Yesterday a buddy told me about round trip air fares from California to London that seemed too good to be true ($545), but there they were. I called our cohorts in crime (aka Kim and Mary), and we are now going to England and Scotland in May.

We have a total of 14 1/2 days on the ground.

We fly into London where I plan 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 days. We were there for six days in 2013. We fly out of Edinburgh, where I am planning three days at the end. That added $100 to the trip, but a round trip fare of $646 was hard to pass up.

But what to do in between? I've been planning Italy for the past few months (we still plan a shorter trip there in Sept).

On our last England visit, we went to London, Canterbury, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Wells, Bath, Oxford and the Cotswolds.

My first inclination is to hop a train to York from London, pick up a car and go visit castles, Hadrian's Wall, drink some Scotch, see the countryside, visit more castles and drink more Scotch. I had wanted to include Wales, but I don't think there's enough time, so in the words of a great ecologist, "I will save the Wales" for another trip.

Any ideas, routes. lodging, restaurants and anything else are appreciated. Time for me to start my UK studies!

Good for you! Have fun.

Oh what fun!

<i>My first inclination is to hop a train to York from London, pick up a car and go visit castles, Hadrian's Wall, drink some Scotch, see the countryside, visit more castles and drink more Scotch.</i>

Don't forget beer.

I think that's a terrific starting point. Here are two conceptual routes for you to consider. Use Undiscovered Scotland - http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ - and the google to inform yourself of what the places are like.

1. https://goo.gl/maps/nMz3k6FHH9q This starts from York and goes to the don't miss cathedral city of Durham, then swings inland to the North Pennines (lovely in the spring) and Hadrian's Wall, then back out to the stunning Northumberland coast for stops at Alnwick and Bamburgh (amazing castles) and the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne. You continue up the coast into Scotland, with stops at picturesque villages like St. Abbs and Dunbar (another seafront castle at Tantallon) then you shoot past Edinburgh to Glasgow and Loch Lomond.

You continue north from Loch Lomond and over to Oban, then spend a day or two on the Isle of Mull, complete with its colorful main town of Tobermory, your first distillery (and a good one) and marvelous Highland scenery. You return to Oban (past stunning Duart Castle) then head north to Glen Coe and Glen Etive before continuing on to Edinburgh, possibly with a stop in Stirling en route.

This would give you some terrific variety, some of the best scenery in Britain, and in May you won't have traffic or tourist crowds getting in the way. The weather might not be ideal, but that's what pub fireplaces are for.

2. https://goo.gl/maps/ieaHQXY9mJ52 Same as the first route as far as Edinburgh, but then stays on the east side of the island. You'd see the picturesque fishing villages of the East Neuk in Fife, stop at St. Andrews and again in Forfar for a bridie (<i>with</i> onions) and maybe a view of Glamis Castle. Then continue north to the Royal Deeside district, home of red deer, red pines, and the occasional royal out shooting something (Balmoral.) Stay in some village like Ballater and do day trips up to the Speyside distillery country (more than enough opportunity for major liver damage) and beautiful Highland scenery, then zoom back down the M90 to Edinburgh.

In the spring this will offer better weather than the west and would probably be my pick of the two, but either would be splendid experiences.

We're going to England in May as well: London, Exeter (to visit friends) and Cornwall. Maybe we can share a pint!

"Maybe we can share a pint!"

Or two!

Gardyloo..thanks for the info. Great ideas. I just had looked at Loch Lomond this morning. This was the fastest I ever committed to a trip, so it's interesting for someone who usually plans for a year on places to go.

Hey, we'll also be in England and Scotland in May/June timeframe so will be following along on this thread. Maitai, I am just booking your rec for Hill House in Bath. St Cirq, we expect to be down in your next of the woods in the fall as we also got one of those great air fares going around these days.

" Maitai, I am just booking your rec for Hill House in Bath."

