We are active and like easy hikes. Adore scenery, will skip the distilleries. My husband can drive it, he has experience in Ireland.
Planning a trip for Mid-August
2-3 nts Edinburgh
1 nt. Glencoe
2-3 nts. Portree- Isle of Sky
2-3 nts Inverness- Highlands
1 nt Edinburgh
Travel to Cotswold area, perhaps by train,
2 nts Cotswold
2 nts. Windsor Castle & Stonehenge ( where to stay)
4-5 nts. London on the way visit Cambridge.

Thank you for your thoughts.

August

Edinburgh is kinda busy, you are trying to fit a lot in on roads that will be packed with local tourists.

Could you rank what you want to do so we can help you cut and change?

As well as what bilbo says, Cambridge is not on the way to London from Windsor.

Look at a map, read a guide book or two, decide what is most important to you, and above all slow down! Distance may not look great by US or Australian standards but roads in Scotland especially are narrow and crowded and going can be very slow.

Some issues:

Edinburgh will be a total ZOO in August -- the Fringe, the various festivals and the Tattoo all run essentially the entire month. The city doubles in population (triples on weekends). So EVERY tourist site, restaurant and pub will be full to the gills. Plus hotel rates double/triple. It is a 100% totally great time to be there IF the Fringe/Tattoo/el al are the reason for the visit. But if otherwise it is the absolute worst time to be there. Think NOLA Mardi Gras crowds - only for every day for the full month. Also very few if any properties would offer one-night stays.

Skye has become insanely popular. One can have a glorious visit -- however August is going to be very crowded with traffic/difficult parking at any beauty spots. Perhaps consider Mull instead. It will be more crowded than other months but not nearly as bad as Skye. Both Skye and Mull are large / gorgeous islands. However they are very rural and the roads/infrastructure were not built to handle hordes of cars/caravans (RVs)

I would not stay IN Inverness - the only reason to stay IN the city is if one is using public transport and doesn't have a car. Stay almost anyplace outside the urban area within maybe a 30+ mile radius.

This whole bit needs re-thinking:

1 nt Edinburgh
Travel to Cotswold area, perhaps by train,
2 nts Cotswold
2 nts. Windsor Castle & Stonehenge ( where to stay)
4-5 nts. London on the way visit Cambridge.

• 1 night Edinburgh already addressed.
• Traveling to the Cotswolds from Edinburgh by train makes next to no sense. It is close to an all day journey so you'd only have one full day for the Cotswolds -- plus where would you rent a car that you could drop at Windsor
• Already mentioned - Cambridge is not on the way.

Are you flying out of LHR after London?

If the Cotswolds are a must (they will also be busy in August) maybe consider one of the following:

1) Taking the train down from Edinburgh to London and do your London days. Then collect a car out at LHR and drive into the Cotswolds, then visit Stonehenge en route to Windsor and stay the last night at Windsor before flying home

2) Fly from INV to LHR, collect a car and do the Cotswolds/Stonehenge/Windsor loop (in either direction) - return the car and head into London for the rest. Cambridge is an easy day trip from London by train (but IMO Oxford would be better/more convenient for your other plans)

Would you consider spending all of your time in one country? Either Scotland or England? This sounds like a very rushed trip. In June 2023 we spent 16 nights in Scotland, and there was still a lot we didn't have time to see. Is there a specific reason you want to visit both countries in one trip? Do you think you won't return to the UK? And this is your only chance to visit both countries?

We visited Skye in June, and to be honest, the crowds were not as bad as people were telling us they would be. They might be worse in August, I honestly don't know. We spent 4 nights on Skye, in Portree, and Skye was our favorite area along with Glencoe. I followed a roadtrip itinerary on Skye that was very orderly and logical. We didn't have to backtrack. We saw all, if not most, popular sights. What we noticed is that once we left the Old Man of Storr, the traffic and crowds really did thin out. When we visited the Trumpan Church on the Waternish Peninsula, there weren't any cars at all on the road and only a few people at the church ruins. Dunvegan Castle wasn't that crowded. There were a lot of people at the Fairy Pools but the parking lot is large so we easily found a parking spot, and most people only walked a short distance on the trail, and then turned back, so the crowds thinned out on the trail, too. But, as I said, it's certainly possible that August will be busier than June. Or maybe most people stay in Edinburgh for the festivals in August.
Isle of Skye itinerary: The best of the island in 3 days

Instead of Inverness, I can recommend staying in Nairn, a very pretty seaside town. We loved the Sunny Brae B&B, overlooking a gorgeous park and the Moray Firth. Walking distance to restaurants. We visited Elgin Cathedral, Glen Moray Distillery, Cawdor Castle, and Culloden Battlefield from here.

If you keep Skye in your itinerary, you can visit Urquhart Castle on your drive from Portree to the Inverness area. And plan on at least 3 nights on Skye if you keep it in your itinerary.

Re KarenWoo's post -- yes, it would be best for sure to do JUST Scotland or JUST southern England. To clarify, my proposed itinerary tweaks were merely one way to squeeze in the basic locations from your OP. Or possibly you could do just Scotland and a few days in London.

Do note they visited Skye in June -- June is 'shoulder season' (English schools do not get out for the summer until late July - Scotland in early July)

"They might will be very much worse in August," Like more than double the number of visitors.

I don’t see my reply…I will take head of your advise.Thank goodness I made the initial inquiry.
perhaps England will be tremendous on its own. Too there are direct flights to Heathrow.
My hubby likes the beautiful vistas; I need to locate that in England, like a rugged coastline and small villages.
Truly, don’t want to be rushed, nor cold.

rugged coast line all over, small villages check.

