Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: AndersH on 09 January 2007, 18:37:59
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Hello!
Now I have a comfy motorway munching car I am thinking of doing a UK tour for a couple of weeks in the summer with my girlfriend.
We'll be going to the Lake and Peak districts and she would like to go to Mull. Has anyone got any ideas for must see places preferably up north/Scotland/Midlands etc. I know a lot of the South already and she's from Northumberland so probably won't do much of those areas but any advice would be much appreciated!
Also anywhere to stop off to get a cheap cambelt change?!
Cheers!
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I've just spent the New Year in York & thoroughly enjoyed myself, lovely place too.
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Chester is a good place to visit but then i'm bias I was born there ;)
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York was a possibility, my Dad's from round there and he suggested it so I thought he may be a little biased! I'll look into Chester too.
Thanks!
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Snowdonia is a bit pretty ;) some awesome bits of road, and scenery .
porthmadoc isa good place to base form, as you can get into snowdonia easily, and down or up the coast at will.....
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I highly recommend driving from Inverness to Fort William along the Loch Ness road, (I think it's the A82 but not entirely sure off the top of my head.). Half way up is Drumnadrochit and Uquhart Castle and nearby is Glen Affric. Beautiful scenery.
Skye's good and if you want to go over the Skye Bridge, the road to Kyle of Lochalsh will take you past Eillan Donan Castle where Highlander and other things were filmed.
If you're up that way, you'll drive through Glencoe. Desolation takes on a whole new meaning. Nice thing to try is to drive through Glencoe around midnight, stop the car, switch off the lights and get out of the car. I've never seen darkness like it!!
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Northern lakes (Derwenidioter, Bassenthwaite) are much quieter than the southern (Coniston Water, Winderemere). The roads are wider and scenery more enjoyable too. You could come over from York via A66 to Penrith, go on a steamer at Pooley Bridge, drive up to Keswick, mosey on up the side of Bassenthwaite Lake to Cockermouth, turn right and come out 20 miles later in Carlisle. Quick belt change at GW Autos and your back on J44 of the M6 heading north to Scotland. :y
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I highly recommend driving from Inverness to Fort William along the Loch Ness road, (I think it's the A82 but not entirely sure off the top of my head.). Half way up is Drumnadrochit and Uquhart Castle and nearby is Glen Affric. Beautiful scenery.
Skye's good and if you want to go over the Skye Bridge, the road to Kyle of Lochalsh will take you past Eillan Donan Castle where Highlander and other things were filmed.
If you're up that way, you'll drive through Glencoe. Desolation takes on a whole new meaning. Nice thing to try is to drive through Glencoe around midnight, stop the car, switch off the lights and get out of the car. I've never seen darkness like it!!
..... and Fort Augustas (sp?) We were up ther earlier this year. Beautiful part of the world.
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Snowdonia is a bit pretty ;) some awesome bits of road, and scenery .
porthmadoc isa good place to base form, as you can get into snowdonia easily, and down or up the coast at will.....
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I'll second that & Portmeirion is a must :y
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Liverpool city centre and especially the waterfront is well worth a visit a good mixture of heritage,culture and retail therapy for your girlfreind. Things are really cranking up a gear as we head towards 2008 Liverpool capital of culture year.
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Snowdonia is a bit pretty ;) some awesome bits of road, and scenery .
porthmadoc isa good place to base form, as you can get into snowdonia easily, and down or up the coast at will.....
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I'll second that & Portmeirion is a must :y
Had a great mid week break there with friends a few years ago. In facted, developed a rather strange fascination on power stations, as there are plenty around there, inc hydro electric and a decommed nuclear. Slate mine at Blaneau worth a visit for a couple of hours imho...
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While in Snowdonia the rebuilt Welsh Highland Railway would be worth visiting - goes straight through the centre of Snowdonia.
