After lots of constructive comments on my first thread (thanks to all) and after obtaining further info, this is the second iteration of our UK Trip:

Arrive in London around 12:15 P.M. and to hotel. Five nites at Chamberlain Hotel. Not set in stone, but there are so many things to see and do in London that we could spend at least a month there.

Check out after fifth nite, take baggage to Euston station and see some more stuff in London before train.

Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh arriving early. Three nites in Edinburgh.

One day in Edinburgh will be a day trip by train to Glasgow to save hotel room and parking. We're staying relatively near the station, so this should work well.

Pickup car at Edinburgh train station. Then Perth (Scone Castle) and Stirling Castle, then to somewhere near Hadrian's Wall via M6. I don't know if this is realistic from a time viewpoint so could use some input. If so, we'd probably prune Perth.

Three to four nites near Hadrian's Wall (probably Hexham as that is supposed to have lots of hotels). Hexham, Durham, Beamish, Hadrian's Wall. Hotel undetermined at this time. This is the heart of the part of the trip outside of London, as the things to be seen around here coincide with our interests. If necessary, we would sacrifice Wordsworth's Cottage to see the things I've listed. Anyone know of small country or town hotel with good food and car parking in this area?

Drive to Chester/North Wales, visiting Wordworth's Cottage on the way. I think this is doable because most will be on M6, but I may be wrong..

Three to four nites around Chester-- Visit Caernafon Castle, Chester, Liverpool. This may be two nites in Wales, two nites in Liverpool, or three/four nites in one central place where we could leave the car and take the train to Liverpool and perhaps to Chester if parking there is a hassle. City and Hotel(s) undetermined at this time.

W do want to visit Liverpool because it's an important city. We would like to see the Maritime/Slavery Museum and the docks; this is one of our particular interests.

Last day: drive to LHR via Blenheim--I put this back into the plan after thinking about driving/flying from Liverpool. Think this is doable, and keeping the car will be the best way to arrive at LHR--otherwise, will spend at least half the day on the train/plane and getting back to LHR from airport/station. Plus, we will have already paid for the car, so one more day is going to be relatively inexpensive. So turn in car at LHR, then overnite and home the next morning.

Again, thanks to everyone who commented on my first go at this. What do you all think about this one? Any suggestions?

DWD

Came back to this as I had no replies first time around, and the itinerary has gotten somewhat more firmly set
Everything through Edinburgh is the same as above.

Right now, we're planning to pickup the car, see Scone Castle in Perth and Stirling Castle and Bannockburn battlefield, then drive to a country inn near Hexham for four nites.

Questions: (a) will we have time to see Scone Castle, Stirling Castle, Bannockburn, and drive to Hexham on the same day? An alternative would be to cut one nite near Hexham and stay near Stirling instead, as we would probably have time to see what's in Hexham on the way to the lodging.

(b) Alternatively, we could see some of the Borders stuff if we kept to a more easterly route. What do you all think?

<<Anyone know of small country or town hotel with good food and car parking in this area?>>

I wouldn't say Hexham has a "lot" of hotels, but there are possibilities, Have a look on tripadvisor plus the following may be of interest:

www.closehouse.co.uk/
www.primahotels.co.uk/matfen/default-en.html
www.langleycastle.com/
www.battlesteads.com/
www.bw-beaumonthotel.co.uk/

sofarsogood-

should have said I've already booked near Hexham--Elk's Head Inn in Whitfield for four nites. It's about ten miles south of Hexham, but my spouse wants to stay in a "charming country place" but she doesn't particularly like B&Bs, so this is a compromise.

I'm happy with it, but don't know if we've time to see both Scone and Stirling Castles on same day AND drive to Hexham too.

<i> (a) will we have time to see Scone Castle, Stirling Castle, Bannockburn, and drive to Hexham on the same day?</i>

Sorry, but that's just a fantasy. Just driving time alone without any stops will take you about 6 hours. Even getting out of central Edinburgh from Waverley could take the best part of an hour due to the congestion and roadworks. Scone Palace and Stirling Castle each deserve at least 3 hours each. Back to the drawing board I think.

It would be (just) possible to drive to Stirling Castle before heading south, but not Perth as well. They would be flying visits really. Stirling Castle maybe too similar to Edinburgh Castle.

Why not visit www.alnwickcastle.com on your way to Whitfield?

Or www.traquair.co.uk or www.manderston.co.uk - both in the Scottish Borders, or Melrose Abbey, Selkirk, Kelso - small towns in contrast in Edinburgh?

>><i>(a) will we have time to see Scone Castle, Stirling Castle, Bannockburn, and drive to Hexham on the same day? </i><<

Not very doable. Edinburgh > Perth > Stirling > Whitfield is a 5 to 6 hour drive (probably closer to 6 hr) w/o a single stop. Scone = minimum 1.5 hours; Stirling Castle = minimum 2.5 hours; Bannockburn is totally missable IMO, especially since the Visitors Centre is closed for the next year.

A loooooong, exhausting day.

>><i>(b) Alternatively, we could see some of the Borders stuff if we kept to a more easterly route. What do you all think?</i><<

If it was my trip (but it isn't of course) I'd skip Scone and Bannockburn. I'd visit Stirling, then head SE into the Borders for the night. See at least one of the Border Abbeys that afternoon. Next day visit maybe one other Abbey, and one of the several stately homes/castles (Traquair or Floors, or Mellerstain or ??) then drive on to Whitfield.

