Will be travelling with my son to British Open this summer. 2 days in London then travel by car to Edinburgh for 4 days then back to London for 2 days. Only definite is 4 days in Edinburgh. Getting car for week at Gatwick. Would like suggestions on driving, places to stop on way and back to London. First time for him to London. Thanks for suggestions.

Take the A1, stop at Newcastle, then continue your drive, you'll find lots of brown signs (tourist places), if the names appeal, take a detour, that's what I love to do. Seeing as it's the summer, be and optimist and hire a drop head coupe.

I'm sorry but your plan doesn't make much sense to me. As I understand it you will be in London for 2 days, then go south to LGW to pick up a car, then drive the length of the country to spend 4 days in Edinburgh/St Andrews, and the drive the length of the country back to LGW before going back into London for 2 days.

Having a car for 1 week - spending most of a full day driving to Edinburgh, 4 days up north, and a full day's drive back to LGW leaves ONE day for any sort of sightseeing either on the way up or on the way back. I can't do any calculations that make this doable/sensible.


Unless you want to dawdle along the way and take a few days to see some of England, driving is not the way to go. You can fly up to Edinburgh in 1 hour. Driving from LGW will take a minimum of 9 hours if you just stop for fast food enroute, and another 9 hours back to LGW. And why are you picking up a car at LGW to drive to Edinburgh - LGW is 30 miles south of London and you will have to drive all the way around the city on the extremely congested M25 before you can even get on the M1 to head north. There are much better places to rent a car if you intend to drive north of London.

Why not do 2 days in London, fly up to Edinburgh and then fly back and spend 3 or 4 days in London. (or if you don't want to fly you can take a train - it will take about 4 hours from Kings Cross to Waverly Station in the middle of Edinburgh)

IF I misunderstood your itinerary - let us know what you actually plan and we can help you out.

Like janis I'm also a bit confused.
Do you mean you are renting the car for the whole time you are in the UK? You should rethink this as you most definitely do NOT want a car for the days you are staying in London. Where do you plan to park it there? A car is at best not necessary in London, and at worst (especially for a tourist) a liability. You can't really drive to tourist sights and park.
You will spend the whole time driving up to Edinburgh and back, so there won't be much time to stop and see anything along the way.
You really should fly between the two cities, or at the very least take a train.

ttt

A car is also a liability in Edinburgh. If you get the train, parts of the journey are quite scenic. If you insist on driving, the west coast route (M40, M6 , M74 & A702) is quicker than the east coast.