luvmy3poms

Hello, we are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to London and Scotland. We originally had Ireland included but after reading many posts here, we’ve excluded it due to only having 10 days. It’s our first time traveling internationally. We plan to move at a moderate pace but nothing to crazy. My son will either be 20 or 21 (depending on which month we go) and I will be 53.

I have a few questions/ideas on getting our base started and would love some insight and help please.

1)We are looking at either first or second week of June or October. We like the idea of longer days/less rain in June, but also like the idea of lower humidity/temps in Oct.Is there anything that should sway us one way or another? Bank holidays, crowds, etc? We both hate hot (over 85 degrees temps).
2) We will leave on a Wednesday from Kentucky and fly into London and head home on a Friday from Edinburgh. We are flexible on these days/flights if we can get better rates on flights/hotels.
3) On arrival day we plan to check in and just do a few things around our hotel, we want to hit the main points. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Changing of the King’s Guard, etc. My son would also like to see King Arthur's Tomb in Glastonbury so we are looking for a day trip with a travel agency for this day, and recommendations? We plan on doing Thurs-Sat at a moderate pace, is this enough time for this area? Also, do we need to buy our tickets ahead of time for most of these attractions?
4) We would love to stay in a central location with safety being top priority, would love some feedback on hotels to look into?
5) On Sunday we plan to take the Linear Train to Edinburgh, probably the 10ish train time. Get there, check in and do things around the hotel, maybe check out the Edinburgh Castle if we have time. Would also love hotel suggestions for this area. If we are short on time or tired we will plan to see the Edinburgh Castle the next morning and maybe check out some other areas, within walking distance..would love suggestions. Then on either Monday or Tues I’m wanting to book a 3 day tour with Rabbies Travel to see our main highlights of Scotland. We thought this would be best cause we don’t want to rent a car.
6) Then we will fly out of Edinburgh on Friday.
Also,
7) How bad is the pickpocketing and phone snatching? I was totally unaware of this until doing some research. Do I need a special bag and will we be able to access our phones to use citymap or Google or should they be kept in a bag, I’ve seen lots of conflicting info on this and want to start doing some prepping on things we may need to buy now.

Any ideas or additional tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

bilboburgler

I have to translate a bit but Linear train is LNER

Climate Change means that no one has any idea of the weather, and in the British Isles that comment can be doubled. Traditionally it should be 3C at the moment in Yorkshire, but over the weekend we hit 16C

https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays
https://www.gov.scot/publications/bank-holidays/ (NB Scotland never had holidays for Banks, but have taken on the meaning but have different dates)

85F is 30C. See comment about Climate Change but 30C is normally very unusual in the British Isles

Changing of the Guard is dull and a long stand about, Big Ben (Queen Liz II tower) is a walkby.

King Arthur is a fictional character (see also Morte d'Artur) invented in the 1400s, his tomb is like the Loch Ness Monster, made up.

Bag snatching and pick pocketing... well as long as you don't walk about with your stupidly expensive watch and your 10 carat diamond on your finger it is pretty safe. There are places in London where lower price things would be a danger, but as a tourist you will not be going there. Obviously you need to carry a passport (which you will never need to present as Brits don't have ID cards unless your son has to prove his age in a bar), you will need something to pay with like a debit card or say Apple pay on your phone and they need to held in an easy to access secure place. I normally have a velcro or zipped pocket in my jacket for a card.

Like all big cities you need to have a plan of where to go, assuming you use London Public Transport (and you'd be an idiot not to) then you want to download an APP to keep you up to date with problems (stuff goes wrong in Europe's biggest city) and a good APP will redirect you as this happens. The hardest part is walking out of Tube station and work out which direction you need to walk in, nearly every station has multiple exits and the guide signs are often to unfamiliar places. A good APP will solve that for you.

Price is the main driver for hotels. Please provide what you want to pay in £ and people can advise. Don't be shy, moderately priced means nothing

Michael

A friend of ours visited Scotland in September and encountered constant rain. The locals explained that the nice weather season is short, that the rains were not unusual. We were there years ago, and encountered little rain in June.

This could be an excursion from Edinburgh (we had a car):

KTtravel

How exciting you're planning a trip to London and Scotland!

