KandKsmom

Hi everyone,

I wrote about this last year and now our plans, or at least the dates of our plans, are shoring up. We are planning our trip for the last two weeks of May 2016. I would like to stay for two weeks in order to see what both of us are excited about. My daughter will be finishing her junior year in college. She is the history fanatic, especially interested in all things medieval, castles, architectural history, the Celtic culture, medieval churches and castles, etc. We are most interested in Edinburgh, York, the Cotswolds, and London, but she also has expressed an interest in Nottingham (loves Robin Hood

"But if you have 2 weeks "on the Ground" I think you can fit it all in. One option might be: Fly into EDI or GLA and spend 3 nights/2.5 days in Edinburgh, Take the train to York and spend 1 night/1.5 days. Pick up a car and drive down to the Cotswolds - spend 3 or 4 nights. Then drive to LHR, drop the car and spend the last 6 or so days in London. Fly home. (or you do it in reverse.)"

janis, I really like this plan, but wonder how hard/long of a drive is it from York to the Cotswolds? I am not totally confident with my driving, I "think" I could do it, but.....The only other thought is for us to skip Edinburgh and just stay with York, the Cotswolds, (maybe Nottingham) and London. I don't want to overplan and overdo, but I don't want to have the two weeks and wish that maybe we would have seen more parts of the UK
either. Any thoughts?

Havana128

You can get a train directly from York to Cheltenham with no changes - takes 3 hours. Better than driving to The Cotswolds.

janisj

That plan is fine - I definitely wouldn't want to skip Edinburgh. And there really isn't anything in Nottingham. To avoid the long drive from York to the Cotswolds, you could take the train from York to somewhere close like Oxford and get a car there. But driving out of Oxford can be a pain. Yet another option is to take the train to moreton in marsh and collect a local rental car (there are no national chains so you can't do a one way rent but there are garages who rent locally). Drive around the Cotswolds the 3 or 4 days, drop the car and take the train into London.

The drive from York to the Cotswolds is long but not difficult . . . But having it your first day behind the wheel might not be that much fun.

Or you could do everything by train but visit the Cotswolds as a side trip from London.

bilboburgler

Given that York is surrounded by many ruined or semi-ruined monestries and some lovely old churches and castles, I think your 1.5 days is just too limited. I'd look at say 3 nights with a whole day given over to the city itself and the rest driving around

There is nothing in Nottigham, even Robin is a just a myth, you might find it more interesting to follow up "Hereward the Wake" who at least existed, though Gisburn is a small town you could visit (again in Yorkshire).

York to Cotswolds on a motorway would be ok, try to avoid the rush hours and friday night especially. While country lanes are equally interesting at least the speeds are slower and you get time to be used to the car size and size of road/everything being on the wrong side etc.

bilboburgler

If you want to use buses/trains to avoid cars then this site which links up all the public transport in the country http://www.traveline.info/ would help, for me the best visit is Ripon minster and Fountains Abbey (really pretty) which can be done by bus in a day from York

bilboburgler

but the trip will be slow and frankly, after you have flown the atlantic for the pleasure, why would you.

janisj

Bilboburgler: that was a plan I laid out for the OP on her earlier thread. Not that I think 1.5 days is enough for York and nearby abbeys etc. But based on the info in the earlier thread that was a good compromise.

In fact the Cotswolds tick fewer boxes than York would. How about doing Edinburgh, York, London by train including 2 days of rental car to drive around North Yorkshire. And then squeeze in either a London Walks day trip to the Cotswolds or do a one night, almost 2 day day trip out of London.

Morgana

I like Janis's idea above, but an alternative would be to drive from York up to Edinburgh, taking a couple of days to do so.
The A1 takes you up there and has easy detours off for some stunning places. Northumberland is beautiful, with much to see that would tick your boxes. For example you could detour off for a trip to Holy Island (Lindisfarne). Or visit Hadrian's Wall.
https://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/
To get to Lindisfarne you have to drive across the causeway which gets covered with the sea when the tide comes in, so keep an eye on the tide table (posted and signed before you cross over!).

