2 Week England/Scotland Itinerary Questions (September)

I would attack Scotland in a counterclockwise direction from Edinburgh.

Fri 9/8: Rent/hire a car in Edinburgh. Drive from Edinburgh via Stirling to Pitlochry. Visit Edradour Distillery.

Sat 9/9: Drive through Cairngorms National Park to Inverness, stopping at Aviemore.

THEN EITHER

Sun 9/10: Drive to Skye via Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness & Eilean Donan Castle.

Mon 9/11: Drive to Fort William via Mallaig & Glenfinnan. Visit Glencoe. Take the Caledonian Sleeper train to London.

OR ALTERNATIVELY ...

Sun 9/10: Drive to Oban via Caledonian Canal, Loch Ness & Glencoe.

Mon 9/11: Mull, Iona, Staffa day trip. Drive to Fort William for Caledonian Sleeper train to London.

I'll be honest, I think this is way too much for the 13 days you have. For example, the 10th you are planning to see the distillery in Oban, head to Mallaig (?), Glencoe and then to Inverness. The trip from Oban to Mallaig is about 2 1/2 hours. From Mllaig to Glencoe is another 2 hours or so, and then Glencoe to Inverness is another 2 hours or so - assuming of course (a) the weather is good, (b) no stops and (c) you don't get lost. Can you do it? Possibly. But, I just don't see much time to truly see/explore any of the areas you plan to stop in. If you just want to drive by and check sights off a list, it may work depending upon weather, etc., etc. However, If you honestly want to see these spots, then you need to re think your itinerary.

Sorry, but I think you are trying to cover too much ground. No doubt 4 people means 4 polar opposite "must see" places too! You all need to agree what to see and what can be dropped. Eg cover the Scottish highlands or Hadrian's Wall and York.

I don't get any sleep on sleeper trains, as I find the rattle and vibration keeps me awake, so the following day is lost too as I am too tired and grumpy. Personally, I would visit Blenheim and Oxford any day vs the Cotswolds, but that's just my opinion and no doubt others will disagree. But, if you don't want to travel on the sleeper, you have too much planned for Tuesday the 5th if you also need to get to Scotland the same day.

Although I dislike tours, as I like to travel at my own pace, you may find that taking say a Rabbies tour may work better for you in Scotland. Your Sunday the 10th isn't a feasible unless you plan an 18 hour day.

I would focus on the west coast, as I find this to be more stunning, so I wouldn't go to Inverness or the tourist tacky Aviemore (although nearby Nethy Bridge and Boat of Garten are worth a visit). But it's your choice, not mine, but I do think that your itinerary needs paring back or you need another week!

Fly from Inverness to London.

I agree with the others that you're cramming too much into too few days. To your specific questions:

1. There are 4 of you and the chances of everyone being able to get a decent night's sleep in a sleeper train are slim to nil. Fly between England and Scotland or else allot time for a daytime train trip.

2. Oxford / Blenheim seems to be your priority, so forgo Cotswolds.

3. Hadrian's Wall is an entire day trip in itself from Edinburgh. From there to York is a long way too. Hadrian's Wall is spectacular if you happen to get decent weather, but the magic of the place is found in actually walking a few miles along the wall. If you just drive up and step out of the car and have a look, it's not worth it IMO.

You didn't ask about your Oban & islands plan, but this too is overly ambitious. Ferry schedules can be disrupted because of weather or other factors such as mechanical repairs. The drive to Oban is long and winding. Have you considered Inveraray instead? It's a charming lochside town with a lovely castle, among other things to see & do, and the drive there over the mountains is very scenic.

Thanks for all the tips everyone! I really wish we had a third week, but several of us don't have enough time off to make that happen.

The Oban/Highlands journey is definitely the part I feel least confident about. As there is so much to see in Scotland, I had trouble gauging a clear consensus from lots of online research.