I've always felt quite safe in London. Like any big city, you have to pay attention to your surroundings and keep an eye on your belongings, but I think it is safer than many US cities. I like to bring a cross-body bag when traveling so my bag can't be easily snatched out of my hands or off my shoulder.

London hotels can, unfortunately, be quite expensive. One that I would consider is the Bailey's Hotel London Kensington. Do you plan to share a room with your son? You can always send a direct email to a hotel to ask about availability for rooms with two separate beds. I used to help my aunt and her friend with travel bookings and we found writing directly was helpful if hotel websites didn't picture the type of room they wanted.

If you find a hotel that seems OK but not ideal, I would book a fully refundable reservation to hold that spot and continue your research. Once, you have chosen where to stay, cancel that refundable reservation.

I like to use Rick Steves's books for first-time travel and also this site for recommendations. Reading trip reports here are often very helpful.

Jean

The plan you lay out gives you only 7 days of sightseeing, and one of those days is impacted by the transit to Edinburgh.

If you departed home on Wednesday, you'd arrive Thursday. You'd have two full days in London, but one of those days would be spent on the day trip to Glastonbury. (There are countless things to see in London, so I'd skip Glastonbury, but it's your trip.) Then you train to Edinburgh. You'd have four full days in Edinburgh, but 3 of those days would be on a Rabbies Tour. I don't know which "highlights" can be seen in just 3 days. What specific tour are you considering?

Kiddo

We have traveled throughout Europe and have never felt unsafe unlike in the US where any loud noise or disruption has me looking for the closest cover or exit. I leave the expensive jewelry at home.

bilboburgler

London has limited guns, at the airport or around Parliament you will see semi-automatics but most normal "coppers" don't carry them and of course normal citizens are not allowed to except in special situations. This doesn't mean things are always calm but a loud bang is more likely a door closing than a need to duck-and-cover.

Gardyloo

Let me make a suggestion that might change a number of things in your plan, but of course it's all up to you.

I really, really recommend reversing your plan, and save London until the end of the trip rather than the beginning. The reasons are simple enough: London is so big and with so many things and places to see, and so busy and trafficky and crowded, that trying to get a handle on it while you're jetlagged and not accustomed to the pace, can be simply exhausting.

Edinburgh, on the other hand, is 1/20th London's size, extremely compact, and utterly walkable (or easily handled with public transport.) It's a much better place for the jetlagged and time-changed, then when you head to London, your body clocks will be adjusted and you won't have to remind yourself to look right before stepping into the street, lest you be massacred by a big red bus.

As for what to do in those places (or nearby) I think you'll find that most posters on Fodor's would recommend doing it yourselves whenever possible. Rabbies might be an exception to the rule, but even then you could probably arrange "DIY" exploring on your own. It really depends on what you want to see. With only ten days (really, less counting arrival and departure processes) you're going to have to be very specific and efficient in your planning. Things like trips to Glastonbury to see some tourist trap seem unwise, but it's your call, of course.

I'd go in June rather than October. The long daylight hours will allow you to accomplish more in the same number of days.

Madam397

We were in both London and Edinburgh in October. It was rainy in Edinburgh when we were there in the beginning of the month but the only plan we had to adjust was to skip going to St Andrews as north of Edinburgh the rain was torrential with many roads closed as well as the railroad. Edinburgh is very easy to negotiate and how much you want to do depends on what you are interested in doing. Edinburgh Castle is advisable to book in advance, Actually it wasn't my favorite site as i enjoyed Holyrood Palace more and found it more interesting, they are each at one end of the Royal Mile. I did really enjoy our tour to Stirling Castle as well as Rosslyn Chapel and Dumferlane Abbey but tours depend on what you are most interested in doing. One of the highlights for me in Edinburgh is the Royal Yacht Britannia. Our trip also included two nights in Glasgow and we really enjoyed those two nights as well. We did Scotland first and then took the train to London. We bought a Two for One railcard which was a good investment as we also used that for our day trip to Windsor Castle and our train to Gatwick as well as the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh. In Edinburgh we stayed at the Ibis Styles St Andrews Square as we found it a good location and we had a discounted rate as an Accor hotel group member. The hotel includes a nice continental breakfast with many options and is walking distance to many restaurants as well as to the Waverly train station. Actually many hotel options in that area. London hotels are pricey and October is a busy. month there but June would be busy as well. We stayed at the Doubletree West End as I figured as long as I was spending money for hotel, might as well get Hilton points and sometimes with a chain like Hilton, your room will be upgraded. It was a good location as walking distance to the British Museum which we had visited before so wasn't on our agenda actually but easy walk to either the Holborn or Russell Square tube stops. We mostly used Holborn. A highlight for us was the Churchill War Rooms along with our day trip to Windsor Castle. In addition to seeing Hamilton, we primarily concentrated on art and visited the newly reopened after renovation National Portrait Gallery, the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern, the Courtauld Institute. We also visited Westminster Abbey which is conveniently located across from the Churchill War Rooms. Didn't visit St Paul's this time around but that's London.. too much to do and never enough time so you do have to prioritize. We didn't get tickets in advance for either Westminster Abbey or Churchill War Rooms but for many people, it is advisable to do so.

