sfmaster

I kept researching a trip to HP world in Orlando for the kids ...and kept hedging, I know it's great but something was keeping me from booking it. A few days ago I looked at DH and said what I really want to do is take them to England! We have dear friends to visit there, DH would love to spend 2 whole days at the British Museum of Natural History. My three kids are SUPER HP fans. We also had fun last Summer in Washington DC enjoying museums, urban sites, people watching. We ended up with a ton more miles than we thought this year and remarkably there are some not bad options for miles tickets in early June.....

Here is my idea.

Fly into London - 3 days with family friends - Warner Bros Studio convenient from their location
4-5 days in London - VRBO rental, walking around seeing some top sites, perhaps a musical

What I can figure out is a Scotland portion of the trip.

I'd love to see the Jacobite Train. I think we'd have fun in Edinburgh also for a few days.

Where to stay ahead of the train... Ft William? Go there straight from London (overnight train?) then on to Edinburgh... or to and fro from Edinburgh. After hustle and bustle of London it would be nice to have the quiet of countryside - highlands... but doesn't seem like Fort WIlliam is a place to stay. Could devote 2-3 days to this portion

2-3 days in Edinburgh and fly out open jaw from there

Alternately I could give up on our Scotland portion and add something else as a contrast/comparison to London. Perhaps Oxford or York. Then back to London to return home.

If Edinburgh stays on the list I'd also love Family hotel ideas for family of five (always tricky).

Happy New Year!

oh2doula

we are Harry Potter fans too and what better than to see the actually sites??? There are Harry Potter bus tours - walking tours but I am planning my own - we are planning to see Platform 9 3/4 , Grimmuald Place, Diagon Alley, leaky Cauldoun, Millineum Bridge, Ministry of Defense, Gringots.

I thought about going to Warner Bros but opted not to - we only have five days in London and sooooo much to see and do!!

lovs2travel

London Walks has some Harry Potter walks (among others) that you might enjoy:

http://www.walks.com/London_Walks_Ho...r/default.aspx

Underhill

Friends of ours took their 13-year-old daughter on a Black Cabs Harry Potter Tou of London, and everyone enjoyed it.

Barbara_in_FL

On our first trip to Scotland we did the Jacobite train from Ft. William to Mallaig - it is spectacular - and my kids are as crazy about trains as they are about Harry Potter, so it was worth it. Do a search for some of the other Scotland threads for alternatives to staying in Ft. William. It doesn't seem as dreadful an alternative to me as it does to some, but then, I never stayed there - we were down on Loch Fyne for a week and drove up just for a day trip.

I wouldn't go all the way to Scotland JUST for the train, but if you are combining it with some other things, it's worth it.

The other Harry Potter site we went to on that trip was just back over the border, in Northumberland - Alnwick Castle, where some scenes from the first two HP movies were filmed. However, that's in the opposite direction from Edinburgh, so I don't see it fitting into your itinerary this time.

When we were in Edinburgh we stayed at the Herriot Park Guest House, http://www.heriottpark.co.uk/index.php. I reviewed it on the forum at that time. It was clean and comfortable, not in the center of town, but not far away either. I believe they have family rooms that take up to 5. Our room was for 4, but could easily have accommodated a cot.

sfmaster

Thank you!

Yes we also love the train part not just HP and some quiet after busy city.

Would love some other ideas for how to time, pace, order a trip North for train and perhaps Edinburgh or other spot to round out itinerary.

This is a super fun day dream while I take down all the decorations

BigRuss

The Scottish experts will warn you off Ft. William because it's reputedly a dump. Figure out what you're trying to see in the Highlands and that will help determine where to stay. If it's primarily castles and whisky, Ft William is on the wrong side of the country.

We did a 4-2-2-2 trip around Scotland with 4 nights in Edinburgh, two outside Inverness (northern castles, Culloden, distillery heaven is nearby), two outside Aberdeen (castles galore) and two more in Edinburgh to putter around and see a football match so we could learn new epithets. There's a great rail line in the Culloden area but I don't know its schedule or if it's anywhere as scenic as the train on the western half that gets a lot of play on this board.

wayfinder45

Having just come back from a short visit to HP world at the Universal park in Orlando, I think you have the right idea to shoot for a really meaningful experience! Yes, it was kind of cool, but in a superficial, fleeting way. For all their interest in HP, we were done with that part of the park in 2 hours. We were lucky to have gone the week before Christmas when lines at Universal were thin, but even though we got on the HP rides in less than 15 minutes, the area was crowded and cramped. I can't imagine visiting during high season -- it was clear that the waits could easily top an hour and more.

Early June is a good time to go to the UK, so keep day dreaming....

oh2doula

Good to know about the Universal HP world - thanks!!

Vpicks

Follow this link for some of the highlights of the Jacobite train journey

http://postcards-pfte.blogspot.co.uk...obite+train%22