The travellers will be myself and my female partner, mid 30s. I've been overseas once for six months and again for about two weeks. She's never been. We'll be there 16 days.

May 6: arrive London, Gatwick Express to Victoria, purchase Oyster pass for equivalent of four days or so, tube to hotel near British Museum. They allow checkin early, so we may crash before taking a bus/walking tour of the city. Nothing strenuous. Perhaps a few hours in British Museum, if we feel up to it yet.

I tried to group activities in London the next few days by area, and I know this seems overbooked, but we'll pick and choose from these ideas. We can scramble the days as we feel like it.

May 7: Hyde Park/Harrod's, lunch concert at St. Martin's, Westminster Abbey or Victoria Albert Museum. Haunted walk that evening.

May 8: St. Paul's, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Tate Modern. Perhaps a play at the Globe or tour. We're skipping the Tower of London because my partner seems blah on it and I've been twice.

May 9: Portobello Road for shopping, wide open for other ideas.

May 10: We either lop this day off and use it in Scotland instead, or we come up with other ideas from a long list. I know we would never run out of things to do. We could try a river tour to Greenwich or visit Kew Gardens. We have many art museum options left, and I was mildly interested in a fashion museum I thought my partner would like (but I can't find now)
That evening we will take a sleeper train at midnight that lands us at Inverness at about 8 a.m. This will be the first day's usage of our 3-day flexipass (with car use as well).

May 11: From what I understand, we have more use of the train pass all day so we could either ride the rails up north or along a coast, or just pick up a car and start our driving portion. We will probably need to find a laundromat about this time as well.
Drive through mountains, arrive in Dunkeld B&B. Any stops on that route anyone recommends?

May 12: Day trip from Dunkeld: suggestions?

May 13: Leave for a new base. We have no idea what this should be. I thought about Stonehaven on a recommendation, but will that get us too far from Edinburgh, where we need to be the next day? Suggestions welcome here. We could find a town along the route from Dunkeld to Edinbugh, or is there something nice west of Edinburgh? I guess Loch Lomond, but I've been there twice. There is a lovely castle hostel there.

May 14: drop car in Edinburgh, spend day in Edinburgh.

May 15: This will be our only long train day, and the 2nd day of our train pass. I found times for a train from Edinburgh to Betwys Y Coed that gets us in at 5 p.m. with only two changes--not bad. That leaves us an evening here. This may be where I get feedback, but we have tenatively decided to use this area of Wales as a rest only and not to explore. It sounds lovely, but I would rather not try to do too much in Wales, and since we're doing the Highlands, I would prefer to do the Pembroke coast and the Wye Valley area instead. North Wales will have to wait for another time, along with Yorkshire, the Lake District, and southern England.

May 16: Pick up car, drive to St. David's area, spend day along coast.

May 17: Drive to Brecon or Hay-on-Wye B&B.

May 18: Brecon/Hay-on-Wye area.

May 19: Drive to Cardiff, area interests, spend night.

May 20: Use last day of train pass to Salisbury to see Stonehenge (my partner's only real must-do on this entire trip. Sigh.) Train to Bath. Evening in Bath.

May 21: Morning in Bath, train to London--the only train ticket we will have to buy, and it seems we can get a fare ahead of time for about 19 pounds. Afternoon in London--last hurrah.
Night flight home.

Whew. I would love to know any glaring problems, which I am sure there are many, as well as suggestions in Scotland or Wales for diversions on the route, especially the night in Scotland we have no city for yet.

Will we have problems picking up rental cars in Inverness or North Wales? I need to figure out how to order the Rail N Drive pass and do extra days: that pass allows for 3 rail days and 2 car, but extra days, according to Rick Steves, are $70 a day, which seems as good as anything I'm going to get on my own. I need to find out how to get those extra days though and where I can pick up. I'm thinking a travel agent is my best bet for those problems.

Julie

I think the British Museum, which is free to enter, is a great place to unwind after a long flight over a cup of tea, sitting in this masterpiece of architectural renovatione. If you're up to it, you can pick a gallery or two to go into, but since you are staying in the neighborhood, no pressure. Browse the bookstore for a good city map.

Since you've obviously been to London more than once, I hope your partner is doing most of the selecting of sites to see. I'm glad to see you recognize the daily London portion of your itinerary is overbooked.

I think seeing a play at the Globe is fantastic. I also enjoy boat trips on the Thames (either the Tate line or down to Kew or Hampton Court). I've never been on the London Eye because I've yet to persaude myself there is a point to it. It seems to me all the fun of London is not its skyline (?) but browsing nooks and crannies.

