I have 10 days excluding travel days to see Edinburgh/the Highlands and then London at the end of October. Currently we are looking at the following itinerary:

Sunday: Land in Edinburgh at 8:00am
Check in at Hotel
Sightsee the rest of the day

Monday: Edinburgh

Tuesday: Depart on Highlands/Skye Tour with Rabbies

Wednesday: Highlands/Skye Tour with Rabbies

Thursday: Highlands/Skye Tour with Rabbies
Take Caldonian Sleeper to London

Friday: Arrive in London at 7:50am
Check in at Hotel/ or drop off luggage depending

Saturday: London

Sunday: London

Monday: Tour to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor

Tuesday: London

Wednesday: Fly back home

My question is, it looks like we'd have about 1.5 days in Edinburg taking into account immigration, travel to hotel, and getting checked in. Do you think this is enough time to see everything there? Originally I had an extra day for Edinburgh making 2.5 days and figured if we had done everyting we wanted we would take a day trip to Stirling. That left 4 days in London. My Husband thought having the extra day in London would be better than doing 2.5 days in Edinburgh (however has not really looked at what he'd want to do in either place). What do you think? is 1.5 days in Edinburgh too short? Would you take the day from London to get more time there?

Is 1.5 days too short for Edinburgh - yes

But 4 days (plus a day trip) isn't long enough for London either.

So changing either one of them doesn't accomplish much.

Considering how short your trip is, you have about the right division of time IMO (and that is from someone who ADORES Edinburgh).

I'd leave everything as is . . . and start planning your next (longer) trip to the UK as soon as you get home

Ditto to janisj!

I'm just back from 4th trip to Edinburgh. Time to start saving for another trip

I've done a day trip and a multi-day trip with Rabbies. I enjoyed both. They have good drivers/guides.

You've time before your trip to browse the various trip reports that include Edinburgh, plus guide books, to plan ideas for your time while there.

Cheers!

<i>Monday: Tour to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor</i>

Oh God, whenever I see that tour my heart drops. It's the epitome of "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium" tourism where quantity is better than quantity. Several hours in a coach to spend a couple of hours in each place. Worse still on such a short stay you waste time backtracking on yourself

My advice - ditch ALL the tours and plan stuff for yourself.

Hire a car to drive between Edinburgh & Inverness then fly to Bristol and take the train to Bath. Visit Stonehenge using the Mad Max tour (yes I know it's a tour, but it's a short tour). Take train to London. Do Windsor as a half day from London - or stay in Windsor for your final night as it's 20 minutes from Heathrow.

You could even take the Sleeper train from Inverness to London and take the train to Bath

I agree about the Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath -- but it is sometimes hard to talk folks out of the idea

But re the Rabbies tour - that really is a different kettle of fish. In a perfect world -- yes, drive. But for someone who doesn't want to deal w/ a rental car for just a couple of days, Rabbies is excellent.

If you would consider renting a car, alanRow's suggestion of drive Inverness / fly Bristol / MadMax/ into London and day tripping out to Windsor does make sense.

We are not comfortable renting a car and driving for this first trip. Any other suggestions on what to do other than an organized tour to see Stonehenge/Bath? I don't want to spend more than one day on this given the limited time we already have in London, but Stonehenge is something we want to see.

If Stonehenge is a priority, then I'd suggest you do this:

Train to Salisbury. There is a coach tour called StonehengeTour that picks up right outside the station. It takes you on the drive to Stonehenge, with good audio guide playing, and then at Stonehenge you have as much or little time as you want; you catch one of the returning StonehengeTour coaches which run pretty frequently. Back in Salisbury tour the spectacular cathedral and maybe see some more to the town. Train back.

No you won't see Bath, but I agree in your limited London time to not take but one day trip. Your time in Salisbury and Stonehenge will be not so rushed. You won't need a car. You won't need a tour guide. You will be at your own pace.

If Bath is really your priority, then go there instead. But I'd urge you to only do one day trip, so aaaarrrgghhh gotta choose

I would also recommend the Stonehenge Tour via Salisbury. Salisbury Cathedral certainly ranks as one of England's most beautiful. The main body of the cathedral was completed in 38 years giving it a symmentry and an architectual unity not found in other medieval cathedrals. The Cloister is the largest in England and the spire is the tallest medieval structure in the world and still on foundations only four feet deep. In the Chapter House is one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. If you're up for the climb,a tour of the spire is offered and provides a unique view of a cathedrals inner structures.

Within the Close are several other interesting places well worth a visit including Mompesson House (with its pleasant little tea shop), the Wiltshire Museum where there is an interactive Stonehenge gallery and much more. I haven't visited it yet, but Arundells the home of the Edward Heath, the late prime minister, is now open to the public. I always enjoy just walking around the medieval close with its lovely houses and tranquil setting.

If time allows visit St Thomas's church which has an interesting doom painting and if weather permits go for a short stroll through the water meadows.

One minor kink in the plan is the Salisbury / Stonehenge buses only run hourly at that time of year. They leave on the hour to Stonehenge and 40 past the hour back to Salisbury. So missing one at either end could mean a lot of just waiting around.

If your timing gets messed up you can catch a taxi to Stonehenge and then make sure to catch the coach to return. Otherwise, you'd have to call for a taxi to get back.