cnote

I am planning a trip this June (for approx 10-12 days) with my husband and two children (7 & 12), and I'm planning to fly into London, stay for a few days and then drive up to York. We'll go to Edinburgh from there, turn west to Glasgow, and finally turn south to head through the Lake District before returning to London. Can you recommend good places to stay with children in London, York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and somewhere in the Lake District? My husband and I are architects, and the children would love a place with a little old world atmospere if possible. Any "can't miss" spots for the children, on this track, would be greatly appreciated too.

janis

I'm afraid w/ this itinerary they are not likely to absorb much if any old world atmosphere.

Assuming even just 4 days in London (which is not much after an exhausting transatlantic flight), a day to and in York, a day driving to Edinburgh visiting one or two sites enroute, 2 days in Edinburgh, a day in Glasgow, a day in the Lake district and a mad dash back to London would leave almost no time to explore anywhere except a bit of Edinburgh.

if it were me (and IF I wanted to visit Glasgow) - I would spend 4 or 5 days in London, fly up to Glasgow and spend a day there, take the train to Edinburgh and spend a couple of days, then pick up a rental car and drive down through Northumberland and Durham to York, spend 2 nights/1 full day in York and then drive back towards London (maybe through Cambridge if I had the extra day) to spend the last night near the airport.

To drive a loop from London through York/Edinburgh/Glasgow/the Lakes and back to London in little more than a week would be a real trek, especially for the kids.

sheila

Ah, but they're architects and Glasgow was recently European City of Architecture, so it will be a must see.

Cnote, were I you, I'd pick either Glasgow or Edinburgh, stay in one or the other and use the excellent public transport system to travel between the two. That might be another reason for not hiringa car till you aimed to leave Scotland, and do as janis suggests.

I did a "Scotland with Kids" document a couple of years ago and if you email it I'll send it to you. Quite a lot is not relevent being out of the cities, but there's a fair chunck on Edinburgh (and from memory a bit about Glasgow- I'm at work just now).

I don't feel very inspired with the atmosphere stuff- the Crown Plaza in the Royal Mile is a modern hotel built behind a mediaeval facade; and the Scotsman is in the old Scotsman newspaper building, which is very photogenic.

I did some stuff on Glasgow too a couple of years ago with a section on the architectural stuff. I'll send that on if you like, too.

It's all on here, but probably pretty buried.

janis

Something else to consider - -

Yes, Glasgow would be a must if you wanted to see any of the Mackintosh places (including Hill House up in Helensburgh) so if you want to see the art school, tea rooms, Hill House, etc you would need a full day or, better, 2 in Glasgow, a MINIMUM of 2 days in Edinburgh - 3 if you could swing it. And a full day in York - 2 if you also wanted to see the North Yorkshire Moors and its steam railway or Castle Howard.

So if you wanted 2 days Glasgow, 3 days Edinburgh, 2 days York and the rest in London, you wouldn't even need to rent a car since there is frequent, fast train service between all of those cities.

bellairegirl

When in York last summer with my husband and 2 sons, we stayed at the Four Seasons bed and breakfast, which is in a Victorian house. It came highly recommended from posters on this board. We stayed in a family room that had a double bed and 2 single beds. The owners were very hospitable and it was about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the center of town.

Here's their website: http://www.fourseasons-hotel.co.uk/

While in York we drove to Fountains Abbey [http://www.fountainsabbey.org.uk/], which was really interesting, a dairy farm that made their own ice cream [http://www.mashamshire.com/guide/brymor/], and a longer day trip to Hadrian's Wall (near Housesteads). My kids thought that was really cool!

In London we rented an apartment in Chelsea (but we stayed for a week), so can't help you there.

Have a great trip!
Susan

kimboston

I'm also planning a trip to London and Scotland with my family - myself, my husband, and two kids age 8 and 10. When it comes to London, I've seen a few other posts identifying some hotels in the mid-priced range for families - Dolphin Square Hotel and Holiday Inn Mayfair, as two examples, but would love to hear more about good places to stay in London, especially if they meet cnote's criteria as having some architectural or old world interest.

In Scotland, we'd like to find at least one family-friendly castle to stay in, and expect the castle stay to be a major factor in identifying our itinerary (besides the Loch Ness monster, of course). As an alternative, we are considering a weeklong stay in Scotland at one location (self-catered). Our plans are to fly into London, take the overnight train to Edinburgh, and then rent a car from there.

Any more suggestions on places to stay in London or Scotland or must-see places to visit with kids in Scotland would be great. Thanks.

sheila

kimboston

Email me and I'll sned you my Scotland with kids thing.

Also, I suggest you repost your question with a clear header, or people won't pick it up

ninasdream

I admit that I spent most of my time in Scotland and Wales, outside, driving through he rolling spring meadows, watching the new little lambs kick up their heels, and seeing the heather, the sudden cascading falls. I think your children will be charmed to. It sounds as though you can guide them throught he architecture better than I, but I thoroughly enjoyed Edinburgh Castle- the little dog cemetary for those faithful servers, and the Chapel of the Margarets, plain but sweet, and then the Royal Mile. In Edinburgh is also The Museum of Childhood, whose name I found irresistible, and it was fun, and not at all of the Disney variety. Maybe not sophisticated enough for your two but I am easily amused! Oh, the fountain around back of the castle should be in full bloom in June, take a walk down to see that. Other here can help you better with inns than I can. Bon adventure!

mousireid

Check out this site:
www.visitscotland.com for tourist info and for the kids:
http://www.kids-scotland.co.uk

cnote

thanks to all for your wonderful assistance and direction!

kimboston, from a thread off of mousireid's links, I have found this website that has a lot of interesting hotel/lodging choices - it shows castles, farms, lighthouses and others that almost defy description.

http://www.celticcastles.com/default.asp

It has the offerings listed by location, which is very helpful. My children are extremely excited about the choices!

kimboston

cnote - Thanks for the info on staying in Scotland. I also started a different thread on the topic (Staying in London and Scotland with kids), and you may get some tips from there.

Have fun with planning!

Kim