SueOnTheMove

janisj - that sounds perfect. I was just looking at vrbo rentals for a week in London to use as a home base. This seems much more sane, thank you!

bilboburgler and Appia, thank you for the good insight. You may have just saved me much sneering and angry under-the-breath remarks from my dad about wasted time! I appreciate that.

So, looks like plane rides from Dublin to London (after 2-3 days there), a week in London to include day trips, 2-ish days in the Lakes (arriving by train) for the party, and 2-ish days in Scotland (Edinburgh and maybe elsewhere if we're feeling brave hearted, ha!) before heading home.

Another question - we had issues in Spain with taxis refusing to transport the 5 of us (don't get me started on the mean cabbies in Seville). What will we encounter in the UK?

I appreciate your help!

SueOnTheMove

Oh, forgot to add the dates, which basically revolve around the 18th of July's party. I *think* we'll arrive Dublin around the 7th. Trying to fly early week because it's usually cheaper. Also, there's a cheaper direct flight from here. I just looked it up and to fly Clt-Dub, Dub-LHR and then Edi-Clt (on the 21st) is ~$1700 for the kids and myself. I'll have to work on using miles etc, but it's a good starting point.

bilboburgler

UK has a number of different things like "taxi"

The Black Cab in London should take 5. But luggage as well may be an issue. http://www.londonblackcabs.co.uk/About.html says it all.

Other cars used as public transport (called up by phone/email etc). Well you need to book the right size for you. UK requires all car users to wear a seat belt. So if it only has 4 seats it can only take 4 people incl the driver. If I needed 5 seats I'd book 5 seats and the supplier will supply 5 seats+.

Same will be in Ireland I guess

SueOnTheMove

Ah, I could have just googled that, sorry, but thank you.

janisj

Cabs in London all hold 5 for getting around town. But if you mean from the airport into London a pre-booked car service is much better than a cab it will be cheaper and they will send a vehicle large enough to handle the luggage..

SueOnTheMove

Ok! Looks like my father decided to take over....
Here's our new schedule:


6th fly to Dublin
7th Arrive Dublin
8th fly to London
Sightseeing bus trip around city.
9th visit Stonehenge via bus or train
10th visit Stratford via bus or train
11th rent car - Glasgow.
12th drive to Skye
13th Skye & vicinity
14th Inverness/Edinburgh
15th Edinburgh
16th Lunch in Newcastle/Tynemouth
17th Grange
18th Grange
19th Grange
20th fly to Dublin
22nd fly home

Looks like we'll just power through the jetlag!
Technically, I can do what I want after the 20th as my parents are going to Paris for an extended trip.
Any insight/advice? Luckily, we've been offered rooms with family along the way so our hotel bills will be cut substantially. Accommodations in the Lakes will be a bit tough since there will be 9 of us total (our 5 plus my brother, his girlfriend, my uncle and his girlfriend). I found a place on homeaway, but if you have any suggestions I'm all ears. I checked the hotel sites...amazing how quickly things are getting booked! We had to book a hotel in Skye since rooms were rapidly disappearing.
Thanks!

SueOnTheMove

More pointedly, any reco's of a fantastic place to stay in or around Edinburgh would be appreciated. It might be fun to splurge on a castle or something akin for a couple of nights.

janisj

Sorry, but much of your fathers plan makes NO sense.

What does the 11th mean? Are you actually renting a car in London and driving to Glasgow? Or are you flying to Glasgow?

And on the 14th you will drive from say Portree on Skye to Inverness to Edinburgh? That is an entire day in the car w/ no stopping - - about 8 hours 'behind the wheel'.

And you will only have half a day in London.

This really is not a good plan.

Rubicund

It appears that the more you try and plan this, the more difficult it starts to be, especially when someone does a bit in the middle without looking at the rest of it. How about this:

6th & 7th Dublin
8th Fly to London
9th London (Ditch bus-just decide what you want to see).
10th Stonehenge trip (if this a must)
11th Train to Oban Rent car, drive to Portree
12th/13th Skye and around
14/15/16th Edinburgh (ditch Inverness)-sightsee on way from Skye-long day. Ditch Newcastle.
17/18/19th Grange over Sands-family visit
2021/22th Fly Manchester/Dublin, then home

Rubicund

It also occurs that you're doing Dublin twice. Why not fly into London initially and do all the Dublin at the end, or do a couple of nights in Dublin and tack on the extra days to London.

