Expert: Willie Wallace - 1/3/2008

Question
Hi! My husband and I will be arriving in Edinburgh 1.00pm 10th April 2008.  We have 7 days to explore but on Thursday 17th April need to be at St Pancras International train station to catch the eurostar to Paris.  We plan to spend 2 days exploring Edinburgh which leaves us 5 or 6 days to make our way down and see a bit of Scotland.  What would be our best options re' sight seeing and locations to stay?  We will have a hire car and we both love natural unspoilt places.  We are not sure of travel distances/times between places and would like some advise on a likely itinerary. Many Thanks!

Answer
Hi Marianne,

I do apologise for the slow reply, but we have been off work a few days over new year and takes a while to catch up with e- mail.

If you are hiring a car in Edinburgh and dropping in London, you will need to use one of the multiationals like Europcar or Avis, as we can't do a one way rental to London.  Places to see between Edinburgh and London are the lovely Abbeys and Castles of the Borders region.

For loads of information about these castles and abbeys and places to stay in the region, go to

http://www.undisoveredscotland.com

and explore.  There is a ton of information and loads of links to accommodation.

From here, South to Hadrian's Wall, built in the second century.  Lots of sections of the wall are walkable and probably the best access point is at Housesteads Fort.  Keep a look out when following the line of the wall, as sections often appear beside the road you are on which will be the B6318.  Take the A68 South from Edinburgh to the Melrose and the Borders, then carry on until you turn right onto the B6318.  Take this across country visiting different Roman remains and sites and then carry on to the Lake District Mational Park, a beautiful area for walking and you can hire boats on Lake Windermere and some other lakes, Ullswater for one.

Head back across the Yorkshire Dales to the city of York, which still has most of the medieval walls around the city, on which you can walk along the top and also the largest Gothic Cathedral in Northern Eurpoe.

From there, head down to Beverley, just a few miles South East of York.  A pretty little village with a church almost as magnificant as York, but hardly any visitors.  The Youth Hostel is a medieval priory and worth visiting, even if youth hostels aren't your gig for staying.  There is a lovely little hotel right next to the Beverley Minster.

http://www.thelairgateinbeverley.co.uk/

 Another stop on the Way South, the city of Lincoln with it's castle and Cathedral where you can see a copy of the Magna Carta

http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/121/lincolncastle.htm

http://www.lincolncathedral.com/

and then if you still have a lttle time, visit the little wool towns of East Anglia, Lavenham, Clare, Cavendish, Long Melford and others and the magnificent town of Bury St, Edmunds with medieval walls, Roman fort remains and an Abbey and Cathedral.  Very important historically, Bury and a great market!  http://www.moreheart.info/

http://www.theangel.co.uk/

http://www.lavenham.co.uk/

http://www.theswanatlavenham.co.uk/

The following is a site just about churches in East Anglia, one of the oldest, steadily inhabited parts of England, yet off the beaten tracks from London, so pretty undisturbed.  Just have a look at these ancient churches.  This is a site built with love, thatched buildings, ancient timbered buildings, flint built churches, great photos.  It makes me want to go straight back to Suffolk where I lived for five years and visit them all

http://www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/Alist.htm

http://www.yorkminster.org/

http://www.britainexpress.com/cities/york/wall.htm

http://www.hadrians-wall.org/

http://www.lake-district.gov.uk/

for lake district info and

http://www.lake-district.com/

for accommodation.  My favourite place to stay in the Lakes is

http://www.queensheadhotel.com/

Lovely old place.

And lastly on our little trail of websites, which has progressed backwards up the country as my prose has progressed downward, here's the place to stay when you are exploring the Borders.

http://www.burtshotel.co.uk/

 A short walk from Melrose Abbey.  Also a not too long drive from Hermitage Castle, a must see in the absolute middle of nowhere.  You will find out about it on the first site I gave you

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/hawick/hermitagecastle/index.html

and that's it for me, bed time with a busy day tomorrow.  I hope all this jumble of information helps.  

Best Wishes,

Willie Wallace
http://www.celticlegend.co.uk