carboncopper

My husband and I are keen on the history side of Europe. Last two years we have spent one month each, during April, in Turkey and Italy. This year (April 2014), we have planned for UK, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Our idea is to spend first 3 days in London, then travel to Paris for 6 days (Eurostar), Brussels (3 days) and Amsterdam (3 days). Take Ryanair or easyJet to Edinburgh. Then possibly drive down to London through Durham, York and Cambridge and see the historical places by car . Finally spend 6 days in London (planning to cover Bath as a day trip) before starting back to India, where we hail from.

We have planned the trip in such a way that we are not in London / Paris during Good Friday / Easter (as read in various posts to avoid heavy crowds).

The idea of the Edinburg to London Trip is to cover critical places by car.
Trip One: Edinburgh - Stirling Castle - Isle of Skye
Trip Two: Edinburgh - Durham - Yoke - Warwick Castle - Stratford upon Avon - Oxford - Bath - London

However, the Caernarfon Castle seems to be off the path - so wondering if this can be missed.

Once we finalise the trip path, we would be finalising the hotels.

My doubts (a) For the Car trip - considering that we wish to do at a comfortable pace and also see the castles well, is 6 days sufficient. (b) Have we missed anything "big" on the way (again - historically significant). (c) If this is Ok - where should we plan our night breaks along this trip.

Would really appreciate if anyone can help fine tune this. As said earlier, our interest is more on historical places and Museums. For example, we intend to spend at least 2 full days at Louver. We also enjoy walking around soaking the local culture. Not too much into food/drinks.

Thanks in advance.

Michael

I have a trip report on our trip in Scotland. If interested, click on my name to find it. Some of it covers an area farther north than you intend to travel, but part of it was in the area between Glasgow and Edinburgh and the Tweed valley.

jamikins

I would fly directly to Paris and out of London and keep all your London time together to cut back on backtracking

janisj

only time for a very quick comment just now - I agree w/ jamikins. You should book open jaw into Paris and home from London (or maybe in to Edinburgh and home from Amsterdam or Brussels.)

Then you'd have Paris > A'dam/Brussels > Edinburgh > London - or something like Edinburgh > London > Eurostar to Paris > A'dam/Brussels.

michelhuebeli

Fly to Edinburgh, fly home from Paris. Edinburgh-London-Amsterdam-Belgium-Paris. Makes the most sense.

As history buffs you have to be prepared to visit the countryside locations in Belgium and France, both WWs left a lot behind. Also about history: Normandy (D-Day, June 6 beaches etc).