Look at Northumbria, North Yorkshire, Lake District, Cornwall, Northern Wales, Dorset, The Cotswolds (no coast)

Direct flights to Heathrow might look convenient and obviously will be if you opt to visit Southern England. But if you want to go to Scotland it would make more sense to look at one stop options to land in Edinburgh or Glasgow. They might be through Heathrow but there will likely to be alternatives through the likes of Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt or Paris that might make more sense. Flying in and out of Dublin also has the advantage of US pre-clearance on the way back.

You can easily spend a 2 week holiday in Scotland - there are plenty of excellent spots that you are currently not planning to go near. Or you could look at tagging on what you have in Scotland with some time in Northern England - the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and Moors, Northumbria, Peak District and also North Wales all have very fine national parks with countryside much more impressive than the Cotswolds in my opinion. And they are all easier to get to from Scotland. You could even fly out from Manchester and not go near London.

Or, if you want to see more of Southern England look at places like Dorset, Devon and Cornwall as well as, or for me, instead of the Cotswolds. But then you will have the same problem of all those areas being very busy in August - I will be in Cornwall for the first two weeks for a start!

Yes, adore Dorset, Cornwall, Devon.. love the nature and beautiful vistas.
(Drop Scotland and Coltswold)
So most likely, London and then those areas in the west, looks stupendous.
Like the simplicity and ease of this itinerary.

Just need best places to stay in London and the other towns, 3.5/4 star.
We are flexible, could be all in early Sept or Aug/Sept split.
MANY Thanks

There are close to 2,000 hotels in London - hundreds of them are 3.5 and 4 star properties. To give any sort of useful advice, what is your actual budget?

As for 'other towns' . . . which other towns??

Fly into London
Cotswold. 3 nts
Newquay. 3 nts with daughter, 29 yrs old
Andover or other quaint town 2-nts with daughter
London 5-6 nts

I have found numerous places in Coltswold, yes back on the itinerary, collecting daughter after a wedding, and will have her for 6 nights.
I have a few options in Newquay, 3 nts,
Then Making our way to London,
Looking for recommendations for interesting area to stay so we can visit Windsor Castle & Stonehenge(maybe) prior to London, for 2-3 nts.
I appreciate the ideas.

You may get other comments suggesting that Newquay is not the best place to stay in Cornwall. I think it’s a decent resort with great beaches and I imagine a great place for a 29 year old. I will be staying close to there for 2 weeks in August.
I don’t know Andover but the location is close in Stonehenge. Salisbury is the more usual stop off for Stonehenge and would work equally well.

Newquay has Cornwall's only 5 star hotel and it is fine with great views (where I would stay), the rest of the town is grungy with a light smell of ganja, but then it is a surfers resort. Many of the other hotels are away to the north of town which is a little dull. The centre is where the action is. I think there is also a private beach in town (not a normal thing in the UK).

I like it in the summer, in the winter it is miserable

Andover is a dump. Why stay there?
My aunt and uncle live there and even they say it is a dump.

If "mid August" includes 5th to 9th you need to be aware that the Boardmasters festival will be on at Watergate Bay, just north of Newquay -https://boardmasters.com. That may either encourage you or discourage you to be in Newquay!

So Newquay out, looking for idyllic town in Cornwall area..what about St Ives?
Andover out too, Need a town to stay on way to London.
Thank for saving me from mistakes.

What sort of town do you want? How big? Coast or countryside?

Remember in your planning of this trip that driving in the UK is much slower than you are used to, especially in the south west, so you may ave some long driving days getting from one place to the next.
Have you thought of staying in Winchester on your way back? If you had more time I would suggest somewhere in Dorset or the New Forest.

Stonehenge is probably not worth the effort tbh, nice drive-by, but many people are disappointed when they visit it. I only know it from the days we could freely roam it, before it became a major "must-see", fenced off and overloaded with tourists. My SIL took friends from the US there last year and they were all a bit meh about it. I know there are tours inside but they are early morning I believe and have to be booked well in advance.

I hope you are not planning on driving to the Cotswolds straight after a long haul flight - that is a dangerous thing to do!

If you want to see Stonehenge then Salisbury is the obvious place although there are a number of other options in Dorset and Wiltshire. I’m very much with the poster above in that I’m sure it’s fascinating if you have an interest in pre-history but not for lots of people.

St Ives is really lovely but will be absolutely rammed in August and it’s very difficult to park unless you stay in one of the few places with parking. Padstow is another fine option but has all the same issues in August as St Ives. I would look at Penzance as a more manageable option whilst still being well placed. Other options are St Agnes for a smaller place or Falmouth.

Is your drive from the Cotswolds down into Cornwall on a Friday/weekend?? If so expect LOTS of traffic and possibly massive tailbacks (traffic jams). And if the weather is nice, even more so. Just be prepared in case the drive takes hours longer than expected.

I'd maybe look for accommodations in or near Mount Bay: Marazion, Newlyn, Mousehole - Penzance would be the largest town the others are much smaller

Andover is a major army town - not a 'quaint' tourist mecca. For Stonehenge Salisbury or possibly Shaftsbury. I do disagree a bit re Stonehenge. I've visited several times back in the 'free roaming' days, then after the initial roping off (it isn't 'fenced off' - just a rope-like cable) and since the modern Visitors Centre. The stones are still roped off but the experience is MUCH better than in the intervening years before the site was improved/redeveloped. The VC is now some distance from the stones and out of view. One can walk across the site or take a shuttle.