Itinerary help!

Old May 31st, 2010, 12:59 PM
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cem
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Itinerary help!

Our family - 2 adults and 2 - 18 year old girls are travelling to UK this August. We're flying into Edinburgh (4 nights) and out of London (4 nights) - driving a rental car enroute. Here's our itinerary so far, but seem to be stuck in the middle so would love for any suggestions. We're looking for a balance of historic sites, nice scenery and abit of fun/shopping for the girls.

Day 1 (Fri) - Arrive from overseas flight around 6:00 pm - Overnight Edinburgh
Day 2 (Sat) - Visit castle, royal mile, etc. - Overnight Edinburgh
Day 3 (Sun) - More sightseeing, shopping, etc. - Overnight Edinburgh
Day 4 (Mon)- Pick up rental car - day trip to Stirling and area - Overnight Edinburgh
Day 5 - (Tues) Drive to Liverpool - 3 hour Beatles tour - Overnight Liverpool
Day 6 - (Wed) Morning in Liverpool - drive to ?? for overnight - maybe Stratford or further
Day 7 - (Thu) Drive towards Bath via Costwolds? Overnight Bath
Day 8 - (Fri) Sightseeing in Bath - Overnight Bath
Day 9 - (Sat) Drive towards Oxford visiting Salisbury/Stonehenge/Avebury; see Christ Church in Oxford before closing (5:00pm) - Overnight Oxford
Day 10 - (Sun) Visit more of Oxford - drive to London early afternoon - Overnight London
Day 11-13 London
Day 14 - Depart for flight home

We're not sure how to fill our days from Liverpool to Bath. We'd like to at least take a drive through Stratford and some quaint villages but don't know if there's much time for stopping along the way. Any suggestions?

Also - is Day 9 too ambitious?

Thanks -
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Old May 31st, 2010, 01:37 PM
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OK - a few comments/ideas to consider.

• First of all Oxford is really near the eastern edge of the Cotswolds. Going from the north through the Cotswolds to Bath and back up to Oxford is a bit of extra to-ing and fro-ing IMO.

Plus Stonehenge is not on direct line from Bath to Oxford.

I'd consider driving from Liverpool to the Cotswolds and stay three nights somewhere maybe near Burford or Stow-on-the-Wold. Use this as a base to see a bit of the Cotswolds and a day trip into Oxford. You'll have plenty of time to stop in Stratford/Warwick or somewhere enroute. The next day do a driving tour in the Cotswolds. Then the next day do Oxford.

Then drive down to Bath early the next morning. Spend all day exploring Bath and stay the night. Next day see a bit more of Bath and then drive over to Stonehenge/Salisbury/Avebury. Drop the car at LHR and take public transport into London.

• Edinburgh to Liverpool is about 225 miles and will take nearly 5 hours to drive. By the time you get to you hotel/check in and get back out to the tour you are probably looking at 6-7 hours after leaving Edinburgh. What time is the tour?
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Old May 31st, 2010, 01:41 PM
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Are there trains from Edinburgh to Liverpool? Prob. < 5 hours, if so.

How much are RT tickets by rail to Stirling? If equal to or less than rental, consider the train, again. Driving in Scotland is not the world's most fun activity, even though the roads between Edinburgh and Stirling are good (for Scotland).
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Old May 31st, 2010, 01:43 PM
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hi cem,

firstly your itinerary for scotland looks pretty good to my untutored eye - but after that, I'd like to suggest some changes.

1. Day 5 is too busy - I don't think that you will be able to drive all the way from Edinburgh and do the 3 hour beatles tour all in one day. if you use a website like viamichelin.com, you'll find that it's a drive of at least 4 1/4 hours. why not take the opportunity of stopping off half way in the Lake District, spending the afternoon on a lake like coniston or windermere, and then going to Liverpool the 2 or 3 days later?

2. after that, I would suggest choosing either Bath or Oxford, not both. Bath would be my choice. you could spend 3 nights there, and then make for London via salisbury/Avebury/stonehenge if that's what you like. I woudl suggest returnnig you car at Swindon or Reading as you won't want a car in London.

3. London. Have you been before? are you allowing yourselves enough time there? there's lots to see, and my experience of 18 year old girls is that they can't have enough time for shopping. [try Cirencester in the Cotswolds for shops - i spent an hour there this weekend and i had to run away lest my credit card got carried away with itself!]
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Old May 31st, 2010, 01:48 PM
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" Driving in Scotland is not the world's most fun activity,"

Actually driving in Scotland is one of the true joys in life (I'm not kidding BTW). BUT driving in Edinburgh is not

Unfortunately -- you aren't going to any of the places where the roads are open/scenic and the driving is a blast.

