OK, so this trip is in the embrionic stages of development, but I have a few questions already, as my type A personality cannot stand not planning in advance!

My hubby and I are thinking of a GB trip for the summer of 2005 for 2-2 1/2 weeks, focusing on England and Scotland. We want to see London, the Cotswalds, the Lake District, and Cornwall area. My husband studied at Oxford in college, so he would like to go there as well. We also would like to see Scotland, but honestly I have no idea about what areas would be best to visit.

Can we do all of this in 14-17 days, or am I just kidding myself? I honestly cannot bring myself to leave our dog and two cats for longer than that! Anybody have any itinerary ideas? Please keep in mind that I am not that familiar with England or Scotland, so any info would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance!

I tend to squeeze more into my trips than many people, but still think including Scotland would be too ambitious.

Leaving it out, that lets you spend a week in London and 2-3 days in each of the other places that interest you. Assuming you are happy with a steady pace over that many days (many folks wouldn't be), that should be fine.

Keith

I agree with Keith. What you are suggesting is ambitious but not impossible.

My advice would be to go without a car for the first 3 days giving you time to acclimatise and do London first.

Day 4, pick up a car from the airport and head for Oxford via the M25 and M40.

Day 6, make for the Cotswolds using the A40, A44 and A429 starting with Moreton-in-the-Marsh or Stow-on-the-Wold.

Day 9, set sail for Cornwall via the A429, M4, M5, then A30 or A38.

Day 12, go north to the Lake District via A30 or A38, M5, M6 turning off onto the A590 for Windermere.

Day 14, north again on th M6, A74, M74 to Glasgow as a base to see a bit of Scotland. You are not far from Loch Lomond and the Trossachs.

Day 16 or 17 (depending on your flight departure out of London), south on the M74, A74, M6, M1 and M25 to whichever airport you want, assuming it is Heathrow or Gatwick.

If you need more detailed information feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]

While Andrewmac has given you a sorta doable itinerary - it is also a VERY hectic one with hundreds of miles of driving.

Unfortunately, with that short a time frame you'll do better if you bite the bullet and drop EITHER Scotland or Cornwall (actually I'd drop even more but most folks are just bound and determined to rush around as much as possible). Now at first glance, it might seem that Cornwall is the one to keep -- but it is in the far SW and there is really no quick way to get there.

What you could do is stay the first 5 days in London (shorther than that and it is almost better to omit London completely). Then pick up a car and travel NW into the Cotswolds for 2 or 3 nights. On to The lake District for 2 nights. Then into Scotland (north of Glasgow) for 4 nights. Then head to Edinburgh for your last 2 nights. Turn in you car -- you won't need it in Edinburgh. Then fly from Edinburgh to whichever London airport you are flying home from.

I tend to be something of a contrarian on this, but I think starting off in London, especially for North Americans, is backwards. For the first few days, you're tired, unfamiliar with how things run, and to drop yourselves in the middle of one of the biggest, most congested, expensive, hectic and diverse cities in the world is asking a lot of your body and brain.

Since you plan to include some rural areas in your itinerary, think about saving London to the end, when you can enjoy it to the max, and, incidentally, not have to schlep any purchases around the country before flying home.

My recommendation would be to go first to Scotland (directly if possible, connecting flight if necessary) - Edinburgh would be my choice, then find some place comfortable in the countryside where you could spend a couple or three nights, allowing your clocks to reset, getting plenty of rest, and just letting Britain seep into you a little.

Then start the process of moving south, zigzagging if you want, but ending up in London for the last few days or week. That way you can go to the theatre and not sit there like zombies, go on day trips to Oxford or the south coast after you know how the trains work, things like that.

Give it a thought.

Gardyloo's suggestion is a good one. There are pros and cons to putting London at the beginning or end of a trip. I often fly in to the north (Glasgow, Edinburgh or Manchester) and out of London. But just as often do it the other way around.

The main thing is you don't want to be driving long distances the first day or two. So you could fly into Edinburgh and pick up a car after a couple of days and follow a Scotland/Lakes/Cotswolds/London route before flying home.

Our family went 4 years ago for 2 weeks - london to Scotland and back. Didn't see Cornwall or Lake District, but did spend a whole week in Scotland and a couple of days at Hadrian's Wall.

We didn't feel rushed or that we were driving too much.

Let's face it - you could spend the whole two weeks in any one of these areas and not see everything. If you don't expect to go back for several years, then I don't see anything wrong with getting to Scotland also.

I get a lot of pleasure planning our next trip - perhaps as much as the trip itself. I pay close attention to this board, read history and guide books and pore over maps for months once we've decided when and where we'll be going. It's an enjoyable thing to do and adds to the anticipation.

Your trip is more than a year away so why not plunge in by doing your own research? Then, slowly but surely, you'll find yourself answering many of your own questions and making your own choices enabling you to enjoy the trip that much more.

And - I think you'll have lots of fun doing it!

Thanks for all the advice! I know the trip is so far away, and we will probably change our minds several times about the details. We want to see London, the Cotswalds--touristy, but I have heard that Chipping Campden is nice, and it is a good base for Oxford, which we will visit one day. We also want to visit the Lake District and the southern coast. We were thinking of Lyme Regis, perhaps. I would love to go somewhere in the south with nice villages and gentle surf for beach going. I would love to see Cornwall, but it is such a hike in the car, and we definitely will be seeing the Lake District, which is another hike! I am trying to keep the driving to a minimum for my husband.

I have read some bad things about Stratford on Avon, so we may skip that. I am also thinking about skipping Canterbury and Dover, as they are out of the way, and my husband has been there before.

Thanks again for the advice!

In 2-1/2 weeks you can cover a lot of ground. On our first trip we went from London to Brighton to Winchester to Salisbury to Cirencester, then up through Stratford north to Edinburgh, back down to Durham and York, Cambridge, Canterbury, and then back to London. We had a whole lot of fun along the way and did quite a number of brass-rubbings; so you can see we didn't have to rush a lot.