SueOnTheMove

I realize it seems odd, but it's cheaper (by $400/ticket x 3 tickets) to fly through Dublin and that way we'll get that extra day to see my relatives there.

janisj

Dublin - fine, I get that. Grange over sands - the same.

It is EVERYTHING in between that is the problem. Very little of it makes any sense.

historytraveler

With your latest plan you will only have a half day in London and that on a sightseeing bus. London is one of the world's great cities with enough too see and to do to keep one busy for weeks and you're only giving it a half day? Stonehenge and Stratford will essentially be full day trips.

Do you plan to take the train to Glasgow? Again a 4/5 hour journey ( not at all scenic ) even if you plan on flying, it'll take up half a day leaving you little or no time for sightseeing in Glasgow. The next day you rent a car and drive to Skye? One day on Skye and an 8+ hour drive to Edinburgh? Won't even bother to comment on the first three days of your itinerary. I strongly urge you to get a map and look at a journey planner on a site such as www.theaa.co.uk to determine travel times to which you will need to add another 30% to get an accurate estimate. Also check out the national rail site www.nationalrail.co.uk for train times and duration.Travel can be fatiguing even if you aren't affected by jet lag.Your present itinerary, quite honestly, is an endurance contest.

SueOnTheMove

I'm going to send all your replies to 'the powers that be'. Thank you.
I agree that London is worth more than a quick drive-by. Since we have family there it's a no brainer to come back at a later date and spend more time. This is really an 'Intro to the UK' for my kids mixed with a family party. Stonehenge is a must because of my kids (the rest of us have all BTDT), Stratford is my mother's requirement, and Skye is my mother's bucket list. This is what happens when you've got 2 weeks and a lot of people to please.
I think I've mentioned before that we all did the south of Spain in a week last summer (then spent another week based out of Madrid where we did day trips and a big family party) and it was fantastic (we did a hell of a lot of driving, but we had a blast, ate our faces off, and my kids loved it). Endurance is our forte! Seeing as England and Spain are the mother countries of my parents it's not like we're newbie tourists being exposed to Europe for the first time. This is like coming home for them.

Thanks again. Stay tuned!

janisj

Just be sure to tell the 'powers that be' that driving in rural England and Scotland is not fast. No matter that you love long drives. Northern Scotland or Skye or the Lake District are 35 mph territory.

SueOnTheMove

That's valuable info. Thanks, janisj!

dwdvagamundo

Sue--

We rented an apartment in Edinburgh with Stay Edinburgh Apartments (booked through booking.com). The one we got was on the Royal Mile--large apartment, comfy and quiet because of thick glass in windows. Had a washer/dryer which was a great convenience as well as a kitchen The booking.com site says they can accommodate families. I'd see what I could find through them, although it is late to be starting to look.

PalenQ

any road off the freeways in the U K I have found can be tedious driving - lots of lorries, etc - the very side roads are well paved and hardly travelled but are often sinuous in nature and at times one lane with 'passing zones' ahead - yet this will reveal the real Britain not possibole from main roads. Like janisj says keep you distance expectations lower than you imagine for such roads.

SueOnTheMove

I just received the revised itin from the powers that be. This is with the considerations all of you brought up, I'm told.


7 Arive Dublin O/N
8 Fly to London (first flight am) Sights on/off bus O/N family's house
9 Stonehenge O/N. family's house
10 family drives us to Stratford to meet friend, O/N friend's house
11 Train to Glasgow O/N
12 Get rental car & drive to Skye O/N
13 Skye O/N
14 Drive to Aberdeen O/N
15 Drive to Edinburgh O/N on/off bus
16 Drive to Newcastle/Tynemouth/South Shields Meet family O/N
17 Drive to Windermere O/N
18 Windermere O/N
19 Windermere O/N
20 Fly to Dublin to see family. Return to US a couple/few days later

Thanks for all the info. I'm currently only tasked with booking Edinburgh. I can't get over how quickly things are getting booked up! I know July is high season, but this is nuts!

SueOnTheMove

Sorry, should have been more clear. On the 9th, the O/N will be at the same house as the 8th in case you were worried we were packing up and sleeping in a new bed that day as well.