Great Britain for 4 months - need help with itenerary
 

My husband and I are sailing to Great Britain in late April arriving early May and then leaving by cruise ship on September 11. We are having challenges deciding where to go, when and for how long. Currently we have an apartment in London booked for the month of June and have tickets for Wimbledon and want to go to Royal Ascot too. The only other set date is the Highland Games at the beginning of August and have a hotel now for a few days near by. Ideally we go somewhere and do day trips or at least a week at a time so we are not constantly packing and unpacking. Should we spend May in the Lakes area or southern England and Wales? Should we go to Scotland directly after London and end in early August or do it for the month of August and somewhere else for July? We are active runners so hikes sound good and possibly some bike riding. I would love to stay in at least 1 castle while there. Ideas for looong trips to the British Isles. Hubby is open to renting a car some in rural areas, but loves trains and we want some coast time too.

OK -- your options are (quite literally) limitless. There is no way anyone can make suggestions. The only things I know from your post are 1) you have a nice long time, 2) you are runners, and 3) probably have a pretty generous budget.

You need to get some guide books and decide where you want to go -- then decide if it is possible to do those things predominately by rail.

Regions you might want to study include Kent/East Sussex, the Cotswolds, East Anglia, the South Coast, some of the Southwest (Cornwall/Devon/Somerset), North and west coast of Wales, York/Yorkshire Dales, the Lakes, Northumberland, the Borders, Edinburgh. . . . and several other regions of Scotland. Some of these areas can be done by train -- but if you are staying in most any rural area you really would want a car

Which Highland Games?

GB Itinerary
 

Don't forget the Edinburgh Festival while you are in Scotland, which is on during August. You must go to The Lake District if you enjoy walking and beautiful scenery. The only problem is that it will be very crowded during the school holidays (mid July to end August). You could look at Askham Hall for a mediaeval Manor House or The Drunken Duck near Ambleside would make a good base.
Devon and Cornwall are delightful and there is a continuous coastal footpath that affords wonderful views.

If you want to cycle you might look out the sustrans map https://www.sustrans.org.uk/
walking,there are thousands of miles of walks. https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
county shows
County Shows & Country Fairs Guide | UK Country Shows 2019

I don't think the OP is reading -- hasn't been back. (did the same thing on her only other ever thread)

Waste of time to respond to this OP.

Patience - the OP could be in a different time zone that isn't awake when you are (like mine for instance, I have just woken up).

Lavandula

The OP posted almost a month ago, so I don't think time zone has anything to do with it. Some people come and want us to just plan all or most of their itinerary and don't like it when people suggest that they do some research.

Oops, I did not see that - well, maybe the OP should come back and give some more guidance, I agree.

Lavandula

I'm in a different time zone too, but it's not a month behind the USA.

Sorry I have not responded quicker because at first I thought people thought my question was a waste of time! So thank you to all who have responded with ideas.
I was thinking of the Isle of Arran after seeing a recent article so will look closer at it.
Question with the Lake District. We could possibly go in May when we first land or wait till July. The challenge is - is the Lake District's weather enjoyable in May? My husband loves to sail and I believe he could sail on Lake Windemere, but would it be a miserable weather for sailing - rainy and cold = miserable sailing.
A really big thank you to the person who told me about Sustrans. I had not seen them anywhere and the Bristol to Bath route sounds like the Katy Trail we have here in Missouri that I love to ride on.

I did check back for the first week or so daily and for some reason only saw the first response and was unsure how to respond so I never did. We are not rich, just younger retirees who want to slowly visit the world and decided to start in a less intimidating part of the world. But when you suddenly have lots of time, you can get tied up in all the options! Our goal is to spend $100 US nightly for room - London is above and to cook a lot of our own meals to save cost and calories.

In London it is possible to stay in a nice place for less than £80 a night, I'd look at premierinn.com or yha.org.uk Probably best to start thinking in £ sterling as US dollars are not accepted here for most things

In the yha you can rent double rooms, in premierinn they have "flexible pricing" so booking early can score you great prices.

British weather and climate. Normally people come along and say "I was on Windermere in November 2010 and it was lovely" so what? Well, Britain is an island in an ocean and its weather is completely un-predictable until a couple of days out. So search the web under "climate" by the month and you will get the best advice. We who live here plan our days around the weather and you will want to always have a plan B and a plan A for each day. BBC weather is a very good source for day to day as they can advise down to the hour. So what might be a wet afternoon might have a lovely morning.

Arran; there is no plan B for Arran, you are out in the weather or you are bored inside.

