darabelle87

My husband and I are in the beginning stages of planning a trip to the UK for our 10 year anniversary next year. We are thinking of going in Aprill. Neither of us has ever been to Europe before, and I feel slightly out of my league trying to plan. Nothing is set in stone yet and I’m open to suggestions. We’re thinking April to try to avoid the summer crowds and to see the landscape in bloom. Weather-wise, I anticipate a mix of warm and cool days with a never ending chance of rain that time of year? The current plan is to spend 10 days sightseeing in Scotland and England, and one day traveling back to the US. I realize this is not a lot of time, but it’s what we can afford right now and we want to make the most of it. In hopes of overcoming jet lag a bit easier, we’re starting in Scotland.
I intend for us to arrive in Edinburgh early morning, go drop off our luggage and spend our first 2 days seeing the city. Day 3, I’d like to rent a car and take an overnight road trip to see more of the country. We plan to go by Stirling Castle and do the tour, then head toward Glencoe and drive around Kinlochleven. From there we will go through Fort William and go view the Glenfinnan viaduct. Should we look at stopping for the night around Fort William and continue our journey the next day, or would it be better to head toward the Cairngorms and stay somewhere up there? I’m trying to be reasonable with my time. I intend to head back to Edinburgh the following day by way of Pitlochry and Perth, possibly stopping by Blair castle that morning if it’s feasible. I’m afraid I’m being too ambitious with this little road trip, but I do want to see all we can, and the best places we can with what time we have. Any advice here is much appreciated!! Moving on...
Day 5 we plan to take an early morning train from Edinburgh to London so that we arrive around midday. We will take our stuff to our lodging, and use the afternoon to get acclimated to the city- possibly by doing a bus tour? Other/better suggestions for how to spend that first afternoon? After that, for now I just have a general plan to spend 3-4 days touring London, with one or two day trips outside the city thrown in. One of these will be to Oxford, and I’m undecided on if we will do a second one and where we would go if we did; possibly Bath? Tips on a good itinerary for seeing London in 3-4 days for first-timers? I’ve looked on various travel blogs, but more advice can only help.
I’ve got a long way to go in hammering out all the details, but I’m hoping y’all can get me headed in the right direction. Thanks in advance for your help!

maitaitom

Here's our London/Scotland trip in 2017 and our England 2013 trip ... first six days London (with photos). Should help with some ideas of what to see. Have a Cheese Toastie at Borough Market!

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/londonscotland-2017/

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/england-2013/

PalenQ

Just a note about trains - Scotland - London - book ASAP at National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables for deep discounts over full fare - in either class - www.seat61.com for tons of advice of booking your own online tickets like that - general info British trains BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. There is also an overnight train most nights between several Scottish towns and London - Caledfonian Sleeper trains - get a private double and bring any food or drink aboard.

janisj

It looks like you are planning 2 nights for your driving loop - right? I personally would not bother with the Cairngorms/Perth.

A lovely trip would be to stay the first night in Glencoe. At the Clachaig Inn if you can. https://www.clachaig.com ) and the second night in/near Callander. This would let you see Glencoe, Loch Leven, the Falls of Dochart, Doune Castle, Stirling Castle and Inchmahome Priory . . . plus just a TON of glorious scenery. Glencoe, Killin/Falls of Dochart, Doune, Strling and Inchmahome are all must in my book.

You really don't have the time to go much farther.

In London i 100% definitely would not take a bus tour or H-o-H-o bus. You'd be stuck in traffic much of the time - use the limited time you have to actually visit places and not just glimpse them from a moving bus.

Oxford is an easy day trip either by train or Express coach. It is a very walkable city.

Must the trip be in April? Nothing wrong with it but if you could go Mid May to Mid June you'd have a slightly better chance of warmer weather and you'd have really long days. The difference between say April 15 and June 15 is nearly four more hours of daylight. The days are long 'enough' in April, but that extra daylight is great for wandering out and about in the countryside.

Re PQ's >>Just a note about trains - Scotland - London - book ASAP<<

He like to give every one those links (sort of our resident train spotter ) But you can't book yet since you are talking about 2109 - right? 12 weeks out is the soonest you can book trains.

historytraveler

The poster ís not going until next April so no need to book ASAP, in fact, impossible. Really to keep things simple, IF using trains and they did mention renting a car, the only website you need is ww.nationalrail.co.uk

MmePerdu

Regarding weather and gardens in bloom, both will be better in May, generally speaking. While one cannot predict either with any certainty, my many trips to see gardens and walk long-distance paths have taught me that April is a bit early for both. May is better, early June even better and still avoids crowds, except on bank holiday weekends when families are out & about.

darabelle87

We’re not committed to April, as our anniversary is actually in June. I was just thinking crowds would be less in April. We have a child who will be graduating kindergarten in May on a currently unknown date, so early June may end up being the best for us! Thanks!
As far as the driving loop goes, we were hoping for just one night, getting back to Edinburgh in the evening on the second day of it. That being said, how much, if any, of the Cairngorms do you think we could see if we skip Perth? I think I’d still like to stop in Pitlochry; it looks like a cute little place. Unless you have a suggestion for somewhere we may enjoy more?
It may end up being more beneficial to do the sleeper train as opposed to waiting until the following morning to catch a train to London. My reasoning for the morning train was so that we would be able to enjoy looking at the countryside as we travel through since we won’t have time to actually stop and explore. My original plan for this trip included an overnight stop in York, but I thought that might stretch us too thin and so dropped it from the itinerary. I figured seeing things from a window was better than nothing.

janisj

Most British and European kids are still in school until about the 2nd week in July so May and June are definitely not high season. There are holiday weekends at the beginning and end of May and some places will be booked up for those two periods. But middle of June for instance is not crowded at all.