@djp_syd: Love the detailed suggestions, thanks! Taking the sleeper back to London from Fort William is a great idea. We would miss the sights along the West Highland line, but it would get us where we need to be while sleeping instead of eating into a day. However, I can't seem to find any companies that will allow a one-way car rental into any of the smaller towns, Fort William included. I've read forum posts of people who have done it with Practical, but their (somewhat poorly-designed) website doesn't show any options to rent in Edinburgh and return in Fort William. Same goes for Sixt. The only options I could come up with (with my limited knowledge of Scotland geography) were one-way rentals to Inverness, unless there are any creative options I'm not considering. Has anyone had success with a one-way rental to FW (or to another town where we could catch the sleeper/a plane out)? Avoiding the return to a city we've already seen would spare us some time.

@Jennifer: Are the Rabbie's tours done at a decently slow pace, or are you just popping into and out of a bunch of places for a quick photo op? The reviews certainly looked great, and there are a ton of choices, though some people expressed frustration at being at the mercy of the other 12 people's preferences.

@Nancy: Completely agree. Had originally had my sights on the Jacobite Steam Railway, but I think I'm working too hard to cram that in (which is partly how I settled on that route, which is by no means definite).

@epltd: I hadn't considered Inveraray; I'll have to give that a look! Thanks!

Regarding Oxford: It looks like it's clearly a winner and should be a place we visit. I'm going to discuss with the group what their preference is for travel to Edinburgh. We have one person with some airport anxiety, so I haven't had luck selling short-haul flights yet. Or maybe the late evening train from Oxford wouldn't be as bad as I imagine.

Whether we skip a day in the Cotswolds or not I'm not sure; it certainly looks appealing but being from Texas almost anything does. Maybe we can make a cut somewhere else to buy us an easier time traveling to Edinburgh.

Switching gears a bit (and my apologies for being all over the place), is Bath small enough that where you stay doesn't really matter? Oldfields House has availability for a decent price but looks to be south of the main city.

Surprising to hear re car drop off limitations. We had a car for six weeks from Edinburgh to Heathrow, and travelled from the top of Skye to Lands End.

I have a great recommendation for a B&B in Bath.It was called The Hollies and is the best B&B we have ever stayed at. The house is a beautiful Georgian that the owners, David and Joe, have restored. Our room was very comfortable with a place for everything. Lovely garden too. Super breakfast with some of the best scrambled eggs I've ever had. It is within walking distance of the old area of Bath with all the things a visitor would want to see. Great recommendations for restaurants etc. too. We stayed 3 nights. It was in 2012 but I'm imagine they are still operating. Reasonable price too.

I checked and The Hollies is still operating and has a 5 rating in Trip Advisor. All excellent or very good.

My advice would be to just do either England or Scotland this time and come back to do the other one. The trip you have outlined crams far too much in. There are so many wonderful things to see & do and you won't get a real feeling for any of the places with such short stops.

Oldfields House is up a long steepish hill from the centre of Bath - and that hill is a main road. Find any place where you are planning to stay on a map and look at it on street view.

I would not go back to London in order to get from Oxford to Scotland as you have all the hassle of using the crowded tune system. Far easier to go from Oxford directly north. I would take the Cross Country train to Birmingham (New Street) and then change to a Virgin train for Glasgow (overnight). Then rent a car and drive into the highlands - possibly via Loch Lomond. I would try and get out to the Isle of Skye - which can be reached via a free bridge at Kyle of Lochalsh. (Try and get as far as Sligachan). Then, back down to Inverness etc. to end up in Edinburgh. Then train from Edinburgh to York (overnight) and finally York to London (Kings Cross).

Even doing the above, much is being missed out - such as Wales, Northumberland (Hadrian’s Wall) and the Lake District. You simply can’t to everything in the time you have. It might be better to plan 2 vacations - one for southern Britain and the other for northern England & Scotland.

Longer train journeys should be pre-booked about 11 weeks ahead to get the best prices. www.nationalrail.uk