Holiday from the US (not London!)

[americaninboston]

Hello! I live in the US with my husband and our 4 year old, but we really love the UK. I'm trying to plan a trip for next August. We'd likely be flying in and out of Heathrow, but we've been to London several times and would love to go elsewhere. I'm thinking of spending 3-4 days in a small city, and 3-4 days somewhere more rural or at the beach (ideally somewhere charming / not too touristy/kitschy). Also - we'd love to do this without renting a car - a bit nervous about driving on the other side of the road!

Some ideas I had are York + Scarborough, or Oxford + Bournemouth, or Chester + Llandudno. Thoughts? Other ideas? Are these terrible ideas? Thanks you!!

Agree with this and you get the North Yorkshire moors to and many public transport options and walkable

If you stay in Bristol try to find a hotel in Clifton -
Clifton is the touristy bit. You can walk down to the harbour for S S Great Britain. There are easy buses to Temple Meads to get to Bath. You might also catch the Balloon Festival and get pictures of balloons across the gorge.

However the best thing is the countryside around eg between Bath and Bristol ( if you head to Dyrham House (used also for Sense and Sensibility) around there) also around Tetbury/ Westonbirt/ Highgrove.

it would be sad not to see the quintessential old villages eg Lacock ( Harry Potter - Lacock NT used for its corridors / spells classroom and the village has Harry potters birthplace for filming)

This is all amazing - I have a lot to look into! You’re all incredibly helpful. Americans only ever go to London or Edinburgh so I have a lot of research to do :)

and Skye @americaninboston ;)
I would look at your flight options. if you fly into LHR then you need to allow at least 4 hours or an overnight stop before catching at train from Kings Cross to York or elsewhere from another major London station.
If you fly into MAN then you've got direct trains to York (with ticket flexibility on transpennine express airport advance tickets in case your flight is delayed) and easy links to Chester, North Wales and even the Lake District.
For Northumberland I'd either go via York or fly into EDI then it's an hour on the train from the city centre to Alnmouth.

I'd rethink not hiring a car -- it's really not a big deal driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. Oddly enough, you have no temptation to revert to the 'correct' side when there's traffic! 😁 The only time you might forget is if you're very tired or the road's completely empty.

Is flying into Newcastle an option? Gorgeous city, not too big, and close to so many interesting places on the coast. You should see Whitby if you get a chance! Fabulous town full of atmosphere, right on the coast.

You could easily have a great holiday if you based yourself in Brighton. Sussex is beautiful. Lots of places to go for day trips by train (eg Arundel, Lewes, Chichester). Or use the very good Coastal bus service. You’d get even more out of the trip if you could face hiring a car to explore the countryside. Lots of gorgeous National trust properties to explore. Brighton doesn’t have a sandy beach but it does have everything else you mentioned. If you change your mind and fancy a day in London, that is easy to get to by train.

I was curious about Brighton! It has a reputation here as a party town, but it also looks interesting.

It is a party town, but there’s lots of other things to do. It’s just all round fab - an anything goes place. Lots to do with children too.

I'd agree - or Liverpool and then North wales.

York is good though - then whitby/scarborough - you can definitely do train to York and Scarborough though it was heaving when we did. You can do York from London by train but is more travel - couple of hours to get up there - same with Liverpool - so Oxford or Bristol/bath would be less travel after flights.

Note that Brighton has a pebble beach not sand!

@MiddleAgedDread - true no sandy beach but there are sandy parts at Worthing - a short bus or train ride away.

I suggest Chester as it is the perfect small city (and recently voted most beautiful). There is plenty to do for 3/4 days in and around the city. You can get the train from there to the North Wales coast - Llandudno is not a quiet resort in the summer but does have its charm for kids. The pier and the Great Orme are fabulous - you can also visit Conwy and its fantastic castle from there. Check out Kalani the Ghost Hunter on Facebook/TikTok as he has lots of content on Chester and Conwy.

