I need your help. I’m doing some British road trip planning for a big driving trip in the UK next month and would love your recommendations for places to travel and things to do in England and Wales.
British Road Trip Planning
So far the plan is to rent a camper van with my boyfriend and drive around England and Wales for five weeks (we’re saving Scotland road trips for other times). We’ll start and finish in the Scottish Borders, making a loop south as we go.
We’ve started making a list of places we want to visit—colorful Portmeirion and pretty Castle Combe are my top priorities—but there are still a lot of blank spaces on the map.
Your British Road Trip Recommendations
So today I want to turn it over to you and ask for your help with my British road trip planning.
Where do you think we should go? What are your favorite hidden places in England and Wales? You’ve given me so many amazing recommendations in the past that I would be grateful to hear your suggestions for this trip.
I’ll be compiling ideas and drawing up a final British road trip itinerary over the next couple weeks, so please share as many destinations as you can.
Great British Road Trip
I’ll post about the trip on the A Lady in London blog and social media channels as we go.
When we’re done, I’ll publish the full British road trip itinerary and map so you can replicate the parts that appeal to you if you want do some great British road trip planning of your own.
And speaking of British road trips, I’ve made a list of 5 road trips in the UK and an England road trip itinerary that will let you explore the country. Happy travels!
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40 Comments on Lady’s Great British Road Trip Planning
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I visited Llandrindod Wells in Wales and loved the sense of remoteness, therefore I recommend it. I will include Birmingham as well, but if will ever plan such a road trip probably will be curious if Manchester is worth a stop too. PS. Good luck with your plans! Looking forward to follow your adventures!
Thanks, Ilana! Llandrindod Wells sounds lovely.
Oooh, now that’s a tough one. There are so many places I like in England. The Cotswolds are beautiful, with great hiking trails and villages. Next on my wishlist is Bath (just because) and Bristol as a street art festival has just taken place, which seems like a great excuse to visit. And maybe, just maybe… you need to eat scones allover Cornwall to tell us the best places to have them!! Anyway, very jealous of your tour. Have fun!! (But I’m sure you will)
Thanks, Esther! Those are great ones. I will have a hard time narrowing down the list!
Sounds like a great tour – it’ll be a tricky edit! I love the Pembrokeshire and South Devon coastlines and the Lakes is an obvious one too. But how about the South Lakeland and the Trough of Bowland in Lancashire since you’ll be heading down from the borders – beautiful and not as well known?
Thanks, Nancy! South Lakeland and the Trough of Bowland sound lovely. I’ve never heard of either of them, so I appreciate you calling them to my attention.
So many beautiful places to visit but I would recommend Fowey in Cornwall as a little hidden gem as well as Cadgewith right down on the toe of the Lizard if you get that far. The dark granite walls of the cottages around Tavistock and the wild open Moorland are also appealing in a less chocolate box fashion – and a trip round Lydford Gorge is a real hidden gem. If you haven’t been to Cheltenham (my home town) and the Cotswold villages (especially lesser known ones like the Guitings) put them on immediately!
Thanks, Sally! Those all sound great.
I’m sure you have read it, but I’m just mentioning it just in case: Notes from a Small island by Bill Bryson!
Great idea! I actually haven’t read it, so it’s a perfect book for the trip.
Bath is stunning! I also love Arundel, it’s so quintessentially English and the castle is beautiful. Salisbury is also nice and Stonehenge is not far from there. If you’re getting all the way down to Cornwall, Falmouth is a really cute seaside town I visited last time I was in the UK!
Thanks, Savannah! I’ve always wanted to visit Arundel but didn’t remember to put it on the initial list. I’m glad you reminded me!
You have probably been to some of these already, but some of my favourite places are Oxford (and Blenheim Palace in Woodstock nearby), Bath, Brighton, St. Ives (or Cornwall in general is just dreamy)! Of course the Cotswolds are lovely. A few years ago, I traveled around the Cotswolds’ villages, and it remains one of my favourite trips. Can’t wait to see where you decide to go!
Thanks, Malia! Those all sound great.
The Peak District would be a good spot to check out and the Yorkshire Moors.
Thanks, Marie! Those sound lovely.
I have loads of suggestions, you may want to consider some of these options. As you mentioned you want to visit Castle Combe (which is utterly gorgoues!), I also recommend nearby Bradford on Avon (including The Peto Garden at Iford Manor), Lacock Village & Abbey, and Avebury. There’s also Caen Hill Locks near Devizes which has an amazing 29 locks and you can also take a boat ride from the nearby Kennet and Avon Canal Trust. There is Salisbury – the Cathedral and Stonehenge (of course), Avebury which also has a huge stone circle and some great hikes, and there’s of course the white horses dotted around Wiltshire which are an interesting sight indeed. I recommend anywhere in the Lake District – amazing beauty and plenty of places to hike from. There is also Lincoln and its Cathedral. Not forgetting Norfolk which has incredible beauty too, some of which includes Holkam beach, Norfolk Lavender, Thetford Forest and various old castles etc like Castle Acre and so on.
