Why fly to Edinburgh? Take a train from Ely to Peterborough, change there for a train to Newcastle, then bus AD122 to Housesteads to see Hadrian's Wall (or stay a night somewhere along the bus route, say Haltwhistle, so you can see a bit more of the wall and the museum at Vindolanda as well). You can then go back to Newcastle to pick up the train to Edinburgh.

You could also get a National Express bus from Heathrow to Stansted.

www.nationalrail.co.uk
www.nationalexpress.co.uk

Or if you're returning a car to Stansted Airport, you can get a train from there to Peterborough for Newcastle (takes about half an hour longer).

Thanks, Patrick. I appreciate your very helpful suggestions. That does make more sense than trying to fit Hadrian's Wall at the end of our trip. I will look at train schedules. My husband will be very pleased to hear about this possibility.

I will look at the National Express bus schedule from Heathrow to Stanstead. Would it be better to spend the night at a Heathrow hotel rather than trying to go straight to Stanstead right after our arrival at ten pm?

I just don't get the bit about arriving at LHR, then taking a car service to STN late at night and then hiring a car the next morning at STN. Why not spend the night at LHR then hire a car from LHR the following morning.

"Would it be better to spend the night at a Heathrow hotel rather than trying to go straight to Stanstead right after our arrival at ten pm?"

Possibly, but it depends how dog-tired you are on arrival.
The journey from Heathrow to Stanstead is very straightforward - 2 motorways (or freeways if you prefer!) and could take as little as 50 mins but they will be very congested the following morning and that 50 mins will likely take a much more stressful, and frustrating 90 mins plus. At 10.30pm you'll be closer to the 50 min ideal.

So, if you think you can do it, I'd bite the bullet and do all the travel asap. If, on the other hand, you think you're going to fall off the plane and stagger through immigration then maybe the Heathrow overnight option would be a better bet.

And don't forget to factor in the time it'll take you to recover your luggage and pass immigration. Your flight might well land at 10pm but you might not be able to pick up your car service until closer to 11.15 or later. Which means checking in near Stanstead at sometime after midnight. So if you do choose that option be sure to ensure your hotel will know to expect you v. late - it'd be awful to arrive and find they've given your room away!

Patrick's suggestion to take in The Wall on your way north is excellent. Vindolanda is an excellent presentation and coupled with Housesteads would ensure your husband was truly sated with Roman Britain and would feel he'd have had his money's worth. You might like to consider stopping the night in Hexham, an attractive market town just south of the wall, to ensure you maximise the time available in the area.

Enjoy your holiday!

Dr D.

The reason for hiring the car in Stanstead is that the driver doesn't want to drive out of London. This will be his first time driving in the UK.

I am sure that spending the night at LHR does make more sense than trying to get to STN late at night.

Of course, we may decide to fly from the US at night and then arrive at LHR early in the morning, but, in my experience jet lag is far worse that way.

Dr. D, thanks for the suggestion to stay in Hexham. Now I'll have to look at the train schedule.. Would we have to go to Newcastle first?

The journey from Heathrow to Stanstead is very straightforward - 2 motorways (or freeways if you prefer!) and could take as little as 50 mins

Won't happen. Your driver would have to drive at an average speed in excess of 78mph which is illegal (and likely to set off the speed cams on the M25).

I honestly can't see the point of blowing £115, and having a much longer travel day than necessary, to save less than 1 hour travel time the following morning.

If you stay at Haltwhistle, I can recommend staying at the Ashcroft B&B - excellent.

If you are up for a hike at Housesteads, go west along the wall for about 3 miles

Gordon, it does make more sense for us to stay at LHR and maybe take the National Express bus to Stanstead the next morning.

Bigtyke, thanks. I'll look at Haltwhistle, too. We like to stay at a B and B.

"The reason for hiring the car in Stanstead is that the driver doesn't want to drive out of London. This will be his first time driving in the UK."

Driving from Heathrow to Much Hadham doesn't involve driving through London – you would take the M25 (major motorway orbitol, 25 miles outside London). It's a busy road, but not difficult at all to navigate.

Bigtyke's recommendation of the Ashcroft B&B in Haltwhistle gets my vote also. It is an ideal location for visiting Housesteads, and the gardens are lovely also.

I was going to suggest Haltwhistle as an overnight, too. It's a pleasant little town, within a couple of miles of one of the more dramatic stretches of the Wall, it's not far by the AD122 bus from Housesteads and Vindolanda, and it can be reached by train from Newcastle (a bit quicker than the bus).

All about the bus:
http://www.hadrians-wall.org/page.aspx/Interactive-Map/Hadrian's-Wall-Country-Bus

Thanks for suggesting Haltwhistle and Ashcroft B and B. That sounds like just what we are looking for.

Patrick,, I appreciate the bus information. Thanks for all your help.

My husband is wondering if there are guides available or if visiting Hadrian's Walls is easily done on your own. We won't have a car at this point.

Masses of guidebooks and online information (see also the information elsewhere on the site above). If you go to Housesteads, the Wall runs within a few hundred yards of the fort and museum area, and you can just go up to it and walk alongside it for as far as you like in either direction (make sure you have suitable footwear for possibly damp and slippy ground). There will be plenty of other people doing the same thing. There are other places where you can access it, e.g., from the outskirts of Haltwhistle, but it's easy to find the path at Housesteads.

You've received LOTS of good advice about Northumberland/the Wall so I won't reinvent the wheel.

But I will comment on >>The reason for hiring the car in Stanstead is that the driver doesn't want to drive out of London. This will be his first time driving in the UK.<<

You wouldn't drive through London at all. LHR is extremely well located for collecting a car and the first drive in the UK. Of course Stansted is a lot closer to Much Hadham than is LHR.

But w/ that late an arrival, I'd book a hotel at LHR. Most of the Hotels are along the Bath Rd./A4 and so are the rental cars. I'd get the car after a good night's sleep and a decent breakfast and drive around the M25 after 9:30 or 10AM.

Thanks, Janisj, we will book a hotel at LHR. Any suggestions for hotels there?

I will tell our friend who will be doing the driving that it shouldn't be too challenging to drive from LHR to Much Hadham.

Any LHR hotel will do really. If you are comfortable bidding Priceline - it is great for LHR.

Otherwise there are 2 Sheraton's, a Radisson, and a Holiday Inn among others.

Janisj is quite right about not tackling the M25 after a long flight.

When arriving late or early at LHR or LGW I have used the Yotel pods which you can book by the hour. I really like them.

A few thoughts: not sure about two nights in Ely. Why Chester and not York? Apart from York being the much better City (more historic sites etc)it is on the right side for Newcastle and can be visited either en route to Hadrians Wall or on way back to Manchester. York - Newcastle - Edinburgh are located on the East side of UK.... Chester isnt worth a detour.