Premier inn is our hotel choice normally in UK but if staying longer ask airbnb owner for a discount for longer stay. I have found the one week stays normally give a good discount. Edinburgh has some nice VRBO and airbnb.

Re the weather in the Lake District . . . Could be lovely in May - or not, could be lovely in July - or not. Could be nicer in May or could be nicer in July. This is not being snarky or sarcastic -- it is just the way things are in the UK. I've been in shirt sleeves/sandals in May and in fleece and cold and wet in July, and vice versa.

Okay our current working plan is:
get off the boat and head to SW England for a week or so (either Exeter or Bristol or base)and then to Wales ( probably Cardiff for a base) for a week or so.
End of May we go to London till July 1 with lots of week day trips to surrounding area
Then head up to Scotland maybe use the Caledonian sleeper train to Glasgow for a week?
Then Arran for 4 or 5 days
then up in the highlands and along the Lochs - this I have to do some research for bike or hiking trips
First week of August to Aberdeen Scotland to see friend in highland games
End Scotland with a week in Edinburgh?
Hopefully hit the Lake District after Scotland.
Am I giving too little time anywhere?

>>End Scotland with a week in Edinburgh?<<

You may want to reorganize things so you are not staying in Edinburgh for a week in August. The festivals and Tattoo are fabulous -- however rental rates/hotels will cost 3X or more what they will cost in July or September. Plus the city more than doubles in size and restaurants/pubs etc are booked solid. If the reason you are visiting Edinburgh is the Fringe/Festivals/Tattoo and aren't so much interested in sightseeing -- then yes. But if you want to really see the city without queuing with tens of thousands of others for everything -- then visit the city before or after August

Any specific reason you want to base in Cardiff? It is a decent city as cities go - but there are more scenic areas of Wales.

>>then up in the highlands and along the Lochs <<

Not sure what you mean by 'along the lochs'. There are more than 30,000 lochs in Scotland

A week is a pretty long time in Glasgow.

AND . . . just something to consider re your time in London -- a month is lovely. But London has by far the most expensive accommodations in the entire country (except for Edinburgh in August which give London a run for the money). So using London as a base for multiple day trips out of town may not be the best idea. If you only want a few days IN London maybe stay there a week or so and go somewhere else the rest of the month.

I LOVE Wales, but somewhere along the west coast or in the north (Conwy) would be my choice for a home base rather than a city like Cardiff. Or maybe two bases....

Most likely the OP is from the States (based on her only other thread) so 4 months is not an over stay.

casjay: I just re-read your OP. You need to apply for the Wimbledon lottery before the end of December. Wimbledon is not guaranteed. If you aren't successful in the lottery/ballot, you'll have to queue for hours each day you want to visit. And for Ascot you'll want to book this month (by Nov 5 at the latest).

Pity you are missing out on Cornwall and Yorkshire. If I had to choose between Bristol and Devon I'd choose Devon and Exeter.

Wales, well north and central Wales is lovely from a walking point of view, the south can be a little depressing. Cardiff, maybe you have family there, there has to be a reason for the visit.

Away from the motorway system you will find that travel takes a lot of time (use Google and add 40%), the latest upgrades to the motorway system are fantastic but when they do stop they stop. If you've not driven here then I would search out roundabouts on youtube and train yourselves on how to use them and maybe a few other road types. The UK is the world's safest country for driving on but it does not mean that some of our drivers are not plonkers and a fair bit of patience and smilling, waving thanks etc is built into the culture.

The OP says above that she is is from Missouri. The biggest problem is that they want to spend only $100 per night. Yes Premier Inns and Travelodges may offer that in places, but London will always be more than that. You can't plan a tour of the UK on the locations of those hotels as the only Premier Inn in the lakes is in Kendal. You can book that now but the cheapest prices are always non refundable if you don't go, and non changeable if you were to need to change dates. Travel Lodges are in two places, Kendal and Penrith but If you add on food and transport costs, you'll be way above your base costs, particularly with transport. Again you'll have to budget a bit more generously for accommodation as $100 is about £80. Even the British definition of a B&B wil swallow that up depending on location.

You'll have to book trains at least 3 months in advance to get the lowest prices and most walk up prices for inter city trains will make your eyeballs bleed. London to Glasgow on a walk up fare currently is £292 but if you book in advance that comes down to £60.

All in all you need to plan carefully and in advance. It might be tempting to wing it but it will cost you. Arrive at a plan that is doable and doesn't involve back tracking across the country, saving both time and money.

