kiwipete

We are 4 kiwis in our early 60's and want to see as much as we can during a stop in England on our way to a wedding in Stockhlom in July 2011
Have been to London many times but not outside of it. We are planning to drive and are open to suggestions.
At this stage we are looking at arriving at 11.00am at Heathrow, driving to Windsor for the night, (haven't done castle yet)off to Bath the next day, off to Cardiff day 3, then up to Edinburg for 2-3 nights, (may be stops on way up and back) back to Heathrow to fly out at 1.00pm on 8th day.
Would really appreciate some suggestion of what to see where to stay etc
KiwiPete

janisj

just one quick note -- why do you need to go back to London? That just wastes a lot of time on a short holiday. You can fly from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Stockholm - no need to back track.

kiwipete

Janisj
Thanks for quick reply, we are looking at flying to Olso and then driving to Stockholm, as the flights are via Heathrow we thought we would try and see a bit more of the UK by driving back. If we decide not to do Olso then yes we will fly out of Edinburg.
KiwiPete

annhig

hi pete,

so far your itinerary looks like this:

Day 1: arrive heathrowm drive to windsor, stay Windsor.
Day 2: Drive to Bath, stay Bath.
Day 3: Drive to Cardiff, stay Cardiff.
Day 4: Drive to Edinburgh, stay Edinburgh.
Day 5: Stay Edinburgh
Day 6: Leave Edinbugh. drive to ? and stay
Day 7: Drive to Heathrow, stay nearby
Day 8 - fly to Stokholm.

notice something - you are spending most of your 8 days driving. Have you sued the viamichelin.co.uk website to check driving times?

why are you going to Cardiff - you are not allowing yourselves much time there so I can't really see the point. The Edinburgh trip is a better length, but it's being cut short because of lack of time, and the need to return to heathrow.

this would be much better:

Day 1: arrive heathrowm drive to windsor, stay Windsor.
Day 2: Drive to Bath, stay Bath.
Day 3: Stay Bath.
Day 4: Drive to Edinburgh, [will take all day] stay Edinburgh.
Day 5: Stay Edinburgh
Day 6: Stay Edinbugh.
Day 7: Stay Edinburgh
Day 8: fly to Stokholm from Edinburgh or glasgow.

if that's not possible, then i suggest leaving the car at either Glasgow or Edinburgh airport and flying back to Heathrown on Day 7, so as to be sure to get the flight on Day 8.

janisj

Definitely - If you MUST fly out of LHR, fly from EDI to LHR. That will save you a full-no-time-for-sightseeing-day rushing back to LHR. Driving up and back in 8 days makes no sense.

"<i> . . . and want to see as much as we can during a stop in England</i>"

You will essentially see nothing much between Bath and Edinburgh, so maybe first decide IF Scotland is a must. (BTW a car isn't wanted/needed in Edinburgh)

Jennywren58

on the way to Edinburgh you really should stop in The Lake District. You will be bypassing some of the most beautiful scenery.

alanRow

Don't understand why you *must* fly out of LHR to Oslo. All it does is cost you a day in travel with little chance of actually seeing anything apart from the back end of a truck.

If you really really *must* fly from LHR then either fly to LHR or take the overnight Caldedonian Sleeper.

You do realise that there are several airlines that fly to Oslo from Scotland

Maudie

I have just finalised our own itinerary for 6 weeks in the UK next May and would just like to add a few thoughts of my own. We have had some fabulous suggestions from the well informed people on this forum.

Is Scotland a "must"? Maybe you could throw around some other ideas with your friends - Bath and The Lakes District, Bath and Wales, Bath and the Peak District, Bath and Yorkshire, Bath and Cornwall or Devon.
After you leave Bath consider renting a cottage for the remainder of the time and use it as a base. Something like this would give you a chance to slow down and enjoy what you will be seeing.

Good luck with your planning.

annhig

on the way to Edinburgh you really should stop in The Lake District. You will be bypassing some of the most beautiful scenery.>>

jennywren, great idea except the OP hasn't got time to do much more than drive through Keswick and get back onto the M6 again.

kiwipete

Thanks for your feed back, have discussed with the other 3.
We will fly out of Edinburg and also drop off Cardiff, would appreciated some ideas for new travel plan, which areas to stay and how long.
Day 1 Windsor
Day 2 Bath
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8 fly out of Edinburg
Look forward to your great ideas
KiwiPete

janisj

It sometimes helps to think in terms of 'nights' instead of days - that will tell you where you'll be at the end of each day.

