First Trip Abroad- 2 weeks for entire UK enough?

I would say to limit your trip to just England, and maybe a jaunt to Edinburgh for your first trip.

We spent 10 days in Scotland alone, and only saw a small part of the country. We spent 3 days just in London, never leaving the city, and didn't see everything we wanted to see there, let alone the rest of the country. We're planning a 2-week trip to Ireland in May, and we'll only manage to see a small portion of it. If I were you, I would leave Ireland to a separate trip. Even trying to do England/Scotland is really pushing it. Maybe take the train to Edinburgh and spend a few days there (definitely worth it!), but leave the rest for another trip. You don't want to spend your limited time rushing from place to place and not allowing for spontaneous moments or the chance to really immerse yourself in a location.

Even after dozens of trips, I always tackle trip planning by writing it out day by day. I just need the visual cue of "is this too much."
Something like this:
Arrive London
London X days
Travel to Bovington and back 2 days
FIRST, sort out the transportation for this side trip--looks like you may need to rent a car. It would be at this point that I would think, hmmm, why not keep the rental car and make it worth my while, explore Cornwall, etc. But if that is of no interest to you, ignore.
NEXT, decide if there is anything else you want out of England. If not, then research train travel from London to most likely Edinburgh. NEXT, decide what else you would like to see in Scotland. If nothing, then research flights to Ireland, repeat for Ireland (If you want to include Ireland, I would try to fly into London and out of a city in Ireland (depends on itinerary).
So, it really just depends on what you want to see and do--you can certainly fit the three capitals into a two-week trip (even with the one side trip), but you could also spend two weeks in any of of these, so it's all in the details.
As you make your list, plug the transport details in so you have a clear picture of how time consuming they are (or are not).

I don't necessarily deduct "two travel days" or whatever into my plan--I just evaluate by my time on the ground, counting in nights (so two nights somewhere gives you one full day). I know the last "day" does not really count as I'll be flying home (usually in early morning). The first day is usually a jet-lagged blur, so I plan stuff like walking a park or neighborhood (sunlight is good for jet lag).

You could spend the entire 2 weeks within a couple hours radius of the tank museum and not see everything.

With only two weeks there is no way you can do justice England, Scotland and Ireland...Definitely make Ireland a separate trip. jaimeelsabio is right when he says you could easily spend the whole time in the area around Bovington. Dorset is delightful and tends to be ignored by the tourists. It has lots of pretty villages and is worthy of the Cotswolds. The names alone are wonderful Piddletrenthide, Plush, Cattistock, Powerstock, Puddletown, Punknowle, Charminster,

You also have the coast with sone stunning sea side scenery with places like Lulworth Cove, Durdle Doo, Chesil Beach.... There is the Abbotsford Swannery, the ruined Corfe castle and many more.

Devon isn't too far either and that gives access to more beaches or Dartmoor. Alternatively there is Somerset and Exmoor. Bath isn't too far either.

Come and enjoy yourselves - slow down and relax rather than try and hare around seeing everything.

There is a seasonal bus to Bovington (the X50) from Wool Railway Station (which is on the main London Waterloo to Weymouth Line)- this was the 2024 timetable- https://www.firstbus.co.uk/sites/default/files/public/adventures-by-bus/Jurassic%20Coaster%20Web%20Jul24.pdf
(the bus also serves Wareham and Weymouth stations).

Wool is a 2 hrs 30 minute ride from London Waterloo, hourly.

From Bournemouth (a few stations back up the line) there is a through train almost every hour via Oxford (2 hours) to Manchester (5 hours) for York (6 hours).

I would suggest spending another day or two in Dorset, but you need to decide your other destinations in England first. I can't really see how you can visit Ireland in this trip, and even adding a fairly small bit of Scotland will require some very hard choices.

IMHO FWIW I may not know enough to have an opinion, but... the Tank Museum is relatively small, in the scheme of things. Even if you take all the private guided tours, it's probably only a one day attraction. Again, that's my humble opinion. With two weeks, including flying, for your very first trip to Europe, I personally would want to spend more time on more sites. If you're into tanks, I wouldn't want to miss the Imperial War Museum in London. That could be another half day if you're really into it.

Also, don't count out your arrival day in London. If you get to town during daylight, be sure to catch a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour. It's a great way to get the lay of the land while you work on your jet lag. I'd then stick to London, the southwest, and Wales. There's plenty to do and see there - and if you're driving, it might take a bit to get used to driving on the left and you might want more breaks than you think.

