From Edinburgh we head to York and were initially planning to go direct via the train.

The idea did strike me to potentially hire a car instead and make a day of it and stop at places like Roslyn Chapel and somewhere along Hadrian’s Wall.

Alternatively, I have also found guided day trips (such as with Heart of Scotland) though it would be far more costly for us to take the day trips and then the train to York (another day) than what it would to hire a car.

I understand we’d be looking at 4+ hours of driving but coming from Australia, this is more than doable for us especially stopping and doing things along the way.

It seems like a good idea but thought I’d sense check this idea and see if there was anything we should be aware of before running with it? Is this one of those ‘sounds good in theory but…’ plans or could this be recommended?

Look at Rabbies Tours for day trips instead.

But re your basic question -- nope -- uhuh -- not at all realistic.

Central Edinburgh to Rosslyn Chapel, then to say Housesteads and on to York is easily a 7 hour drive without stops. Adding an hour or so for the Chapel and 1.5-2 hrs at Housesteads plus a meal and rest stop and you are getting pretty darned close to 12 hours.

Doing Chesters instead of Housesteads would net you about an hour but for a one only Fort it should probably be Housesteads.

IME/IMO exploring Hadrian's Wall merits a full day, what with Chesters, Vindolanda, Housesteads and other sites.

Oh wow, I didn't realise it would be that much of a detour! Is there anyone else you might recommend for 2-3 stops on the way between those cities? There seems to be a lot in that general region to see so wondering if it is plausible to do the drive but with alternate stops that aren't too far out of the way.

What are your thoughts on Durham, Janis? It seems to be en route and I understand the Cathedral is quite magnificent.

What are your plans after York? Because you don't want a car IN York. Are you eventually ending up in London -- if so I'd ditch the car in Edinburgh. Take the train from Waverly Station in central Edinburgh and get off in central York likely walking distance or a very short cab ride to your hotel. If you want to visit Durham -- then book it as two tickets Edinburgh > Durham and Durham > York. Then its an easy train ride (just 2 hours) from York to London.

Now -- IF you had several days to spend between Edinburgh and York my recommendation would be entirely different. Then driving makes sense -- A day for Bamburgh and Lindesfarne, maybe a day for Alnwick, a day for Hadrian's Wall, a day for Beamish and Durham, and a couple of days for the Dales all before getting to York. But for just Edinburgh to York (with or without Durham) . . . take the train.

Durham is a good visit and train is the way to go. Check the station takes left luggage.

Thanks Janis, Bilbo - I think you're both right, given Durham's direct connections to Edinburgh and York, makes sense to just take the train (possibly as a day trip from York if luggage storage isn't easy to come past in Durham). Will put it to the rest of the gang to see if they'd prefer that or a day trip with Rabbies or Heart of Scotland to do Rosslyn + Hadrian's Wall.

Appreciate your advice!

A quick Google shows left luggage at or near station. The castle/ cathedral close is on top of s volcanic plug, so everything is up.

Everything in Edinburgh is ^^^ up and everything in Durham is more so.

We did a day trip from Edinburgh to Hadrian's Wall and we loved Rosslyn. I don't know how far it is from Hadrian's Wall to York, If it's the same distance from the wall to Edinburgh, yes you can do this in one day. Here is the excerpt from my trip report. I think you could add in Rosslyn if you just did Vindolanda.

Day 5/Monday; Visit to Hadrian’s Wall. I looked for a small bus tour that would have taken us to the sites/museums but didn’t see one—only ones that had you walk along the wall. If you find one, I suggest doing it. It is a long drive (2.5 hours each way) on small bumpy roads so when you consider getting there and back and seeing the sites and just being tired by the time you get back to Edinburgh—it’s long We stopped in Jedberg each time as it is the halfway point. We left at 8:30 am and didn’t get back till 8:30 pm. In the end, I would skip the Roman Army Museum. You can see plenty of artifacts at the Vindolanda Museum. If you really want to know how the Roman Army was organized and get details on recruitment, then the Army museum is good. Halsteads is amazing because it is such a large fort and you can see/walk along the wall at that point. We walked along the wall for a couple of minutes to a place where you could look out to see the wall going a long way in the distance. It is a nice walk up to the site with lots of sheep and lambs. We did get the booklet but didn’t use it to guide ourselves along. We will probably use it for reference later. I would say skip the booklet/guide unless you want to read more later. The Vindolanda site was amazing—huge!!! And the exhibits were better than the Roman Army Museum. If you want to know about life in the fort and the towns, then the Vindolanda Museum has so much! I was blown away by the shoes exhibit, the various artifacts of jewelry, worship, and writing tablets. There is even a recreated section of the fort, which I saw several kids playing in/around. It was really interesting We had lunch at the Twice Brewed Inn. Good burgers but unbelievably slow service. We skipped dinner in Jedberg and just got Subway sandwiches to go.

Rosslyn Chapel is simply not to be missed!!!! The guidebooks make it seem like some small place to skip over. It’s only 20 minutes from Edinburgh and it is truly amazing. We pre-booked because you had to have a time slot. I am glad we did. The outside is gorgeous and then you go inside and just gasp. Somebody does a 15 minute introduction to the Chapel—not sure if they do this at the beginning of each time slot or at certain times of the day. But it is truly worth 15 minutes to listen to the talk. I would have listened to that amazing docent for much longer. She did stick around for an hour to answer people’s questions. They won’t let you take pictures inside.

Re the above . . . Edinburgh to Vindolands is about a three hour drive -- adding in Rosslyn adds only about 10 minutes car time but at least an hour's stop. So Edinburgh/Rosslyn Chapel/Vindolanda requires nearly 6 hours total. Vindolanda to York without any stops would take another almost 3 hour drive. So it would be a very long day.

Yes, it would be a 12 hour day. For us, it was totally worth it!!! And if you are used to driving long distances, as we are, not really an issue if the sights are awesome.

What time of year? have you taken the amount of daylight into consideration?

My perspective . . . Rosslyn is terrific (I was fortunate enough to visit it a several times including 'pre Dan Brown' before the mess the Da Vinci Code has brought) In the old days it was ethereal -- once my Mom and I were the only people in the place. It is a pretty small site and now there is a purpose built visitors centre, coach tours and crowds and noise. still lovely but NOT what it once was

I personally would not try to squeeze in Rosslyn and Hadrian's Wall and on to York in one day. Lots of reasons. For one you'd be exhausted and end up giving short shrift to both Rosslyn and the Wall. But also because there is soooooooo much of special interest between Edinburgh and York. Rosslyn, the Border Abbeys, St Abb's Head, Lindesfarne, Bamburgh, Alnwick, several sites along Hadrian's Wall, Beamish, Durham -- and that's just the short list. Now it would take 4 or 5 days to see even most of that list. Unless one could take at least 2 or 3 nights and include at minimum Rosslyn, a couple of the Border Abbey's, possibly Bamburgh, one or two sites on the Wall and Durham Cathedral . . . Since that isn't in the cards, I'd make it easy on myself and 1) do Rosslyn as a short coach excursion from Edinburgh (you'll be with tours anyway so you aren't losing anything by joining one yourselves). 2) Do a day trip for Hadrian's Wall like Rabbies. And take the train from Edinburgh to York. City centre to city centre easy peasy.