England Scotland Itinerary Help

Your plan is not too bad, but overall, you should consider more time in York.You need two full days there. It takes 3-4 hours just to complete the wonderful Minster (Cathedral) tour and see it thoroughly. Also, walk the ancient walls, visit a couple of museums, especially the National Railway Museum. Also, spend time in the old narrow streets area.

You have about a day and a half in Edinburgh, I suggest you spend two full days there.

We have driven in Wales and England, but never in Scotland. Suggest not driving more that about 2 hours a day between sites.
St. Andrews, Inverness etc. is great. Haven't been to Skye, but it should be great.

I think a day trip to Salisbury from Bath is too far. Why not rent a car (pickup in Bath, do the Cotswolds on your way to York. Also, consider stopping in Stratford Upon Avon for a day. Get rid of the car in York and take the train to Edinburgh.

Also, we enjoyed staying at the Brooks Guesthouse in Bath and dining at the Scallop Shell (best fish and chips in England).

We did a four week drive tour of S. Wales and England, here is my detailed trip report.

28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

Do you have specific plans for Day 18 at Oban? I believe the vast majority of folks who travel to Oban go there in order to visit Mull and Iona (and possibly also Staffa). ViaMichelin.com estimates the driving time between Portree and Oban at 3 hr. 32 min. I imagine it will take longer in the real world, because that doesn't include any stops, traffic issues or navigational errors. So starting the day in Portree means you won't have much more than half a day left once you reach Oban, and that will not work well (if at all) to see Mull and Iona. That trip involves a ferry, then a bus ride across Mull, then another ferry to Iona, then walking to the abbey.

While in London you can take a day trip to Bath by direct train (1h 30m). If flying into LHR you can also take a direct bus to Bath (2h 15m) and visit London at the end of your trip. No need to backtrack. Can you change your tickets so you can fly open jaw (into London or Edinburgh and out the other)?

Regarding option 1, stopping in St Andrews on the way to Fort William would not be my choice. That is a bit of a detour on a rather long drive. Consider making St Andrews a day trip from Edinburgh instead, that will allow you to spend more time there. Loch Ness is overrated in my opinion, sure it is a beautiful lake but it doesn't stand out compared to other. From Inverness there is also the option of the overnight train to London.

Regarding option 2, St Andrew is still a bit of a detour but since Pitlochry is closer it doesn't matter as much in my opinion. However, are you planning to make any stops along the way to Inverness? Otherwise I'd consider taking the train to Inverness and rent the car there. Adding an extra day in Edinburgh at the end makes little sense to me, add that day in the beginning instead, return the car in Fort William and take the overnight train back to London. If you still feel that you need to return to Edinburgh, take the train to London.

I hope you can change your tickets to do open jaw and fly into either Edinburgh or London and out the other. Otherwise you can do a nice loop trip through England/Wales back to London to fly home as well and leave Scotland for another trip. I love Scotland and it really deserves its own time.

I would train it directly to Bath and do 2 full days at least there. You really could do 4 with daytrips out. One day for Bath itself, day out for Salisbury/Stonehenge/Avebury, one day for the Cotswolds, and one day for Glastonbury/Wells if your interested. Its also a convenient place to pick up a car. You could use the car then to do some of Wales and the Lakes District/Hadrian's Wall before dropping it in York. If you don't want to do that then you could train it to York. York itself deserves 2 days but with trips out you could stay 4 or so no problem. Train it to London and do London and surrounds.

Thanks!
If we p/u car in Bath and drive to York stopping in the Cotswolds and Stratford Upon Avon on our way, do each deserve a full day? Can you drive through the Cotswolds and get a feel in 4-5 hours there then drive to Stratford Upon Avon and spend the night there, or should we stay in the Cotswolds then drive the next day to Stratford Upon Avon then on to York?

