Early trip plan, will this work?

Just a suggestion to be flexible and keep an eye on the weather. So if its a rainy day, maybe shift to some of the indoor sights, and save the outside for good weather. Maybe thats obvious, but I know sometimes people get trapped by their plans.

I would also skip the Viking Centre in York, as this seemed more oriented to small kids, not so much a history museum. Maybe someone else can comment. The Shambles was about a short hour's worth of visit. There are two museums in York worth visiting, on either end of the old town. Also the railroad museum near the train station, if you are interested in old trains. That was our favorite thing.

Lots of positives in your planning, ie flying into one city and out of another so no backtracking.

Initial thoughts (which are not particularly critiques of your plans, just observations).

Premier Inns are great, they are my go to whenever I stay somewhere within the UK. But, their hubs can be VERY small, and - if it was me - I would rather a full sized room. Other posters will also chime in with their favoured Premier Inn locations. Covent Garden is great for pubs and restaurants, but there are other options.

If you haven't been to London before there is a ton of stuff you can do, in London itself, and as day trips. Look at www.walks.com. They have heaps of many and varied walks - taking 2 hours - within London. They used to do some Harry Potter walks - not sure if they are back since the pandemic. They also do day trips outside London.

I love York. One place you don't mention is the Railway Museum - a fabulous place, even if you don't have an interest in railways + I think it is pretty close to the York Premier Inns. There is also the York Castle Museum which is very interesting. And possible day trips outside of York would be lovely in June. There was a tourist office, pre-pandemic, and I think there was a 2 day pass or similar you could buy that covered some of the sites, which may work for you. www.visityork.org

One obvious thing on you plan, is the first day when you go to Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms are just a very short walk away - something to do after a pub lunch?

I'm not sure you'll be comfortable with two people in a Hub room--but maybe they have two sizes of doubles. At least in some rooms, the bed is positioned in such a way that the second persone has to crawl over the first to get in or out of bed.

I spent more than half a day at the Churchill War Rooms. You'll want to get to Borough Market by mid-afternoon at the latest, before the venders start packing up. Be careful how you schedule that day. You must buy tye CWR ticket in advance to avoid the long ticket line.

London Wslks (www.walks.com) has a slate of dozens of walking tours. They are a great way of exploring neighborhoods.

You might be able to squeeze York into 1-1/2 days. I found it great fun for wandering, and walking the wall was somewhat tine-consuming. Others have commented that they spent 3 hours or more in the Minster, and I think the Yorvik Center takes some time. I guess it depends on whether you tend to go whole-hog on sights like that or will be satisfied with an hour or 90 minutes.

Not going to Evensong at York should have folks put in the stocks.
Even as a very very lapsed church goer ,it's awesome

Gatehouse Coffee at Walmgate bar is perfect place for us children at heart ,roof terrace too.

My wife recently experienced a Premier Inn Hub. Her first impression was not good (you have to make your own bed) however she had a good nights sleep and was happy enough with it. She did say that for two people it would be cramped and uncomfortable.

I would give the Jorvik Centre a miss, it's aimed squarely at children and consists of a twee, dated amusement park ride amongst a load of animatronic figures. There is a very small museum after the ride but it certainly doesn't justify the cost or the waiting time. There are far better museums in York.

The Shambles is actually very small and takes a few minutes to walk from one end to the other in normal tourist conditions. You can drag things out a bit by visiting most of the shops however when I was there a couple of years ago there were three Harry Potter shops all selling identical products.

I have no interest in trains however I found the Railway Museum to be very interesting, it's a real gem that receives constant high praise.

You may be interested in one of the ghost tours that take place in the evenings. I had no interest but my wife and youngest son went on one and they said it was very well done.

Alnwick is fine to do as a day trip from Edinburgh. Tour companies run from there or you can travel independently by train.

Durham Cathedral was also used for filming Harry Potter, namely the cloisters and the Chapter House. Durham is located conveniently between York and Edinburgh so you could perhaps stop there on the way.

Jacobite as a day trip from Edinburgh would be too much.

I would pare a night from York and stop on Alnwick and do a there and back trip to Bamburgh as it's a tricky spot to get too without chasing back to Edinburgh on the same day.

Twotogether rail pass is almost certain to be a winner for your trip.
Alnwick us a pretty enough town to spent a night in..if only they would let people stay in the treehouse in the castle grounds..

Thank you all for the reply's, defiantly food for thought. I'm glad I posted so I can start tweaking.
I do plan on pre booking everything possible prior to our trip.
I'll start looking for another hotel, especially if my daughter does decide to come. I think I'm pretty set on Covent Gardens area any suggestions would be great, Id like to stay under $150 a night.

As for the Churchill War Rooms, I don't see us spending more than an hour or two at the Boroughs Market as my husband has a short attention span for those types of things, but we are both very interested in the War Rooms. Would doing the market around opening, maybe finding a bite to eat there, then head to the War Rooms for the afternoon make more sense? I don't want to rush.
Evensong at York Minster is on my radar, and perhaps that's a good first evening thing to do.
Skipping Jorvik and replace with the train museum and/or the castle museum sounds like a good idea, I'd much rather see something of substance.
I feel like 2 days is enough for York based on what I'm seeing and my interests, although I do like to wander.......
With the exception of any pre-booked tours, we are happiest going with the flow, that's where the fun is for us, rain just means more pub stops along the way :)

On the other end of the scale ,well known Holy Trinity church off Goodramgate .
Also there's a local book about York's snicket's might be fun chasing them thru the town centre.

