England/Scotland/Wales Planning-Summr 2014
 

We are planning a trip next summer and would like to visit England, Scotland, and Wales. The only place we have really spend any significant time was London 10 years ago (when my son was 10). We will be on land for about 14 days and will be traveling exclusively via public transportation.

We like cultural and historical sites (castles, interesting museums, monuments) and picturesque countryside and scenery. We like to visit smaller towns and we like food. I am embarrassed to say that I am not much of a hiker but we do enjoy brief walks (1-2 miles) if there are interesting sights to enjoy along the way.

Since my son is in school, we can only travel in the summer. Is there any preferred summer month to travel?

Any itinerary/travel help and tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

the classic loop - London - York - Edinburgh - Lake District - North Wales - Bath - London may be a nice trip - easily done all by rail. For lots of great info on British trains check out these IMO superb sites - www.seat61.com - the Bible for British trains now; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. also consider a BritRail Pass that lets you hop on any train anytime - just show up - and you son and any kid under 16 gets a free pass to match yours - never paying a dime for any daytime train.

There are also night trains between London and Edinburgh but I think York is a diefinite must if going up the East Coast Rail route.

Thanks PanenQ. This will give me a great place to start. I will look at those sites. Thanks again.

another possibility, jj, assuming you are going to have round-trip flight tickets into and out of London, is to leave london immediately you arrive, and travel to your furthest most destination [eg Edinburgh] then work your way back. flying open jaw into Edinburgh and out of london would be even better.

W/ just 14 days you really don't have a lot of time for a big loop itinerary like PQ describes. Consider annhig's idea. If it was me (and i had to do round trip in/out of London) I'd land at LHR, fly immediately to Inverness. Recover from the jet lag/travel in Inverness one day and then head out on a semi-linear route: Inverness, possibly Skye, Edinburgh, Hadrians Wall, either York and the east side or the Lakes/Wales/west side, Bath, London.

The best time in summer would be basically June through early/mid July. Mid July through August is when most UK/European schools are out and when most families take vacations, and when things get much more crowded. ESPECIALLY Edinburgh which is totally filled to the gills all of August w/ all the festivals and Tattoo.

If it was me- I mean if it were me, I did not advise doing the whole loop but picking and choosing something out of a circular trip that is possible by public transportation like OP asked - I would probably first ax North Wales or Wales in general and do a London - York - Edinburgh - Lake District - Bath - London trip and may leave out the Lake District and so a day trip from Edinburgh like to St Andrews, a sweet seaside town in addition to being the home of golf or Stirling or both or take one of those mini-bus tours into the Scottish Highlands for a day (lots available once there check the Edoinburgh Tourist Office on top of Waverly station (http://www.visitscotland.com/en-us/i...centre-p234441).

We did that tour in 2007 but rented a car to travel outside London rather than taking the train. I did a report at http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...g-vacation.cfm that goes through the places we stayed and sites we saw. Driving gave us flexibility to go exactly where we wanted to go but I can certainly see the merit of just riding the train. This site has a wealth of information and I think every town and city has its own website describing its attractions. The key is planning, as you are doing, picking out your stopping points and establishing your itinerary of what to see in each spot according to your interests. The British countryside is beautiful. We went in late May and early June -- I would suggest going as early in the summer as your son's school calendar allows. I would say that you should do the loop going up the East side of Britain to Edinburgh then down the other through the Lake District and Wales and Bath to London -- you will be busy but it will be worth it.

I would say that you should do the loop going up the East side of Britain to Edinburgh then down the other through the Lake District and Wales and Bath to London -- you will be busy but it will be worth it.>

Yes for a first-time visit this is the classic tour and can be done by public transportation as OP wishes or by car - car giving you more freedom hit places like Hadrian's Wall or bits of Wales that are harder to easily do by public transit.

But yes that is IMO a great loop for first timers - the East Coast and West Coast being very different in its attractions.

<i> For lots of great info on British trains check out these IMO superb sites - www.seat61.com - the Bible for British trains now</i>

That tears it - either PalQ is the man in seat 61 or he's getting a cut.

There is a website for all British intercity rail, www.nationalrail.co.uk.