And to be totally practical, you <i>could</i> also skip Stirling and just concentrate on the Borders. Stirling Castle is magnificent, but it is also quite similar to Edinburgh Castle and you won't ruin your trip if you don't see both of them.

In case I didn't make it clear - skip heading north from Edinburgh, exploring the Borders or Northumberland would be more efficient.

We were all posting at the same time . . .

<<We were all posting at the same time . . .>>

Great minds think alike....

Forgot about Floors Castle and Mellerstain - travellers whizz by the Borders en route to Edinburgh and overlook some gems

Thanks folks. That's great advice.

I had my doubts about Perth, and will now spend time in the Borders. I'll also think about skipping Stirling. However, I'm really into history and I'm part Scot, so I'll probably visit for the history alone.

I take it you all concur in my plan of cutting a nite near Hexham? I think if I find the right place in the Borders we would be able to do on the drive down what I was planning to do the first day there.

Stirling is an easy day trip by train from Edinburgh - but that might mean cutting out Glasgow.

As for the rental car - if you are sticking to Stirling I'd take the coach/a taxi to EDI and collect your car there.If you are headed down the A68 into the Borders instead - then collecting the car at Waverly station works better.

janisj--

headed to the Borders, so will stick with picking the car up at Waverly Station. I've now booked a(n) hotel in Jedburgh for the nite so we'll have two easy days drives instead of one long one.

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll probably put one more of these up for plans around Chester.

>>hotel in Jedburgh for the nite so we'll have two easy days drives instead of one long one.<<

That's terrific. Melrose/Dryburgh and either Traquair (a real favorite) or Abbotsford or Mellerstain on day 1. And Jedburgh, Alnwick (FABULOUS!) then on to Whitfield day 2. Melrose and Dryburgh Abbeys are so near each other you actually might be able to fit in them/one of the houses AND Jedburgh Abbey all on day 1. But no need to rush since you can visit Jedburgh in the morning after you checkout.

If you managed to fit in Jedburgh Abbey on day 1 -you couldeasily spendmost ofa day at Alnwick (castle/gardens/town)

I specifically omitted a stop along Hadrian's Wall since you can easily explore the wall from Whitfield.

janisj--great suggestions! Abbotsford House is closed until July, so Traquair will make a great substitute.

I had thought Alnwick was too far east, but looks from the map like it's doable. I'm also thinking of Hermitage Castle, which I know is pretty remote and ruinous, but might give some feeling for the Borders "back in the day."

So much to think about and so little time.

Thanks for your help.

Alnwick is quite a bit east -- but its an easy drive from there to Whitfield.

As for Hermitage Castle - it is pretty interesting. For another property that might be more convenient for your route, consider Smailholm Tower. It isn't as large as Hermitage, but is remote and gives you your "back in the day" vibe.

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/...?PropID=PL_246

Wanted to check back in to tell you we completed our trip and it went very well. So well that my spouse, who didn't really want to go, didn't at all want to come back to the US at the end of it and has done little but talk about our next UK trip since we got back. Thanks to all of you who helped.

Ended up taking a Rabbie's Tour to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond. Great tour even though it rained all day. My spouse wishes we had had more time at Stirling so we'll plan to spend more time there next trip.

Stayed in Jedburgh, touring Traquair House the day before and Jedburgh Abbey and Mary Queen of Scots House the next morning. Didn't do Alnwick.

After some searching, and taking into consideration my spouse's bad knee, I cancelled Elk's Head Inn and booked at Best Western Derwent Manor because it has a lift. We wanted to see Durham, visit Beamish Outdoor Museum, Hexham, and Hadrian's Wall, and it looked like--and was--in a very location for that, as well as being out in the country where we didn't need to worry about traffic noise. We liked it a lot and will go back if we decide to revisit here. We spent most of one day at Beamish without seeing all of it, and so got to Durham late. I'd like to return and look at the city as well as just the Cathedral, as it looked interesting. Hexham is charming.

Drove the A686 from Haydon Bridge to Penrith. This is supposed to be one of the ten most beautiful drives in Europe, and it didn't disappoint. We stopped for lunch at the Elks Head Inn, to make up somewhat for not staying there.

We did drive through the northern and western part of the Lake Country, but it was disappointing and crowded, perhaps because the A686 had been so beautiful.

Stayed at Ellesmere Port just south of the Mersey at a Holiday Inn next to the National Inland Waterway (or "Boat) Museum. Again because of my spouse's knee. Aside from being very hard to find--we got lost each time we tried coming back to it--it was a very good choice. Quiet room, friendly staff, pretty good but expensive food. We'll probably stay there again when we go back, as I really got bitten by the "Industrial Revolution" bug at the Museum. It tells the story of the canals and made me want to return immediately and rent a narrowboat to cruise the canals.

We ended up going to Liverpool but not to Glasgow. Liverpool was somewhat of a disappointment and we tried to see it and then drive to London, which meant we couldn't stop at any of the places we'd wanted to on our way back to LHR. However, we have seen Liverpool so don't need to do it again.

So again, thanks for the help and the input.

Sounds like you had a great time the drive from Liverpool to London is a long haul. I don't envy you. Taking the train might have been a better option.

After visiting Traquair House 5 or 6 times over the years I finally stayed ther for two nights a year ago. It was such a treat!

Yes it was a long drive. Should have stayed with the original plan of stopping a couple of times on the drive down rather than going to Liverpool.

Traquair House was one of our favorites. The day we visited there was a "rally" of old sports cars--or cars that looked like old sports car as they had BMW logos--parked along the drive. Made it easy to imagine a country-house party in the 1930s.