Portmerion is nice but full of The Prisoner fans - so turn up in a Lotus 7
I went with 3 friends 1 was mad on TP so for Christmas one year I built a Tamaya Lotus 7 as No6s car
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All the way round loch lomond through to Crainlarich and up to Sky via Fort William and then through all the western Isles ...would be dear but can et a ferryhop ticket :y
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Thanks for all the suggestions, especially the ones with routes! after reading your replies, we've decided we probably will concentrate on Scotland and come down through Wales on the way back and visit various places on the way like York, the lakes etc. Some of the drives sound great and we'll be looking into them more from now on.
It's really helped us focus on where to go so thanks again! :y
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Devon and Cornwall are also excellent places to tour. :y
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Devon and Cornwall are also excellent places to tour. :y
Don't start me off - I can suggest loads of routes!
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Devon and Cornwall are also excellent places to tour. :y
Don't start me off - I can suggest loads of routes!
Better get your route planner out and make a start then Martin !! ;) ;D
Incidentally, while down in Barnstaple at the weekend, I went with the ex-missus to look at a couple of properties in Woolacombe and Coombe Martin - what lovely places, a really nice part of the country. :y :)
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Coombe Martin etc is lovely, it's where we honeymooned, we go back every other year (we alternate holidays with North Wales) The Dolphin pub by the Beach in Coombe Martin is wonderful...
avoid the Guinness in the pack of Cards pub further up the main road, it's the worst pint I've ever had.
There's a huge number of nice spots around there... and some terrifying ones....
avoid using the coastal single track road from the "Valley of the rocks"
it's terrifying.... we went down there in a Senator... I kid you not, the driver's side door mirror was over thin air...
no passing places, and it's NOT one way!
jeeezus.....
(it should be borne in mind that I have Vertigo.... just looking down a cliff on Telly is enough to make me feel ill..... )
Ilfracombe has some nice bits as well......
And Watermouth Cove is pretty, and the fudge you can get at Watermouth Castle, is, according to my lady wife, the best strawberry fudge on earth.... with real fresh strawberries...
Lynton and Lynmouth are also definitely worth a visit.... a bit tourist trap ish, but nice nonetheless. that Cliff Railway thing is horrifying for me, but impressive for "normal" people ;)
(Daft thing , I LOVE mountains and such like geography... but I'm terrified of heights... )
The Dinosaur & Wildlife park at the top of Coombe Martin is also very good... and much less tacky than you might think... although there are some bits that are a bit crap.. most of it is great, and it sure as hell qualifies as a fitness activity... there's very little level ground ! and make sure your handbrake is damn good before trying to park there !
Further afield, for those with kids, there's an all weather attraction called "the milky way" over towards Clovelly.,.. which is great value, lots for kids of all ages (ours ranged from 6 to 17 last time we went) and also has one of the finest birds of prey collections and displays i've ever seen.... the chap who runs it is also a very talented painter.... we have a couple of his originals of some of the birds.... damn fine work and worth every penny. he uses the funds from the sale of his paintings to operate a raptor "hospital" on a non profit basis.
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Coombe Martin etc is lovely, it's where we honeymooned, we go back every other year (we alternate holidays with North Wales) The Dolphin pub by the Beach in Coombe Martin is wonderful...
avoid the Guinness in the pack of Cards pub further up the main road, it's the worst pint I've ever had.
Yep, we saw the pubs you mentioned above and they look really nice and inviting. Unfortunately, we had already stopped off at The Red Barn in Woolacombe and had a couple so didn't want to risk stopping for more :'(, and I'm not the sort of person that can go in a nice pub and order a coffee or soft drink - it just ain't right!! ::) ;)
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The following would take at least a week to do properly
A39 from M5 via Minehead is a nice drive for a solo car.
We stayed two years running at North Morte Farm, lovely site, good views, small shop, near to two pubs, some electric points and I could get digital TV as well.
Woolacombe is a good place, expensive to park though, Red Barn does good food.
If you do this leave M5 and take A39 via Wachet, Minehead, Porlock, Lynton,, A399 to Ilfracombe, from there Woolacombe is nice (go via Morthoe), Croyde Bay is OK, Saunton Sands scenic.
