22 day in Great Britain

I think this is a lot of ground to cover in three weeks but if you like to drive it's doable. You'll spend much time on motorways. It's a trip my wife would call "zoom," which would not be a compliment. One full day in Edinburgh doesn't give you much time there. One full day in York is enough for the major sights but another day would help. We spent several days in and around Durham, one of our favorite places. Conwy is a good base for north Wales but with only one full day you won't see much (besides Conwy) before dashing off to York. Four days (without a car I trust) is a good introduction to London but more would be better.

On the other hand, 4-5 days for Bath and Cotswolds strikes me as overkill (if that's an appropriate word for tourism). At the pace you're going, a full day in Bath and a couple of Cotswold days ought to do it. Of course there's Oxford nearby too.....

Three weeks seems like a long time, but maybe you should consider pulling in your perimeters a bit, like saving Scotland for another trip. We had a great three-week road trip a few years back, starting end ending in Manchester, including three-day stands in or near Chester, Conwy, York, Durham, Edinburgh, and Keswick. Almost as long as yours but a much smaller circle to drive, fewer B&B changes, and a chance to catch our breaths, do a little laundry, and meet a few locals in pubs. (We'd been to London before, for nearly two weeks.)

Consider slowing down to smell the roses, which might be much in evidence in beautiful May.

Day 1 To Salisbury
Day 2 Pick up car. To Bath
Day 4 To Cotswolds
Day 7 To North Wales
Day 10 To York
Day 12 To Alnwick via Durham
Day 13 To Edinburgh
Day 16 To Highlands via Stirling
Day 18 Return car. To London from Edinburgh
Day 22 Depart London

You are going to be spending much of your time in the car. Although three weeks sounds like a long time, you are trying to cover too much ground for it to be anything other than a blur. I too would suggest that you save Scotland for another trip. Don't add any new destinations, just spend longer in each location.

If you are adamant about Scotland (which needs 10 days to cover what you are planning), then drop Bath and the Cotswolds.

We are planning a drive tour of England and Wales. Part of the itinerary is visiting places where our ancestors were from.

Consider doing Scotland on another trip.. That is what we are doing.

We are going to Bath (three nights), Cardiff (2), Pembroke and South Wales (2), Cotswolds (6 nights to see Oxford, Blenheim, Cotswolds, Stratford on Avon and Warwick), Nottingham (1), York (3), Whitby and steam train ride on the way to Durham (2). Hadrian's Wall (1), Lake District (3), back south to Winchester (2), Arundel Castle, Southampton (1).. We might fit in Chester between the Lake District and Winchester if we have time.

Most days we won't have to drive more than 80 miles. The big exception is going from the Lake District to Winchester.

Once you study a place like Bath for example, three nights gives you two full days. We allot one day for Bath itself and another t see Gladstonberry and Wells.

York, we will have three nights, or two full days to see York, then a short ho[ to take the old train to Whitby, then up to Durham.

Your timing and scope sound similar to Rick's three-week driving itinerary. He pretty much goes at full speed, so you do need to get an early start each day to accomplish the plan. His guidebook fills in the rest of the details. He suggests starting with a bus or train from Heathrow to Bath and you can pick up a car upon departing Bath. That avoids driving while jet-lagged and avoids checking into London hotels twice.

Thanks for the suggestions. yes the trip is similar to the RS recommended one minus the train parts. To us this itinerary is slower paced considering we did 4600 miles in the car in Germany/Austria/Switzerland in 3 weeks last year.

I think that you can do much of what you suggest but not all. IMHO you should plan on staying 2 or 3 days in each area thus reducing the amount of time spent packing, unpacking trying to find your B & B etc. as some have previously mentioned 2 nights equal only one day. I also would not suggest driving right after getting off a long flight. We did a 3 week vacation this spring as follows

London 4 nights
Bus to Bath 3 nights
Cotswolds 2 nights
Ruthin 1 night
Conwy 3 nights
Keswick 1 night
Glasgow 1 night
Fort William 2 nights
Portree 1 night
Inverness 1 night
Edinburgh 4 nights

We picked up the car in Bath and returned it in Edinburgh.
In hindsight we would skip Ruthin and spend more time in Keswick. Consider flying out of Edinburgh.