Agreed that there's plenty to keep you occupied in England alone for two weeks, although I think you could add Edinburgh if you really want to get a taste of Scotland.

Ireland (as in the Republic) is of course not part of the UK at all, while.Northern Ireland is, so not sure of your scope there. But the Irish certainly wouldn't want to be seen that way!

Thank you everyone for your replies so far, this is very helpful information!

From the feedback so far, it definitely sounds like we'd only want to focus on England and/or maybe a single stop in Scotland like Edinburgh. We're coming from the East Coast of the US (Philly area but tbd if Philly/NY/DC would be best to fly out of) so I figured we'd be in London for a couple of days to do the main tourist attractions.

My estimate for the Tank Museum of 2 days is based on the 'Tiger Day' celebration one day and exploring the rest of the museum the rest of the time. My fiance is a huge history buff and worked on tanks in the National Guard, hence why it's such a specific part of the destination.

While I have read about the typical tourist spots to visit, we are very open to the 'under-rated' areas that may be off the radar to most. And yes- I quickly realized my incorrect thinking of Northern Ireland the the Republic of Ireland being one in the same. Completely understand the distinction and do not mean to offend. Thank you!

It's really best to begin by listing what you want to do. Drink in a pub? Listen to music in a pub? Walk about? Have a high tea?

Next, after you have listed what you want to do, you list where you do it.

Have you purchased the Rick Steves guidebooks to England? You really should do that. They have a lot of info about a lot of things. That would really help you to get ideas about where and what to do.

If you really want off the beaten path types of places, look at wasleys' suggestions above. She lives in England and has traveled all over the country and then some, and all of her suggestions would be worthwhile. I agree that two weeks is not enough time too see everything. I was in England earlier this year for almost 6 weeks (London, Cornwall and Devon, Liverpool, The Peak District, North Yorkshire, Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall) and still didn't see nearly enough.

That said, it would really help to know your interests. For example, I love history and one of my favorite things to do is explore historic old churches and ruins, so I focused on places that had a lot of those. But I also love cities and shopping and London is one of my favorite places in the world.

If you like hiking, the Peak District has so much hiking available, and it's not on the radar of many non-Brits, so it's usually less crowded than other places like Cornwall. Devon is another place that sees less tourism than Cornwall (at least, that's what it seemed like to me) and I loved it there; especially Dartmoor. Liverpool is a fascinating city that has much more to offer than the Beatles, and Northumberland is one of the truly wild and wonderful places of England that is often passed up by people heading up to Scotland.

Whatever you choose, you can't go wrong.

Two weeks is not enough to do just England, much less England, Scotland and Ireland.

Example, we did a FOUR week drive tour of England and South Wales in 2017 and didn't even go to London. Also, we didn't do East Anglia or the SE of England.

Another example, we have been to Ireland twice and never done the west of the island, so we are doing a 10 day group tour the doesn't even do Northern Ireland.

Bovington is in Dorset, SW England. I suggest visiting places in that are like Salisbury, Winchester, Bath, Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Avebury, Oxford, Blenheim Palace and Stratford Upon Avon. This will take you 7-9 days.
Of course, you want to do London.

If you insist on trying to do England and Scotland, then do London, Bovington, Windsor Castle, perhaps Bath, the go north and see wonderful York for at least two full days. Then, on to Edinburgh and the area just north of that city. If you can manage more, go north to Inverness and Loch Ness.

If you do Scotland and England, do open jaw flying into London and out of Edinburgh.

How exciting to be dreaming and now planning a first trip to the UK! It gives me butterflies just thinking about the delight of any (let alone a first) visit to the UK.

It is always so difficult to pull in the reins on what to accomplish in a visit abroad. This forum is a great place to gather perspective from veteran travellers to the UK (and other locations). I am always amazed at the extensive travel history rosters of fellow members. As you may have discovered, most will recommend making the most of your time within a smaller geographical radius to maximize your time. But you need to do you. If you feel your trip will not be complete without a venture further afield, then figure out the best way to include it.

It's great that you have a location identified as a focal point. It makes sense to budget a couple of nights for this important stop. This is a great starting point. As others have noted, there is so much to keep you busy in that region. Toss out your other interests to help us further guide you----literature? architecture? history? London sites?

In October, we spent about 7 nights in the Bath area (+ 2 in Salisbury) and travelled no more than an hour (1.5 one day to Wales) away on our day trips. We had drastically cut down that part of our trip (10 days total outside London vicinity) from the original plan which included a drive all the way to the North of Wales. It still was not enough time in that area.