Plenty of nice pubs, plenty of places to visit, two preserved railways, one is long and by seaside, one is very significant historically.
Barnstable is a good shopping town, then A39 towards Cornwall.
Bideford is OK, Atlantic Village shopping thingy, Appledore is OK but quiet and difficult to park. Westward Ho! is very seaside, with big beach and arcades.
Haven't done Clovelly yet
In Cornwall Bude is interesting, I need a visit, so far just passed through. Also has Cornwals only canal!
Wideouth bay - been past - looks nice on internet and maps.
After this Boscastle and Tintagal, Port Isaac, Polzeath, Rock then back to A39 and Wadebridge - which is an OK little town.
Padstow is nice and well worth a half day visit.
The B3276 passes some lovely beaches on the way to Newquay, beautiful scenary.
Newquay is good for drinking and for the beaches
Near A3075 now and lots of touristy things to do including a dairy farm and a longish narrow gauge railway.
If you rejoin A39 here it goes via Truro to Falmouth
The B3275 takes you past Perranporth (Seaside Rescue), St Agnes (nice place with pubs), Porthtowan and Portreath are OK for an hour or so to say you visited, there is a Cornish Goldmine place with a Delorean, just up from an LPG installer!!!! Redruth, Carnbrea are OK
St. Ives is lovely except for the seagulls and driving on the harbour front.
I'll leave off here - next bit Lands End peninsula
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The following would take at least a week to do properly
A39 from M5 via Minehead is a nice drive for a solo car.
We stayed two years running at North Morte Farm, lovely site, good views, small shop, near to two pubs, some electric points and I could get digital TV as well.
Woolacombe is a good place, expensive to park though, Red Barn does good food.
If you do this leave M5 and take A39 via Wachet, Minehead, Porlock, Lynton,, A399 to Ilfracombe, from there Woolacombe is nice (go via Morthoe), Croyde Bay is OK, Saunton Sands scenic.
Plenty of nice pubs, plenty of places to visit, two preserved railways, one is long and by seaside, one is very significant historically.
Barnstable is a good shopping town, then A39 towards Cornwall.
Bideford is OK, Atlantic Village shopping thingy, Appledore is OK but quiet and difficult to park. Westward Ho! is very seaside, with big beach and arcades.
Haven't done Clovelly yet
In Cornwall Bude is interesting, I need a visit, so far just passed through. Also has Cornwals only canal!
Wideouth bay - been past - looks nice on internet and maps.
After this Boscastle and Tintagal, Port Isaac, Polzeath, Rock then back to A39 and Wadebridge - which is an OK little town.
Padstow is nice and well worth a half day visit.
The B3276 passes some lovely beaches on the way to Newquay, beautiful scenary.
Newquay is good for drinking and for the beaches
Near A3075 now and lots of touristy things to do including a dairy farm and a longish narrow gauge railway.
If you rejoin A39 here it goes via Truro to Falmouth
The B3275 takes you past Perranporth (Seaside Rescue), St Agnes (nice place with pubs), Porthtowan and Portreath are OK for an hour or so to say you visited, there is a Cornish Goldmine place with a Delorean, just up from an LPG installer!!!! Redruth, Carnbrea are OK
St. Ives is lovely except for the seagulls and driving on the harbour front.
I'll leave off here - next bit Lands End peninsula
Great itinerary Martin, might give it a go some time. :y
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I have never managed to follow an itinery - I always seem to change where I am going.
This year I am planning on visiting north Cornwall on the way home - stay at Bude for a couple of days.
We keep thinking we have to go somewhere new but keep going to Cornwall - but we do new places every year from same base (Uncles garden).
This year we will do Eden Project, Gweek Seal Sanctuary, and I want to test my new inflatable boat as well.
Holidays and relatives in Devon & Cornwall mean I know the area quite well.
I like south west Cornwall and North Devon, but there are some nice parts of South Devon.
I'll list out Lands End tonight and a return route another day!