jamikins

Just keep in mind that driving in Aus and driving in the UK are not the same at all! Speed limits are lower, and the smaller scenic roads are much slower. There are towns and villages every few miles in places, with roundabouts etc slowing you down as well.

Fra_Diavolo

Unless you have a particular reason to visit Inverness, I'd drop it from your itinerary. We, and many others found it nothing special. (And, yes, we had been told as much, but went anyway.)

janisj

>>I have already booked our first five.<<

Unless you have pre-paid/non-refundable these can all be changed. Your first five nights are EXTREMELY rushed.

>>We arrived super early in the morning and chose Cambridge as first port of call as it would not be too far out of London if we were tired after long haul flight.<<

Major miscalculation. Look at a map. LHR is west of London and Cambridge is NE of London -- and to get between the two you have to drive on one of the most congested roads in Europe.

annhig

what janisj says. in spades.

texasbookworm

Good advice above; good to get some input and hope you can make adjustments. When we planned driving in the UK, we doubled the time that mapping sites like Googlemaps would give us. Then you have to allow for the time involved in moving/checking in and out/parking, etc.

If you want to see some of the cities you mentioned (like York and Edinburgh), then maybe consider training to them. If you want to wander and meander through the countryside, you will have to drastically scale back the scope of your trip.

(I'm from Texas--so I can from experience say that driving 30 miles in the UK is nothing like driving 30 miles in Texas, unless you compare it to urban area gridlock traffic travel!)

rustynees

Nothing is set in concrete, but the cruise.......thanks again, plenty to think on!

janisj

>>Nothing is set in concrete, but the cruise.<<

Great! Then change <i>everything</i>. Start by re-thinking the first 5 days. Then work from there.

One option (assuming Cambridge is a must).

• Take a coach to Cambridge and stay there two nights. You can see most of Cambridge in one day but you need 2 nights to get one day since day 1 will be mostly transport and jetlag. Plus there are great sites just outside the city like Duxford.

• Then take the train to York and stay 2 nights. Or if you want to meander a bit you could collect a car leaving Cambridge and drive up to York. Though you do not need a car IN York. Again - 2 nights will give you about 1.5 days.

• Whether you drive or take the train from York to Edinburgh depends on how long you are willing to take for the journey and what you want to see en route. If you just want to get to Edinburgh -- take the train. If you want to spend 2 or 3 days driving it and visiting places like Durham, Hadrian's Wall, Alnwick Castle, Lindesfarne, etc -- the you'd want to drive.

• then 2 or 3 nights in Edinburgh.

Obviously this totals a lot more than 5 days . . . but your original plan wasn't doable and this would touch all your bases.