janisj

Just random comments

To start - I agree with Gardyloo to reverse the order -- fly in to Edinburgh and home from London (the other way around wouldn't be awful but just IMO leaving London to the end would be better)

Now - address some of your list:

1) "We both hate hot (over 85 degrees temps)." . . . If you get as high as 70°F consider yourselves extremely lucky. Pray you'll need sunglass instead of fleece and/or rain gear. Either month works but I'd probably pick June

3) "My son would also like to see King Arthur's Tomb in Glastonbury so we are looking for a day trip with a travel agency for this day, and recommendations?" . . . Let him go on his own. There is soooooo much to see and do for you to waste a day too. He can take the train from Paddington Station to Castle Cary -- about a 90 minute journey. Then its about a 15 mile cab ride to Glastonbury. He'd want to pre-book a taxi. A commercial tour would cost a FORTUNE.

4&5) What is your budget for hotels? There are 20+ good/central/safe neighborhoods in London and literally thousands of hotels. Same for Edinburgh -- Not thousands of hotels but lots . . .

more 5) Rabbies is a terrific company -- but with such a short trip and needing time for London and Edinburgh i honestly think you won't have enough time for more than a day trip with them. You will only have Thurs to Thurs free for seeing/doing. Arrival Thursday will be pretty much a non-day after formalities, transport into the city (whether it is Edinburgh or London), jet lage, etc -- don't plan anything much on Thursday. Then you lose more than half a day traveling between Edinburgh and London -- so in 'real life' you have less than seven days free in total -- just no time for a three-day Rabbies tour. None.

It really isn't necessary to pre-book much in London except maybe Westminster Abbet

janisj

Didn't see madam397's post (and haven't read through the whole thing since lack of ¶ breaks makes it difficult . . . ) but just to comment that one data point really says nothing about weather in the UK. Weather can be great in June or awful -- or very often, both. And the same goes for October. I'd choose June not because the weather might be better but because the days are soooooooo long.

KarenWoo

We visited Scotland last June, and we were very fortunate to have spectacular weather. Temps ranged from low 60's to mid 70's, mostly sunny days, with one misty morning on Skye. I've been told this is very unusual. However, I would choose June over October because as janisj says, the days in June are very, very long so you can get a lot of sightseeing in. If you choose June, you should make hotel reservations ASAP. I made our reservations 6 to 7 months in advance, and some smaller places were already booked. I remember the first hotel I contacted in Edinburgh was fully booked. (sorry, I don't remember which one). We did stay at the Ibis at St. Andrews Square that madam397 suggests, and we really enjoyed our stay there. It is very conveniently located; we walked to all sightseeing and restaurants.

For sightseeing in Edinburgh, in addition to just wandering through Old Town (a medieval maze) and New Town (built during the 18th century) to enjoy the architecture and neighborhoods, we really enjoyed the National Museum of Scotland. It's absolutely fascinating. And another highlight for us is the Royal Botanic Gardens. I also recommend taking a Mercat walking tour of the Royal Mile that includes entrance tickets to Edinburgh Castle, with a guided introductory tour. Well worth it! You learn a lot about the history of the Royal Mile and the castle.

