North of Liverpool and York : Durham, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales....

One other area to consider, particularly in combination with York and Durham, is North York Moors National Park. Yorkshire Dales NP is on the west side of England, east of city of Lancaster, and separated from Lake District NP by M6 motorway. The least visited part of Lakes District (which is overall more visted than both Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors) are the periferal areas eg far north east corner. Howgills Hill, basically borderd in the triangle with corners in the towns of Sedburgh, Tebay & Kirkby Stephen, in county of Cumbria - southern part is in Yorkshire Dales NP, northern part not in any NP.

Perhaps an odd suggestion, but Andy Goldsworthy sculptures, usually associated with ancient sheep fold buildings (see http://www.sheepfoldscumbria.co.uk/html/info/list.htm) are usually worth a look, and give aims for walks through landscapes. Having manned a checkpoint on a mountain marathon in Oct 2012, I have a particular fondness for http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk/record.asp?id=409 However, you will only get there if you can read a map and climb on rough steep ground, at least 2km from nearest road.

Don't forget the North York Moors Nat Park which has rugged scenery as well as some super coastal scenery. One of the least visited areas of the Dales is the northern Dales such as Tees Dale and Wear Dal so the villages are that just villages unlike those in Wensleydale which can be a bit touristy One rule of thumb is if a small town has an Edinburgh Woollen Mills Shop it also has tourists!. If you have time you could go a bit further north to Hadrian's Wall. If you are in the Durham area do a bit of research about Beamish Open Air Museum - if recent history your sort of thing it is a must!

thank you guys !

I have to admit I got a bit fast on this one and I completely forgot about North York Moors National Park.
and now that I've seen pictures on Google, I'm lost. meaning there are so many beautiful things that I don't know where to go at all)

may I ask another question ?
I've seen Dartmoor already and I think it was unbelievable, almost out of this world.
I've seen Brecon Beacons and that was merely OK (that was odd but I found many more tourists in Brecon Beacons than in Dartmoor, and I visited them on the same week-end, saturday and sunday).

I'm also considering Snowdonia before York and Durham (but I might skip it if another National Park resembles it).
and I'd like to see something different (Brecon Beacons were very different from one another).

so if you had to choose only of the 3 national parks we're mentioning (North York Moors, Lake District, Yorkshire Dales), which one would you pick ?
and may I include Peak District and Snowdonia in the conversation ?

I'm really trying to make personal research but when it's basically not to difficult to pick cities (different size, architecture, history, noticeable monuments, river, harbour...), national parks in this occasion are much harder to distinguish.
pictures seem to show pretty similar lanscapes.

Well, maybe my opinion will help you as I'm a big, big fan of Dartmoor. I love it's wild, untamed nature and the fact that it is relatively quiet. No other English national park lets you escape the crowds on a sunny Bank holiday weekend quite like it!

For me the Yorkshire Dale or Peak District don't provide that as they're both relatively tamed (more rural than wild). Maybe the same goes for the Yorkshire Dales - though I've only past through rather than explored so can't really judge.

Snowdonia definately fits the bill - wild & dramatic. Far bigger scale than Dartmoor (sharp glacially eroded peaks rather than tors). Same goes for the Lakes, although they can be crowded in places...but you should be ok in May.

I know it won't fit your itinerary for this trip - but consider Exmoor for another time.

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you say end of May-just bear in mind that 25th May until 2nd June is school half term with a bank holiday on the Monday 27th.
avoid theses dates if you can for a more enjoyable peaceful experience!!

You are very lucky English county side drive is very beautiful and hope as I have experienced you would enjoy the novelty of the nature to its brim.

Sounds great - Co. Durham is rugged, spectacular and, once off the main roads, has very little tourists or traffic. The upland areas (fells/moors) are full of abandoned mines (lead, mostly) and there are plenty of paths should you want to explore. There are some tourist sites such as Killhope lead mine, and Beamish North of England museum, but mostly you can explore the area yourself with a car.

To your list, and adjoining Co. Durham is Northumberland, also fitting your criteria and (perhaps apart from a few sections of Hadrian's Wall), missing tourists.

You'll almost have the place to yourself, unlike the Lakes where you're bumping into people quite a lot!

very useful post, everyone, thanks !

Doss said : "For me the Yorkshire Dale or Peak District don't provide that as they're both relatively tamed (more rural than wild)."
well, I love rural too and I want to see rural England.
early in the month, I will rapidly drive through the Cotswolds (rapidly because it looks extremely touristy but it's on my way so I'll give it a look anyway and if I'm there in the early morning, I think I'll be enjoying).
let's say that rural + tourists = nightmare. basically, as long as you have many tourists, it's not really rural anymore. but I love old sleepy villages with only one small pub to socialize.

I think that my suggestions of Andy Goldsworthy sites and Howgills (not all of Howgills are in Yorkshire Dales NP) might fulfil your requirement for fewer tourists.

One quirky "pub" is near Red Gill - Cross Keys Temperance Inn, on A683 between Sedburgh and Kirkby Stephen, which serves only non-alcoholic drinks, plus food.