My Family and I are off to an exciting trip in Europe in three weeks. The rough itinerary is as follows:

6 nights Scotland: Isle of Skye and Northern Highlands
3 nights Edinburgh
3 nights Lake District
1 overnight in the Cottswalds
5 nights London (4 full days)
4 nights in Paris (3 full days)

I wondering now if we should drop the Cottwalds or a day in Paris for an extra day in London. Any wisdom from you seasoned travelers??

Thanks

OK - I LOVE the Cotswolds (note the spelling). But they are not a drive to, and leave the next morning sort of place.

Unless you drop a day/night in the Lakes and add it to the Cotswolds, I'd drop them entirely. And if you did that - I'd drop off the car up north somewhere (Penrith, Liverpool, Manchester, etc.) and take the train down to London.

If you did alter it to 2 days/nights in the Lakes and 2 days/nights in the cotswolds you'd have a chance to get a good taste of both areas.

If you drop the Cotswolds entirely - you have almost 2 extra days in London.

oh - I also meant to say - you might want to re-post w/ a better title at least mentioning the Uk.

I would definatly stay 2 nights in the Cotswolds and drop 1 night in either scotland or london. Stay in either Chipping Campden or Burton on the Water

So better off to not make an overnight in Cotswolds as part of the drive to London. The Lakes sound so nice and we're trying (albeit not real well!) to not move through too many overnight destinations with our 10 and 14 year old daughters.

Any idea of the train time from Liverpool? Does 4 days in London seem a bit short? It is feeling that way to me.

JanisJ thanks for the tip on the subject..I should have caught that. I don't see where I can repost it??

Hi, I think I would drop a day in
Edinburgh (sp?) and add it to the Cotswolds. We loved this area.

My genuine recommendation (understanding: I used to live near the Cotswolds and Scotland is my favorite place on Earth)

- I would not cut any time from London (and would add a day if possible). Just too big and sooooo much for teen/pre-teen girls to really cover in just 4 days.

- I personally try to avoid any 1 night stays unless absolutely necessary.

- I LOVE Edinburgh - but it is a compact city and you can see most of it in 2 full days.

- The Lakes are wonderful - and you have the benefit of being there before the summer crowds (same for the Cotswolds)

- Having said all that I'd personally cut one night from Edinburgh. Cut 1 night from the Lakes. Add 1 night to the Cotswolds. Add 1 night to London.

re your title - I wouldn't bother re-posting now since you are getting a lot of info from several folks . . . .

I'll have to see what I can do. We already have a B&Bs booked in Ediburgh and the Lakes. I'll need to see if I can adjust days/drop a day, etc. Are advanced reservations for 4 in the Cotswolds necessary?

unless you have fully prepaid and it is non-refundable - changing one day shouldn't be a problem. And even then it is common to have a few day's cancellation leeway. But you wouldn't be cancelling - just changing from 3 to 2 nights. The B&Bs' websites (or e-mail confirmations you have received) should spell out their policies.

For just a couple I wouldn't worry about pre-booking in the Cotswolds - but since you need either a family room or 2 rooms it would be a good idea.

We are in Chipping Campden now and I would seriously recomend booking accomodation here as it was difficult for us to find rooms