>>That being said, how much, if any, of the Cairngorms do you think we could see <<

I'm not sure why we've had so many questions lately re the Cairngorms. There is nothing magical/special about them. Pretty mountain scenery but not better than many other areas and not as good as several. It isn't a 'National Park' as you may be familiar w/ in the States. Mainly an area set aside -- but most of Scotland is set aside in one way or another. I'd never sacrifice Glencoe or Killin or 50 other places to drive through the Cairngorms.

>>My reasoning for the morning train was so that we would be able to enjoy looking at the countryside as we travel through since we won’t have time to actually stop and explore.<<

Don't decide based on possible scenery. Except for some views of the North Sea between Edinburgh and Newcastle and a brief view of Durham Cathedral the scenery most of the way is pretty blah.

historytraveler

janisj’s itinerary is good and probably the best you can do in so short of time. The Glencoe area has some of the best scenery in Scotland and staying at the Clachaig Inn is to really experience the Highlands. The Cairngorms are okay but certainly wouldn’t be my first or even second choice for a first time visit. Much more scenic and interesting places to visit. Likewise, I’d skip Perth and Pitlochory. Callender and Glencoe are much better options IMO.

And do nix the Hop On Hop Off bus.

PalenQ

By book London train tickets I meant ASAP - As Soon As Possible - yeh I knew you can't book for 2019 and never said that - just as the time for your trip comes nearer keep tuned to nationalrail.co.uk sites to see when booking can begin - ASAP that is. There are a few dozens separate rail franchises in UK - they probably all have variances in how long before you can book - that's all I was saying and stand by that good IMO advice.

historytraveler

Pal, just a suggestion. Your post was confusing but post it again next March or reword it. Not at all sure how ASAP can apply to a time period in the future.

PalenQ

Not at all sure how ASAP can apply to a time period in the future.>

Really - rather incredulous you cannot.

darabelle87

Ok- so I’ve remapped my route with your suggestions added in- looks like most are located on the route from Edinburgh to Glencoe. Do you think it would be possible to do them all the first day? (Excepting Glencoe I think- seems like it would be late in the day by them time we got there.) So leaving Edinburgh, that would be Stirling, Doune, the Falls, etc; then overnight in Glencoe and do some sightseeing around there on day 2 of the road trip before returning to Edinburgh? I’d like to work in the Glenfinnan viaduct... which day do you think would be more logical to do that time wise? Also, do you have any other stops to recommend for the return drive to Edinburgh? We could take the route back that goes through Glasgow if there are better stops along the way as opposed to the route going through Perth. Another option would be to take one extra day in Scotland and go up to Skye or one of the western isles if that wouldn’t be rushing things too much. If we do the sleeper train, that would still give us 4 days in London plus the one day to go out to Oxford. I’m afraid of trying to cram too much into the road trip portion of this thing.

PalenQ

https://www.sleeper.scot/

Book Caledonian Sleeper train on Scotrail site ASAP (which means of course as soon as it is possible to do it - to see and see how far out they are taking bookings now to get an idea.

janisj

Stirling, Doune and Falls of Dochart would be a busy day but doable. And if the trip is in say mid June it will be light very late. The castles have 'opening times', but the scenery doesn't so you'd essentially have all day for Stirling usually about a 3 hour visit, Doune maybe an hour unless you are huge Monty Python fans - in which case you'd want to borrow the coconuts from the shop.

It takes about an hour each way Glencoe to Glenfinnan.

>>We could take the route back that goes through Glasgow if there are better stops along the way as opposed to the route going through Perth<<

You wouldn't go through Glasgow OR Perth en route from Glencoe to Edinburgh. Both are quite big detours.

>>Another option would be to take one extra day in Scotland and go up to Skye or one of the western isles<<

One extra day would not be long enough for Skye or Mull or any other inner or outer Hebrides. You will be lucky to average 35 mph in many of the areas you are touring, and you'd need a minimum 2 nights on Skye to make any sense of the long drive to get there.

historytraveler

Concur with janisj regarding fitting everything to your itinerary. Distances appear much shorter on a map than in reality. Having been and even stayed at Glennfinnan and seen the viaduct, I’m not sure I would make it a must see, but if a Harry Potter fan or if it’s a must for you perhaps you can fit it in. As I mentioned earlier the Glencoe area is really stunning and Killin along with the Falls of Dochart is very pretty. Killin is located at the end of Loch Tay which is one of my favorites lochs.

Really impossible to to get to and see anything of Skye or any of the Western Isles with your schedule.

historytraveler

Finally got out my map of Scotland as I don’t have much of it ( routes etc. ) committed to memory as well as janisj does. Assuming you head for Glencoe for your overnight stop, you leave early the next morning for the Glenfinnan viaduct then head back to Edinburgh taking the A 830 & A86 then A9 going through Pitlochry, Dunkeld and Perth then pick up the M90 to Edinburgh. It will be a long day. AARoadwatch has the time from Glennfinnan to Edinburgh as 3+ hours, but it will take ( much ) longer, guessing 6+ hours with a short lunch stop.