Would like to travel next Aug.09' from Northern England to Wales by train about 16 days?

Question

We would need 2 week open train passes for a family for

6 of us, with various interests including: history,castles,(Roman and Celtic history too).Medieval re-enactments,metal arts, jewelry and chain mail, glassblowing, music festivals, punting and outdoor antique fairs. Food and culinary (we have a culinary student coming with us)Good tea rooms, Bed and Breakfasts moderate price, Good bookstores would be a plus. What are the local things we should not miss.Interested in "off the beaten path" villages and historic sites. I've been to England several times as a teenager but haven't been since 1972. I know this is a long list but I'm trying to be complete. Thanks in advance. Best answer gets 10 points

Answer 1

I can't give you a route, but just checking you realise that this journey say, Newcastle to Cardiff could be done in a day?  So if you want to take 16 days over it, basically you are talking about lots of short trips.  Which might make it cheaper to buy individual tickets for each trip, rather than a train pass.

If you have some under 16's with you, a Family Railcard will be a must  http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fare...

Out-of-the-way villages will not be possible by train....a lot of the smaller train stations were closed in the Beeching cuts of the late 60's.

Have a look at www.nationalrail.co.uk for route maps of the rail network and ticket prices.

Some ideas:

York for history

Bath for tea rooms, history

Oxford for punting, history, bookstores