Have a wonderful trip

Yikes...Ambitious... my friend and I did edinburgh to London and hit up some of the same places (except we went via lake district) in 17 days ....all i can say is..by London I kind of wanted to drop dead.

You could feasibly do this (if you must):

Fly from your homecountry into Inverness- pick up your car there.
Day 1 Inverness (you probably wont see anything day 1 due to jet lag and things closing at 5pm)
Day 2 Inverness
Day 3 Drive to Stirling (if you get up at 7am that is) visit the castle...crash and stay in Edinburgh at night
Day 4 Edinburgh
Day 5 Edinburgh
Day 6 Drive to either Alnwick or Durham (Alnwick has a TON of sights) with a short stop at Jedburgh Abbey
Day 7 Durham or Alnwick (your choice)
Day 8 York
Day 9 York
Day 10 - the drive of death to Wales (it is probably about 4 hours--roads are slower than the map says, so give yourself one hour extra for every "google map" projection you do) .. Ok that is probably too ambitious to make it to wales.. I'd stop probably in Manchester or Liverpool for one day if you have a beatles fan with you.
Day 11- head to wales. Stay in somewhere like Bangor or Llandudno as a base to visit the other parts.
Day 12- visit Conwy maybe Bodnant Gardens
Day 13- visit Carnafaeron and Penrhyn castle
Day 14- Visit Baumaris and or Snowdonia (depending where you are stayiing)
Day 15- Slate mine
Day 16- Drive from Wales to Northern Cotswolds. Spend rest of day in Cotswolds.. btw cotswolds are majorly overrated tbh...
Day 17- Drive to Bath. Visit Bath.
Day 18- Do a tour of stonehenge, if you are driving you could drive to stonehenge. Ditch car in afternoon and take a train to london...you don't want to drive there, unless you feel like killing yourself...its dangerous (i think) and very pricey because of zoning laws and parking restrictions.

Day 19- LONDON
Day 20- LONDON
Day 21- LONDON
Day 22- LONDON

You still will feel rushed... 0_o. And you will probably feel like you have to come back again at some point because that first trip was just a splash..

If i were planning your trip I'd cut out the northern most parts of scotland entirely. Start in Edinburgh, meander down slower, possibly cut wales... (?) it depends on how many castles or well ruined castles and abbeys you wish to see. While it was a lovely place, its not a place i'd personally visit again. The Cotswolds are dreadfully boring (and I love walks and "cute" quaint architecture...but after going through other parts of England it felt like I was hitting the repeat button by that time. Bath is nice. London? do it at the end so you aren't burned out going in.

Check National Trust UK online for itinerary ideas and sites to visit. They have an Overseas Visitor Pass available for 7 or 14 days at 47 to 57 pounds per couple with access to over 300 properties (Buildings and Landscapes). We saved a lot of money on admissions.
They cover England, Wales and N Ireland. The pass starts at your first visit. Scotland is not covered. If Scotland is in the middle of your trip. You could have purchased another set of tickets to start again. For Wales you should buy a Castle Pass for all the Edward Castles. One 21 day trip we landed at Manchester and stayed first night in Chester then on to Northern Wales, then went up west coast of England to Scotland up as far as Inverness then south thru Glasgow and Edinburgh down east England thru York down thru the Midlands to Bath and spent last week in London without car. Look up the Treasure Houses of England for all the Great Estate Houses. Some are available on NT Pass. These were my favorite. You get Great art, architecture and gardens in one place. We also stayed in B & Bs which included nice Georgian Manor Houses and Farmhouses. Check the Tourist Offices for listings. Not everyone is on line. Bon Voyage.

I'd consider doing London first before you get tired. Some of the other places (Salisbury, Bath, York) are small enough to navigate the sights more easily and with less mental exercise.

Good points re open jaw of London/Edinburgh, and not travelling around straight up on arrival when possibly coping with jet lag.

Day 1 Arrive London
Day 5 Train to Salisbury
Day 6 Pick up car. Drive to Bath
Day 8 To Cotswolds
Day 11 To North Wales
Day 14 To York
Day 16 To Alnwick via Durham
Day 17 To Highlands via Stirling
Day 19 To Edinburgh. Return car
Day 22 Depart from Edinburgh