Help with UK Itinerary - October 2026

I would rule out a day trip from Edinburgh to Skye. That’s a 10 hour round trip without stops. Loch Ness - I can only say that there are 30000 lochs in Scotland and around 29999 of them are nicer than Loch Ness.

If you are in Penrith why not visit Hadrian’s wall from there? It’s nearer than Edinburgh. None of it is in Scotland.

It’s Stonehenge btw.

If York is not a must-visit for you, I might drop it as you are criss-crossing the country a bit. For visiting Hadrian's Wall, this is much easier from Penrith than Edinburgh so I would do it from there. If you want to visit on public transport you can just get the train up to Carlisle and get the bus from there that basically runs along the wall (there is a new bus that makes the journey easier).

I don't know if Cardiff is worth a whole day trip from Bath personally, unless there's something there you particularly want to see (perhaps St Fagan's living museum?). You could visit somewhere like Tintern Abbey instead which is closer but still in Wales.

I personally wouldn't visit Skye as a day trip from Edinburgh- that is an extremely long day and you'll spend much of it on a bus. But there are plenty of other nice places you can visit that are closer (like Stirling, which you mention, or St Andrews/Fife).

Good luck with your planning!

I, too, suggest adding a night to the Lake District (and losing one from Edinburgh), also swopping Penrith for Carlisle.

At Carlisle stay at the Station Hotel, the County Hotel or the Crown and Mitre.

Get an early start from York, for the 0828 from Newcastle. Dump your bags at your hotel, then get to Carlisle Castle for opening time.

Afterwards take the 1400 #554 bus to Keswick for Castlerigg, arriving at 1523, and the 1800 back.

Next day, for Muncaster, while you can take a train to Ravenglass, it is about 30 minutes walk from there to Ravenglass (one way via the Roman Bath House, the other direct) it is easier to take the train to Whitehaven.
Then the X7 bus direct to Muncaster Castle at 0855 or 1228, arriving at 1002 or 1335 (£3 each way), coming back at 1436 or 1736., then train or the half hourly #300 or the hourly #600 bus back to Carlisle.
Do the morning bus, then go to the Rum Story Museum in Whitehaven (next to the bus stop) to find out about Whitehaven's strong links with the US (even visit the Honorary Consul to the US Navy next door!). Also on the way from Ravenglass you have the ruined Egremont Castle (won't detain you for long).
You could swop out Whitehaven for St Bees Priory (bus #32 every hour or so from Egremont, then on to Whitehaven, or train from St Bees to Carlisle).

The following day take the hourly HW1/HW2 bus from Carlisle to the Roman Army Museum £3 each way), where it connects with the AD122 for Housesteads/Vindolanda. End the day at Hexham Station (off the AD122) and train back to Carlisle.

Looking at the Scotland portion of your trip:

Definitely no 1 day tour to Skye. Skye really needs a minimum of 2 full days not including travel time. If Skye is important, your itinerary needs reworking. And I agree regarding the attraction of Loch Ness.

Option 1, if driving, stop at Inveraray on your way to Oban. You'll need a full day for Glencoe and Glenfinnan. From Oban head to Stirling (maybe overnight) 2½ hr, before dropping car in Edinburgh.

Your Option 1 is totally doable by public transportation with some tweaking. Stay 3 nights in Oban.

• day 1 ferry to Mull and Iona
• day 2 car rental for Inveraray and Kilmartin (ancient Cairns, Stones and Circles)
• day 3 car rental (or trains & buses ) for Glenfinnan, Glencoe (& Rannoch Moor)

There is direct bus service (2¾hr) between Oban and Stirling in addition to train service via Glasgow.

Thank you all for the input so far. I’m trying to take your suggestions (no point asking for advice and then ignoring it).

You all seem to agree that it doesn’t make sense to try to fit in Skye this trip. I feel that if not a day trip (and I will listen to you experts) we would lost too much other things. Also, with the weather, it just doesn’t make sense. I’ll just need to let that go.

You also all seem to agree that Loch Ness isn’t worth it. I’ll discuss with my husband. Is there any Loch in particular that makes sense to go see or is it not really necessary? We will be spending time in the Lakes District and I spend a lot of time at lakes in NH (although we don’t have any lake monsters!) Is there any other particular lake that is really super special that we should plan to see?

Trelawney – Pardon my spelling error! I’ll correct that 😊.

Cat VH – I’d like to keep York. It was one of my parent’s recommendations as they absolutely loved it. Oddly, they also went to Isle of Skye but didn’t talk it up nearly as much as York. On the fence about Cardiff still. Will look into Tintern Abbey.

Isn31c – It doesn’t look like Carlisle is in the lake district. Do you recommend swapping all my nights in Penrith for Carlisle? Would we still be able to get around to the more quaint towns and small hikes/walks (weather permitting)? We weren’t married to Penrith, it just had seemed like a good place with train travel.

