10 days Edinburgh to London

Be sure to add York!

I second the vote for York! We did your trip, but started in London and finished in Edinburgh, stopping for 2 nights in York on the way north via train. After the frenetic (and, sometimes frantic) pace of London, we found York and Edinburgh allowed us to relax a bit more.

We making our way from Edinburgh to London over 6 days. We are stopping for a boat cruise to Farne Islands to see puffins, Alnwick and then The Sill to walk the wall and see the Roman forts, villas, etc. I wish we could stop in a Durham or York. I am too old to only spend one night in a place so am dragging it out.

So much to see in London obviously. Especially if a Liberal Arts major. But lots for a teenager heading into Sciences. We love the Science museum even with an older teen. Early computing machines, mathematical models.

Do minimum of two full days in York- visit the National Railway Museum, the Minster (Cathedral), walk the ancient walls and visit some great museums in the city.

Also, Durham is great, needs a full day, don't miss the Cathedral where the Venerable Bede has his tomb.

If you are interested in Hadrian's Wall, you could travel directly to say, Haltwhistle, which is a good base to see Housesteads Fort and Vindolanda. I stayed at the Old School House, which was a delightful place to stay. Here is my review of it. I would probably take the A68 down, instead of the M-route, as it takes you through Northumberland National Park and is a very scenic route. It will be gorgeous in September when driving through the moors.

Or you could meander down through Northumberland, stopping at places along the coast, like Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle, and so on, then from Bamburgh, take the route that will get you to Cragside (a National Trust property) that is absolutely amazing. Then you can head over to Hadrian's Wall. I recently spent about 5 1/2 weeks in England, so if you are interested, you look at my online journal. I spent about 6 nights in Northumberland and the Hadrian's Wall area. The Northumberland portion starts here - https://mostlytraveled.wordpress.com/2024/04/19/day-30-goodbye-yorkshire-and-hello-northumberland/ - but I also spent 7 nights in Yorkshire so if you are interestesd in that, just head back a bit farther.

From Haltwhistle, you can make your way to Manchester, although I would not recommend driving in Manchester. But you could easily turn your car in there, and then head further south by train.

Mardee has beaten me too it and is spot on with her suggestions!

Liverpool is easily reached from Manchesrer and has a lot of music history too!

Do you want to drive or use the trains? Either would work, but it makes a big difference in setting up the trip. Alnwick and Bamburgh would be difficult without a car, and Lindisfarne (Holy Island) especially difficult because access depends on the tides. If you drive, you could drop the car in York, or elsewhere along the way, and take a train to London rather than dealing with city and suburban traffic.

Without a car, you could put together rail connections from Edinburgh to Newcastle to Durham to York to London. From Newcastle a bus runs east-west along (more or less) Hadrian's Wall, with stops at Vindolanda and other points of interest. You trade the hassles of driving for the need to stick to a schedule that might not be optimal for you.

The AD122 bus along Hadrian's Wall no longer runs from Newcastle. It now runs from Hexham Railway Station via Haltwhistle Railway Station to the Northumberland/Cumberland border at Greenhead.

Alnwick is easy to access by regular LNER (also Transpennine and Cross Country) trains to Alnmouth Station then taxi or bus.

Bamburgh is also accessed by bus, normally from Berwick on Tweed railway station, but from Alnmouth is also possible.

Thanks for all the suggestions. The latest iteration of the plan has us flying into london then travel to York by high speed train and then somewhere to see Hadrian's wall- is vindolanda the best spot ? Then on to Edinburgh. How many nights would you allow for Edinburgh/Hadrian's wall/ York after London ? I’ve seen all the London major sights but he hasn’t seen any. Plus perhaps a day trip to Stonehenge and bath. Probably take trains but I don’t mind driving. Thanks

While Vindolanda should totally be visited, it is actually south of the wall.

It actually predates the wall by about 40 years and became a major construction site and later a garrison camp for the wall. Housesteads and the arguably more important (but far less known for some strange reason) Chesters Fort are the big name ones on the wall.

Vindolanda was actually built to serve the Stanegate road.

At both Housesteads and Chesters you get a 20% discount with your AD122 bus ticket.

You want a base minimum of two nights, IMO, for the wall.