Need help with Scotland/England itinerary
 

we have 10 days to spend in the UK in late May, not including the london portion. We want to go to the Lake District and we need to spend a 1/2 day in Welshpool, Powys --which is west of Shrewsbury which is west of of birmingham. we want to see beautiful scenary, charming villages, do some good walking/hiking.

I thought we shld fly into edinburgh; we'd arrive around 8 am. and spend 2-3 nites there. we wld rent a car. Hopefully it won't be too cold.

If we have 2 more days --where should we spend them in Scotland? we don't want to spend hours driving if we can avoid it.

We would then drive south to the lake district.
is 4 nites for the lake district a good amount?

We would then drive south to get near Welshpool. Any ideas where to stop?

then we would head to london. i would like to drop off the car and take the train the rest of the way.

It is a bit difficult to help w/ just 2 days to play w/. Scotland is very big and totally glorious.

One problem you may face is your timing. What are your exact dates? May 31 is the big Bank Holiday - yes we have Memorial Day but the May Bank holiday is like Memorial Day on steroids. The Lake District will be crammed full from the 28th through June 6th because that coincides w/ a 1-week English school break.

The Lakes are wonderful - but that week in particular they will be very crowded and if the weather is nice it will just be worse. Scotland really doesn't have that issue. More spread out plus Scottish schools don't observe the same holidays.

Do you have flexibility? Can you flip London to the front end and do the trip in reverse? You could do London - then pick up a car, drive up to Welshpool, over to the Lakes arriving after 6 June, then up through Dumfries & Galloway/Ayrshire for a couple of days and finish up in Edinburgh.

If that isn't possible - I'd spend as much time as I could in Edinburgh/central Scotland, book your Lake Distrist accommodations ASAP and then on to Welshpool and London. But I'd personally limit my time in the Lakes to 2-3 days because of the crowds.

A lot depends on your exact timing . . . .

we would be arriving on may 16 and need to be in london on may 26. --so we would be in the lake district around may 19-22ish.
would that be before the crowds?

Oh - when you said late May I thought you meant 'late' May :)

No - the Lakes won't be crowded at all before the 26th. It will be the lull before the storm and you will fine.

And the Bank Holiday won't mess up your London time at all - doesn't really impact London that much except for maybe on the weekend at places like the Tower of London.

OK: Nights of May 16 and 17 in Edinburgh. It is a fabulous place and you could stay a week. But it is also small and you can see most of the main sites in a couple of days.

But what do you want to see after the Lakes (besides Welshpool)? Because you have enough time to spend 5 days in Scotland, 3 or 4 in the Lakes, and 2 getting to Welshpool and down to London.

You could pick up car after lunch on May 18 (giving you an extra 1/2 day in the city) and head west. Spend the nights of the 18th - 21st in central/southern Scotland. Then on to the Lakes, Welshpool, etc.

If you must be in the Lakes 19-22 May then you really don't have time for much except Edinburgh and the drive south. If that's the case - then you could use the days after the Lakes to see the Peaks, or the Cotswolds, or Bath or other places.

thank you for your 2 answers. we were just planning to stop around welshpool to pickup something,but now we will spend the night there.
i found 2 b&bs:
Forest Country House 3 miles outside of Kerry
Traethllawn B&B
do you know them? is one a better location? any other recommendations?

We've been to oxford before and wld prefer to be more in the country. i checked out Burford on the map and it does not seem to be on a direct route from welshpool to london. is it out of the way?
any other ideas for a stop?

Well - nothing is exactly on a direct route between the two. But Welshpool to Worcester to Evesham to Broadway is pretty direct. Then from Broadway straight south through Stow on the Wold takes you to Burford, or SE through Chipping Norton brings you to Woodstock. Not much difference in the drives.

From either Burford or Woodstock it would be a short drive around the Oxford ring road and a straight shot to LHR or London.

If you didn't want to drive quite that far - you could stop in Evesham, Broadway or Cheltenham.

But I honestly think the general Burford/Stow-on-the-Wold/Woodstock area would be a good stopping off point.

I think I'de be inclined to suggest that you stay in the same place in Edinburgh throughout your Scottish stay and use one of your non- city days to explore Fife and one to explore Perthshire.