London, Edinburgh 14 days.
 

I'm planning a two week trip for my cousin and me. The tentative and very preliminary plan is to arrive in London April 14 concentrate on the city for 5 or so days, do a couple of short day trips (Stonehenge?) Then take the East Coast train from London to Edinburgh on the 21st or 22nd. How many days do I need to really see Edinburgh? And can you recommend some good day trips from both cities? We'll probably rent a car for a couple of days in each city for the day trips. Is Glasgow worth a visit?

We'll be staying with a friend in London but would like some recommendations for fairly inexpensive accommodation in Edinburgh. I've been checking out VRBO but don't really know what neighborhoods would be ideal, so any advice on that would be appreciated, too

We're both women in our mid-40s. We're pretty young for our age and would like see some live music, eat some good food, visit art galleries and museums. We'd like to see some of the standard tourist attractions but want to make sure we get a good taste of the local scene in each city.

Thanks!

"<i>fairly inexpensive accommodation</i>" means different things to different people. What is your budget?

You really don't need to rent a car from London for your day trips -- depending on where you are headed. Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Salisbury/Stonehenge, Brighton, and a hundred other places are all easily reached by train. Or even by bus (particularly Oxford)

You can see the basics of Edinburgh in about 2 or 2.5 days. But 3 or 4 is better. Glasgow is a great city and is worth a visit --but it mainly depends on what else you want to see.

There are lots of places to tour by car from Edinburgh - countless in fact. But there are also some you can do by train - Glasgow, Stirling, St Andrews (train and then a short bus ride), etc. And there are also good 1, 2 and 3 day coach tours. Check out Rabbies and Timberbush.

$125US or less, for accommodation.

The coach tours look like a great option. I'll definitely check those out! Thanks for that info!

As often, I second what janisj says above. Any day trips from London should be done by public transport.

Have you been to London before? If not, you could fill up your 5 days without any day trips. But of course there is so much to see!

My two favorite day trips from London are to Oxford and to Salisbury and Stonehenge. If you are at all interested in reading how we did these as day trips, see my trip report http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-day-trips.cfm
(Preview--we went to Oxford by coach and we went to Salisbury by train and caught a bus tour to Stonehenge and back from right outside the train station.)

Happy planning and travels!

Yes, Glasgow is definately worth a visit - Burrell Collection is excellent.

Hi redhead68,

$125USD is currently about £80. Another thread right now .. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-edinburgh.cfm .. mentions this place: http://www.53frederickstreet.com/ The April prices are £75-£85, depending if you want standard (separate bathroom) or en-suite. The location looks great, easy to get to Waverley Bridge or up to the Royal Mile.

I've stayed twice here: http://www.deneguesthouse.com/ .. A standard room could be less, but it's further travel (though doable if you want some more exercise getting to the Royal Mile :-) and it has bus stops nearby, too).

Were you actually wanting an apartment? I used this site to find one a couple years ago. The map method is very useful: http://www.aboutscotland.com/edin/map/rentals.html

I stayed a week at 25 Waverley Park. I enjoyed my stay, but I think you could find it too much out of the way.

Cheers.

I just posted an answer about hotels on that other thread. I picked them on Late Rooms based on location and within that budget. You can probably do better if you share a twin room.

I have an Edinburgh and a Glasgow Word document of things to do and places to go, if you want to email me.

I use www.walks.com for day trips (and walking tours) from London - lots of options, great guides and very affordable!

Look at the King's Manor hotel in Edinburgh. It is a little way from mthe city centre which is a good thing considering the chaotic state of downtown Edinburgh at the moment. They are putting in tram lines and Princes Streeet is closed to traffic as far as i know. There is a bus stop right outside the hotel to give easy access to the town