England/Scotland itinerary Fall 2019

Check out the official tourist board sites:>https://www.visitscotland.com
https://beta.visitengland.com/destinations

Bob,
We have visited the UK and Ireland four times in the past 6 years as well as decades ago.
There is much to see in England and Scotland.

You will only begin to see the UK on a two week trip.
Also, planning to go to Scotland as well as England, your time will be reduced due to travel.

To do justice to London, you would need to spend about 4 nights there. Also, you could do day trips to places like Windsor Castle, Canterbury, Cambridge, Oxford, Winchester, Bath, Salisbury and more, but that would add more days in London.

Rending a car to drive in SE England is not advised. Traffic is terrible, especially on the M25 Orbital.
The English countryside is remarkable, but your time is limited.

You could spend the entire time just doing London and England. If you do so, I suggest some of the places that I listed above as well as York. York is one of my favorite places in England. We spent three nights there and it took that much time to really see the City and sights.

If you go on to Scotland, Edinburgh deserves 2-3 days, from there you could move on to St. Andrews and then up to Inverness and see Loch Less.
The Western Scottish highlands north of Glasgow are great, but you probably don't have time for that.

The weather in late September/early Oct will be nice, but a bit chilly. Be prepared for rain, as you will probably get some.

I disagree on London being a "poor gateway" especially since they are visiting England and Scotland. 14 days are enough to sample both ( we did this in 2014 and had a wonderful time).

Fly into London and spend 3-4 nights. Take the train to York and spend 2 nights. Then continue to Edinburgh to start your time in Scotland. I will leave it to others to help plan that part, as our time in Scotland was focused on walking and the OP's interests may well be different.

Note that in the U.K. they use "autumn" rather than " fall".

IF you could travel earlier and arrive in August, you could experience the Fringe Festival In Edinburgh! Just something to think about! Safe travels!

Budget airlines like easyJet and Flybe make flying between London and Edinburgh (or Glasgow, or Inverness, etc.) a viable, fast, cheap option.

If you're in London, the British Museum is a must-see, and the Churchill War Rooms should be considered, too.

If in Edinburgh, get a pork sandwich at one of the two Oink locations, and get some haggis in it, too.

If this is your first trip to Scotland, then I would recommend spending a day or so in Edinburgh. You want to see the Castle. You want to walk down the Royal Mile. There are lots of interesting things to see but you need to tell us more about your interests.

Where you go next does depend on your interests. If you want to see the islands of the West then you need to head to the Islands. You can go to Oban and then on to Mull. Personally, I would spend time on Mull rather than staying in Oban. Do you want to see lots of castles? Then head up to Aberdeenshire and explore some of the castles that are all over the Dee valley. Are you interested in golf, then a trip to St. Andrews is a must. You could also visit other premier golf courses. Do you just want to see some lochs and hills then think about exploring Perthshire. I love Dunkeld for its access to walks and music in the pub and more. But Pitlochry is another choice. There are a couple of distilleries, the Explorer's Garden and the Festival Theatre.

I love the north as well, but it takes time to get there and you have Scotland and England in one trip. I am confident that you will be back to see more of Scotland.

Tom_MN, I don't see where anyone suggested starting and ending in London. Start in London, yes, then travel through England to Scotland. They can fly home from there. Nothing "stupid" involved.

You should wear traditional scotland clothes .