‘I attempted a free route planner and it confirmed me elements of the UK I’d by no means seen earlier than’
Daily Star Assistant Editor Richard Brown headed to the Lake District via the road less travelled, using a new route planner to show him some scenic alternatives to motorway driving
Richard Brown and his partner took on a road trip with a difference
Staycations are booming across the UK, with more than half of Brits planning to load the car up and embark on a trip this summer.
But while the endpoint is hopefully worth the wait, the journey itself can often be a bit of a slog. Mile after mile of anonymous motorway and identikit service stations can grate on even the most hardy of drivers.
So when my partner and I were planning a late summer trip from our pocket of rural North Yorkshire across the Pennines to the Lake District, we wanted to do things just a little bit differently.
As more and more of us turn our backs on the ease of the motorway and instead try to make the drive a part of the adventure, we used temporary car insurance provider Tempcover’s new Scenic Route Finder tool to map out a drive that would take us to places we’d never seen before and allow us to journey on a road less travelled.
The idea was that instead of a two-hour straight line across the country, we’d wind north and south, sharing the driving and stopping off at a few spots along the way. Sure, it’d take us an hour or two longer, but we’d actually get the chance to soak up some of the beautiful scenery around us, rather than just sitting in the inside lane of the A66 and occasionally overtaking a tractor…
So early on Saturday morning, we set off. From home, we headed south into the stunning Yorkshire Dales, first stopping off in Grassington. It’s a town so typically Yorkshire that it was the setting for All Creatures Great and Small, a blend of beautiful stone cottages, and boutique shops.
The Snake Walk in Grassington is well worth your time(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
We didn’t have too long to explore, but did take the chance to stretch our legs and do the ‘Snake Walk’, a quick half-hour, mile-long stroll that, even with the rain, was a tranquil way to kick off the weekend.
From there, we continued west, my partner Sophie taking over the driving for the next hour-long stint towards Cumbria, with our sights set on White Scar Cave. The almost four-mile long cave system is a place we’ve both long wanted to visit but unfortunately the weather had other ideas. By the time we’d arrived at around 11am, the rain was so heavy that tours of the cave had to be cancelled.
Luckily however, another 20 miles closer to our eventual destination of Ambleside, we found Levens Hall, a manor house that’s been broadly unchanged for more than 300 years.
The weather had cleared up a little bit, so we were able to wander round the magnificent gardens in the sunshine, tour the Elizabethan house and grab lunch at the excellent on-site restaurant.
Half an hour after we left, we were driving along the shore of Lake Windermere and pulling into Ambleside, which, despite the inclement weather, was still bustling with tourists, walkers and a hell of a lot of dogs.
Even without sunshine, Ambleside is picturesque(Image: Lancs Live)
In total, the journey from home took us about three-and-a-half hours, but the longest individual stint was only 90 minutes and our route took us to places we’d never been before, gave us sights we’d never seen before and escaped the doldrums of a monotonous drive. Well worth the extra hour in the car!
Our time in Ambleside flew by. Once we’d got settled into our beautiful hotel, The Ambleside Townhouse, we headed for a spectacular meal at Mexican tapas restaurant Bar eS, had a few drinks to soak up the atmosphere and went for an evening walk out of town to the nearby ruins of a Roman fort.
The food at Bar eS was spectacular
The next morning, we took a few hours to visit some of the incredible boutique shops, swinging by Fred’s Bookshop, independent gift shop Herby Jacks (maybe the best-smelling shop I’ve ever been in) and The Old Bank House Chocolate Shop.
And just like that, it was time to hit the road again. This time, we headed north, planning to take in the Durham Dales on the way back home.
Our first stop came just under an hour after we left Ambleside, to visit Dalemain, a grade 1 listed mansion near Penrith. Included in the price was an incredibly interesting guided tour around the house, which, despite supposedly only taking 45 minutes, ended up lasting almost an hour and a half and proved excellent value for money.
Luckily, the weather on Sunday was much improved, giving us the chance to also look around the gardens, home to woodland, a peaceful lake and even a giant dragon made out of a huge hedge.
Dalemain’s very impressive topiary dragon
Another hour in the car took us through the Pennines to the very impressive High Force Waterfall in County Durham. High Force is one of our favourite spots for a walk and we’ve visited a few times before, but when the route takes you nearby, it’s hard to say no to another outing.
Our final shift in the car saw Soph take the wheel, heading another 45 minutes or so to the Old Farmhouse pub in Darlington for a restorative Sunday lunch, before the final half an hour home.
While our winding Odyssey across the north of England may have taken a bit longer than going direct, it also avoided most of the congestion and tedious queuing, and I would say it was well worth the time. If you’re going to be sat in the car listening to podcasts, then why not get some joy out of it and make the sights you see from the window a part of the trip?
Tempcover’s free Scenic Route Finder was incredibly simple and intuitive to use. You just plug in your start and end point and let it do its thing. It can suggest multiple different scenic detours as well as natural ‘swap spots’ to allow you to divide up the driving as much as you see fit.
And with Tempcover’s temporary car insurance, it’s easier than ever to share the drive, even for just a few hours.
Adam Craddock, temporary car insurance expert at Tempcover, said: “With the UK staycation market seeing strong demand this summer, we wanted to give motorists the best of both worlds.
“Motorways are essential for efficient travel, but we also want to give holidaymakers an easier way to discover stunning scenic detours alongside their usual routes.
“A great trip should start the moment you get into the car, not just when you reach the destination. It’s all about making the most of the journey together and sharing the adventure every mile of the way.”