I’ve tried to recommend places you might have not visited yet. I look forward to seeing where you do visit. 🙂
Thanks, Bronwen! Those sound like lovely places.
Hi Julie
I’d recommend Bodium Castle in Sussex. A lovely area when we stayed in Brighton, this was a highlight as the most intact Castle left in the UK.
Dartmoor is stunning (remiss of me not to mention my homeplace). The moors offer fab walking routes and historic archeological sites. Princetown is the most popular of places there. The little villages are marvellous around that area.
Living in Norfolk now, the North Norfolk coast is lovely: Holt is a nice market town, Cromer famous for its fish, Sherringham for its vintage railway. You could skip over the boarder to Suffolk and see the most easterly point in the UK in Lowestoft (Ness Point) bit its essentially just a concrete compass, a shame and I’m always lobbying my council to improve it for tourism.
That’s just off the top of my head from places I’ve personally visited. I really look forward to reading your adventures as you usually inspire my wish list! Have a great time 🙂
Thanks, Stacy! Those sound like amazing places to visit.
I would recommend Llangollen in wales. Its a lovely little town just over the border and is home to a steam railway too. You can also go a little bit further on to a place called the horseshoe pass which is up on the mountains. Careful though, it’s normally always very windy up there 🙂
Thanks, Simon! Llangollen sounds lovely.
If you’re driving from Portmeirion to Castle Combe, that will take you near to lovely Hay-on-Wye and the wonderful Brecon Beacons. The little village of Talybont-on-Usk makes a great base to see the surrounding area. Of course you’ll be in a camper van, but there are some pretty cottages to stay in for a nice hot bath & some cosy comfort, like Coity Cottage & Bach Cottage ??
Thanks, Mac! Hopefully we’ll be able to stop by and say hello.
If you are down in Kent I would really recommend Sissinghurst Castle Garden and then going to The Milk House nearby for lunch! Hope x
Thanks, Hope! I love Sissinghurst.
Castle Howard near York is beautiful?
Thanks, Ingrid! I’ve heard good things about Castle Howard, so it sound like it’s worth visiting.
Leeds Castle is really pretty, but so is Charlestown near St. Austell in Cornwall.
Have a lovely time and look forward to seeing photo’s and reading about you adventures.
Thanks, Gaynor! Charlestown sounds great!
I’m glad you have Portmeirion on your list. I truly enjoyed visiting there and I look forward you your take on it. I’m going suggest a place I’ve never been before but heard a lot about. The area of Cornwall all the way down to Penzance. I’ve been watching a show on Netfilx called Escape to the country and they’ve been in that area several times. It looks like a wonderful place to visit with an amazing coastline. England is such a beautiful country, you can’t go wrong anywhere you travel.
Thanks, Sharon! I’m really looking forward to exploring Portmeirion and hope to get to Cornwall, too.
My favorite spots include Glastonbury, the Tor, the Abbey, the town all beautiful. I also love Oxford and the Cotswolds!! Would love to see your travels go there ❤️
Thanks, Christine! Those are great ones.
St Davids in West Wales – the smallest city in Britain (both in size and population). Also – Take the ferry over to Ramsey Island from St Justinians nearby – Uninhabited (bar the rangers) and a RSPB nature reserve. I was lucky to spend a week on the island doing work experience when I was 18, and couldn’t recommend it more! There’s a 3.5 mile walk around the island and at that time of year there will be plenty of seal pups!
Wow, thanks! The island sounds amazing. I’m sure I would love it there.
Hi, If you haven’t visited already, I would highly recommend Liverpool in the north of England (biased scouser!). Nearby Chester is also a lovely historic Roman walled city close to the Welsh border. Lots of places in North Wales are beautiful for a road trip, especially the Snowdonia National Park. A particular road trip I would recommend for a vrey scenic drive is over the Denbigh moors from Denbigh to Pentrefeolas, then on to Betws-y-Coed and from there to Capel Curig and a very scenic drive through the Llanberis pass to Llanberis. Then perhaps on to Caernarfon to see the very impressive castle there. Also nearby is Anglesy, where you can see Thomas Telford’s impressive 1826 suspension bridge over the Menai Straight. And of course, on Anglesey you can find the town with the longest place name in Wales, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. An Instagram opportunity if ever there was one! A visit to Llandudno and a scenic drive around the Great Orme can also make a nice day trip in North Wales.
Thanks, Justin! Those all sound great. Chester has been high on my list for a while, and the others sound fun too.
I would say the South West is best! Come to Cornwall or Devon if you want some amazing beaches and cream teas!
Thanks! I’m back from my road trip now, but will keep that in mind for future trips.