Revision on Itinerary, how does this sound?
Day 1-5 London
Day 6 Early train Bath
Day 7 Bath
Day 8 P/U Car early morning Drive through Cotwolds scenic drive making stops ending in Stratford-Upon-Avon before dinner
Day 9 Spend day in Stratford-Upon-Avon then drive to York ditch car.
Day 10 York
Day 11 York
Day 12 Early train to Edinburgh
Day 13 Edinburgh
Day 14 Edinburgh
Day 15 P/U Car drive to Glencoe or Ft. William
Day 16 Early Ferry to Isle of Skye
Day 17 Isle of Skye
Day 18 Isle of Skye
Day 19 Isle of Skye
Day 20 Drive to Inverness
Day 21 Fly Inverness-London
Day 22 Home

Are you planning on May this year or May 2023? If for this year, you need to book accommodation asap, especially on skye. Many places will already be fully booked.

why the drive from Stratford-upon-Avon to York when the trains are so easy (one change in Birmingham or Royal Leamington Spa)?

Are there stops you expect to make on the way or would it just be the A46-M69-M1-M18-A64 grind? And it will be a grind says one who knows first hand.

I would spend less time in York and Edinburgh, more time in the scenic locations. It depends on your preferences, but if you are into the historic castles/ abbeys / scenery, I would suggest these revisions. I can give you more details if this plan interests you. You may have a hard time finding lodging on Skye - it is very popular.
Day 9 - drive to Harrogate or similar
Day 10- drive around Yorkshire Dales, then head to York
Day 11 York
Day 12 afternoon train to Edinburgh. There are trains to Edinburgh almost every hour. Trip takes two hours Edinburgh
Day 13 Edinburgh
Day 14 finish Edinburgh, head to Glencoe (one of the highlights of Scotland, IMHO)
Day 15 Explore Glencoe, could also see Kilchurn Castle Glencoe
Day 16 Drive to Skye. Take your time, this is a very scenic drive. Use ferry if you wish or use the bridge which gives you a more flexible schedule
Days 17-18-19 Skye area. Could also explore Plockton -Applecross- Shieldaig if you wish
Day 20 Slow drive to Inverness with frequent stops to enjoy . Inverness is pretty along the river and has some good restaurants, but no need to rush to get there

Don't agree with Cynthia in one day at York. York is one of the very special places in the UK.

Also, since you plan on five days in London, I suspect that you should appreciate exploring York rather than a hit and miss.

Loving all these suggestions. Was very fortunate in that we were able to book 2 nights at the Kinloch lodge (had a credit from 2020 pandemic cancellation) and 2 nights at the Cullin Hills hotel in Skye. I have made dinner reservations for both nights at the Cullin Hills Hotel as their reviews seem very good. I made dinner reservations for one night at Kinloch...should I make 2, or is there another restaurant with lighter fare where we can just grab a quick bite the afternoon/evening we arrive? We are healthy eaters and this seems like too much heavy food for our 4 nights there!

We spent 2 nights in York (= 1 full day) and even though it would have been nice to spend more time, sometimes we have to make hard choices. We drove to York from Chipping Campden (Cotswolds) and stopped at Castle Howard before dropping our car in York.

This year we will have 2 weeks in Scotland, arriving in Glasgow from Dublin. We will pick up a car when leaving Glasgow. We’re spending 2 nights each there and in Oban, then Portree (Skye) for 3 nights. I plan to use the bridge more more flexibility with timing. From there we will spend 3 nights in Inverness, using it as a base for local sites, then 4 nights in Edinburgh allowing time for a day trip or two. We’ll drop the car as soon as we arrive in Edinburgh. We go to England from there. Obviously we have more time, so choices have to be made by you . We’ve done a day trip from London to Bath and while we couldn’t see everything we had time for the baths and a walking tour, plus poking around. As Rick says, assume you will be back. This year we will spend 2 nights in Bath.

If you can change your flights I would consider flying into London and flying out of Edinburgh, or visa versa. Are you flying out of SMF?