There's no way to do PalQ's loop en toto in 14 days unless you want to spend a whole lot of it on the train. Northern Wales has better castles, but the transport links are inferior (slow trains) to what's available in the southern part of the country (fast trains from Cardiff and Swansea to Paddington).

If you want to see countryside, you should consider renting a car in Scotland and/or Wales.

This statement <i> we like food</i> needs context. Most people like food, just as they like air and water. Anything you're specifically looking for?

you could easily get a train to Chester and then rent a car there for exploring North Wales then the welsh marches where there are loads of castles, then return the car in Bristol, which is a great [and so far as tourists are concerned] unknown city with great train connections to Bath [30 mins] and London [about 90 mins]. Great restaurants there too.

If thinking of renting a car for a few days and also going by train check out the BritRail Drive Pass - giving you X number days of train travel and X number days of car rentals to be used anytime over a 2-month period - take the train to Chester for example like annhig suggests - drive around and return car to any other main train station to go on by train.

If you want to go to Wales you should IMO go for a few days and not just do a pass thru - Llandudno is a great base for North Wales and its panoply of awesome sites - castles of your dreams - a seaside resort with, in theory, water warm enough to swim in in summer and the stupendous steam train up Mt Snowdon.

Bodiam and Caernaerferon (sp?) are the castles of your dreams - right in Llandudno - which has a surfeit of inexpensive B&Bs and hotels if on a budget - there is also the Great Orme and the Great Orme tramway - your kid may like - it climbs a mountain of sorts overlooking the sea - you sea mountain goats up there and views all the way to Blackpool, glorious Blackpool which could make a sweet stop by rail going south from Scotland for your kid - Blackpool Pleasure Beach being the top paid admission thingy I have read outside of London - it's a theme park on the beach with the Pepsi Max, once the world's largest roller coaster - I took my son there at that age and he loved it and tacky Blackpool (according to most) as well.

But for a few days in Wales Lladudno is great - trains and buses take you everywhere.

>>Bodiam and Caernaerferon (sp?) are the castles of your dreams - right in Llandudno<<

???

Caernarfon Castle is in . . . <i>Caernarfon</i>, not Llandudno. They are 30 miles apart.

And Bodiam Castle is in . . . Kent, southeast England.

Could you by <i>any</i> chance been talking about Conwy Castle, which is about 5 miles from Llandudno.

And perhaps Beaumaris Castle in place of Bodiam? Beaumaris is located in Beaumaris, Anglesley not far from Conwy.

Oh - yes - PQ could have meant Beaumaris. At least they both start w/ 'B' ;)

Been years since I was there. But Beaumaris is also about 30 miles from Llandudno.

There are no direct flights between Heathrow and Inverness now. However, both Flybe and Easyjet have direct flights from Gatwick.

I want to give an endorsement for Conwy! Wonderful castle and medieval city walls for walking. Great B&Bs, local cask ales and food (especially cheeses, meats, and everything else they have available when you are there), and a great base to explore the other iron ring castles (Beaumaris and Caernarfon). Oh,now I want to go back!

A Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

Could you by any chance been talking about Conwy Castle, which is about 5 miles from Llandudno.>

Beaumaris was what I meant by Bodiam and I even forgot about conwy - the castle town - a walled town on the mainland just opposite Llandudno and yes Caernarfon is yes an easy day trip by bus from Llududno - I agree Conwy itself is a sweet old town with castle and walls that anyone would love.

I from Llandudno - weirdly pronounced to me anyway with a clicking c sound at its start - took a train to Bangor then a bus to Caernarfon and then a bus to Mt Snowdon - all a very easy day trip from Conwy/Lladudno.

Janis thanks for the correction about Beaumaris - Bodium Castle of course being the gem in lovely Kent in the London area. Beaumaris is lovingly set right on the sea.

>>Bodium Castle of course being the gem in lovely Kent in the London area. <<

Bodiam Castle (note spelling) is actually in East Sussex, and it's a bit of a stretch to describe this as in the "London" area - it's almost 60 miles distant.

Well I meant it could be a day trip from London - Kent, Sussex for the average foreign traveler it's all the Garden of England and could care less technically if it's in East (or West) Sussex or Kent but I do appreciate your penchant for didacticism - as Brits would no doubt say "well done"!