Night 1- Windsor

Nt 2, Bath

Nts 3 - 4 in either the Lake District or in York (depending on whether you want the Lakes scenery or North Yorkshire/York. The Lakes will be the more direct drive from Bath) You'd need the 2 nights to give you 1+ day in either place.

Nt 5 in SW Scotland (from the Lake District) or in Northumberland/Hadrians Wall/Scottish Borders (from Yorkshire)

Nts 6 - 7 in Edinburgh.

This is still pretty aggressive/hectic but doable. Turn your car in when you arrive in Edinburgh late morning day 6.

kiwipete

Thanks for your helpJanisj
We are use to traveling a lot, usually do 2 to 3 hrs driving starting at 8 in the morning (just come back from Australia where we were having drives of 4 hrs some days)and then rest of day looking around and finding somewhere to stay and then out to enjoy dinner and a evening walk. Looking for nice B&B's in all locations, any suggestions.

alanRow

<<< (just come back from Australia where we were having drives of 4 hrs some days) >>>

Driving for 4 hours in Oz gives you no idea what driving in the UK will be like. It's the difference between a massage by someone trained to do so and having an All Black pummel you instead.

The UK is one of the most densely populated nations in the world. Think driving in Auckland, in rush hour, at speeds varying between 0 & 80mph within a few hundred yards and doing so repeatedly for several hours

Lifeman

I understand that people look at a map of the UK and judge that it's not so far from A to wherever B is. However, that takes no account of the roads, day of the week (very important in planning driving) or weather. I can't see the point in flogging from place to place for no good reason other than to say that you went there.

It makes sense to pace a trip and plan it properly to get maximum enjoyment. Maybe you could consider this:

Day 1 Windsor
Day 2 Bath
Day 3 to 7 Manchester-time to visit the City and maybe country around including Lake District & Yorkshire Dales
Day 8 fly out of Manchester to Oslo via SAS

Lifeman

........or direct to Stockholm via SAS again.

Gordon_R

Just wondering (as you've got it wrong 4 times so far): you do realise it's Edinburgh (pronounced "EDIN-bur-ah"), NOT Edinburg?

danensis

Why do you want to drive. The train is a much better option. The east coast main line north of York goes through some stunning scenery, as does the West Highland line in Scotland. There's an excellent train service from London to the West Country, and if you take the southern route the run into Bath is very scenic.

sashh

kiwipete

I'll second the driving in Oz is not like the UK, 4 hours driving at a reasonable speed is not the same as driving in heavy traffic for hours on end.

I think you need to decide whether you want to pass a lot of places and tick them off on a list or see one or two places properly.

Have a look at one or two places and spend a few days in each. York always seems popular, far enpough to be totally different to London and not too far to drive back (unless you fly out of Manchester).

What do you actually want to see? Castles? Countryside? Historical places? Arts? Theatre?

kiwipete

Thanks again for the feed back, its hard this end to get 4 people to agree. Looks like we will settle for booking a B&B in Windsor for first night and B&B or Hotel in Edinburgh (got spelling right) for the last 2 or 3 nights. What we do and wher we go inbetween will depend on how long we spend in each place over the first 3 days.
We have travelled a lot together and prefer to have a rental cars to explore outside of cities. I understand that there is a lot to see in the cities or towns and we could walk or use buses/trains but we want to keep the flexiblity and the girls do have lots of luggage.
Would like some feed baxk on good average cost B&B's in Windsor & Edinburgh, closer to centre/tousit site so we can walk, but somewher we can also park a car.
Thanks for you feed back it is valued.

janisj

"<i> . . .somewher we can also park a car.</i>"

Relatively few central Edinburgh B&Bs have off street parking. But that isn't really an issue since a car in next to useless in central Edinburgh. Turn you car in when you arrive in the city and stay based on the location - not the parking.

"<i>Would like some feed baxk on good average cost B&B's in Windsor & Edinburgh</i>"

'Average' doesn't help much -- what is your budget?

"<i>What we do and wher we go inbetween will depend on how long we spend in each place over the first 3 days. </i>"

That is an OK way to plan in a relatively limited region. Winging it for 3 days in Yorkshire, or northern England, or central Scotland, or SW England -- all doable. But winging 2 countries isn't really practical. Driving from say Bath to Edinburgh is nearly 400 miles on the shortest (non-scenic) motorway route and would easily take 8 full hours w/o breaks. The same drive through more scenic bits would take 12-20 hours over 3 days. You can't just wing something like that. You'll want to at least work out a general/loose itinerary