My favorite cranny is Cecil's Court and other used bookshops in that area (just a stone's throw from Trafalgar).

If you don't mind my saying so, I think you are doing an awfully lot of moving around, with not a lot of payoff. Inverness and Dunkeld are pleasant enough places, but wouldn't it be nicer to just find one gorgeous place in the highlands for scenice walks?

Likewise, wouldn't a longer spell in the vicinity of Stonehenge (Cambridge area) be better than constantly moving around?


Also, your post has a "(Sigh.)" after saying that Stonehenge is your partner's only must-see. Does that mean she's vague about what she wants to do or unenthusiastic about being a sightseer? If it's the latter, I am completely sympathetic. I just about hate sightseeing. I much prefer just being in a place and following my nose.

You might want to talk over this itinerary with her, not uS!

Do you drop your car at Cardiff? Why not keep it to drive to Stonehenge? Train to Salisbury/bus to Stonehenge/bus back to Salisbury/train to Bath is going to take more time than just driving. Also I predict you'll wish you'd seen more of Bath.

In London we love the walking tours. There's a wide variety, including one to Greenwich.

As for your mystery stay before Edinburgh, there are a number of cute towns on the east coast. Maybe you can find something there.

I appreciate the feedback.

Nessundorma, you suggested finding a gorgeous place in the Highlands, and I guess this brings up a bigger problem: I don't know where that is. I've never been further north than Edinburgh/Loch Lomond, so I based this itinerary from what I found in the forums, and I guess Dunkeld just sounded nice. Where might be a better base? I haven't made any reservations (except London) so I'm not locked into anything. I am nervous that we are spread around too much, and I am probably making a classic newbie traveler's mistake in trying to do too much. Originally we were only going to do Wales for the rest of the trip, and then we got greedy and the sleeper car sounded exciting, and I tried to figure out a way to get a taste of Scotland without flying all around the country. Is there a better solution, or should I just stick with Wales and go back for Scotland? Or vice versa? Or perhaps find one good base in each place?

I'm not really interested in the Cambridge/Bath/Salisbury area--Stonehenge is the only thing my partner specifically requested we see. I've tried getting her input, and she just has no opinions. She's never been overseas and has no idea what to expect. She was more help on some of the London ideas, but outside of that, she's really along for the ride. I'm probably trying too hard to cover too much because of it.
So no, she isn't unenthusiastic about site seeing so much as noncommital. And I don't think either one of us is just dying to see tourist sites. I'd love to settle somewhere and just meander. I think we're programmed to think that isn't acceptable vacation behavior or something, which is just ridiculous. I'm glad you said something about the London Eye--I may cut it out just because I don't really care. I'd rather see the view of the Thames from the top of St. Paul's anyway.

Mimar, I guess I planned the convoluted train route from Cardiff because we have a third day free on our rail pass if we do it this way, and I thought it would be cheaper than keeping a car one more day?

I need to run the numbers and see if it would be cheaper to just use a car the entire time and no train, or buy train tickets and rent a car, or what.
I appreciate the feedback on that--I see it is rather unwieldy.

"Also I predict you'll wish you'd seen more of Bath."

You know, I've been there twice and haven't had much of an impression left on me. However, the first time I was with a tour and the second we passed through on the train. Perhaps with more time, a car, and some research, I would enjoy it? I've had several people urge Bath, so I guess I should rethink the end of the trip. Perhaps scratch Scotland and just do Wales and a few days in Bath? I'll do a Fodor's search for favorite parts of the Bath area.

Our biggest problems are that we are indecisive people, and this is our first major vacation as a couple after four years of scrimping, and the first vacation as "grownups" who can spend the extra money and do more than a whirlwind cheap trip. Speaking for me, I'm scared to death for some reason. I have trip anxiety and I feel like every decision I make is going to be a bad one. I know if I just relax and keep things simple and flexible, I'll be have a lovely time. Unfortunately, right now I'm freezing up and picking the first thing I read about half the time.

Thanks for the help. I'll keep on this and tweak.

Julie

Although I LOVE Scotland, I would suggest spend your time in England and Wales (assuming from what you say that Wales is a higher priority for you than Scotland). If I'm counting correctly, you would have 4 days in Scotland. It seems that this is pretty rushed. You could save Scotland for a future trip when you could come closer to doing it justice.

