Hello,
My husband and I are wanting to book a flight to London late September. We would like to spend 7 nights in London and 10 days in Scotland. That's about as far as I have gotten. In the past, I have received great trip ideas and advice, though this is the first time I have been this non-specific. Just putting it out there just in case any of you would like to share. We will probably take the metro or public transportation when in London and rent a car for Scotland. Thank-you for any input you may be able to offer. Oh, my husband and I are in our 60s, but we are still fairly active.

I think you've got to do some basic research, especially on Scotland. A lot depends on your interests and, in Scotland, how much driving you want to do, whether there are specific places you want to go, etc.

I'm guessing that you like cities, or London specifically. If I had 17 days, I would spend less time in London and more time in Scotland or in some of the English countryside in between London and Scotland. But that's based on my interests, and the fact that I've spent time in London recently.

Tell us what your interests are, then we can offer better suggestions.

I tend to travel in the Spring & Fall, usually for some weeks at a time. I've found it can be useful, weather-wise, to go north to south in the fall, following the movement of the season. For 17 days it may make no difference, or with the perversity of British weather, it may be worse. But I like to think it's worthwhile playing the odds, so into Scotland in September and home from London in October.

Try to fly open jaw in to GLA or EDI and home from LHR or LGW (or in reverse). Theoretically you'd want to do the northern bits first but there are absolutely no guarantees that the weather is nicer in the south - weather in the UK is totally unpredictable. Sept is a great time (in general) in both areas. Oct can start to get wetter/cooler . . . or not.

a week in London is wonderful and you'd have time for a day trip to someplace like Oxford or Brighton or??

But - 10 days in Scotland means you need to be VERY selective about which areas to visit. It will just touch the surface. So your number 1 thing to do (after finding good airfares) is to get a good guide book re Scotland and start to whittle things down. Between London and Scotland you'd want to take the train (city centre to city centre Glasgow/Edinburgh and London)

<<I have received great trip ideas and advice, though this is the first time I have been this non-specific. Just putting it out there just in case any of you would like to share.>>

While I agree with prior posts that this needs research (https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/index.html is a very helpful resource), I can certainly share our 11 day itinerary from early October, 2017. Do note my travel style is to move bases to avoid retracing, and is probably more "intense" than many would like on a holiday. After a few nights in Edinburgh, we rented a car from Arnold Clark near the airport and set off driving. Our route was Pitlochry - Inverness - Portree (accomodation on Skye is a challenge, look immediately) - Balachullish (Glencoe) - Oban, before returning our car in Glasgow and taking an overnight Caledonian train (https://www.sleeper.scot/) to London.

60s are the new 50s
Start north and come south
open jaw
Have you been to the UK before? Just in case not here are a few thoughts...
BTW the "metro" is a free-newspaper not the "underground" or "tube" as it is called in London , you may find this useful https://tfl.gov.uk/ to be able to access all the trains/buses/boats etc
seat61.com to understand mainline trains (so to understand how to get to Scotland/London)
you might like to stop one night at York, a city with a medievel centre on the main line between the two.
if you really get into using public transport then Plan your journey | Traveline is a tool for the whole country rather than just London
autoeurope are a broker who does the best deals for car hire and sorts out any "confusion" with any local car hire stuff, I'd use them.
In Scotland I'd recommend Orkney as just a very different place to the rest. A "wild and lonely place" with some of the best jewelers in the country, opps for whale watching and non of that religious zeal you get in the Western Isles.

Thank-you all for your responses. I sat at my computer last night thinking, "I've got to start planning this trip" and this is the shot in the arm that I needed. LEXMA 90, my husband and I started travelling in 2012 starting with a 10 day road trip hitting 6 national parks in the Southwest. We've been to Canada twice (Banff and Jasper) then Vancouver Island, Costa Rica, the Pacific Northwest, Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier National Parks, so I LOVE landscapes and wildlife. I have only been to Europe once, but it was a wonderful 3 week trip. We flew into Rome and went on a 12 day Mediterranean Cruise and then 4 days in Rome, 2 days in Florence and ended our trip with 3 days in Paris. Loved every minute, but wish we could have had a few more days in each city. I would love to return to Italy. So, yes, fewer days in the London may be a good plan.

ANUJ, So far, we have the same travel style, trying to experience as much as possible in our allotted time frames, because "We may never pass this way again", but I always say we need to give ourselves time to stop and smell the flowers. I would love for you to share your 11 day Scotland itinerary, please. Thank-you for the website suggestion, I will check it out today.

janisj, all good suggestions, thank-you.

I will return to the forum when I have planned a bit. In the mean time if anyone has any not to miss experiences in either London or Scotland, please share. Thanks again for all of your responses.

Bilboburgler, just saw your post. Thank-you for pointing out my faux pas, I need all the help I can get! Neither my husband or I have been to the UK, so I will be looking into all suggestions, I love this forum.

>>I will return to the forum when I have planned a bit. In the mean time if anyone has any not to miss experiences in either London or Scotland, please share. <<

Hundreds (quite literally) I travel to the UK multiple times most years. London is a must at least once a year, and I try to get to Scotland every couple of years - it is about my favorite place on earth. So I (and several other Fodorites) could make your head spin with recommendations (quite literally) . I suggest you check out a guidebook or two and get a basic idea of which areas you want to visit in Scotland. THEN we can help you with 'musts' in those regions. With just 10 days you can't see more than a bit. Thinks about what sorts of things interest you -- history, castles, single malt whisky, golf, hiking, mountain scenery, islands, whatever . . .