Bilbo - always thought Gisburn was in Lancashire!

bilboburgler

Morgana, you are correct, though historically it was always part of the West Riding.

I assume Guy's accent would have been a cross between Norwegian and northern French

Rubicund

If you skip Edinburgh and start at York, how do you get there? You'd have to fly into Manchester or Edinburgh in any case, depending on where your home airport is. Start in Edinburgh to allow for your daughter's Celtic thing and train down to York (I always think that York is a bit overrated), train to Cotswolds, then to London.

Avoid Nottingham, there's not much to recommend it apart from a statue of someone who didn't exist.

Rubicund

It also occurs to me that if you want to see a bit more of the UK as you said, you do York-Manchester by train, have a couple of great nights in the UK's second city (ignore Birmingham's claims to that position) and then train to the Cotswolds.

Manchester has much to offer, including excellent hotels and restaurants, great history and good theatre.

sofarsogood

>>Avoid Nottingham, there's not much to recommend it apart from a statue of someone who didn't exist.

Brain Clough was real enough

KandKsmom

You all are so kind to take time to share your advice. Thank you so much! OK so I am nixing Nottingham for sure. I was concerned about the few days in York, too, given what she wants to see there. Both of us are as much into seeing the countryside of the UK, so that is why I wanted so much time in the Cotswolds, but maybe we need to compromise and shorten it by a day and add to York. We have always wanted to stay in one of the cottages in the Cotswolds, so I am inclined not to do a day trip out of London. If we could just go for a month, all problems solved, but she has to work next summer! Boo hiss...lol

I like the suggestions about taking the train from York to the Cotswolds, so happy about the option to do that.

As I still work through the no. of days where, let me go back to Edinburgh. She would really love to see The Highlands. This is a girl who dressed up as a Scottish Highlander for Halloween at school this year! (Yes, I am serious) Can that be done on one of the day tours and us still be able to see the sites of Edinburgh with the plan above?

Again, thank you all. I look forward to "talking" to you as this vacation plan moves along. So excited!

janisj

Rabbies does a couple of nice day tours into various parts of the highlands. Easy to fit in a day trip from Edinburgh. And they are small coaches usually 12-15 passengers so not like the big boys.

Rubicund

"Brain Clough was real enough". Doesn't the statue have a pocket in it for the odd brown envelope?

KandKsmom

How does this sound?

Fly into Edinburgh 3 days Any suggestions for best place to stay? We need to be budget conscious for this long vacation (for us)We are happy with clean places, if it has character that is a plus as long as it isn't expensive!
Train to York 2 days
Train to Moreton on Marsh (Hire car-any suggestions?)
Drive to Burford Home base for stay there. 4 days We'd love to stay in a cottage, hopefully they have some that don't require a week's stay.
Return car to Moreton on Marsh Train to London
London 5 days..If we chose to stay at a uni accommodation i.e. LSE, would we be really sacrificing a lot experience-wise. Are there hotels that are reasonably priced and offer a better location or enjoyment factor?

Thanks for the continuing advice!

bilboburgler

Flanneruk is active today, if he comes along maybe he can tell you what to do in Burford for 4 days why not try a B&B, they can be very cosy and none of the shopping to be done

Morgana

Not sure what your budget is, but we stayed here in Edinburgh.
http://14hartstreet.co.uk/
Excellent place, off the main drag so it was quiet, but within easy walking distance of just about everywhere. Breakfasts were lovely, and it was definitely full of character.
The tripadvisor ratings for the property are some of the best I've seen for anywhere!
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R..._Scotland.html

janisj

You really do need to give us a $/£ number. " Not too expensive/reasonably priced" could mean just about anything, depending on the person.

KandKsmom

I am thinking no more than 150 USD a night for a hotel, cottage or B+B. 14Hart Street looks like that might be a possibility (unless the 90 pounds a night goes up the last two weeks of May)

Also, I am trying to figure out a per day average for meals, etc. Does anyone have any idea--I know it differs depending on people's eating habits. Neither of us is a huge eater, we like light meals. I am a vegetarian. I see 14 Hart St offers a nice breakfast, as do some of the hotels I assume.