I'm glad JC posted about recent experience at the Jorvik Viking Center.

My one visit was in the 80's and was a huge disappointment. It was kind of a life-changing moment on understanding the way hype can get into your brain and ignore reality, lol. The "ride" thru the attraction was pretty terrible especially if you have ever been to Disney. I was with friends and lived in FL at the time so we'd been to DisneyWorld often and this was just laughable. At that time it was suggested you go at dinner time so I rushed everyone thru dinner, we raced over there only to discover the "smells" were raw sewage which did not sit well on top of a dinner that was bolted down, lol!! Yikes what an experience! Of course this was years ago and they may have updated...or not.

I've enjoyed the Castle Museum several times as well as the Railway Museum. Not really a train person but they have some interesting stuff in there and it's free!

You could have your tea at Betty's Tea Room and get Fat Rascals.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe-tea-rooms/our-locations/bettys-york

1+++ for Churchill War Rooms. Give yourselves time to listen to the oral history interviews that are in some of the areas.

I love York-the Castle museum was great and I really liked Yorvik-Disneyesque, but its the only way to see the Viking artifacts. Have you considered attending Evensong at the Minster? York is fairly compact, so you might be ok with only two full days. I don't know if the locals are still giving free tours of York since Covid, but if they are, the one I went on pre-Covid walked a portion of the walls and was a highlight of our visit there.

It sounds like you're Harry Potter fans, so you will want to see Greyfriers Cemetary and a restaurant or pub nearby where she did some of the writing.

Covent Garden is a great location for just what you described. We spent 5.5 hours at the Tower, it can fill a day. Leadenhall Market is very cool. One of our favourite restaurants was in there, it was called La Tasca, now it's https://lavina.co.uk/venue/leadenhall-market/.

I'd highly recommend a Mercat Tour of the Royal Mile one you're in Edinburgh. It really helped us appreciate the history. https://www.mercattours.com/tours

In Edinburgh, don't forget to go see Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, anchored at the docks.
A bus goes from downtown Edinburgh out to Leith.
Look for Bus Number 11 in town.
This bus goes directly out to Ocean Terminal, where it is docked.
You can have afternoon tea onboard if you want.

Website here; pre-book your tickets:
https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/
Look at both pages for information.
https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/visit/

You mentioned wanting to take a day trip to see Alnwick Castle.

See this day tour by Rabbies that leaves from Edinburgh and goes to Alnwick:
https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-edinburgh/day-tours/alnwick-castle-northumberland-coast-the-borders-day-tour

This tour gives you some scenery along the coast of Northumberland, too.

Buy your tickets for Churchill War Rooms well in advance.

One obvious thing on you plan, is the first day when you go to Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms are just a very short walk away

That's what I have planned for one of my days ... start at Churchill War Rooms getting there when it opens, then walking down to Westminster Abbey for the afternoon and Evensong, stopping somewhere for a quick lunch ... time might be a little tight but shouldn't feel rushed.

My wife recently experienced a Premier Inn Hub. Her first impression was not good (you have to make your own bed) however she had a good nights sleep and was happy enough with it. She did say that for two people it would be cramped and uncomfortable

Did she have the Bigger room or their Standard room? I plan on staying at a Hub in the Bigger room ... the Standard room does look fairly small, Bigger room doesn't look that cramped ... we've stayed in smaller rooms before and since we only plan to be there to sleep and wash up, I feel it should be okay ... also don't mind making my own bed since I do that now at home, I'm not a barbarian afterall :-)

DQ is right. Get to the Churchill War Rooms when it opens (timed ticket bought online).
The hallways are narrow, some of the rooms are very small, all with low ceilings. When the crowds arrive later in the day, it can make it very claustrophobic in there. Even though people are admitted by timed tickets for entrance, they are not forced to leave after they've been there a while, so crowds can build up until it is almost shoulder to shoulder in there.

Going afterwards to Westminster Abbey is a good idea, as there is plenty of room in there with high ceilings, so not as uncomfortable once the crowds roll in.

There is a good pub for lunch in this area, which has been mentioned several times by Claudia on this forum. The Two Chairmen pub. 39 Dartmouth Street, a few blocks from Westminster Abbey.
https://www.greeneking-pubs.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/two-chairmen/

Another good pub for lunch is The Red Lion, 48 Parliament Street, one long block north up Parliament St. from Big Ben.
https://www.redlionwestminster.co.uk/food

Both the Two Chairmen and Red Lion pubs are on the list as lunch possibilities, will depend on how much time we have ... thanks.

Disclaimer: I like DisneyWorld, so I like the Jorvik Viking experience. I also loved the York Castle Museum the tour by a local that included a walk on the wall. I also loved Durham-so peaceful.