*Consider a visit to the cute village of Sherborne--- less than an hour away from Bovington.

Do tell yourself "I will return" to visit another time. Repeat that mantra throughout your trip when you feel frustrated at the constraint of time.

I must say, when I saw the title of your post my gut reaction was "Is a lifetime enough for entire UK?" I know it isn't for me. (I could also spend it in Ireland, or Scotland...)

Cheryl

Totally agree to leave Ireland and Northern Ireland for a separate trip. As to airports from the Philly suburbs, we live in Chester County PA and have flown to Scotland England and Ireland numerous times and all three are ok in my opinion although Philly is best as you don't need to travel too far to get to the airport. Don't use Aer Lingus as most of their flights require a stop in Dublin on the way and a transfer to another flight which adds time. The good side of that is you clear US customs in Dublin and arrive in US as if a domestic flight. You can buy multi city flights not one way tickets. Then you can fly into Edinburgh and stay there for perhaps three nights then train to London to see sites and maybe some day trips and fly home from Heathrow. We did that on our last trip in the fall and it was great. Keep coming back to this forum with any questions. You would be surprised at the wealth of information here. It is an amazing forum. Best of luck.

Geovagriffith is right, if you head north, you really should include York...Oh, my...too many options.

With 10 days, think about a few places that you really want to visit and what you want to do and see while there. No matter how much time you have, you can't visit everywhere.

You received several good suggestions about options that are southwest of London and near Bovington, and you could easily spend your entire time in that region, especially if you plan to spend a few days in London.

However, if you want to get a taste of several regions, that’s fine as well.

If you decide to head north for somewhere like Liverpool, Manchester, York, or rural areas, look at booking a flight into London, then out of Manchester. That saves you several hours of travelling back to London just to fly home.

All the best,
Raymond

Geovagriffith is wise.

Again FWIW IMHO, many "touristy" things are popular for good reason (e.g., Buckingham Paalace/Changing of the Guards, the Tower of London, "Minding the Gap" on the Tube, Covent Garden, the National Gallery, Oxford Street, Oxford University, Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Bath, Wales/Welsh Castles, etc. etc. etc. All wonderful fun). I personally would revel in doing the touristy stuff, figuring out how getting around the country works, and getting lots of great pictures! Go birds, btw.

We just spent two weeks in the UK on what was my fourth trip there. We did London, the Lake District, York and Edinburgh this time, and wished for more time in each place! On a trip like yours, I would spend your couple of days with the tanks and then spend the rest of the time in London, seeing the city and making day trips to places like Windsor, Hampton Court and Oxford. There is so much to see in London, and if military history is of interest the Imperial War Museum would be a must-see.

We've spent 4 weeks in England and haven't made it north of London yet. We've also spent 16 days in Scotland and consider that a good start. My advice is make a list of must-see sites and figure out what you can fit in. Don't forget that you can lose 4-6 hours each day that you're travelling to a new hotel.

As others have said - forget about Ireland and I would have my doubts about heading north to Scotland as well. (Each deserve their own trip).

Being as you really want to go to the Tank Museum in Dorset, I would confine this holiday to London and southern England. Salisbury, Stonehenge, Bath are all within a reasonable distance from Bovington and so, should be added to the places to visit. Consider going west into Devon and even further west to Cornwall.

However, note that Bovington is in the beautiful county of Dorset and that has many places of interest to visit. The coast at Lulworth Cove and Durdle Dor is stunning. Click this link for info on Dorset.https://www.visit-dorset.com/visitor-information/brochures-and-guides/

You will also need to decide whether you wish to hire a car or use public transport.

Just some general comments. With the time available, you might want to consider staying in just three places and doing short trips to nearby sites. The reason for that is that you will lose at least 1/2 to 3/4 of a day each time you relocate. It's not just the travel time to consider, it's the time spent packing up, checking out, getting to the train station, the "real" travel time, getting to the new hotel, checking in, and then unpacking.

As others have suggested, with your time limitations, stay in England. Depending on you final list of places you want to visit, Edinburgh might or might not be feasible due to the time needed to relocate.

Just offering food for thought.

We've spent 4 weeks in England and haven't made it north of London yet.

Very wise to leave all the best bits for a future visit.

Thank you again for all this amazing advice! You have all given us plenty to consider as far as regions, towns, and (very likely) limiting our trip to just one country, maybe a taste of another.

