PalenQ

Durham.

Seventh Day: see Cathedral, etc., then drive to Stirling Castle>

Chedck a map as it may not be much out of the way to motor thru the fabled Borders Abbeys regional of Scotland - dropping by such famous ruined abbeys as Jedburgh or Melrose and head to Stirling that way, skikrting the greater Edinburgh area.

sofarsogood

The M74/ M6 south from Glasgow is fast, especially as you get closer to Cumbria - expect to be overtaken by cars doing 90mph. No tractors whatsoever.

Getting to Durham depends on your route, but its easy to get to as its on the main east coast line between London and Edinburgh.

dutyfree

Jury's In at LHR airport is great-reasonable if you book online,has 3 beds in the room,breakfast/restaurant/coffee shop onside along with newsstand and good proximity to all the terminals and rental car returns.It. Is right next to theHatting cross tube station.

Fra_Diavolo

"Unless you think we should cut it short in Scotland, what would you prune?"

Inverness, no question.

alanRow

You could fly or take the Sleeper train from London to Inverness then hire a car and make your way south

If you haven't booked your air tickets yet (or can get them altered) you could also consider a multi-city ticket and fly into Inverness (probably via a European airport) and out of London

Mimar

I would definitely fly on to Edinburgh upon arrival. Then stay in Edinburgh a day or two to get over jetlag. If you leave London til the end, that means you don't have to spend a night at an airport hotel, giving you some more productive touristing time.

And I'd definitely cut Liverpool. Any time you have to drive into a city, find parking, find your way around, then drive back out of the city, you're using up a lot of precious time. And, I agree, don't spend any time in Inverness itself.

While I loved Durham, yes, it probably doesn't fit in this itinerary.

What do you want to see in Wales?

dwdvagamundo

Thanks for all the responses.

PalenQ--Thanks. I've started to look at the Borders area as a substitute for the Highlands. I'm now thinking of leaving out Perth.

Fra Diavolo and Mimar, I'd already decided to prune Inverness after seeing your responses from yesterday and, after looking on a map, Blenheim. Presuming that we can get a good train fares if we book early or that we can get flights, my thinking right now is to overnight train to Edinburgh as originally planned, then train back to London from Liverpool or thereabouts. That makes the trip much more compact.

Mimar--my thoughts about Liverpool were perhaps along your lines: if we do go there (and see below) drop the car on arrival and take the train back to London. I've also decided that the best way to see Glasgow would be to take a day trip from Edinburgh via train.

Re Wales--What should I want to see in Wales? Harlech Castle is the only thing I know anything about. Maybe you have some suggestions. Although I'm ashamed to say so, to some extent, it's to say we've been there.

I now think we can fit Durham in if we stay around Hexham or some small town near Hadrian's Wall--looks to be not that far a day trip. We'd be looking for some charming place in or near a village where we could spend a few days. Last time, we stayed at the Old Bell in Malmesbury for several and that is one of the highlights of all our travels. Then drive through the Lake Country on the way South.

After reading about Liverpool, I think I want to see it. The Maritime Museum there looks interesting, and we have gotten to like seeing "industrial museums." We're really city people, although we can tolerate a few days in the country.

dutyfree: we have a hotel at the airport now. I'll check out the one you mention, but the attraction of the one we booked is that we can walk to Terminal 4 and our flight from it. I presume there are places in the Terminal to get breakfast, as the price of breakfast at the hotel was prohibitive.

I'm going to start a new thread on this as soon as the rail fares go down. My current plan is to have three fairly long stays outside of London, with the goal being to not have to spend only one nite in a place: Edinburgh for one, then Hadrian's wall area for another, then Liverpool/Chester/Wales. But I'm not as wedded to this last part of the trip, and if you all tell me there is more to see on the east side of the Country, then. . .

BTW--our interests are historical, archaeological (particularly Roman, and industrial archaeology like Ironbridge Gorge) architectural, and art-related rather than scenery and outdoor sports. I love to hike, but my spouse can't and doesn't like to-hope to be able to hike a bit around Hadrian's Wall.

So any help you can give me is appreciated and I thank you all for your help so far. Ciao.

indy_dad

These might be of interest (we get around a bit):

North Wales
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...orth-wales.cfm

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/north-wales.html

Liverpool
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-liverpool.cfm

Chester
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/chester.html

London
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...andparents.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-with-kids.cfm

Edinburgh
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/edinburgh.html

Alnwick
http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05...r-weekend.html

Scotland (though I think you've dropped this bit)
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

dwdvagamundo

indy_dad--Caernarfon looks like the perfect spot in Wales for our interests and will fit perfectly. Thanks.

jon_rwr

hi dwdvagamundo

This is the Network Rail page that has saved me a fortune in London to Edinburgh (or Glasgow fares) for a good few years. It gives you the dates when Advance fares become available for each train company (scroll down and you'll find all of them listed). Monitor it daily because it updates daily. As soon as you see the date appear that you intend travelling check the prices out on either the railway company's site or perhaps Trainline. You should see a very big discount applied.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_..._horizons.html

Jon

dwdvagamundo

Jon--perfect! Now it's 70 pounds (sleeper probably extra.) Can't buy the tickets yet for some reason, but at least now I know that "Plan A" works.

I'm going to start another topic on this as plans have changed some.