In Edinburgh we took a couple of excellent walking tours. There were several to choose from and from memory, no need to book. They leave from outside Starbucks on The Royal Mile which is very easy to find. Except for the Edinburgh castle tour where there is an entry fee, the others were free with a donation made at the end if you are so inclined.

If your boys are interested JK Rowking wrote lots of the Harry Potter books in Edinburgh.

Sorry,must noticed that you already acknowledged the Harry Potter connection in Edinburgh.

>>historytraveler - in what way is Paris less kid-friendly?<<

IMO/IME - in almost every way. Paris is a fabulous city to be sure. But there is much more to see and do in London. Plus all the museums are free in London so you can pop into say the British or Natural History or what ever - and if some or all of you are flagging, you can leave and come back another time. And London and Edinburgh/Scotland in general is (I'll borrow BigRuss' catch phrase) catnip for kids.

Castles, Beefeaters in London/Soldiers in kilts in Edinburgh, Bagpipes, Double decker buses, London Cabs, Hampton Court Palace, Stonehenge, boat trips, steam trains, Imperial War Museum, the Eye, Harry Potter connections in London/Oxford/the Cotswolds/Northumberland/Scotland (how would they like to take actual Quidditch lessons at the very castle where the games were filmed?), etc etc etc

Excellent point on Paris vs London. And what?! Quidditch lessons? At "Hogwarts"? This we must do.

quidditch lessons are at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland just south of the Scottish border.

>>historytraveler - in what way is Paris less kid-friendly?<<

they speak English in London - a big plus at attractions and everywhere -if the kids are English speakers.

Thanks folks for all the kind advice. I've decided to shorten the time in Paris and add time to London and Scotland. Now to narrow down the massive list of options into something manageable...

don't cut Paris too short though - 4 full days would be nice and there are things of interest for the boys there too- like Parisian gals!

Have you already done this trip? If so, would love to know your itinerary...we are hoping to go to these same spots with two kids this summer, ages 9 and 13.

mverdin: Welcome to Fodors.

>>Have you already done this trip?<<

No, the very first sentence of the OP says they are traveling next month. If you are planning a trip, you will do better if you start a new thread with your own details/questions.

We did this trip almost exactly a year before you--but we did London/Edinburgh/Paris in that order (flying from Glasgow to Paris). Your itinerary is even better. You absolutely can do this trip in two weeks. The art you'll find in London and Paris.

You also mentioned nature and science, it really seems like you should get a car in Scotland and go see a loch and maybe some ruined castles. Loch Lomond is not as far from Edinburgh as the Highlands or Western Scotland. Stirling is also close.

Here are the lodgings we stayed at in Edinburgh last year--it's in a section called Leith, near the actual docks, which we enjoyed walking around. Some pubs, and restaurants, seems a bit up-and-coming area. It had parking with it. This might have been our family's most relaxed part of the trip, so just throwing it out there.

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p427451

We added York to our itinerary because a lot of our family likes medieval era things and York is a walled city.

London has some great science museums. One thing still on my bucket list is Greenwich. If one of your boys loves time and watches and mechanical stuff, maybe that is a daytrip you should consider? My kids did love all the armor in the Tower of London immensely.

In England we got an in Chelsea apartment using booking.com I had a really hard time getting a place. I would suggest you reserve a cancellable place in the next day or two, and add or subtract days if you need to later.

Have fun!

5alive: If you are responding to the OP -- she hasn't been on the thread since early January. It was topped by mverdin to ask about a different trip.

Oh, sorry that is REALLY confusing when people do that. Thanks.