Other than the Tank Museum, we both enjoy learning the history of places, so visiting castles and museums is definitely on the list- the exact ones, TBD with all these new suggestions. I personally love a bit of retail therapy mixed in, as well as seeing the beautiful landscape and just appreciating the region itself. Certainly having some good food and a drink to wash it down is a staple on any vacation to a new place!

Once we figure out more specific areas we'd like to visit, how would you suggest figuring out the transportation piece? Meaning if we wanted to use private car services vs. driving or public transport, are there companies out there for hire? Would you suggest a travel agent to help coordinate everything?

We both currently have TSA pre-check and it's made our lives so much easier for travel domestically. I'd assume having Global Entry would make customs a (relative) breeze as well?

I have never used a travel agent as I have found with even a small amount of research we can plan our own adventures. We stayed near Waterloo station the last two times we were in London and had very easy access to trains to Hampton Court, York etc. The UK transportation is very easy to navigate and much cheaper than a car sercive would be. You can do it!!!

Stick to the train - it's faster and cheaper than hiring a car (the only exception would be if you're exploring the countryside).

Global entry is only for the US, so it won't help you elsewhere, but passport control in the UK is through the egates - and customs tou just walk through.

I'd assume having Global Entry would make customs a (relative) breeze as well?

I’m afraid it’s totally irrelevant.

I would choose Dorset over the Cotswolds any day. Highlights include Chesil Beach, the swannery at Abbotsbury, Lyme Regis, the Cerne Abbas Giant, and American history lovers will want to pay their respects at Slapton Sands in memory of Exercise Tiger.

Picking up on Gail’s point, you can visit a lot of historic places as a day trip from a base in London. As well as Hampton Court (needs a day), you could visit Portsmouth dockyard on another day. Other days could be Canterbury, Bletchley Park, Brighton (for the Pavilion), Oxford and/or Cambridge and so on.

Taking trains would be easier than driving, in my view, if you are visiting a town.. If you want to tour country areas, then I would seriously investigate hiring a car.

My husband and I spent three days in September, based in Wareham, and it was not enough! We used public transportation, mainly the Breezer buses, which are double-deckers and we enjoyed sitting on the top for the marvelous views. I definitely recommend that you spend some extra time in the area since you will be in Bovington. We enjoyed staying in Wareham, and the highlights of that area for us were Corfe Castle (lovely ruins and magnificent views from the top), and Lulworth Cove/ Durdle Door. If you like hiking, definitely plan to walk on the southwest coastal path.

Salisbury is another recommendation. Beautiful old city, cathedral, access to Stonehenge if you are interested.

The following website lists some of the scenic bus routes - including those in Dorset (the County with Bovington).It does not operate buses. https://scenicbuses.co.uk/collections/purbeck-breezers/

The following website is the most informative about train travel:> https://www.seat61.com

Once we figure out more specific areas we'd like to visit, how would
you suggest figuring out the transportation piece? Meaning if we
wanted to use private car services vs. driving or public transport,
are there companies out there for hire? Would you suggest a travel
agent to help coordinate everything?

It would be exceedingly rare to find a travel agent who could and would offer any help (not without a pricey complete trip package on the table), but I assure you it is easy to sort out transport--ask here if Google fails you. The hard part is deciding where to visit, as you are experiencing now (fun, but challenging nonetheless!). Don't let all of our favorites sway you--make your list and keep refining.

As you realise from other posts Dorset has a lot to offer. I have lived in the area all of my life and haven't yet visited everything.
Given that your priority is the tank museum I would aim to stay in this area for longer than 2 days.

Near the tank museum is Clouds Hill - the final home of Lawrence of Arabia. He was stationed at Bovington. The house is small, made up of only 4 rooms. It is run by the National Trust and you can visit but do need to pre-book.

In Dorchester there are 3 excellent museums. The Keep museum is a military one and has a huge amount to see. Dorset museum and art gallery gives you the history of the county, you can even walk on a real Roman mosaic floor. The Shire Hall provides a history of crime and court cases through the eras.

Castles in Dorset are Corfe Castle (beautiful ruins), Lulworth Castle (in between ruin and semi museum) and Sherborne Castle which is still lived in. There are also several historic houses - Athelhampton, Kingston Lacy, Mapperton, Forde Abbey to name a few.

Adding to the war history nearby Tyneham was a village evacuated during WW2 so that the D-Day landings could be practised there. The villagers never returned.

Whilst you could do some of this by public transport I would suggest hiring a car for Dorset as this would make better use of your time.

I have only provided a short snapshot of what the area has to offer. Hopefully some of it will be useful.