Some favorite restaurants: Dishoom, Cafe Royal, Mussel's Inn Restaurant, Makar's Mash Bar, and Kao Pao Restaurant. Upon the advice of a lot of people, we did book most of our dinner reservations in advance to avoid waiting in long lines. I remember when we arrived at Makar's Mash Bar at our appointed time, we overheard the hostess telling the people in front of us (who did not have reservations) that it was an hour-long wait.

janisj

"we want to hit the main points. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Changing of the King’s Guard, etc."

Some of those wouldn't be 'main points' for most visitors. i.e. London Bridge?? It is just an ordinary, nondescript, modern concrete bridge. Perhaps you mean Tower Bridge? Tower Bridge is an iconic postcard but certainly isn't a destination by itself. If you are visiting the Tower of London (which would be a must for many) then you would naturally see the bridge because it id just there . . .

Big Ben is a walk by - isn't really a thing one needs to 'schedule'.

The Changing of the Guard is a real time suck. It literally eats up an entire morning. You have to arrive quite early to get a good view point and then just stand there waiting for the Guard change. It starts at 10:45 and to get a decent viewpoint you'd need to be there by 9AM. Then you can't leave if you want to retain a spot. The the whole thing is over at 11:30. Buckingham Palace by itself (without the Guard change) is just a short 'walk by'.

Missing from your list are lots of other biggies/musts: The Tower, St Paul's, Borough Market, the V&A, the British Museum, Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms, National/National Portrait galleries, lots of other museums and galleries, theatre, any of the Royal Parks, Hampton Court Palace, etc

Most museums and galleries are free and don't require tickets (except for some special exhibitions which might require pre-booking). Advance tix could be good for he Tower, Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms

luvmy3poms

Thank you EVERYONE for all the amazing feedback! I love it. I’m going to add and subtract from our itinerary based off suggestions and ideas here. I will come back with our final one once completed. I’m still thinking of adding two nights in Ireland just to see the Cliffs of Moher. Then fly out of Shannon.

bilboburgler

shakes head
You have barely seen anything of England or indeed London and you want to visit a cliff? At least consider adding the 2 days to your Scotland part.

luvmy3poms

We are considering it, only because we are into more nature, scenery, castles, etc. We don’t want to do museums and things like that. Mainly, just touch on the high points of London for this trip.

janisj

Please --- don't! (BTW 2 days means 3 nights so are you talking about adding three nights to your plan???)

If you do have 2 days/3 nights to add, add it to Scotland.

Something to think about . . . if you truly are not into galleries and museums and cities and want to see castles and nature . . . WHY are you going to London at all? London is not mandatory when visiting the UK. Your current plan for a week-ish, or even adding a couple of days, would be a VERY short trip to Scotland and you'd have to be VERY selective what you included. But it would be totally FULL of castles, nature, glorious scenery, history . . .

Jean

Tower Bridge in London can be a destination if you take the guided tour of the engine rooms and onto some of the high-level walkways. (Buy tickets in advance.) Also, the Tower of London is at one end of the bridge. There are scenic boat rides that operate between St. Katharine's Pier (base of the bridge on this side of the river) and Westminster Pier (Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey). The boat ride is lovely on a good weather day.

luvmy3poms

I like the idea of possibly skipping London, we may do that. I was giving two nights in Ireland. Flying out Tues morning from Scotland into Dublin and taking the train to Galway, then Wednesday do the Cliffs of Moher, possibly even a tour. Then fly out on Friday from Shannon Airport

Gardyloo

Just my opinion, but the Cliffs of Moher are vastly over-visited and IMO not worth the effort, unless you're thrilled at seeing a hundred tour buses parked and a string of humanity snaking across the landscape for a 5-minute stare at the cliffs.

With three unplanned days added, consider using them in Scotland with a scenic train ride from Edinburgh to Oban in the western Highlands, then a tour of the isles of Mull, Iona and Staffa. The scenery is magical, and if you want to see dramatic coastline and cliffs, consider Staffa's Fingal's Cave (topped with puffins in June.)

Video, (music by Felix Mendelssohn, Fingal's Cave from The Hebrides)


Three island tour