And . . . when working out a basic itinerary - you won't want a car in Edinburgh or Glasgow - then when driving in rural areas plan on averaging about 35 MPH so don't be too overly ambitious.

" In the mean time if anyone has any not to miss experiences in either London or Scotland, please share."

That's too broad by far. Seriously, you could spend your whole trip in London and STILL have a ton of stuff you'll miss. London is sui generis - no city in the Anglosphere is like it in terms of history, museums, cultural attractions, and activities. Not even New York.

Bone up on the research and tell us interests other than landscapes and wildlife - that's not helpful for London.

Here are two websites to knock around on: London Town and Days Out Guide. The latter has the 2for1 offers (you can search this website or check my posts). Basically, London has three types of attractions: (1) no admission fee (lots of museums), (2) high admission fee and a waste of time (wax museum, London Dungeon, Eye), (3) high admission fee and completely worthwhile. The Days Out Guide has vouchers for the latter two categories that get you TWO admissions for the price of one. In October, that's good for the Tower, Hampton Court Palace, St Paul's and others. Even as old blighters (and you can check if AARP membership or similar will correspond to "pensioner" admission rates in the UK), the savings is substantial.

Print out every voucher that's interesting. You need to go to a national rail station ticket agent and buy a 7-day paper travelcard (orange-ish border, flimsy) and bring passport-sized photos for the pass you'll receive. You show the travelcard and the voucher to get your discount. If you go to Scotland first and London second, which you should, that means a ten-minute detour at Kings Cross. Do NOT get an Oystercard (blue, solid), do NOT get a travelcard loaded onto an Oystercard.

Also, consider one of these Scottish passes: Scottish Heritage Pass and Historic Scotland Explorer Pass. They pay for themselves pretty fast.

Slight modification (but too deep in the weeds/detail-y when you are first planning): Big Russ is right re getting paper travelcard for the 2fo1 specials. But you'll likely also need an Oyster with some pay-as-you-go ££ loaded on it for any trips outside the center of London like to Heathrow or Hampton Court etc.

Book London to Scotland trains as early as possible at National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables and grab deep discounted fares over waiting till London to buy tickets usually - there is also an overnight Caledonian Sleeper train most nights to Edinburgh and several other places like Inverness if you want to start you car trip up there and end in Ednburgh. www.seat61.com has loads of into on booking own tickets online- for trains in general like what to expect overnight trains and 1st v 2nd class also BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Check first class for discounts too as sometimes they may not be much more than cheapest standard class (2nd) tickets available. For night train book on official ScotRail site: https://www.sleeper.scot/

2nd bilbo's suggestion of stopping in York - if day trains - right on train route to Edinburgh from London - either for a night or two or a few-hour stop.

janisj and bilboburger, This is the first time I've heard of the term open jaw. We live in south Florida, but could use our Southwest points to fly to NYC or Newark and then depart from there. Our daughter lives in NY, so we could have a quick visit before departing. Do either of you have any more info that may help with booking fllights? I think flying into either Edinburgh or Glasgow and flying out of London would be a good idea.

Just check directly with airlines about open jaw - often not much more than return to one city. No special tips needed. take whatever's cheapest Edinburgh or Glasgow.

One of the things that is really helpful about a forum like this is that you get different points of view. Personally, I love cities and London is a wonderful city. The first three times I visited, I was there for 7 days each time and still didn't come close to checking everything off my "wish List."

In your planning, I'd suggest you start by looking at London and see what your must-dos are there. For me, The Tower of London would be #!, the British Museum would be #2. I've spent whole days at the British Museum several times and would still enjoy going back. But if museums aren't your thing, look for other things you would enjoy. Do you want to visit castles? Go to plays? Attend musical performances? All of these are options in London. No one can tell you what you want to see/do. You just need to do enough research to figure out what interests you.

BTW, you don't have to fly to NYC to arrange an open-jaw. Indeed, many would say you are better off arranging your flights in and out of your local airport (Miami?) so you don't have so many connections.

Happy planning!

One tip about booking open jaw, don't book as two one-way tickets (unless you are flying on points or miles) as one-way tickets are notoriously pricey.

>>janisj and bilboburger, This is the first time I've heard of the term open jaw.<<

On most airline and booking websites 'open jaw' is called multi-city. Even if it is a little more expensive it ends up saving time and money because you don't have to 'waste' a day/night returning to the departure city. Sometimes a flight in or out of GLA or EDI will connect through LHR but it is still 'worth it' because.

So far, I found a one way flight out of Newark to London for 199USD, with luggage, it would be 250. I don't think that can be beat. If I did round trip, it would be less than 500.

Bucket: Look at janisj's post above yours. Do NOT do round trip just because it's "cheaper"! It won't be by the time you get done. Start in the north. Get a car in Scotland. Pick three areas and stay 3 nights each (I pick Edinburgh for one). Return your car and take a train to London. Stay a minimum of 5 nights in London. See the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London. Go to a play. Have fun on the Tube. Fly out of London. You can't see it all. You will be back.

60s are the new 40s, bilboburgler....