We will be flying in and out of Heathrow for 13 days, 14 nights early June. We'd like to do 3 nights Bath, 2 in Cotswolds, 1 in North Lake District, 2 in York and 4 in London. Trying to decide whether to add North Wales or Edinburgh for the remaining 2 nights. Plan to rent a car for the smaller towns. are a family with two older teenaged children and would like a mixture of quaint villages, pretty scenery, and city life. Wales seems closer and easier to add in, but I wonder if we're doing too much slow, quiet stuff in the beginning of the trip for the teens. Also, if we choose Edinburgh, does it make more sense to drive from Lake District to Edinburgh then train to York and London, put York in before Lake District, or skip Lake District, go from Cotswolds to York to Edinburgh? Any thoughts are appreciated.
Posted by
Oklahoma City, USA
51 posts
You are trying to do way too much. My husband and I had our first trip to England last fall. My initial trip planning included London, Wales, the Cotswolds, and the Lake District. Thankfully I pared it down to just the Cotswolds and the lakes. We had ten full days and we barely scratched the surface in either area. You don't want to spend your trip traveling from one place to another. Maybe pick one city and one more rural area.
Posted by
Reston, VA, USA
809 posts
Just from looking at the map and thinking about travel modes, I would suggest your first option - drive from Lake District to Edinburgh [ViaMichelin thinks that would be about 3 hours] and return the car, spend a few days there, then train to York and on to London. Or maybe your third option, to skip your 1 night in the Lake District. With one night, you don't have much chance to see the local sights given the transportation time and time to find your new hotel and check in the next day.
You didn't ask, but I wonder if 3 days in Bath is too much for this trip considering everything else you want to see. I've never been though it's definitely on my list, but with older teens I'd vote for 3 days in Edinburgh rather than in Bath; I was there with my 18yo daughter in 2009, and we didn't see half the things we wanted to! Yes, this is a fast-moving trip but I think it sounds like fun; of course you could spend more time in any of these locations but that is almost always true. What are the family's specific interests? History, nature/hiking, museums? That will help us give you better answers. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
No. Neither.
Look at the time required for the additional displacement. Even if you give up a little of something else, the distances vs time are too great.
And you're right. The kids are going to hate your guts by the end of the fourth day, but you're paying the bills. More importantly, you have a strong finish.
Posted by
Reston, VA, USA
809 posts
Adding to my previous post - I took my 10-yo daughter to England with my parents in 2002; Dad planned the trip and we had a great time. Mostly 2 nights per town [Brighton, Chipping Camden, Shrewsbury, York], some one-nighters, plus we stayed several days with friends in Scotland. You know your family better than we do, but I don't think your itinerary sounds like too many stops. Whatever you decide, have a great trip!
Posted by
OP
San Mateo, CA
18 posts
Thank you all for your replies. I think now we will work in Edinburgh. Kathleen, we have 3 nights in Bath because the first day we don't arrive into Heathrow until 5pm, and because on one day we will rent a car to see Stonehenge and Avebury. Is the Lake District mobbed with tourists during the first half of June? If we skipped an overnight there, will there be time in one day to drive from the Cotswolds to Edinburgh with a quick drive through the North Lake District?
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6502 posts
The Michelin Route Planner shows 356 miles and 7 1/2 hours from Stow-on-the-Wold (an arbitrary Cotswold location) to Keswick (arbitrary north Lake District location) to Edinburgh. That's a long day's drive, especially because these internet route finders commonly underestimate travel time. You will have plenty of daylight, and if you just want to look at lakes and fells through the car window you could do it, I guess. Hope the weather makes it worthwhile. If it were me, I'd save Edinburgh for another trip and add those nights to England, especially London.
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
I have done the drive to Edinburg from London and it is a long haul...and while I enjoyed it, not sure I would have with a couple of teens. They will probably enjoy the big cities more than the countryside... 4 nights London is only 3 days...my guess is that will be their favorite:)
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Last shot:
If Dick sez that Michelin sez 7.5 hours, that ain't going to work. My thought is that mapping software overestimates times on freeways. Not here.
Gut shot is ten hours and that's just with an out-and-in from Penrith to Keswick and back with barely a stop and completely skipping Castlerigg to boot . Driving through Keswick is slow, slow, slow. Cutting north and then back over to the freeway will add who-knows-what.
The real kicker is going to be from about Penrith to the Edinburgh cut-off up above Crawford. The national speed limit is seventy - - for that section of the M6/M74 thirty would be pretty good. You'll spend a lot of time unkinking in the rest plazas.