This trip is a driving loop from London to York, to Edinburgh, then onto the Lakes District and Wales with a final leg down to Lyme Regis before heading back to London. It’s a big loop but over 14 days it’s an easy one.

Up early on a Sunday and out to Heathrow by train to pick up the hire car and away we go.

Our first stop is York for three days, though on the way up we call into Peterborough for lunch and to see their amazing cathedral. We visit the marketplace and St John the Baptist Church first before heading to the cathedral as it’s unfair on these two if they have to follow such a statement piece.

The cathedral is truly the centre piece of the township as it stands proud, dwarfing other buildings around it. Every angle impresses with the gothic detail simply astounding.

We arrive into York mid afternoon and find our accommodation. It’s an older hotel called Wheatlands Lodge that is full of character and located a short walk from York’s walled town centre. The staff are friendly and inquisitive as to why two Australian’s have arrived in York, so there is a lot of friendly banter. We are on the top floor with a view out to the lower part of the city centre which is impressive at sunrise the next morning.

Thankfully we have time this afternoon to take an initial look around as daylight savings started today and it has given us an additional hour of sunshine and we are not about to waste it. We walk through Micklegate, around to The Shambles and on to the Minster noticing that the wall around the town centre is still mostly intact which we will explore in the next few days.

What we do find interesting is that the first two local pubs we visit stop serving food by 4 pm on a Sunday making the search for dinner a bit of a chore. It’s also Mother’s Day which means that the restaurant scene is quite busy. Luckily there is an Italian restaurant named Valentino’s nearby that has room to squeeze us in. The service is brilliant and somewhat entertaining as the waiter is a larger than life character and the food is even more outstanding.

Monday arrives and we take the morning to go visiting a few towns on the coastline. First stop is Scarborough which is a surprise package with castle ruins on the headlands, sandy beaches, colourful beach houses and good coffee at a beachfront cafe.

Our next stops are Robin Hoods Bay and Whitby which are pretty in their own right.

Tuesday morning arrives with blue skies and sunshine. We breakfast early then head into town as there are generally no crowds until 10am. It’s the best time to walk around the top of the wall with magic views of the minster and a surprised sighting of another Paddington Bear.

Now it’s time to hop in the car and go hunting aqueducts in the surrounding areas. These structures are a civil engineering marvel that have intrigued both of us for many years. We find three examples. The first at Knaresborough is a gorgeous river crossing in the middle of a pretty village that has a number of interesting ruins, then Arthington is more difficult to locate down a country road but worth the patience and walk in a farmers paddock and finally Lockwood soars above a football ground. All are impressive and have us looking for more.

Our time in York is done with the next stop in Scotland in a town named Falkirk set midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. There are some surprises there that we can’t wait to see.