There are so many great tips on this forum of regions of England to visit. If you've seen Bath twice, I wouldn't feel obliged to go back just because everyone recommends it. Since you mention settling somewhere and meandering, I'd do just that. Pick a base of operations somewhere in England and check out the area. Then you can move on to Wales.

If you do go to Scotland, I'd pick one place to use as a base and see whatever is nearby. You're not going to see it all, so no point killing yourself trying.

My additional concern about Scotland is that the first week of May may still land you in unpleasantly cold weather.

I think Noe847 is giving you good advice about what to do twixt London and Wales. Look for English spot in or near Cambridge/Stonehenge that is full of interest, romance and charm -- if you don't already have one in mind. If it were me (and it's not me!) I would be looking for a place that contains both options for sophisticated touristing (architecture, history, antiquing, good food, performing arts for the evenings) and truly lovely country rambles and small villages to enjoy. That way, you can discover the right mix for the two of you. You might end up doing a lot of walking and turning in early in the evening. Or maybe you'll be at the pub til it closes, and sleeping in, then off to the museums or shops and a concert at night.

That might be Cambridge itself, although my only experience of Cambridge was a spectacularly beautiful spring Sunday, when I simply walked around the university, and it was so long ago, I can't remember if the town was attractive or not. But perhaps something near there would put you in striking distance of both relaxation and stimulation.

You can start more than one thread if this gets too complicated!

But above all: Just settle somewhere with the intention of guiltlessly meandering! If your partner demands more effienct use of your time or you get overwhelmed with guilt, you'll have a car and you can always head straight for some A-list castle or cathedral. England's not very big.

Here's a thread with lots of suggestions of towns that could be a base for exploration:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34778990
After reading it, I wanted to go to all of the areas described!

Hi jne,

A couple of miscellaneous comments:

The big market day for Portobello Road is Saturday so if that's your intent, you've got a visit scheduled for a Tuesday. The antique shops will be open but not the street stalls.

Cambridge and Stonehenge are not co-located. I think you and another poster mean Oxford, transposing major universities, understandable!

You sound as if you're not especially interested in returning to Bath and if your partner has no particular interest in visiting, ditch it and use the extra time to stay longer in some of your other locations. I'm not dissing Bath, it just doesn't seem to be a high priority for you. A car in Bath won't be much of an asset as it's a pain of a city to drive around.

Perhaps instead of an Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge trip, just do a day trip to Stonehenge from London?

Is the fashion museum the Fashion & Textile Museum? If so, you might want to give it a pass unless your partner is a diehard devotee of the museum's founder, Zandra Rhodes. According the website, the museum is undergoing an indefinite "restructuring" and seems to be open only to groups of five or more. I visited in May 2004 and the exhibitions were essentially 24/7 Zandra Rhodes. Very thin on other designers.

Lastly, I agree with the others who've said you're said you've got a lot of driving and consequently not a lot of seeing in your itinerary. I completely relate to the impulse to fit it all in but am reminded by the DH that less is better. There will always be (fingerscrossed) the next trip.

thx, obxgirl, for correcting my geography.

I thought I might also suggest Islington as a quirky substitute for the more predictable Portobello Road.

Julie

IF you decide you want to come to Scotland, you could do it either way- stop somewhere for two days or make 2 overnights. I'm a bit prejudiced on the back of other answers, but if you're going to stay somewhere, I would suggest Dukled would be a good option.

FWIW, I'd take a little more Scotland over a lot more Bath any day.

Thanks so much--you've all been a great help. I think I will try to be more realistic and plan for Scotland on our next pass through, perhaps a bit later in the year.

I think I'll drop the rail pass portion and rent a car for about 10 days--I was surprised how affordable the quotes for such a period were. I had bad information on the affordability of renting a car for a long period. I will probably keep the London portion above, with some tweaking thanks to your thoughts, and then buy train tickets to Bath for a day or two. From there we will rent a car for the remainder of the trip. Take partner to aforementioned Stonehenge and perhaps a few days in Cotswalds, or simply head straight for Wales and spend the entire time doing a circle of Wales. I'd like to hit three areas with lots of meandering/exploration at each: Hay on Wye, St. David's/Fishguard, and mountain region near Betwys Y Coed. When I get an itinerary together, I'll check back. Thanks again. I am very much looking forward to Scotland as well, so please don't think I've given up on it. I will do it justice in 5 years or so.

To make things the more stressful this week, our car blew up, and we're having to buy a new one in 24 hours or so. Phew!