Request Harry's Blueberry pancakes!

yestravel, if you're interested in tickets to Font-de-Gaume by any chance, and know your dates, let me know, because I usually go by the ticket office the first week of January or so and grab tickets for the spring, summer, and fall. They go so quickly most people don't get to see it (or have to get up at dawn to go stand in line and hope to get one of the few available slots).

Sounds like some possible GTGs in the future!

Sounds good. York itself is beautiful and well worth a couple of days. I'd hold fire on renting your car straight away and explore York on foot. It's a compact city, easily walkable and car parking can be expensive.
When you are ready to explore beyond York you can pick up your car. North Yorkshire has loads to see and do - it has castles but the ruined abbeys are the real stars. For example there's the World Heritage site of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, easily reached from York.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/fou...l-water-garden
Plenty of other abbeys - Rievaulx, Jervaulx, Byland, Mount Grace etc.
There are 2 National Parks in North Yorkshire too, both with stunning scenery (North Yorks Moors and Yorkshire Dales).
Not sure if you like stately homes but Castle Howard is a fantastic day out - one of England's real treasure houses.
http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/
I'd then head further north through Northumberland up to Edinburgh.
Agree there's no time for Wales on this trip.

I am so excited for you! A wonderful time of year! Gardyloo's suggestions are excellent.

Ripon cathedral and Fountains Abbey and gardens are also worth a visit. There are several ruined abbeys with picturesque views are in the area--Bylands and Riveiux (sp?) are two which I visited and loved in the area.

As you get towards Edinburgh, Dryburgh, Melrose and Jedburgh are interesting ruins.

In Edinburgh, besides the castle itself, within city limits is Craigmuller Castle which is lovely.

I loved Mull itself as well as Iona, a five minute ferry ride from Mull. If weather permits there are small boat rides to Staffa Island. Mull itself has two castles--Duarte and ?.

Have fun!

Good info on this thread already. So glad you're going to England & Sctoland, maitai.

StCirq -- thanks -- we are interested, but at this point haven't a clue what our route will be. We grabbed a good air fare and randomly picked a flight in & out of Marseille and that's as far as we've planned.

Maitaitom, yes I recall reading about you and the pancakes -- duly noted to request them.

And it does seem that perhaps some GTGs could be in the works once dates and places are known. StCirq, we'll be in Cornwall end of May.

Can you adopt me? Cool trips

If doing Hadrian's Wall I found Hexham to be a nice base town close to the better parts of wall and forts- from there you could go straight up to the Borders Abbey Country -several famous partly ruined abbeys along the English-Scottish border- Jedburgh; Dreyburgh and Melrose are all close together and can be seen in a day or so- really nice country -then drive up to Sterling and its famous castle and battlefield

then Edinburg and beyond or go straight to the heart of the Highlands from Melrose area.

On which airline was this fabulous fare ??

Thanks.

BTW, we just read that Sotch gin has overtaken sales of Scotch whiskey. Don't forget to have some Hendrick's !!

"On which airline was this fabulous fare ??"

I was going to get to this, because I haven't done this way of purchasing ticket for years. I booked through Priceline.

The two non-stops across the pond are on Air New Zealand.

Flight from Edinburgh to London is on BA.

I did this years ago for an Air Tahiti flight to Paris, and it all went well, but my buddy up north didn't pull the trigger thinking there could be pitfalls. Gang? Anyone booked through Priceline?

You don't mean NYOP function, right? Because the few times I've used that, routings and layovers can be weird to awful.

If it was a nonstop flight, I'd do it. But anything involving multiple airlines and connections has not turned out well for me. Now I just search there and use the airlines own sight to book- there's very often not much difference in price.

Site, not sight, sorry!

the two flights across pond are nonstop and we have a 3 hour layover in London after flight from Edinburgh before flying home.

OK, yestravel, you know how to reach me by email. Just let me know. Happy to grab tickets to Font-de-Gaume for you if it works out. And do come by for dinner!

maitai, eat your heart out - we can fly from Bergerac to LondonCity for 5 €. But you got a good deal from the States for sure!

Sounds great then! Have a fabulous time- I'm always excited to see a new maitai TR