Hi guys, Me and my wife are planning a 2 week vacation in the UK. Our plan is to stay in London for 5 days and then rent a car to visit Scotland/Northern Ireland for another 4-6 days. Can you guys please recommend which would be the best places to visit? We're not really into history and museums and stuff, what we look for in a place is the vibes it gives out and how "happening" it is. Also, would love to know what's the best place to pick up and drop a rental car in London, as I don't want to land up paying congestion charges. One thing I could do is to pick up the car from the airport itself and drive straight to Scotland and do London after that. Thoughts? Thanks in advance guys <3

When are you going? I suggest you should pick either Scotland or Northern Ireland. More to see in England outside London if that's too much Scotland for you.

London:
There's a well-known jazz and blues club called Ronnie Scott's that is definitely a scene. My sons went and really liked it. If possible reserve tickets ahead of time, their shows do sell out. There's also some more alternative smaller sets in their upstairs bar.

In London there's some amazing gardens to walk through, for example Kensington Gardens.

You may not * love* museums, but walking through a castle somewhere is really pretty cool to do once. There's an ambiance you get from being in a building with stone walls several feet thick.

A smaller or mid-sized old city on your trip would be good, ie Lincoln or York. In York you can walk around on the top of the city wall.

Also, in Scotland, I think you might appreciate Glasgow more than Edinburgh.

You definitely don't want a hire car in London, use public transport.

On a safety note, picking up a car in Heathrow and driving to Scotland after an Atlantic flight and on the wrong side of the road with UK motorway traffic is not a good idea. If you do want to go to Scotland from the airport I'd suggest flying.

Scotland, outside of the main population dense areas, the roads are pretty slow, so we'd need to know where in the country you want to go.

time-out might be useful https://www.timeout.com/london

>> then rent a car to visit Scotland/Northern Ireland for another 4-6 days.<<

That is plain silly -- sorry but it is.

I would take you a full day to drive to Scotland (and that would be straight up the motorway without any sight seeing or stops. Then IF you want to return to LHR w/ the car that would be another FULL day's drive, leaving you a grand total of 2-3 days for 'Scotland'. And look at a map -- Northern Ireland is across water so it would take more than a full day each way including the ferries - and be VERY expensive.

For what you say you enjoy, Glasgow and London would be a great trip (with a day trip to Edinburgh from Glasgow by train). For Glasgow + London there is ABSOLUTELY no reason to rent a car.

If you are flying into LHR, book a flight up to Glasgow the same day -- about 4 hours after your scheduled arrival time. Stay in Glasgow 5 nights. The first day will be just travel and jetlag recovery so you'd have 4 days to 'play with. Three for Glasgow and one for the Edinburgh day trip.

Then take a train down to London (faster/easier than flying if you are going city center to city center and more than twice as fast/easy as driving)

Spend the remainder of your time in London, fly home.

posted too fast (and preview isn't working)

>>I<B>t</B> would take you a full day to drive to Scotland . . . << and other typos . . .

-5alive, Thank you for your reply and insights. We're traveling end of June.

-You definitely don't want a hire car in London, use public transport.

Definitely not hiring a car in London, thank you

-On a safety note, picking up a car in Heathrow and driving to Scotland after an Atlantic flight and on the wrong side of the road with UK motorway traffic is not a good idea.

We live in India, hence we already sit on the RIGHT side, see what I did there, lol, driving won't be a problem for sure.

-Jainsj, Thanks for your replies buddy, I'll definitely keep this in mind. I was personally against renting a car, but I was told the drive to Scotland mustn't be missed... Will definitely reconsider.

>> but I was told the drive to Scotland mustn't be missed… <<

The drive to Scotland would be great/fabulous/terrfic . . . IF you had a full week just for the drive not counting any time IN Scotland. If you just drive up by the most direct route (a full day's drive), you would be on motorways and they are not at all scenic. Can be totally missed.

>>We live in India, hence we already sit on the RIGHT side, see what I did there, lol, driving won't be a problem for sure.<<

Even being used to right side driving -- driving after a long haul flight is a VERY bad idea. Jet lag and being unfamiliar with the roads, you simply don't want to drive on the first day.

"On a safety note, picking up a car in Heathrow and driving to Scotland after an Atlantic flight and on the LEFT side of the road with UK motorway traffic is not a good idea."

Just so you are clear and, understanding you are coming from india, I would not dream of doing this drive and I live in the UK.

The drive to Scotland is interesting but only really worthwhile after you get north of say Durham (depending on which side you are driving up there being 2 main routes).

A drive IN Scotland can be wonderful, but you have to get through the motorways of England first, which while a great deal safer than the main roads in India (see what I did there are still hard work.

The trick is air or train, there are plenty of places you can pick up a car when you get to the end but really having a car in most British cities is not sensible.

Hi - can't agree more with the comments about NOT driving from London to Scotland. It is a really long drive, lots of traffic congestion at various points and not at all scenic. Stick to train/air!! Hope you have a lovely trip!!

If you haven't booked your flights yet you could fly with Emirates into Glasgow via Dubai (two flights per day from Dubai) then fly back from London. Might be a cheaper option and it cuts out the long journey north from London