UK City Break in November

[Cydonia]

I have a Big Birthday coming up in November and fancy a weekend city break for a change ( we normally do countryside / dog based things ). It will be me, DP and our 14 yr old DS who doesn’t really like cities or shopping….
So looking for somewhere that we can do a bit of shopping, but also museums, food, generally just walking about and looking at interesting stuff! Trouble is with it being late November will everywhere be mega busy with Christmas markets and also the weather might not be good enough for much walking about.
We’re in Cumbria and can travel up to 3/4 hours, either by train if easy or car.
I was thinking York or Edinburgh, as both seem to have quite a lot going on ( quite fancy a ghost walk or similar ) but are they going to be packed for the Christmas markets? Also thought about Liverpool but feel that’s more of a day trip from where we are.
Has anyone been anywhere lovely in November they can recommend? TIA 🙂

York or Liverpool would be great in their own ways, plenty to do in both! I too can get to Liverpool as a day trip but have stayed over on occasion and really enjoyed it, it’s different when you stay.

I have had lovely weekends in both York & Liverpool at that time of year (My birthday is around then too). Another suggestion is Cardiff, we went to Barry Island, round the castle, saw a rugby match at the stadium.

Manchester or Liverpool always great for city breaks, especially if you can find a gig or something at the theatre that you’d all enjoy.

Oxford was lovely in late Nov/early Dec as was Bath.

Thanks everyone! I thought of Bath but might be a bit too far for a weekend. Same with Oxford and Cardiff I think, though I’d love the Barry Island tour!
Good shout about some kind of gig or show too, hadn’t thought of that and would be something that we wouldn’t normally do.

York is great and sounds perfect for what you want. The Railway Museum and Castle Museum are both really good. It can get very busy with the Christmas market though. I also loved Lincoln for a weekend away, but there is a very steep hill (called Steep Hill!). Chester might be another good option, especially if you like zoos. Chester zoo is superb.

Liverpool. Plenty to do for a weekend. Art galleries, museums, a ride on the ferry, sightseeing bus. A bit off the usual tourist route are the two cathedrals- if it's a clear day you can go up in the lift to the top of the Anglican cathedral tower, the view is amazing. Georgian quarter is nearby. The Victoria Gallery and Museum of the University is worth a visit. If you fancy a trip out of the city, take the train to Port Sunlight to see the lovely village built by Lord Leverhulme for the workers. There's another museum there and a fabulous art gallery.

I live in Bath and hate it at Xmas market time- it’s packed and impossible as a local to get ordinary stuff done, even grabbing a coffee is a pain - mid November though is fine , so for quite a few of these nicer cities I would say timing is important but depends if you don’t mind getting shoved around -some of the bigger cities are actually easier as more space to hold these events -

York came to my mind too. Plenty to do in York. It’ll be busy with the Christmas market, but probably less busy than it is in the summer when all the language students and stag/hen dos are out.

Forgot about Chester! Never actually been to Chester zoo either. I guess we could even do Liverpool one day and Chester the next.

It would be easy to combine Liverpool and Chester. Agree that the zoo is excellent.

There’s plenty to do in Liverpool for a weekend. I would have said Liverpool or York.

Thanks everyone, will have a chat with the family and see what everyone is going to prefer!