I agree - a train to Stirling is best -- IF you only want to see Stirling. But if you want to make a day of it and include Doune, Inchmahome, maybe Bannockburn and/or the Wallace memorial --then you absolutely need a car.
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Old May 31st, 2010, 03:22 PM
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cem
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Wow - quick replies!

janisj - Alot of what you're suggesting makes sense - I like the idea of a base and then doing day trips. I'm wondering if Bath gets short-changed by only staying 1 night. I've also heard that many places in Bath have a 2-night minimum for weekends. Do you think this would work:

Day 6 - Liverpool to around Burford (stopping enroute in Stratford) - Stay Burford area
Day 7 - Day-trip to Oxford - stay Burford area
Day 8 - 1/2 day drive around Cotswolds towards Bath - Stay Bath
Day 9 - Bath - Stay Bath
Day 10 - Stonehenge, etc., enroute to London

Re: Edinburgh to Liverpool - I did check a route planner and it said 4 hours by motorway ((should I be allowing more time?) I thought if we got an early start we could be there by 12:00 or 1:00 o'clock. I was planning to book a private taxi tour so you can choose your time - I was thinking 3'ish - and they pick you up at your hotel so we wouldn't have to worry about getting ourselves to a meeting point. Does this seem doable?

Big Russ:

There probably are trains between Edinburgh to Liverpool but we want to drive - luggage, flexibility, etc.

For Stirling - we had considered taking the train for the day trip but probably want to see abit of the countryside in addition to Stirling. As well, we thought if we had the car the night before we could get an early start the next morning.

Annhig:

We did originally consider going through the Lake District but realized something else would have to be cut from our itinerary. We live near the Rocky Mountains in Canada so we see beautiful lakes and mountains all the time. Thought that some of the other scenery would be more unique for us.

Choosing between Bath and Oxford would be tough as the girls really want to go to Oxford and we really want to go to Bath - if possible, we would like to fit them both in.

London - we've been several times so have visited the main sites - we'll just revisit some favorites, see some shows, and shopping of course - you're right about the girls! Thanks for the shopping tip in the Cotswolds.

Returning the car - Is it really that bad to return the car in London? Taking public transportation in with all our luggage seems to be a hassle as well.
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Old May 31st, 2010, 04:21 PM
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cem: "I did check a route planner and it said 4 hours by motorway (should I be allowing more time?)"

Typically you need to add 30% and sometimes even 50% to the times to allow for 'real life'

Your new plan sounds fine --sort of flip a coin whether to do 3 nights Cotswolds/1 night Bath -- or 2/2.

The issue w/ staying 2 nights in the Cotswolds, and the reason I recommended 3 nights, is that 2 nights does not give you 2 days. You would spend a good part of day 1 driving down from Liverpool and stopping enroute a place or two. Then you only have one more day in the area -- for Oxford -- before leaving the next morning for Bath. You would not have any time IN the Cotswolds itself.

My thoughts were something like this:

Day 1/night 1: Leave Liverpool, arrive Stratford by mid/late morning. Spend 4 or 5 hours hunting Shakespeare connections. Then on to the Cotswold area, arriving at your B&B around 6-ish or later. Check in and then head to a local pub for dinner

(Now -- the Cotswolds do start not that far south/short drive from Stratford -- but that area is farther from Oxford and Bath so I'd recommend staying farther south/Burford-ish)

Day 2/night 2: Day trip to Oxford and back

Day 3/night 3: driving/walking touring in the Cotswolds

Day 4/night 4: Leave early in the AM and arrive in Bath by 0900-ish. Spend all day exploring Bath.

Day 5/night 5: Explore more of Bath until lunch time (or maybe a bit before) and head out to Stonehenge/Salisbury. Salisbury is about 40 miles from Bath - about an hour's drive.

Bath is wonderful -- but it is compact and having 1 full day plus a few hours the next morning will let you see a lot.

It's true some places in Bath will have a 2 night minimum. You have enough lead time that you can probably find a place though. This isn't the Bank Holiday weekend is it? (Aug 27-30)
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Old May 31st, 2010, 06:16 PM
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I've driven in Scotland. Country's great, driving conditions are less so, and I had good weather.

Just realize that the cost of driving in the UK is high -- $8+ per gallon high.
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Old Jun 1st, 2010, 12:44 PM
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FYI, petrol seems to be coming down in price at the moment - it's around £1.16 - £1.17/litre.

what it'll be when you arrive though is in the lap of the Gods.
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