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This winter, I headed up to Edinburgh and then made my way back to London in stages down the east of the country (Newcastle/Durham/York/Lincoln/etc) before scooting off to France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands . I'm beginning the process of planning my winter trip for next February and am looking to return to the UK to do the west and then, hopefully, heading over to Ireland and Spain.

As you can see from my 2015 schedule; I'm a bit of a history buff so I'm looking for suggestions that will take me to as many Medieval cities and towns as I can get to in a 2 or 3 week trip (I will have about 6 weeks in total and time spent in each location will be reasonably flexible. I was thinking of a 50/50 or, perhaps, 60/40split between Blighty and Le continent. But that is, in no way, set in stone).

The only provisional plans that I have are to, perhaps, start in Carlisle and head back down. I want to get to Hadrian's Wall and didn't really manage to do that this year as all public transport options out of Hexham weren't running during the winter (Wallsend doesn't really count). I had also planned on visiting Ludlow and Hereford before crossing over into Wales. From there, I had thoughts of taking a look at Cirencester and Bath before heading to Reading (To take in an RFC game) and back to London; where my brother lives and I will be semi-basing myself (Another possibility would be to visit the more northerly locations first, head back to London, and then do Reading, Bath, Cirencester and Wales on my way toward Ireland if, that is, there is a way of getting between Wales and Ireland. I heard rumours of a ferry??).

Are there any other destinations people think I should add?? I've been to most of the big cities before (Not Manchester but I'm not very interested to tell the truth). I'd like to get to Bosworth Field but if it's too far out of the way it might have to be missed. I was hoping to do as much of this by public transport as possible and don't really want to have to hire a car.

Cheers.
ManX


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The Northern route, back to London, then Reading -> Bath -> Cirencester -> Wales would make more sense to me. Wales to Ireland - there are two ferry routes, out of Pembroke Dock to Rosslare, Fishguard to Rosslare and Holyhead to Dublin.

Liverpool's worth a look, as is the Lake District, and if you're a history buff I'd consider the birthplace of the industrial revolution at Ironbridge Gorge. Stratford Upon Avon for Shakespeare could also be done, ditto Oxford. Refer to http://www.traveline.info to get a feel for public transport options.

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Not sure about going to Liverpool to be honest but you are right on missing Manchester for sure.

How about getting the train from Carlisle to Settle if it is running in February and then do a bit of meandering around the Yorkshire Dales....i have no idea about buses in the Dales but i am sure you could get around with a bit of planning...Settle, Skipton, and Harrogate are all well worth a visit given your interest........ Chatsworth Hall would be a nice day out too bit farther south though and if you were going to Wales i would be inclined to stop at Chester instead of Liverpool.

I would think its quite easy to get the train through to Holyhead from Chester but flying with Ryanair is generallly the cheapest way to Ireland. The train to Manchester airport is quite good now from most of Northern England.

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Don't miss Chester, one of the best medieval walled towns with its half timber frame buildings and the Rows.... I'll leave you to find out what they are. It also has a good cathedral too. If you like York, you will definitely like Chester.

bicycleman suggests Chatsworth. Check out their openng times as I'm not sure if it is open in Febrauary.

Pottering down through the Welsh borders to Ludlow, don't forget Shrewsbury. There is also Stokesey castle but again check opening times as depending on when you visit in February, it may only be open at weekends.
http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review?id=145264

Smaller towns like Bishop's Castle and Clun are also worth visiting if you have chance.

Although there are ferries from Wales to Ireland, it may be better to stick to your original plan and fly from London.

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Fair point about Chatsworth house being shut in Feb but you can still walk the grounds, see the building close up and visit Ednesor which would be enough on a cold February day. There are other places interest nearby too in Bakewell, Baslow and Hathersage that would easily fill up a day.

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