Great Britain tour

In my view, 12-15 days does not give you time to do rural England, plus all of Ireland and Scotland. You could easily spend the whole time in any of these areas and only scratch the surface.

It might help if you could give more of an idea of what interests you. Will you rent a car or travel by public transport? What part of rural England would you find interesting? Planning any time in London?

I agree with Pam. I can't speak to rural England because I've only had a couple of days there, but I've spent 24 days in Ireland and 14 days in Scotland and barely scratched the surface of those countries. With 12-15 days I would stick to one of the three countries. Is that days on the ground or including flight days? When planning how many places to go remember to consider the travel time between locations.

Also agree that without more information from you regarding your interests and how you are traveling, it's hard to say which places would suit you better.

In these English-speaking areas, look for the term Farm Stay:

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/jan/09/top-10-family-farm-stay-holidays-uk

https://www.visitengland.com/plan-your-visit/find-accommodation-and-places-stay-england/farm-stays-and-holidays#/

For more rural or small-town coverage that's not in Rick's Great Britain guidebook, I recommend choosing the separate England and/or Scotland books, instead.

Ditto the sentiments of the others. I’ve spent at least 3 weeks in each of those countries, and Wales, and could have used much more time. You may want to make a list of places you’d like to see and then divide them by area. You should then be able to narrow your focus to an area and then refine an itinerary. I’d save Ireland for a separate trip.

The title of your thread implies that you're considering signing up for an organized tour. If that's the case, I would say it will be pretty much a whirlwind, but with a tour operator handling all the arrangements it could be doable and possibly even enjoyable.

If you are planning this yourselves, I heartily agree with the other advice to cut down your list of desinations. With only 12-15 days you'd be crazy to try to cover "rural England and all of Ireland and Scotland."

I really appreciate the help, we are not interested in a organized tour. I enjoy renting a car and drive the entire time. We love to visit the pubs and we are foodies so we enjoy these things a lot. I’m thinking 12-15 days actually in the areas. We are going in late May or early June. I’m fine with not doing each country but I wouldn’t mind half the trip in one country and half in another? Thanks

It would make more sense to do England & Wales as Wales is joined onto England.http://www.visitwales.com

Consider staying on farms - BUT - check out their location on Google Maps/streetview - as some might be down very narrow country lanes.https://www.farmstay.co.uk

You will lose the first day at least to jet lag and your last will just be getting to the airport, so in practice, you will have 10-13 days, assuming your timing doesn’t include 2 days for your international travel, otherwise 8-11 days.

You have had excellent advice to limit your stay just to one country already. If you want to cover two, then England and Wales is a possibility if you are flying into London. If you want to cover Scotland, then fly into Edinburgh, have a few days there to get over jet lag then hire a car. You could visit the Highlands then drive down the stunning Northumberland coast and stay at a farm in the Cheviot hills before dropping the car at Newcastle upon Tyne and taking the train to Edinburgh or Manchester for your return flight. You would need 10+ days for this itinerary.

Look at sawdays.co.uk for rural bed and breakfasts, some of which are on farms.

After talking to my wife we are thinking of just making our trip to include Scotland and the northern part of England including the Lake District for sure. Then I can fly in and out of Edinburg Scotland in a 12-15 day trip?

Or if you want to do countries fly into Shannon. Drive South Dingle. See Slea Head, Gap of Dunloe and Killarney national Park. Head East to Dublin seeing
What you’d like, can drive coastal route and into the Wicklow mountain and onto Dublin on take the 4 hour route from Dingle via limerick to Dublin. Few days in Dublin. Drive to Belfast. 3 days NI. Fly out of Dublin or drive back to Shannon from Belfast.
One island, 2 different countries, loads and loads of pubs and wonderful seafood. Cheers and Slainte

Yes, if you want to do Northern England and Scotland that would work for 12-15 days. Flying in/out of Edinburgh is a great option if that works for flights from your location.

Did you think you might want to go as far south as Hadrian's Wall/Yorkshire with the Lake District? You'd also want to decide how much of Scotland to include. You'll doubtless want to start with a few days in Edinburgh to get over jet lag, then have at least your last night there before you travel back home.

I did the 10 day RS Best of Scotland in June and very much enjoyed it but we didn't get further north than Inverness and didn't see Glasgow. I could have spent more time in the Oban area and would have liked to see Skye. If you are going to go out to any of the islands you'll need to add a bit of flex time to compensate for bad weather. If it's very windy the ferries will close down.

I've not driven in UK in many years but the drive times are very slow even on the motorways. Travel will be slower than you'd think in the Lake District. Any particular sights she'd like to include in the Lake District? Beatrix Potter fan?

Hi there.
If you are going to concentrate on Scotland I would suggest opening a new thread in the Scotland section of this site. You will get lots of useful tips.

If you let people know what interests you and whether you want to visit some of the islands it will help is focus our advice and tips.

Good luck
Jacqui (Skyegirl)

Scotland and Northern England are great areas that lends themselves to hiring a car. Spend a few days in Edinburgh (no car required). Then hire a car for up to a week and do the Highlands and Islands.

Finish in Glasgow and do another couple of days without the car.

You can then hop a train down to York for a couple of days before venturing out into the countryside with a new hire car. The main areas to choose between are the North York Moors (wild with coastline), the Yorkshire Dales (rolling countryside with lots of sheep, leading up to bleak moorland tops) and the Lake District.

The Pennines through County Durham and Northumberland and the Northumberland coast and Scottish Borders are areas often missed by foreign tourists, as are the Yorkshire Wolds in East Yorkshire, though these are also lovely.

If you can pick up a car in York and work gradually up to Edinburgh airport you have yourself a great holiday.

Your original idea was definitely over ambitious.

I also think you would have a great trip if you spent time in the Scottish Borders and in Northumberland and Hadrian’s Wall. My recommendation is to try to limit the driving. Try to see an area more thoroughly and you will have a much more pleasant trip.

If you do head to northern England, Killlhope Wheel is a good place to see, I was there last week staying in a yurt.
Kielder Observatory also good, but you will be there with light night skys but would imagine the lecture series still goes ahead.
The northern Pennines have a feel of space and for England very sparesly populated