Please comment on my below itinerary. Obviously - I am trying to keep it simple by keeping the number of destinations low and sticking with easily accessible location (hoping to avoid car rental).

I feel like I may already be behind on planning this I worry that hotels rooms will be in demand in the second half of August.

Day 1 (Sat Aug 17) - Depart for Europe Late in Day
Day 2 - Arrive Edinburgh - recover
Day 3 - Edinburgh
Day 4 - Edinburgh Day Trip
Day 5 - Travel to York
Day 6 - York
Day 7 - York Day Trip
Day 8 - Travel to London
Day 9 - London
Day 10 - London
Day 11 - London Day Trip
Day 12 - Return Home (Washington DC)

Thanks,

sounds ok to me but i would spend more time in Edinburgh, it will be more expensive but you will be right in the middle of the biggest arts festival in the world,enjoy it.

Depending where you land and how tired you get, you may prefer to "recover" at a cheaper location than Edinburgh during the festivals, like say Glasgow. But I would also concur with more time in Edinburgh. Loved being there during the festivals.

Well it's simple - but too short IMHO. But if that's al the time you can get.

IMHO a first visit to London needs at least 5 days (6 nights) - but I wouldn't worry that hotels in London or York would be sold out for a year from now. Edinburgh is different - because of the festival. For that I would reserve now - as long as it's cancelable in case your dates change.

And, sorry but I would rent a car - since the day between Edinburgh and York you should stop and see the remains of Hadrian's Wall with the various museums and Roman remains. (You may be able to do this by tour or bus - I don't know - we did it as part of a road trip - but we took 9 days to get from London to Edinburgh.)

Looks fine to me - there are some personal preference things (I love London and would scrap a day trip from York to add that day to London, for example). But if you know generally what interests you in each and think this is the amount of time you'll need, it's definitely doable.

As WillTravel noted (you may be aware of this already), August is Festivals time in Edinburgh, and there will be lots of crowds. I'd start booking accommodations as soon as you can. I doubt you'll have trouble in London or York, though, unless you have very specific requirements.

I assume/hope you will be attending the Military Tattoo Festival. It is quite the experience. Here is the website.

http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/tickets/...acility-closed

Info will become available late this month and tickets will go on sale in December. If you are serious about going you must purchase your tickets as soon as they go on sale or you will be out of luck. They sell out very quickly.

Since you are visiting Edinburgh during the festivals you will need to book your room asap as they also sell out quickly and the prices increase dramatically also. Do not worry if you have to book outside Edinburgh a bit as they have an excellent bus system. We took it daily. No problem at all.

I agree with skipping the York day trip (1 /2 days in York is fine) and adding that day to Edinburgh. There is much to see and do. You might want to take a walking tour of some kind:

http://www.realmarykingsclose.com/

http://www.mercattours.com/home.asp

We took a tour each day and really enjoyed them.

For train info check out www.nationalrail.co.uk for schedules and fares and if you book early to save huge bucks over full fare - and also these informative sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

But the early bird gets the limited in number worm discounted tickets so book as soon as it comes on the site but keep in mind may be train specific and not changeable nor refundable. do this for both Edinburgh to York and York to London - small day trips like from Edinburgh to Stirling or St Andrews are inexpensive fares and can also be done by bus as well as train (train for St Andrews - train to Leuchards then take buses that meet trains the several miles to St andrews proper - Stirling and St Andrews being perhaps the most two popular easy day trips from Edinburgh.

Looks OK for the short time you have. I definitely agree w/ the others - more time in Edinburgh.

I'd also want more time in London myself. In fact - since you only have 12 days including travel time - I <i>might</i> consider 4 nights in Edinburgh, on day 6 take an early morning train to York and spend the entire day exploring the (small) city, evening train to London, stay your last 6 nights in London, fly out on day 12.

Or maybe slightly better -- 4 nights Edinburgh, morning train to York, spend 1 night there, early AM train to London and your last 5 nights there.

You only have 9 free days really (2 days are in transit + 1 will be low key/jetlag recovery)

<i>I feel like I may already be behind on planning this I worry that hotels rooms will be in demand in the second half of August.</i>

That's a bit of an understatement - Edinburgh in August is the peak of peak times for accommodation of any kind due to the several Festivals on at that time. People have been booking for next August since the 1st September

http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe

Great input - thanks all.

You could also do York, if short on time, as a break in your day journey by train from Edinburgh to London - put your bags in a station locker - walk around the very nearby town center and famous York Minister and get back on the train. For the average tourist York's few main (and blockbuster) sights are easily seen in a few hours. Better to stay overnight but that takes a day away from Edinburgh or London where I agree you may want more time than previsioned.