UK/Normandy Itinerary
 

My 14 year old son and I are taking a 23 day trip to the UK with a brief stop in Normandy in late September/early October and would appreciate any feedback on my rough itinerary. We will be using Airbnb for most lodgings and I am planning on renting a car in the UK and in Normandy (although not taking the car on the ferry). I understand driving in Scotland is especially time consuming and would be checking into lodging after 1800 hours in most cases. We are flying into Glasgow and out of Paris (that part is booked). The main thing I am trying to gauge is if the driving schedule is realistic. I realize a couple of the drives are 5-7 hours and have tried to plan accordingly. I also understand a lot of our stops will be relatively brief or we will only have time for one major attraction. Thanks!
09/26-Fly into Glasgow around 10:30 am. Collect rental car and drive along Loch Lomand to Oban. Check into lodging in Oban.
9/27-Visit Isle of Mull and Iona Abbey
9/28-Jacobite steam train ride
9/29-Open but likely exploring Glencoe
9/30-Check out of lodging in Oban and drive to Loch Ness area to see the loch and Urquhart Castle. Overnight in the Loch Ness area.
10/1-Drive to Inverness to see the Titanic Museum there. Leave by 1500 hours for the long drive to Stirling (not planning on many stops). Check into lodging in Stirling.
10/2-See Doune Castle and Castle Campbell
10/3-Explore Edinburgh
10/4-Checkout of lodging early, drive to Bamburgh to see Lindisfarne Abbey and Bamburgh Castle. Drive to Carlisle and overnight there.
10/5-See Hadrian's Wall and maybe one other activity. Drive to Liverpool and overnight there.
10/6-Visit the Merseyside Museum and possible one other activity. Drive to Caernarfon and check into lodging there.
10/7-Explore Snowdonia.
10/8-Checkout of lodging in Caenarfon. All day drive to London with some pit stops along the way. Check into lodging in London.
10-9 to 10/11 are reserved for London with no set itinerary yet
10/12-Checkout out of London lodging and drive to Portsmouth visiting at least Stonehenge on the way. Overnight in Portsmouth
10/13-Spend the day at the Portsmouth Historical Docks (we have already arranged to leave our bags at our lodging place). Take the overnight ferry to Caen.
10/14-Arrive in Caen early and collect a rental car. Visit the Normandy beaches. Check into lodging and overnight in Caen.
10/15-Visit more Normandy sites, either turn in rental car in Caen and take late train to Paris or drive to Paris and drop off rental car there. Check into Paris lodgings.
10/16-See Paris sites
10/17-See the Louvre
10/18-Check out and fly home

Ambitious. I do hope you know that Lindisfarne Abbey is on the island of Lindisfarne, not Bamburgh and access depends on the tides.

Where are you going to park the car in London - central London is expensive for parking and pretty hard driving

Also driving in an unfamiliar country on unfamiliar roads on an unfamiliar side of the road when jet lagged is rather dangerous.

I'd drop the car in London and then use public transport in the south (it is just London is no place for a car)

Thank you for the feedback! It is appreciated and tells me i am thinking about the right things.
I do understand the first day driving will be taken slow. It shows a two to three hour drive and I have alloted six to eight for it so I can take a lot of fresh air breaks and pull over when needed.
I have already reasearched the tides at Lindisfarne as well and we should have a good window from about nine until early afternoon for that. The plan would be to see that first and then hit Bamburgh Castle.
I originally was going to drop the car in London but keeping it to drive to Portsmouth made the most sense for flexibility and cost difference was negligible. I will likely stay slightly outside of London as I have found ample places with free parking but good transport access there. I generally like to stay just outside of the bigger cities and then ride public transport in even when travelling in the states.

>>I will likely stay slightly outside of London as I have found ample places with free parking but good transport access there. I generally like to stay just outside of the bigger cities and then ride public transport in even when travelling in the states.<<

That plan doesn't work very well for London. It is enormous, the largest city in western Europe by a loooooong ways. You have a very short time in London as it is - and spending an extra 2 hours or so in transit each day is a total waste IMO/IME.

I would break the drive down from Wales somewhere -- like say Warwick or Oxford. The next day visit Stonehenge en route to LHR (the easiest place to drop a rental car), stay in central London car-less and take the train to Portsmouth.

Generally is ok, but not here

We found the bus to be easier going to Gatwick from Portsmouth. We were going to take the train but a man gave us the tip and it was very easy but if you are in London by the train station that would work also. You will have to take the shuttle from the port to Caen to pick up rental. Are you dropping off and taking train to Paris? They bumped us up for less than ten pounds for a cabin. It was nice to have a place to keep luggage and we took a nap. I loved Portsmouth. We went and saw the sub musuem but the Mary Rose was not opened yet. I loved touring the ships.

>>We found the bus to be easier going to Gatwick from Portsmouth. <<

Gatwick really doesn't fit in this itinerary . . .

I understand that you are going to be taking breaks and not just driving for long hours; However, I would not advise driving for more than three or four hours total, especially in England when you will be driving on the "wrong" side of the road.

The one time I did that was in the Lake Country, and I was tired. I had an accident when I entered from a two-lane road to a dual carriageway. I got confused and hit a truck.

I've driven in Ireland, England, and all over continental Europe, so it's not like I'm inexperienced.

Following on from Peg's post . . .

