We will be arriving at Heathrow on Tuesday June 13 to begin our 12 day tour of England and Scotland. I've come up with an itinerary and would love feedback and advice. We're in our mid 50's, active, enjoy smaller cities, villages, rural landscape, history/castles/gardens and lots of walking.
June 13 arrive Heathrow in early am. Pick up rental car and head to Chipping Campden for 2 nights. Travel to Keswick spend 1 night. Drive to Edinburgh spend 3 nights. Travel to Durham for 1 night, then York for 2 nights. Ditch car and take train to London for remaining 2 nights. We'd like to get away from London at the beginning of our trip and thought Chipping Campden would be a good place to settle in and rest up. Does this sound like a good plan?
Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
It's not a good idea to drive immediately after a transatlantic flight, especially early in the morning, as you will be tired and suffering jet lag. I would suggest spending the first night in London.
Posted by
8337 posts
It is not more than two hours from Heathrow to Chipping Campden. I have driven after a TA flight and did fine. Recommend you rent an automatic and have a nav system in your car. Also, take it easy and you will be fine.
I think 2 nights in the Cotswolds will only give you one full day there, not enough. Spending one night in the Lake District (Keswick) is not enough to see much of anything. Also, Durham for one night is unrealistic.
Also, the drive from Chipping Campden to Keswick will be at least four perhaps five hours.
I suggest that you skip the Lake District and Durham, spend three nights in the Cotswolds and three nights in York.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thanks for the advice. We planned a stop in Keswick to break up the drive from the Cotswolds to Edinburgh. If there are any other recommendations to accomplish this I would really appreciate it! I came up with this itinerary using Rick Steves Guidebook and I'm an admitted rookie in planning such a trip!
Posted by
Maryland, USA
533 posts
If you're just looking for a place to break up the drive, Keswick is just about as good a choice as any. But the Lake District is known for its walking paths through rural landscapes (and those are things you said you enjoy), and a one-night stay isn't going to give you a chance to do much of that.
Also, it's easy to get from Edinburgh to Durham to York on the train - and it's faster than driving - so you could get rid of the car much earlier if you wanted to.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7212 posts
Only you know if you can drive after a TA flight. For me, Chipping Campden is very doable. I stayed there a couple years ago. It's very small and a nice base for seeing the Cotswolds.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank so much for all the great advice! After taking a few things into consideration we've changed our itinerary a little. We are still arriving at Heathrow, picking up a rental car and spending our first 2 nights in Chipping Campden. We've driven in Ireland before and are confident that it'll work out ok. Leaving Chipping Campden and driving to Durham for 1 night, driving to Edinburgh for 3 nights, ditching rental car and taking the train to York for 2 nights, train to London for 3 nights. This little change removes Keswick and allows us an extra night in London. We really want to have a car while in Scotland which is why we're including that on our trip.
Does this make more sense? Thanks!
Posted by
Maryland, USA
533 posts
I think that's a reasonable itinerary. Obviously, since you won't have an enormous amount of time in each place, you'll need to do some planning beforehand to get the most out of each destination. But it sounds like you know that. So have a great trip!