Itenerary advice: two weeks in UK - into Edinburgh, out of LHR

Having just done a 12 night loop of Scotland, I would definately recommend at least 2 nights on the Isle of Skye. Great hiking and the Museum of Island Life.
We also loved Oban. Highlight was the 3 Isle tour of Mull, Iona and Staffa.
I have a trip report on this forum.

I am not familiar with driving times ( we toured Scotland by train) but I will take a stab at it. You need to get it down to 7 locations at most, and that means all 2-night stays.

I would omit places that are off a logical path, including Hadrian's Wall and Yorkshire Dales.

Here is a rough first draft, assume 2 nights in each spot:

Edinburgh, Highlands, either Oban or Skye, Lake District, Wye Valley/ Brecon Beacons (same area), Cotswolds, Oxford.

You could add a third night to the Lake District and visit Hadrians Wall from Keswick. Take a night from Oxford for this.

I will just mention a place we stayed in the Wye Valley, near Abergavenny, because it is a lovely rural spot and the self-catering remodeled barn will accommodate the four of you very comfortably. It is right on Offa's Dyke Path if you fancy a walk, or drive up to the Beacons and take your walk there.

http://www.oldrectorystayinwales.co.uk/home

There is a Michelin-starred restaurant nearby ( The Walnut Tree) if you have any interest, but we enjoyed three dinners at the friendly pub just a short walk down the lane. The food was excellent.

http://www.hunters-moon-inn.co.uk

We would love to return.

Is your 2 week stay actually 12 or 14 nights in the UK? Your first and last nights are getting over jet lag and getting to the airport, so that’s 2 less days in play. I suggest that you limit yourselves to 4 places as a busy but sensible pace. It sounds as though Edinburgh is your first base. You will need to be at or near Heathrow for your final night.

Pick the Highlands or Skye then head to the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales. Personally, I prefer the Dales as there are fewer tourists and the scenery is stunning.

I prefer the Wye Valley to the Brecon Beacons (maybe something to do with the weather I have experienced when in the Beacons). The Wye Valley has some good walking and pretty towns, plus it’s cider country!

I’m not a great fan of the overrated Cotswolds. There are many areas of the UK that are as pretty without the number of tourists and the clogged up roads.

Thanks, Jennifer. That is helpful. It is 13 nights.

I've heard maybe the Cotswolds are over-rated but they seem so pretty; would the Wye Valley be similar (I'm interested in a little bit of twee country England)

Be careful,with the word "twee". It is not really a compliment, more negative than positive. Something like "too cutesy for words".

Agree 'twee' is not a compliment, actally neither is cute!!!

The Wye Valley is more impressive in my opinion, it's a lot more natural with deep gorges, forests, stunning views and glorious riverside environments whereas The Cotswolds is more agricultural, a lot of hedged in fields and livestock. Yes it has chocolate box villages but so does the Wye Valley and practically every rural village in the UK.

My mother in law lives in Coleford so I'm dragged there fairly often and we usually stay at Symonds Yat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symonds_Yat
We like to look for the Peregrine Falcons on Symonds Yat Rock and explore the forest. The Forest of Dean is a great place for walking although you need to be mindful of wild boar, there have been attacks on people over the years but in the main they're a pest that can devastate gardens.

"Agree 'twee' is not a compliment, actally neither is cute!!!"
Or quaint........Shudder.:-)

I will check out Symonds Yat. It looks lovely.

I definitely know twee is an insult, but I am excited for a little bit of over-the-top cutesy/quaint/Midsomer-esque England, since we will be spending most of the time in more dramatic landscapes. My biggest Cotswold question is will it be so packed with tourists that we won't get to enjoy ourselves.

Is there another region that has lots of walks and quaint scenery (not mountains or big hills but farms and sheep etc.) we should check out instead?

“Twee” is better than “quaint” in my book!

Northumberland is a stunning yet underrated county that offers gently rolling hills, a fantastic coastline with a few excellent castles thrown in and the unmissable Holy Island.

Your itinerary show that you will do a lot of driving for two weeks. I recommend not driving more than two hours a day, if possible.

We didn't go to Scotland on our last trip where we rented a car, but did go to South Wales and England (avoiding London and the SE England). We drove 1,700 miles in 28 days and it was a lot.

Your itinerary goes from the down the West side of England and into South Wales, calling for hitting a lot of heavy traffic on the M 6, I think it is that goes by Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. Traffic was heavy when we went from The Lake District to Winchester.

We did that in about 7 hours.

Hadrian's Wall will take you (depending on where you stop) at least half a day. We stayed in Haltwhistle, near the middle of the island.

The Wye Valley is great, do you plan to visit the Cotswolds before or after Wales? South Wales is awesome, We saw castles and St. Fagan's near Cardiff as well as Tintern Abby. The Brecon Beacons are very nice, why not go all the way to St. David's Cathedral on the SW tip of Wales?

We stayed in Chipping Campden and used it as a base to visit other places. Oxford will have no parking for your vehicle unless you park outside the city. Don't miss Stratford Upon Avon, yes lots of tourist there, but the old city is in character and the Shakespeare sites are awesome.

Bath is not to be missed.

Here is my detailed review of our trip.
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

Be sure and have a very good GPS with UK maps or a NAV system for your rental car. Also, beware of Europcar. Also, recommend an automatic.

Northumberland is a stunning yet underrated county that offers gently
rolling hills, a fantastic coastline with a few excellent castles
thrown in and the unmissable Holy Island.

Have been to both Cotswolds and Northumberland (in high season! – b/c of my sister-in-law's schedule) and I definitely agree. Not crowded at all, and I don't think we saw any other foreigners the entire time. We stayed in a small village, and locals told us about a tiny, ancient church tucked away in farmland (you take the key and bring it back). That turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip – the walk to and exploring of this gem. There was even a spooky walk down a narrow allée in the graveyard surrounding the church. I'm not sure such an experience would have been possible in the Cotswolds, at least in summer ... we definitely want to come back and visit Holy Island.