Around Chester is fantastic countryside and of course the Zoo. There are loads of day trips (coach tours) that you can do too.

Dorset....Lyme Regis and Weymouth for beaches. East
Sussex....Brighton, Rottingdean, Arundel, South .downs, white cliffs near Bescht Head, probably doable on train and bus.

I meant Beachy Head sorry.

Definitely York and Whitby. The only part of your brief it doesn’t fit is being touristy. It will be very touristy in August which is peak holiday time. Anywhere nice will be the same though.
i find Northumberland bleak.

Bath and Weymouth, doable by train

Thanks everyone! We're pretty set on late August since that's the week with no school/camp. Currently we're leaning toward Oxford + Bristol (maybe with some day trips to the countryside) - neither is super far from Heathrow, or maybe Bristol + Weymouth. If we can get flights to Edinburgh, then we'll do Newcastle + Northumberland + end in Edinburgh after the festival is over.

@americaninboston If you go to Oxford, make sure to visit The Pitt River's museum. It's full of wondrous things!

I'm picturing a nice sandy beach, fish and chips, ice cream, maybe some amusement games / mini-golf

Edinburgh has all these things in Portobello apart from mini-golf. Although it's colder further north.

Our kids loved the beach there because it had a lovely take-away pizza place right by the sea. And an amusement arcade with old fashioned 2p games. We wanted them to love the castle and the history but they have mainly talked about the amusement arcade since we got home.

It's 4.5 hours on a direct train from London.

The train goes through Durham, York, Newcastle so you could stop off in any of those cities.

Another vote for York and Whitby etc.
But I’d pick Edinburgh and North Berwick or St Andrews over anything else. But all will be busy in July.

My middle son has just finished university in Bristol. I really don’t care for it. Clifton area is nice yes, but city centre sketchy, rundown and stinks of weed 24/7. To be fair, are some nice bits.

I'm picturing a nice sandy beach, fish and chips, ice cream, maybe some amusement games / mini-golf

If you end up doing Bristol, you’ll get this from a day trip to Weston Super Mare - not the nicest town, but your 4 year old will probably like it! There’s a direct train from Bristol Temple Meads.

Bristol/bath (stay in bristol, catch train to Bath/take bus) then jump on the train to the coast, north Devon is good if you like bodyboarding/surfing, or right down to Cornwall.

if you do opt for Bristol, use the national express from the airport rather than the train because it’s usually quicker, there’s hotels within a 10 minute walk of the bus station that are overlooking the harbour area.

you could stay there the whole time and juste take day trips, there’s a lovely tidal pool (free) only 45 minutes on the bus away a heated lido and there is Weston Super Mare, not posh but has sand, or go across to wales perhaps

If you wanted to visit Newcastle and not hire a car, rather than Northumberland, you could take the metro to Tynemouth and Whitley Bay. The beaches are beautiful and they have the seaside vibe it sounds as though you're looking for.

Cambridge and Norwich (for the city portion of your trip)and the north Norfolk coast. Great beaches and salt marshes, very lovely villages and small market towns. Great food, stately houses, a trip to see the seals from Blakeney. Manageable by train and buses.

Devon is beautiful but without a car you might be a bit stuck for getting into the best bits of the south Hams, which for my money is the most beautiful (and expensive) part of Devon. Breathtaking landscapes and beaches though. Heaven for walkers, surfers, paragliders, wild swimmers. Plymouth (for the city section)is an intriguing mix of amazing coastal location, (the Hoe, overlooking Plymouth Sound, the Barbican) and new found cultural confidence in its incredible heritage and embrace of the university-based economy and you can get the Cremyll ferry from Stonehouse to start exploring the Rame peninsula on foot (fantastic walk from Cremyll through the Mount Edgcumbe park estate to Cawsands and Kingsands, old Cornish fishing villages. World class beach at Whitsands). You can also get longer trips by boat down the Tamar and take in more of Cornwall from Plymouth.