My son is graduating from HS (fingers crossed y'all) and we are in the initial stages of planning a trip to the UK. Before kiddo, my husband and I did a London, Lake District & then Edinburgh trip (Fringe fest).
Ideally we'd like to hit in two weeks, and in no particular order (this is where I need help):
I would LOVE to add an additional stops but a little overwhelmed shall we say by my "creativity" vs what is actually doable.
Thanks!
Lots of things to consider. Luckily you have a decent amount of time!
Some questions to consider:
How long do you want to spend in the three places you've already outlined? For kiddo's first trip I would suggest a minimum of five days in London, if not a week, for potential day trips. I can't speak to the other places because I haven't visited them yet.
Will you be renting a car? Public transit? London and Cardiff are geographically situated in such a way that you could add a stop like Bath, Oxford, the Cotswolds, or another southern England stop, if you were driving. Edinborough is much further north. Maybe consider open jaw, flying into one city and out of the other.
And of course, what are everyone's interests? If kiddo is into King Arthur, a place like Glastonbury could be cool. Literature? Bath and Oxford! And if nature/outdoorsy stuff is the thing, there are no shortages of great hikes doable by everyone across the country, just depends on your transport options (I've heard great things about hiking in the Wye Valley in Wales, and I'm super bummed I can't fit it into my upcoming trip!)
Exciting times-good luck planning!
Fly into London or Edinburgh and out the other which is known as an open jaw. If you fly into London, you can take a direct train from the Paddington (PAD) station and be in Cardiff 2h later. If you fly into Edinburgh, it will take 6h 15m and requires a transfer. This is the sight I use to look at UK train schedules: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ldb.aspx then click on Journey Planner.
If you’re interested in going to Bath too there’s a direct train between London and Bath (1h 30m) and Bath and Cardiff (1h 15m).
Stop in York for 2-3 days.
From London, Windsor Castle and Stonehenge are great options. Also, visit Oxford and Canterbury.
Having done it before you probably know that tickets for the Tattoo need to be obtained well in advance so I would begin by getting those first so you know what date you need to be in Edinburgh - just checked the website and you can buy them now. Once that date is set it will be easier for plan for the rest of the trip.
I’d stick with the three cities you mention as your bases. All offer great opportunities for day trips. The suggestion of flying into Edinburgh and out of London is a good one. Your visits to both Edinburgh and London will likely be busy and you will be dealing with crowds so a family visit to Cardiff could be more relaxing and low key. I’d give each place at least 4 nights, plus a couple of days for traveling, getting settled etc.
Aside from that Tattoo and Fringe is there anything else you would like to see in Scotland? Rabbie’s Tours offer some interesting sounding one day tours. London will easily keep you busy for four or five days and it’s easy to visit places like Windsor and Hampton Court by train.
You can fly from Cardiff Airport to Edinburgh with:>https://www.loganair.co.uk
Be warned - that if you use the national rail website already mentioned, that it will come up with some high fares between Cardiff & Edinburgh. You may well wish to travel by train as you can look out at the scenery en-route. The best route is to go via Shrewsbury with a change of train at Crewe. To get the fares down, it is far cheaper to split the ticket at Crewe - and in some cases, other places - even though you stay on the same train(s). https://www.traintickets.com/?/ will show you how to reduce the fare by doing 'splits’. Also note that if you test it out for say 10 weeks out, it is more likely to come up with lower fares than nearer date of travel. Also check out any other journeys that you are likely to take.
You may also like to consider buying a Railcard to get a third off the fares.https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/National-Railcards.aspx
With just two weeks I'd stick to the three cities you mentioned. Or skip Edinburgh and add a stop or two in England, as suggested by others. If it's the three cities, then open-jaw (multi-city) flights into London and out of Edinburgh (or vice versa) make sense, with Cardiff between. Cardiff is easily reached by train from London. There are also flights between Cardiff (direct or via Bristol) and Edinburgh, likely to save time.
I'd be skeptical of a train journey between Cardiff and Edinburgh, it will take the best part of a day and involve at least one change. I'm sure there will be some good scenery on the way, but also a lot of not very attractive scenery in urban areas. The train between London and Edinburgh is faster, about 4-5 hours with no changes.
How long to spend in each city depends on what you want to see and do, for instance how long a visit you want with Cardiff relatives. You could spend the whole time in London and not see "everything."
