Luzz

I'll do my 1st UK trip with my boy friend in the coming Feb. Will it be too aggressive to cover Edinburgh? My plan will be:

1 Day - Stonehenge & Bath
1 Day - The Cotswolds & Oxford
1 Day - York
2 Days - Edinburg
3 Days - London

I'm thinking to drive in the Cotswolds, York & Edinburgh, will it be cheaper than by train? Is it far to drive from Oxford to York, then to Edinburgh?

Should I join an one day tour for Bath & the Cotswold to save hassles & time?

How's the weather by Feb? Will it be difficult to drive on motorway? Will it snow?

Thanks for sharing your tips

Chrissie_Novelle

Hi Luzz, I'll try to answer some of your questions!!
If you try and pack all these deastinations into one trip if will be very frantic but can be done !

These are the distanes and approx driving times between the cities you want to visit ( from the AA travel planner )

London - Bath 116 miles 2hrs 30mins
Bath - Oxford - 70 miles 1hr 30mins
Oxford - York - 184 miles - 3hrs 30 mins
York - Edinburgh - 192 miles - 4hrs 30 mins
Edinburgh - London 413 miles - 7hrs 30 mins.

My advice would be ( I take it you are flying into London ?? )
spend 1st three days in London - then drive to Bath passing Stonehenge on your way - onight in Bath. Day in Bath then drive through the Cotswalds to Oxford and onight in Oxford.Full day in Oxford then drive up to York. 2 nights in York.Then drive up to Edinburgh
and spend the remaining time in Edinburgh . You must leave yourself a full day to drive back from Edinburgh to London,though.
I assume your flight will land from the USA in the am ? In that case you could spend first 2 nights in London and the last night in London before flying home.This would be a LOT of driving and would not give you much time to see each place.
The other alternative would be to stay in London and do side trips up to Bath/Stonehenge/Oxford/Cotswalds on an organisied tour - there are loads of coach operators that are based in London - just do a search on Google.
Then fly up to Edinburgh - check out British airways website - www.ba.com - (it may be cheaper to buy your ticket once in the UK ) At the moment you can fly from London Gatwick to Edinburgh for £66.00 return.The flight takes 90 mins. It is very easy to get to Gatwick airport from central London on the " Gatwick express" train link - it runs every 15mins and takes about half an hour.The ticket costs £23.50 return.
Or - get the train up to Edinburgh from London - check out www.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney -for times and prices. It takes about 5 hours by train - if you book well in advance you can get an open apex ticket for £52 return. I would not suggest trying to get between the cities by rail as our east/west rail routes are not the best !

The weather in February will be COLD - and a very good chance thay you will get snow in Edinburgh. It is not the best month to be visiting the UK! Saying that we can get some beautiful crisp winter days with lovely sunshine but I would suggest packing your wet weather gear and gloves/scarf!!

Hope this helps and good luck with planning your trip !

Chrissie_Novelle

HI Luzz - another answer re the Motorway driving !
it is not difficukt ti drive on our motorways they are very straight foward. Having driven on your toll roads and turnpikes the biggest differences you will find are the speed and the cost of fuel.The national speed limit is 70mph on the motorway but most people ignore that and drive at about 80 mph. Apart from one toll road near Birmingham ( which costs £3.00 each way and is well worth it to avoid the congestion) our motorways are free. BUT - our fuel is VERY expensive- at the moment it is approx £0.82 ( 82 pence ) per litre ( about £3.70 per UK gallon!!)

Cheers

sheila

I would agree with Chrissie's scheduling, but make the suggestion that your rganise to fly home from Glasgow or Edinburgh and not need to drive back to London. If you MUST fly home from Lonodn, take teh train south. You'll feel much more human when you get there.

don76

Luzz
I think you are trying to cover too much in only 8 days.
I would spend 2 days in Bath and 2 days in York .
While in Bath you can take side trips to Wells and the Avebury Circle which impressed me more than Stonehenge.
While in York drive over to see nearby Castle Howard.
Save Edinburgh for another trip when you have more time to enjoy that delightful city.
Perhaps see Edinburgh in August when they hold the Tattoo.

