Scotland to London
May 9th, 2006, 02:19 PM
#1
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Scotland to London
My ten year old son and I will be in Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival this August. We then want to see some of Scotland and perhaps Ireland before making our way down to London. We have 10 days to make our trip, then fly home, and since we have never been to Britain before we would be grateful for any suggestions about routes, places to see and avoid, affordable accomodations, rail vs. car vs. plane, all that kind of information will be very helpful.
I have purchased many guide books and am doing internet research, but would love to hear from people who have been there.
This will be an ambitious trip on a modest budget.
All advice welcome!
I have purchased many guide books and am doing internet research, but would love to hear from people who have been there.
This will be an ambitious trip on a modest budget.
All advice welcome!
May 9th, 2006, 02:44 PM
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Hi. I think you're trying to fit in an awful lot for 10 days. Could easily spend that much time in Scotland alone. However, that aside, here's a few ideas. (assuming you're not driving) I'd suggest taking a few day trips from Edinburgh--I went a few years ago and there were one day bus tours you could take that left from the downtown area. I enjoyed one to Jedburgh (spelling??)abbey for instance--there are many. Alternatively, it is an easy train ride to Sterling and to Glasgow. The Isle of Skye is beautiful but I think you'd need to take at least three days to get there and back. In Edinburgh don't miss the castle, the royal mile and Holyrood Palace. Then, you could take a train to London--overnight would save you some time. Tons to see there of course. There's all the "biggies" such as Westminster and Tower of London. Would suggest the London Eye-this huge ferris wheel type deal that takes 1/2 hour (I think) to go around. Loved the British Library as it has displays of all these fantastic originals such as Alice in Wonderland and Handel's Messiah. If you must also go to Ireland, I guess flying would be quickest. I'd recommend staying in Dublin or just outside and again taking some day bus trips. We stayed in Dun Laoughire (??Spelling) and took daytrips to Glendalough (monastery) and New Grange (prehistoric)Dublin has the Book of Kells and a nice Georgian and medieval section--doable in 1-2 days I'd say
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
May 9th, 2006, 05:16 PM
#3
10 days is not very long - I would forget about trying to shoehorn Ireland into your itinerary - just not enough time.
Whether a car or trains make more sense really depends on where you end up going. Some places simply don't have rail service. Some others, a train would be faster and easier.
You have any number of choices (hundreds actually) but you haven't given us any idea of the sorts of places you enjoy/want to see. Cities? Castles? Cathedrals? Harry Potter connections? Countryside/hiking? Gardens? Roman sites? or whatever?
Give us some more info to work w/.
Whether a car or trains make more sense really depends on where you end up going. Some places simply don't have rail service. Some others, a train would be faster and easier.
You have any number of choices (hundreds actually) but you haven't given us any idea of the sorts of places you enjoy/want to see. Cities? Castles? Cathedrals? Harry Potter connections? Countryside/hiking? Gardens? Roman sites? or whatever?
Give us some more info to work w/.
May 9th, 2006, 11:47 PM
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I'm also taking my daughter to the Fringe Festival (she'll be 15 then) in August. My suggestion - less is more when it comes to kids. This is based on several trips taking one kid or the other to Europe.
With 10 days total, I would do Edinburgh for about 5 nights (maybe with daytrips), and London for about 5. Maybe adjust this a bit if you decide to train between Scotland and England and stop somewhere in between. You could manage more, but there is so much to do in both cities particularly with daytrips that you won't run out of things to do. If you add more destinations, you burn up a lot of time in waiting around and transport, packing and unpacking, and so forth.
I agree with booking your accommodations in Edinburgh stat. I posted a thread about Edinburgh where people gave me budget suggestions. Try these places:
http://tinyurl.com/rhsoq (Edinburgh)
http://tinyurl.com/nb92d (this will also help you with Edinburgh, London and possibly other places)
We're staying at Edinburgh Metro hostel (actually a university residence), but given that the accommodation is single rooms only, your son might not want to stay in his own room (or maybe he would want to, but you wouldn't!). Here is the link to Edinburgh Metro and some other hostels. If you act quickly, maybe you can get a twin room at one of them.
http://tinyurl.com/mkzo6
Ideally you can get a plane ticket where you fly into Glasgow or Edinburgh, and depart from London or some other city you want to visit. That will save you time backtracking.
With 10 days total, I would do Edinburgh for about 5 nights (maybe with daytrips), and London for about 5. Maybe adjust this a bit if you decide to train between Scotland and England and stop somewhere in between. You could manage more, but there is so much to do in both cities particularly with daytrips that you won't run out of things to do. If you add more destinations, you burn up a lot of time in waiting around and transport, packing and unpacking, and so forth.
I agree with booking your accommodations in Edinburgh stat. I posted a thread about Edinburgh where people gave me budget suggestions. Try these places:
http://tinyurl.com/rhsoq (Edinburgh)
http://tinyurl.com/nb92d (this will also help you with Edinburgh, London and possibly other places)
We're staying at Edinburgh Metro hostel (actually a university residence), but given that the accommodation is single rooms only, your son might not want to stay in his own room (or maybe he would want to, but you wouldn't!). Here is the link to Edinburgh Metro and some other hostels. If you act quickly, maybe you can get a twin room at one of them.
http://tinyurl.com/mkzo6
Ideally you can get a plane ticket where you fly into Glasgow or Edinburgh, and depart from London or some other city you want to visit. That will save you time backtracking.
May 10th, 2006, 12:14 AM
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For London, I would use either Priceline (my preference generally for London, because the deals are so good) or the university residences. See all the other posts about bidding on Priceline.
You could fly between your destinations, in many cases for a cheap price:
http://www.whichbudget.com
In other cases, you could take the train. Maybe someone can suggest the best way to get the best price for that.
You could fly between your destinations, in many cases for a cheap price:
http://www.whichbudget.com
In other cases, you could take the train. Maybe someone can suggest the best way to get the best price for that.
May 10th, 2006, 05:28 AM
#7
The OP really needs to come back and give us more info - but also to clarify what she meant. I took the "ten days for the trip" as they have ten days after Edinburgh/the Fringe to tour around and get to London.