>>09/26-Fly into Glasgow around 10:30 am. Collect rental car and drive along Loch Lomand to Oban. Check into lodging in Oban.<<

I know you say you are planning all day for the drive w/ breaks. But I wouldn't - and I have driven thousands of miles in the UK. That will normally be a 3 hour drive, but right after an overnight flight, driving at all is not really recommended. I'd explore Glasgow that day and collect a car the next morning. But if you simply 'must' get the car at GLA on arrival -- I'd plan on driving no farther than Arden or Luss - about 45 mins.


(it is Loch Lomond BTW)

<I would break the drive down from Wales somewhere -- like say Warwick or Oxford. The next day visit Stonehenge en route to LHR (the easiest place to drop a rental car), stay in central London car-less and take the train to Portsmouth.>
This was roughly my original plan but I only ended up with two days in London when I did that and my son had little interest in Oxford. We will be taking a side trip to North Weald Airfield as my great uncle flew out of there in World War II so I have been considering staying in Chigwell/Epping. From other forums, that seems to be about 30-45 minutes to London which is an okay amount of travel time for me. Is it longer than that? We stayed about 45 minutes outside of both Seattle and DC when we visited those places and didn't feel like too much time was wasted on travel as we would arrive around 0900 to 1000 when most things opened and head back to our lodgings around 1800 to 2000 when most things had closed. Since my son is still fairly young, we are not planning on doing too much in the evening and will likely just be hitting the major attractions given the short time. I have also looked at staying in the Croydon area which seems to be about the same 30-45 minutes from central London. This has been one of the hardest parts of the trip to plan so, again, the feedback is appreciated

I also understand the concerns on driving. I am flying west from Washington state (about 11 hours total) so I am hopping jet lag won't be as severe. If I feel unsafe at any point, I will stop. I have already looked at some emergency places to stop but am choosing to be optimistic that things will work out.

>>state (about 11 hours total) so I am hopping jet lag won't be as severe<<

IME (at least 3 trips to the UK each year from the West coast -- and occasionally from the east coast) jet lag is MUCH worse from the west coast but maybe it won't bother you.

Let me get this straight -- you plan on driving from Wales to <i>Epping</i> and use that as a base for London? And then drive from Epping to Stonehenge to Portsmouth??? Beyond daft . . . sorry :(

Epping or Chigwell to say the Tower of London by public transport -- 1 hour. To Westminster - about the same. So no matter what you plan for a day -- you will spend two full hours just getting to/from not counting the traveling around IN London bits.

But it seems to me you are set in this and aren't open any other ideas . . . Not quite sure what info you are looking for.

BTW -- your son is not too young to enjoy things in London in the evenings, concerts, theatre, late museum openings, meeting skate boarders on the South Bank, riding the Eye.

Omg Janis, just pointed out the bus is an option as well as the train if he drops it off on his way to Portsmouth. He is dropping off at LHR. It was 1/2 the price and same time so for those of us watching our budget a good tip.

I am not completely set so I really am looking for additional feedback on things, especially the Liverpool/Wales to London transition. My main point is there are certain things that I am okay with, like 30-45 minutes of transport time, and understand there will be some challenging driving days (my original itinerary was way more ambitious). I am also looking to see if there are points that I have not considered and either decided I am okay with or made a contingency for.
If Epping is more like an hour to Central London, I will likely look elsewhere to stay. The Liverpool and Portsmouth dates are set. Wales is still negotiable however it is fairly high on my priority list and I am willing to sacrifice some of the London time for it. As I said earlier, my original plan included a day between Wales and London (either Birmingham or Oxford)and was as follows
10/8-Checkout of lodging in Caenarfon. Drive to Birmingham or Oxford. Overnight there.
10-9-Drive to London, drop off car and check into lodgings (not sure if time for anything else although perhaps could visit North Weald here.
10/10-London
10/11-London
10/12-Checkout out of London lodging and train to Portsmouth visiting at least Stonehenge on the way (but unsure of what to do with luggage). Overnight in Portsmouth
Perhaps though if I stayed in Cardiff on 10/8 I could hit Stonehenge on the way to London and then spend the afternoon in London before heading to Portsmouth on the train. I also played around with dumping the car somewhere in Wales and taking a train to London.

>>Omg Janis, just pointed out the bus is an option as well as the train if he drops it off on his way to Portsmouth. <<

But he wants to go to Stonehenge . . . Gatwick simply doesn't make sense. But more sense maybe than some of the rest of this ;)

>>He is dropping off at LHR<<

Nope - it was me who suggested he might drop the car at LHR on the way in <B>TO</B> London. The OP's plan is to drive to Epping and then drop the car at Portsmouth.


But just in case the OP decides to consider LGW, Epping to Gatwick would be a 90 minute drive - IF the M25 isn't a parking lot at the time.

You have 16 days between GLA and Portsmouth. In that you want to see a large part of Scotland, the Northumberland coast, Hadrian's Wall, Liverpool, Snowdonia, Stonehenge, Essex AND London.

you do the math . . .

Just to give you one other example . . . Stirling > Lindesfarne > Bamburgh > Carlisle is a 5.5 to 6 hour drive WITHOUT a single stop. Holy Island requires a minimum of 2 hours and that is cutting it short (just walking in from the visitor car park takes a good 15 minutes), Bamburgh Castle - another couple of hours, stops along Hadrian's Wall another couple of hours absolute minimum. so you are talking a 12-14 hour day.