My wife and I will be traveling through the UK for 11 days/10 nights early May 2025. She has never been to London so I am thinking 3 days there. I was thinking of also doing 3 days Bath/Cotswolds and maybe 4 days York and Edinburgh? Big geographic spread so was thinking train to Bath then hire car service to travel down to Stonehenge and then around Cotswolds. Stay in Bath. Then back to London or how to get from Bath to York? Then once we go up to Edinburgh from York I was thinking we just do the 5 hour train ride back down to London before flying back home the next day? So many options. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5322 posts
When you say hire car service for Stonehenge and the Cotswolds, do you mean to rent a car or hire a car and driver? Big difference.
I'd also seriously consider the time benefit of flying home from Edinburgh instead of going all the way back to London. Look at a multicity flight ticket instead of a round trip.
Posted by
Cornwall
278 posts
With just 10 days I would pass on The Cotswolds and concentrate on North Yorkshire, Northumberland, The Borders and Edinburgh. Can you fly home from Edinburgh or Glasgow?
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks for the input. I was thinking I will either rent a car and drive all through the UK or maybe do train to Bath - then hire tour service to go to Stonehenge, then another day to tour us around The Cotswolds... not sure about York and Edinburgh. Could we get away with walking around those cities?
Posted by
Camano Island, WA, usa
1493 posts
Fly into London, See Tower of London, take Thames boat to Greenwich, take day trip to Hampton Court, then train or drive to Oxford, go to Blenheim Palace, continue to Salisbury, go to Stonehenge, go to Bath, go to the Cotswolds, visit various sites, go to Chester, visit Conwy Castle, go NE to York, visit Castle Howard, Visit Whitby, go S to Chatsworth, proceed S visit your choice. Fly out of London. Or go N to Edinburgh, stop at Durham Catheral and Fly out of Edinburgh. Check www.nationaltrust.uk.org for ideas. We drove, but we had 15 days to include Scotland. This is sort of the Whitman Sampler Tour, but I tried to put in the best picks. Bon Voyage!
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4553 posts
In Bath you could take a one day Mad Max Tour to Stonehenge and Cotswolds. You can go from Bath to York but when we did it, we had to change trains. Trains are faster than driving. I think your number of destinations(4 cities) is too many for 10 nights. It takes a lot of time to check in and out of hotels and take a train to a new destination.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2204 posts
York and Edinburgh. Could we get away with walking around those cities?
YES! Both are compact and the main attractions are either walkable or can be reached by public transport in Edinburgh. Also car parking is likely to be very expensive.
Posted by
8074 posts
Only 10 days, I suggest you skip Edinburg for this trip.
There is so much to see just in England. Add more days to London, Bath need minimum of 2 days. The Cotswolds need 2 days and York 3 days.
The more travel time you waste, the less you see.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Wow! This forum is awesome! All such great input. Thanks everyone. I think I need to change my return flight and spend a few more days while in the UK.