Background: Husband and wife, mid-50s, fit, well traveled, enjoy history, culture, day hikes, outdoor activities, great food. First trip to England and Scotland, will be back to England on another trip to include Ireland. RT air purchased SFO-LHR for 5/19-6/12/2020. My husband has driven in New Zealand, Portugal and Spain; rest of our trips have been by public transportation. I am having trouble with an itinerary that limits driving but also don't want to spend all day on the train; definitely don't want to drive in cities. Preliminary Itinerary as follows: London (5n), Bath (3n), Carbis Bay, Cornwall (3n), York (1n). Edinburgh (4n), Ft. William (1n), Portree (3n), Inverness (1n), London (2n). Need help with best transportation options! We are putting off Lake District for another trip, as we would really like to make sure to get to Cornwall but could do Lake District this trip if it makes more sense.
Posted by
Washington DC
27047 posts
I can't help on the transportation front, but I'd want more time in Cornwall (an entire region) than in Bath. I also think York needs a lot more than the few hours you'll be lucky to have there after traveling up from Cornwall. If you can't manage at least 2 nights in York, I think you should definitely skip it and go straight to Edinburgh.
Given that it takes time to get up to Scotland and the beautiful rural areas are such slow going, I'd recommend skipping Cornwall on this trip and applying that time to Scotland (not to the Lake District). I spent 26 days in Scotland last year--albeit without a car, which would have made me a lot more efficient--and I had to be very selective about what I saw.
Posted by
107 posts
You can reach Carbis Bay by train from London Paddington with one change at St Erth. Allow about six hours.
Posted by
107 posts
I might consider flying from Newquay to Leeds Bradford for York (assuming Fly Be is still operating) then train to Edinburgh.
Posted by
Los Angeles
220 posts
Hi there- I've been to many of the places listed- if you've driven in New Zealand i think driving in England is about the same- just don't drive in London.
Scotland driving- EASY- big wide roads, polite drivers, lots of parking (even in Edinburgh)
Corwnall- EASY TO MODERATE depends- where you are going are you getting? If you stick to the main highways it is really simple, otherwise just go slow and you'd be fine. Some of the roads can be narrow (my friend and I went some very odd routes around the Lizard peninsula and also Dartmoor national park). The main parts of Cornwall are easy to drive in. just a bit more narrow than say roads in Los Angeles.
Bath- EASY to drive in.
Really you just need a GPS to get around. You could do a train, but it may hinder your ability to see as much. On my trips I've always tried to make London the last stop and ditch my car in Bath. My last trip we flew to Newquay and rented the car there and dumped it in Oxford and flew out of London.
Cornwall is lovely, for beaches and some history sprinkled throughout, however if you are looking for the "castles" of England there aren't many down in that region and you might consider a pit stop in south or even North Wales. I was able to drive from Snowdonia to the Cotswalds in about 3 hours.
Comparing driving in England to the USA (Los Angeles) I'd much rather drive in England. It is slightly weird at first but you get used to it.
If I was going to alter your Itinerary I'd probably do something like this:
Inverness 2 days (inclusive of jet lag)
Portree
Fort William
Perth
Edinburgh
Alnwick (you have to see this castle)
Durham
York
Bath - ditch your car then take a train to st.ives (if you REALLY must see Cornwall)
St Ives (best city there to be honest) and Carbis Bay
Train back stop in Oxford (about 50 min from London) - leave from oxford to go to the airport
This is still super ambitious I think I'd cut out Cornwall to be honest.
Posted by
7637 posts
We rented a car for our drive tour of South Wales and England (didn't visit London) in October 2017 for four weeks.
Wonderful trip.
Your itinerary is nice, but I suggest that if you rent a car, plan your daily drive. For our four weeks we only had three days when we drove more than 2 hours.
Traffic will be heavy, particularly in Southern England and around London and the major cities in the Midlands.
We loved South Wales, which you don't visit, but you are doing Scotland, which we didn't do.
York (one night is just not enough, we spent three nights there) and Durham are wonderful. Bath is a must, but you are skipping the Cotswolds and Stratford Upon Avon (great if you love Shakespeare).
The Lake District is very scenic, but is mainly for hikers or outdoor activities. Your time is limited.
We are planning a trip to Cornwall in July, and will spend six nights there. Do your research, since there are many places to stay there. We picked Truro.
The Brooks Guesthouse in Bath is nice. Don't miss the best Fish and Chips in England at The Scallop Shell.
Here is my trip history with details.
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139
Posted by
36 posts
I would honestly shave 2-3 nights off London since it appears your total days there are already 7, which would still leave you with 4-5 days in London.
Use those two/three days to go to the Lake District. Since you are already going to be in North England / Scotland, it would just make sense to tackle the Lake District while you are up there.