>> The biggest problem is that they want to spend only $100 per night.<<

OMG -- I completely missed that. You are not going to find ANYTHING in Edinburgh -- not even a broom closet -- in August anywhere near that. You'd be lucky to find something 4 times that. And except for hostels, I'd be very suspicious of any property in central London charging $100 per night. That is between £75 and £80 depending on the exchange rate on the day. Premier Inns and Travelodges are cheap in a lot of places but not in London and definitely not in Edinburgh in August. As an example - one very well located Travelodge in Edinburgh that one can often get for £50-ish or even a bit less, charges over £200 in mid August . . . and books up months in advance.

OK - more re budget SOME Premier Inns/travelodges in London will meet your budget but several will not. But rates are VERY date specific so you'd want to look at each property individually. For instance County Hall Premier Inn is almost never under £125 and often over £200. Whereas the Covent Garden Travelodge can be £65 one night and £150+ the next.

Also - you are on a $100 per night budget (more in London) but want to go to places like Royal Ascot and Wimbledon. That seems a bit of a contradiction.

And that makes staying in London for a month counter intuitive. Except for Edinburgh, London will be the biggest budget buster so I'd cut my time there way down -- to a week, 10 days tops. (and this is from someone who LOVES London and visits there at least twice a year)

So as I said, premierinn and yha are the solution. Book far out.

Who stays in travelodges? Filthy things

Ibis is also a clean chain.

Outside of London there are B&B an AirBnB.

Edinburgh just goes nuts in August

>>Who stays in travelodges? Filthy things<<

True - in a lot of places they are awful. Not mostly in London though -- most are brand new and most are very clean and several are very central.

I was going to suggest student accommodation (universityrooms.com or lsevacations.com), but checking for next September even those don't have doubles under 100 GBP, never mind USD, in London.

My last visit to London I stayed at an Airbnb, big private room & bath with fridge & microwave in the corner, paid $491 (US$) for a week, all fees included. In Wimbledon in May, very convenient for my purposes and would be in general, close to a tube station. Same room is shown now for $51 a night, that would be plus fees, maybe somewhat more in May. My point, Airbnb has some great bargains even in London and if you're willing to go 15 minutes out of the center by tube you'll find plenty well within your budget. Just spend some time on the site. It can take a while to narrow down the choices but well worth the effort for those of us on a budget. Don't let the naysayers get you down!

airbnb is certainly an option but a place in Wimbledon likely wouldn't be viable for the OP -- not when they want to be there. They want to attend the Tournament so that $491 could be closer to $2000.

casjay: If you DO want to stay outside of the core - and that can make a lot of sense for an extended visit like you plan -- make sure it isn't farther out than zone 3 (zone 1 is mostly central London). Otherwise a lot of the savings will be eaten up with transport costs. Also make sure it is convenient for rail service for all the day trips you want to take.

I was using my stay in Wimbledon more as an example of an Airbnb stay out of the center but still convenient & economical, rather than a suggestion that they should necessarily stay in Wimbledon. But one can always find a reason to not do a thing if one is committed.

http://www.booking.com/Share-UN7VH2 Look at something like this, close to transportation and you could cook a few meals and save. I saw some great places on airbnb but we are only staying three or four nights in June then moving on to Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.

https://www.vrbo.com/8019113ha?adult...ure=2020-08-08 100 USD a night but first two weeks of August, hurry and see if they have the dates you need. I would stay here. There was a guest house for 76.00 a night and a little dark but good price. Just give me dates and I will help you look.

I know -- that is why I posted. >>airbnb is certainly an option<<. AND >>If you DO want to stay outside of the core - and that can make a lot of sense for an extended visit like you plan -- make sure it isn't farther out than zone 3 (zone 1 is mostly central London). Otherwise a lot of the savings will be eaten up with transport costs. Also make sure it is convenient for rail service for all the day trips you want to take.<<

So I certainly wasn't posting any reasons to not use airbnb. Totally to the contrary. I was giving hints how to make it work. But then one can be blind to when someone is actually agreeing with them . . . Can't win for losing.

On that point I agree.

Pembrokshire is a gorgeous part of Wales with a fabulous coastline and sandy beaches.
I love Bristol - it's a great city for cyclists, history (don't miss suspension bridge and docks), architecture (Clifton), galleries (Arnolfini, RWA, home of Banksy), museum, eating, shopping, parks (Clifton Downs, Brandon Hill etc) etc and it's all walkable.
I'm afraid the Lake District could be wet any time of year but as long as you have waterproofs you will love the scenery and you may be lucky with sparkling sunny days.

http://www.booking.com/Share-gSqsVbJ Within your budget but hurry, there aren't many left and this is for the second week of August. Public transportation is good there. It says for two but then shows a twin bed. Hmmm, maybe contact the place directly not through booking.com. I still like the apartment in first EDI link.