janisj

You are talking 48 days @ $125-$160 (basically £80-£100) per day which is doable.

I am still concerned you think you'll be able to hike. Have you actually looked at winter weather one can expect in places like Glencoe, Skye, Orkney, along Hadrians Wall etc.

historytraveler

I'm a pretty hearty walker but doing it in mid- winter in the Highlands can be exceedingly dangerous and not a lot of fun.

shellfish

>>I am still concerned you think you'll be able to hike. Have you actually looked at winter weather one can expect in places like Glencoe, Skye, Orkney, along Hadrians Wall etc.<<

Yeah I've read the comments and and searched about hiking during the wnter and I'll probably scratch that off the list and just walk around the city or join the walking tours hehe. So I guess I'm bounded by castles and museums ( If the weather permits me to do so)

janisj

Many castles won't be open that time of year - a few examples:

Cawdor: Closed
Dunvegan: Closed
Crathes: Weekends only
Craigevar: Closed
Castle Fraser: Closed
Dunrobin: Closed
Inchmahome Priory: Closed

Not all are closed but a LOT are.

Are your dates at all flexible? Could you go later in the Spring?

If not, I'd maybe concentrate on a series of week-long city stays plus Orkney. You can always take local day trips like those offered by Rabbies https://www.rabbies.com as you can see here https://www.rabbies.com/edinburgh_tour_departures.asp many of their tours won't be running at that time of year but enough are you'd still have a decent choice.

So you could spend a week in Edinburgh and do a couple of day tours, a week in Glasgow w/ maybe 1 or 2 day trips, fly up to Orkney for a few days, then maybe Liverpool, then York, and so on . . .

bilboburgler

one of my nephews, ex-royal-marines likes hiking in Scotland in mid winter, but he takes his preparation very seriously, unless this is your thing, don't.

PalenQ

Great day trips from Edinburgh go by train to Sterling and St Andrews - short train and or bus rides - check them out - easy to do on your own. Or take the superb Rabbies tours - highly recommended by many in the know (that's not me) on Fodors.

janisj

>>Great day trips from Edinburgh go by train to Sterling<<

Nope -- St<B><red>i</B></red>rling . . .

PalenQ

thnaks jan dear - I know that too but often think of the Pound Sterling and make a mistake.

http://www.secret-scotland.com/Attra...ling-jail.html

We - me and my then teenage son - actually enjoyed Stirling's grim Old Jail House visit as much as the castle.

PalenQ

About St Andrews - easy to do by train and or bus but in past posts on another thread janis - a true Scottish expert IME - advised taking a Rabbies Tour there because it also stops in some fishing villages en route that the trains or buses do not pass thru it seems. Easy to do on own but Rabbies have a great rep amongst Fodorites at least and are relatively inexpensive for what you get it seems.

but if you want to putz at your own pace it is very easy to do on your own if you just want to do St Andrews and nothing else.

alienor

The north will be bloody cold; alas York is now flooding too. Skip Dover, go to Rye (train from London) and stay at the Mermaid if you've got the money. Likewise, after London (at least a week) go west to the Cotswolds, Bath, maybe the Wye Valley, up into Northern Wales, then the lake district at the end and maybe fit in the Dales of Yorkshire and return to London via Cambridge (skip Oxford, too big). Pure heaven, I've done this trip a number of times. If you have the nerve, rent a car and stay in pubs or B&B's.

PalenQ

rent a car and stay in pubs>

I guess you mean staying in rooms for rent above pubs and not sleeping in pubs!

ESW

I don't fully understan PalenQ's comment. What is wrong with sleeping in pubs? Some of them have excellent B&Bs as well as the bar.

stevelyon

Palenq was being funny pointing out that you sleep above the pub not in it. Although it's not unknown for people to fall asleep in the pub.

PalenQ

Yes attempt at a wee bit of humour and also to let some perhaps clueless Americans know that some pubs - especially in rural areas and small towns but not so much IME in say London, do have B&Bs above them or somewhere in the non-public bar place.

I've stayed in bar B&Bs but never really found the 'motherly' touch of a typical B&B - especially in the breakfasts served by hired help often and not a warm caring B&B owner. But I've not stayed in them extensively so maybe my experiences are not typical.

sheila

I've missed the boat on this- away from a "proper" PC for a fortnight.

If I can help with the Aberdeen bit at all, let me know

Helsie

Don't skip Dover as alienor has suggested. The war caves below the castle are wonderful to visit.
I'd stay in places like Edinburgh for a week and do day trips out from your base. Looking at your list you'll find many of the places listed can be reached like that. Get out a map and mark all the places you want to see then choose a hub and stay for a week- 4 or 5 days anyway.

bilboburgler

I still think Dover is an unpleasant little town, however, http://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/t...aves-and-Mines

sparkchaser

bilboburgler, when are we meeting up for a pint or three?

PalenQ

Dover as a town is the pits - about the most unpleasant looking one I've seen in Britain but the castle and general setting with boats coming and going gives it a certain pizzaz and the wonderful castle and yes WW 2 tunnels near it that I have also explored. But as a town it's a dud IMO.

Surfergirl

I realize that most of your itinerary is up north, with a couple of places in the south, but if it were me (in winter), I'd go to Brighton, because even in winter, it's quite a nice place to visit. (When I lived in London, I'd visit a friend there every other weekend for 2 years and never tired of it). I would also add Portsmouth, just because the HMS Victory and Mary Rose Museum (next to each other) are so completely awesome! And they are open in winter.