reached this part of England, we still got to appreciate how beautiful Lake District is. We stayed on this campsite for 2 nights and would highly recommend it - it’s beautifully located at the end of a very picturesque mountain road and has all amenities you might need, plus several coffee shops and restaurants in close proximity.
We’ve done two hikes while in the area - first, with the trail just in front of the campsite took us around Lake Buttermere. It’s a nice, easy walk, very flat and not requiring any professional equipment at all. The day after we set ourselves to hike up Catbells on the side of Darwentwater lake - a more challenging one with a few steep approaches and not recommended in bad weather conditions as might get very slippery.
By the way, I’ve discovered this app called AllTrails - you can search routes by location and choose whatever fits you in terms of difficulty, lengths etc. It then guides you through the hike so you’re sure not to get lost.
Day 7: Newcastle Upon Tyne
After a huge disappointment Liverpool was, we were a bit anxious heading to Newcastle. It turned out to be a very pleasant city though. We stayed in Motel One as it was centrally located, cheap and allowing dogs. Win-win.
Days 8-9: North York Moors & Robin Hood’s Bay
Last stop: North Yorkshire. Without a doubt, the best time to visit the area all covered in blooming heather. We climbed up the Roseberry Topping, stopped by Captain Cook’s Monument and took an evening stroll in Robin Hood’s Bay which must be one of the most charming little cities we’ve visited in the UK. We ended our trip spending the night in the Arches Country House next to Slatburn-by-the-Sea and very glad with the trip (but very sad it came to an end) headed back to London the day after.
