2 week trip in May, England or Scotland or both

Ive only been to England, but Scotland is on my list- I say - Go for it! Do both! Maybe start in Scotland since you’ve never been, and end with a few days in England. And Windsor is a great place to end your trip, a great little town close to Hearhrow, but far enough away with a nice area along the river, and lots of shops, restaurants, and history.

Happy Travels✨💫

You’ve been to London but seems there’s an interest in other parts of England ( Bath, York) as well as curiousity regarding Scotland.

There’s a great train system in the UK. Instead of driving u might factor train routes into the itinerary.

Definitely more relaxing than having to get a proper car seat, driving on the opposite side of the road, avoid getting lost, etc.

We did prior to children a road trip through Ireland. There is something about having your own car to go where you please. I can see your point and is something I will look into, it does avoid parking issues and the car seat issue.

However the Cotswolds and certain areas of Scotland seem more difficult to explore without a vehicle.

One addition question, for children that would need a pack-n-play, I have a travel one. I assume the majority of places to stay are ok with kids and their issues. I plan to call ahead to places to make sure.

This and the other "stuff" that goes along with a 2 year old would make us lean towards our own vehicle.

I have seen bed and breakfasts say no children under 12 but I am sure you can find suitable accommodations. Personally I would think about apartments. We are renting one in Bath. Although we no longer have young children, I do remember having more space made everyone happier.

Also, in my experience, children do not appreciate driving around for its own sake. They do not appreciate nice scenery . They want to do things! So you may need to adjust your wanderings.

I would expect you can see less with a child in tow and thus move slower. I would stay longer in places than you did before children.

For renting apartments any specific website/app you use?

My go-to sites for apartments are www.VRBO.com and www.Booking.com. In London, I like www.LondonConnection.com. All reliable if you read the reviews and follow their rules, i.e. pay through the site.

I'm reading through Scotland guide books right now and can confirm that the write-ups for B&Bs quite often indicate that young children are not welcome, so that is definitely something to check on explicitly.

I've never been to Scotland, but have been to London and did an afternoon in Bath. I have kids, but haven't traveled overseas with them (yet).

That being said, about eight years ago I stayed with a family for about a week outside London (it was a family I babysat for and we were both in London). The kids were 3.5 and 1. They were staying in a friend's apartment in I THINK Twickenham. It worked very well. It was an easy train into London (which the kids loved); we did one day at the British Museum and walking around. I remember spending a day in a nearby park and visiting Marble Hill House. Another day we took the bus to Hampton Court (the kids loved the park and maze) and a boat back. Maybe something like that would work for you and your family? You wouldn't necessarily need a car, and you'd be close to London but not IN it.

If you want to see more of England outside London, I can't suggest anything specific, but, as I think others have suggested, urge you to look for an apartment over a hotel or B&B. I also think you could do both England and Scotland, if you want. You could find a spot in England (Cotswolds? Near Bath? Whatever you fancy), rent a car locally, stay a week. Then return the car, train to Edinburg, rent a car, stay a week, then fly home out of Edinburgh. Whatever you decide, I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip.

Hi Kunkle 31
You might be better getting a train to Bristol or somewhere and maybe circling back to Bath and do The Cotswolds. We are in the process of planning our trip to England and a swore I would NEVER again pick up a rental in Heathrow. I white knuckled it a few miles on the M1 ( I believe). The next time we went to England we did both train and car rental. We hope to go up the coast to Edinburgh too this next trip, (2019) it looks very doable from Whitby. I’m not sure about the US but in Canada it is the same price to fly into Heathrow and out of Edinburgh. Have a great trip

Airbnb is good too for booking privately owned places

We did 12 nts in Scotland with our two kids this past summer. We all loved it! My vote is for circle of Scotland.

For your 12 nights in Scotland. I personally would try to pick a few "bases" with easy access to my car to day trip out to different spots.

Is this what you did? If you were to choose areas to stay where would you pick?
It seems to me if I were to start in Edinburgh, then maybe a night in Stirling after using the day to see the surrounding area and then the castle.
Oban for a few nights
Inverness for a few nights.

Both of those places I can see some potential day trips and things to do/relax in the area.

After that I am not too sure if I need/want to do overnights in Skye or if there is anything that I should look for going either further north into the highlands or heading northeast and circling around to St Andrews area.

Hi there kunkle31
You might want to post on the Scotland forum too. There is an activity community of posters there who will give you lots of itinerary advice if you decide on Scotland. You could easily fill up a two week holiday in Scotland and not see everything!

As for accommodation - I would suggest looking at self catering. I run a B&B and we don't accept children due to potential for them disturbing other guests. Most B&Bs are private homes and sound proofing is not as good as in hotels!

The drive from Bath to York would take you about 8 hours as you are basically driving diagonally across the country. You'll be on busy motorways and personally I'd have bought it would be the most fun for a small child (or the parents!). You could dive south from Scotland to see Hadrian's Wall. Bath seems a bit of an outlier from the other things you mention. Just my opinion!

Two weeks for your trip, I would go with Scotland or England and Wales.

We have visited the British Isles a few times in the last 5 years.

Our last visit was in October last year, we did a 28 drive tour of South Wales and England.

Here is a detailed review of our trip with hotels, tours, restaurants:
28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

We drove directly to Bath from Heathrow after our transatlantic flight without a problem. Make sure you have a nav system or gps when you rent a car.

In planning the 28 day trip, we were originally planning to include Scotland, even though we had been there before. The more that I planned, the more I could see that we needed all that time to do South Wales and England (we didn't spend any time in London this time).

There is a great book for renting a car and visiting Britain. It is The Back Roads of Great Britain. It helped me plan the trip.

We visited these places:

Bath 3 nights (also, visited Wells and Glastonberry) Stayed at the Brooks Guesthouse, a great B&B)
Cardiff 2 nights
Tenby, Wales
another day in SW Wales to visit town where my ancestors came from 300 years ago.
The Cotswolds- We stayed at the Volunteer Inn in Chipping Campden for six nights using it as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon and the Cotswolds.
Warwick 1 night to see the town and the Warwick Castle
York 3 nights (loved York, walked its walls, loved the amazing Munster and Railway Museum)
Castle Howard, and the Yorkshire Moors then on to Whitby.
Durham 2 nights
Hadrian's Wall 1 night
The Lake District 3 nights
Winchester 2 nights.