First UK Trip - Thoughts on Itinerary

If you had come to the forum before you'd made plans I'd say to cut the Dublin part of your trip and return to London for more days there. It's probably too late to do that.

Do you have hotel reservations for Edinburgh? Edinburgh is a busy city and hotels can get pretty full. I'd go ahead and sort this out in your mind and get going on reservations. I'd want 3 nights in Edinburgh, though. There is much to see and enjoy there.

Have you already booked the day trip to Canterbury and Dover? I'm guessing this is a tour? If you haven't booked, I might consider setting this aside until your next trip and using the day for London. The day tour to Bath, Cotswolds and Stonehenge is a lot of time in a bus seat and I might not want to get back on a bus the next day for another long bus ride.

I think you are spread very thinly, but then it's your bucket list trip.

Personally I would lose the Day 4 bus trip and keep the Day 5 trip, to get an extra London day, as you will see very little of Bath or the Cotswolds. But then again who am I to say a glance is better than nothing. Very subjective.

On Day 6 why not get as early a train as you can to Liverpool, leave your luggage at the Excess Baggage Company on the station and have the full day there?
There are several trains an hour to Manchester which take an hour or less, and run until very late at night.

For Scotland stay in whichever city you are flying from, and commute to the other. There are multiple trains an hour, which take less than an hour.

If going to Glasgow the first train is as early as 5am, arriving before 8.30.
The first to Edinburgh is at 6.20am, arriving at 9.40.
So you can maximise your time.

I suspect it is too late now, but to gain a day you could have flown open jaw/multi city flying home from Dublin.

At this pace everywhere you visit is a taster for future trips.

Exactly when are you coming? Premier League fixture times are currently only fixed until the end of September. Games after that will be listed as 3 pm on Saturdays but may very well be mover for live TV coverage to any time between Friday evening and Monday evening on any given weekend.

I think your trip is mostly doable, except for the Dublin part- that seems like a bit too much to me. However, if you've already booked it, I think it's fine and you can work with it.

I agree it would be better to stop off in Liverpool on your way to Manchester rather than head in and back out. What is it you want to see there?

I am wondering where you are coming from that your flight arrives at 5pm? Most flights from the US arrive in the morning. Depending where you are coming from I wouldn't count on doing much that first day- especially considering how long it takes to get thru Heathrow and into central London.

Those two day trip tours sound like a lot. Personally I would choose one and spend more time in London. There is SO much to see and do here, you will never run out of things.

Ultimately, tho, these are just my personal reflections- I am sure you will enjoy whatever you decide to do here. Good luck with the rest of your planning.

Honest answer ….yes you have spread yourselves too thin. Drop Ireland. Been to both countries. Eire deserves its own trip!

1.) Where are you flying from?
2.) Jet lag is real
3.) Where are you staying in London?
4.) Do you have tap and go Credit and/or debit cards?

Suggestions for the first night…. Walk around your neighborhood. Locate the nearest Underground station. Look for a grocery store ( Sainsbury, Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons, Asda) . Experience your first Underground excursion. Head to Westminster station. Exit towards the Thames. Walk outside. If you’ve taken the correct exit point you’ll see Elizabeth’s Tower with the Big Ben bell. If on the hour you’ll hear the bell chime. At that moment you’ll know you have achieved a bucket list item!

At the grocers get snacks and bottled water.

Walk about Parliament Square. Let your senses
get used to the sites, sounds and smells of London.

I’m biased. It’s my favorite city on the planet. Been visiting since 1972. Never boring. Always changing, always the same.

Enjoy

Day 4 - I know companies sell those from London bus tours that take all three in on one day, but it's too much. A person could spend a full day just in Bath. I suggest picking one of those locations rather than all three if you do a day trip. If you pick Bath, it's easy to do by train on your own from Paddington, but I suggest getting train tickets in advance (and possibly attraction tickets/reservations) if you're there on a weekend.

I agree with others that I'd cut off Dublin and spend more time in England/London unless you've already made the Dublin commitment.

Finally, I don't know your age or fitness level, but you might hit the "I just want to sit and have a beer or cup of tea" stage somewhere near the Manchester or Glasgow days. Pace yourself! Have a great trip!

Honestly I don't think this is an enjoyable trip. Can you possibly skip Ireland, travel from Manchester to Glasgow or Edinburgh and spend a few days in either and home from Scotland. I prefer Edinburgh but others probably prefer Glasgow. As someone said Ireland deserves a trip by itself. We have been to all these places numerous times and a slower pace is better. . It may cost you some money to make the changes but I think you need to slow down to absorb what you are seeing not just whizzing by. Best of luck and I don't mean to rain on your parade and this is just my opinion.

Many here know about London, Scotland and Dublin so I’ll comment only on Manchester, where I’ve been twice. It looks like you’re interested in English football, which I am not, and as you know there is that in Manchester, and more. The Imperial War Museum north is good, as is the Rylands Library (which doesn’t take long to see) and the People’s Museum. I also like Liverpool, but I think I would skip it if I didn’t have more time than a brief en route drop in. Maybe you just want a Beatles tour, which is fine, but there’s a lot more to Liverpool than that. I spent three days there with no Beatles stuff at all. Another good thing to do in Manchester is take a Rabbie’s day tour to the Yorkshire dales, Lake District, or north Wales. Excellent. Agree that it’s best to drop Ireland and you’ll have more time for these things. The Leven Hotel in Manchester is good, although beware of low floor rooms overlooking the canal. They give you bedside ear plugs for a reason as it’s a party area.

Man United game (a lifelong dream)

Have you researched getting a ticket for this game? Tickets are like gold dust and there is no guarantee you will get one, unless you buy the very expensive Hospitality package. Also as explained earlier, the match day and time can vary depending on TV schedules.

Many people think it is easy to walk up and buy a ticket. It isn't...

I'd also agreee with scratching Irelland and allocating those days to the UK.

As others have indicated, you have planned WAY TOO much travel with too short time at any one place.
Two days in London is way not enough.

Seeing Bath, the Cotswolds and Stonehenge will take you 4 days to do it right, not ONE day.

Sightsee in Manchester, WOW, there are way more important places in England.
Glasgow and Edinburgh, which one, for SURE Edinburgh.

We did a four week drive tour of S. Wales and England and didn't even go to London, except to fly in and out of, and we didn't see the entire country. Our favorite places includes some of yours, but just doing Bath took two days; the Cotswolds, two days and we also did other places like Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon and Blenheim Place (just in that area of England). York, we spend three days.

Do more research and planning.

I don’t think it is too bad. If those are the places you want to see and you don’t think you will make a trip in the next few years, then go for it.

I am assuming that day 4 and 5 are with organized tours because day 4 on your own would be impossible.

If you want an extra day in London, then I would take it away from Manchester.

Scotland - I’ve only been for a day to Edinbourgh and that was sufficient for me. The places outside the cities were more to my interests.

I would definitely drop Ireland and either add more time in London or spend some time in York, which is easily done on the way to Edinburgh.

For those dismissing Manchester, firstly the OP has a game there as his lifelong dream so it has to be on there. If you knock a day off he will only have half a day there after the football. There is easily enough to fill several days. The fact that the Rick Steves books don’t even mention the city is frankly astonishing.

Presumably the OP will also want to do a Manchester United stadium tour, which doesn't happen on the day of a home game.