danon

actually, Glasgow would be a good day trip from Edin. !

Percy

I have to agree with isabel

If you are going to Edinburgh and you are passing through or near York
then

for sure go to York.

If you only do the Minister, walk about in the Shambles, walk the Wall....in April the daffodils will be out and they grow on the slopes of the Wall,

Then there is Clifford's Tower, a remnent of the York Castle.

It is a short distance from the Shambles and since it is on a high hill, the views from the top are terrific.

There is nothing to see inside of Clifford's Tower, but a spiral staircase takes you to the top.

travelgirl2

I love the idea of stopping in York. Clifford's Tower looks very interesting.

We will likely try to get to Glasgow, and may even fly home from there, since the flights are $80 cheaper than from Edinburgh.

Manchester games are on Saturday and we have to fit it into my son's week of spring break, so we'll have to fly into or out of Manchester (or London).

Isabel - I love your pictures. It is the architectural elements that I tend to take pictures of while travelling, and it looks like that catches your fancy also.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

travelgirl2

I was thinking we'd add a few days onto spring break to make it into 10 days.

STUMBLEBUM

I visited both in quick succession. If I could merge the atmosphere of Dublin with the asthetics of Edinburgh, I would go and live there tomorrow.

Edinburgh makes the most sense and is probably better suited to taking a teenager. The main thing that I loved about Dublin was the bars and that just isn't the same with kids in tow.

stfc

Just a point - do you have a source for tickets to a Man U game? I suggest you really need to get something sorted before you go to save disappointment, particularly for a club like that. For the first time in my life I will quote from yesterday's Observer:

"Ironically, it is only the extremely well supported clubs, such as Liverpool and Manchester United, where non-season-ticket-holding parents find it almost impossible to obtain tickets on the open market to introduce their children to the experience of a live game."

Another point to bear in mind, Premiership games are not all played on Saturday afternoon due to TV coverage requirements. So I suggest you research fully beforehand. Perhaps start at www.manutd.com. Good luck, hope you get there.

travelgirl2

Thanks everyone! We've narrowed things down now. We'll be going to London, Manchester, York and Edinburgh, with a possible day tour outside the city or a day in Glasgow. Airline tickets from the NY area into London and back from Edinburgh were very reasonable at $593 per person.

stfc - good point about the Manchester United tickets. It does seem impossible to get single game tickets. Any available re-sales from season ticket holders aren't released until the stadium is sold out, and they're still probably hard to get then.

I finally bit the bullet and bought Hospitality tickets, which was all that was available this far in advance, and include a meal and a ticket to the game. For a price of about $325 per person. Yikes. I'm not a sports fan, so I've never spent so much money on something like this. My son is joking that for $325 we get a hot dog and a ticket to the game.

I'm going to try to arrange a tour of the stadium, where they also have a museum. They're not on sale yet for the spring, but I plan on getting tour tickets when they become available.

Thanks again for everyone's help. Fodorite's are the best!

dutyfree

Edinburgh with York in a hearbeat. I would also stop at Whitby)if you have time) which is a darling town on the coast north of Robin Hood"s Bay(?).Think Dracula.......coming out of the sea.

There is a wonderful and VERY helpful poster on here named Sheila who lives up in that part of the world that has shared helpful hints to all of us through the years.

Have fun and be sure to have a Glenlivet! Ah the haggis.

liverbird

Travelgirl, apologies,
as i put the wrong web address for the video of Edinburgh, which also has lots of great advice too.

It's www.edinburgh.org/video.
Hope you have a good trip!

travelgirl2

Nice video, liverbird. The music got me in the mood for Scotland.