Jeanm – We already have 3 nights in Oban, but one is the arrival night. Should I swap that to 4 nights and take away one of the Edinburgh nights? How much do you think it enhances the trip for us to rent a car vs taking the train from the lakes region to Oban? Is it something we should strongly consider even if adds a lot to the cost?

There will likely be more questions to come…

For lochs, if you're visiting Inveraray, you'll get to see beautiful Loch Fyne. You could also easily fit in a visit to Loch Lomond which isn't very far outside Glasgow.

If York is special to you, then you should definitely go see it! It just means a bit more time travelling.

Though Carlisle isn't technically in the Lake District National Park, it is in Cumbria and I always think of it as the Lake District (I have spent a lot of time in the nearby area). It's a very convenient place to be based especially for Hadrian's Wall. The path actually runs through the town tho you won't find the actual wall until several miles more heading east. As Carlisle is more of a city than a quaint Lakeland town I'd say it's less touristy.

Besides the freedom of no time tables, the advantage of the car from the lakes to Oban is you can stop in Inveraray and tour the Castle and Gardens on your way to Oban and keep 3 nights in Oban.

However, I really like public transportation, especially when it's convenient. It allows everyone to enjoy the views and not have to concentrate on the road.

By train you would need 4 nights (not 3, oops) in Oban if you want all your to dos AND if you want to travel by train from Penrith/Carlisle to Oban.

You'll need 1 day for Mull by ferry and bus.

A second day for Glencoe and Glenfinnan. Adding Inveraray to this day, even with a car, would really be pushing it. This day could be self drive or by train and bus.

So a third day for Inveraray by car or private guide. .That is why I mentioned Kilmartin. The Oban - Inveraray - Kilmartin - Oban route would take you along Loch Fyne that CatV mentioned as well as Loch Awe with Kilchurn Castle Ruin.

In Oban you could book a 1 or 2 day car rental from the local company.

Penrith isn't technically in the Lake District National Park either. It's not far outside (the boundary is just past Rheged , on the way to Dalemain and around Eamont Bridge) but outside. The essential problem is that you are visiting two places separated by a mountain range and nothing like enough time to really experience the area.
I'm trying to maximise your limited time and your interests.
Carlisle is a city absolutely chock full of history (both Penrith and Carlisle for instance have significant Jacobite history, Carlisle especially - including hangings of captured men) and the Castle is as authentic as they come.
If you stayed at Penrith it's that much more time to get to Muncaster. But you could add Penrith Castle (won't take you long) and Brougham Castle.
If you drove over from York you could also include Brough Castle and even stay in a Castle at Appleby Castle, 20 minutes off the M6.
Appleby to Castlerigg is 35 to 40 minutes by car, onto Muncaster from Castlerigg I've done it in an hour, but 90 minutes is more sensible.
You also have short days of daylight, dark by 6pm if not sooner.

My other option for you is Keswick. There are a number of guest houses up that end of town, just at the bottom of the road up to Castlerigg, so a few minutes walk.
For a lake I would suggest Ullswater. At that time of the year it is right in the middle of the red deer rutting season over there. A good chance of catching a guided tour to experience that, something few overseas tourists even know about.

If staying at Keswick, especially with a car, no lack of good food options including Armathwaite Hall for a splurge and Bassenthwaite Lake Station for one of the best afternoon teas you will ever have. But many others.

With a car then I can give you a lovely place for a meal at Santon Bridge, for dinner at Seascale (or at Bigrigg) and a couple of farm shops only the locals know of. If you are over west with a car Eskdale or Wasdale (the latter for its lake, totally the LDNP, prime walking country) would do you nicely to stay at. Just not where very many people think off as the Lake District.

If you want a good Loch in Scotland, with a car and within this time frame then Loch Katrine is hard to beat, an awful lot closer to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Would it make sense to break it up and go York to Windermere (2 nights) then Windermere to Carlisle (2 nights) to Oban? Or Keswick rather than Windemere?

Would you say Inverary is a don’t miss?

Sounds like definitely get a car for Oban days but not really needed for lakes region or do you think we should really rent for full week from York to Edinburgh?

Windermere to Muncaster is an awkward journey by public transport - via Barrow by train (1 to 3 changes) or via Keswick by bus (3 changes), coming back by bus you would have to route through Barrow.
Driving its via Keswick, Greenodd/Grizebeck or over the Wrynose and Hardknott passes- the latter is the shortest and a spectacular drive not for the faint hearted, but includes the Hardknott Roman Fort. So Keswick would work better than Windermere.
On the train Muncaster to Windermere is a journey which I do without thinking about (in fact I've been known to add the Lake steamer from Lakeside to Bowness to spice it up) but it's more awkward to visitors.

I champion public transport use, especially in the Lake District (and want to encourage use of the new bus to Muncaster, use it or loose it) but in your case driving is just going to work more smoothly from York onwards, unfortunately.