Luzz

Thanks people, you guys are super!

There're just too many things to see but too little time. I know I hv to be realistic. Hv trimmed my plan to include my top "must see" spots only, and perhaps gave up the thought of driving:

Fly fm London Heathrow to Edinburgh
2 days - Edinburgh

Train from Edinburgh to York
1 days - York (it's the York Festival in Feb!!)

Train from York to Bath
1 day - Bath, Cotswolds, Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Circles (that'll be an one-day guided tour)

Train from Bath to London
3 days - London

Does it sound human now?

don76

Luzz
You are still trying to see too much in the 7 days you listed.
Since you are locked into Edinburgh I would recommend you train directly to Bath and skip York this trip.
By the time you take the train from York to Bath (your plan)and check into your hotel there won't be enough time to see everything you want.
One day,including train travel,isn't enough.
I will be in York in just 10 more days for a 3 day visit and that is hardly enough time to see everything.

Bath is my favorite city. There is so much to see especially the Roman baths.
Save York for another visit.
I would train directly from Edinburgh to Bath, see the city that afternoon and take your trip to Stonehenge the following day.
You may also want to factor the weather into your plans as it does get cold in February.

Ani

OK-just my 2 cents...but if you have to chose between the Cotswolds and York I would chose York hands down. I guess it depends on what you are interested in, but we spent 2 days in York before visiting the Cotswolds, and wished later we had spent those days in the Cotswolds in York instead. Either way have a lovely trip!

Chrissie_Novelle

Hi again Luzz - this is looking much better - I concur with Ani on this one - if you are going to cut your trip down visit York and cut out the Cotswolds. They are a lovely part of the UK but their beauty lies in the pretty villages and countryside. Feb. is not the best time to be traipsing around the countryside as it will be dull and cold. The Cotswolds are seen at their best in the summer when the cottage gardens are in full bloom. York, however, as a city is stunning at any time of the year.
I have checked the website for Heathrow and only two airlines fly from there to Edinburgh - British Airways and "bmi" - (British midland - www.flybmi.com ).
Getting by train from Edinburgh to York is straighfoward - no changes - and will take about 2 1/2 hrs. From York to Bath is about 4 1/2 hours and will involve at least one change ( normally at Bristol ) - that will depend on which train you get/what time of day you travel. A big tip about travelling by train in the UK - do NOT travel on Sundays - this is when they do all the engineering works on the lines and you may be subject to long delays. It is also cheaper to travel " off peak " - that is outside commuter hours. You need to do your homework on this one to get the best deals. Train from Bath to London is straight through and takes about 1.30 hrs. However this is a commuter line and will be packed at peak times.
I would suggest
2 days Edinburgh
2/3 days York - (try to do Castle Howard -)
2/3 days Bath ( to take in a side trips)
3 days London.
I assume there must be some way for you to get a Rail pass from the USA - this will cut the cost of the travel down enourmously.
Hope this helps

don76

Luzz
I agree with Chrissie.
Her plan would be the best use of your time and you will be able to spend quality time in the 4 major cities you selected . Visiting the Cotswolds in February could be questionable.

isplumm

Hi ...

If you want to fly from London to Edinburgh ... try Easyjet.co.uk ... they fly from Luton/Stanstead/Gatwick. You could fly up to Edinburgh & catch the train back, therefore taking time out for York. BUT you must book soon, because the earlier you book, the cheaper it will be.

Mark

breeves

Will be in UK Dec 19 - 31, flying into Gatwick on 12/19, renting car and driving to Bath, York, Oxford and Edinburgh and getting back to London for Dec 27-31. I know about closures for Christmas and Boxing Day, but can anyone help with best place to spend Christmas Eve/Christmas and/or offer an itinerary to maximize travel plans during the holiday season.