London-Oxford-Cotswold-Edinburgh

Hi, melissa, first, I would push for the 10 days, as 7 days is not a lot of time to see all four of those places. It's doable but you would be rushing around and doing a lot of driving.

Second, I would strongly suggest flying into London and then back home from Edinburgh (or vice versa). It should cost around the same price to fly multi-city, and it will save you a lot of time and money, since you won't have to travel to to your original arrival city.

If it were me, I would probably fly into London, spent 3-4 nights there, 3-4 nights visiting the Cotswolds and Oxford, spend the final 2-3 nights in Edinburgh, and fly home from Edinburgh. You can pick up a car outside London, then turn it in at Edinburgh. I highly recommend renting from Arnold Clark, which you can do directly or via Celtic Legend, which acts as a broker. I've done both and they both work well. I love Arnold Clark rentals, as they are very reliable, consistent and take the time to explain all the fine print. I've rented from them twice and had very good experiences both times.

Just a few thoughts - 26th-31st May is May school holidays, and Spring Bank Holiday is 26th May so might be worth avoiding that period if you can as it will be busy and expensive. Similarly, school year end is 22nd July to 31st August. If you can choose to travel in between those periods, all the better.

Personally I'd say 7-10 days is not enough for what you're proposing. I'd allow 5 nights for London alone, a couple of nights for Oxford, a couple for the Cotswolds and at least three for Edinburgh as a minimum.

Have you considered perhaps dropping Edinburgh? That will make it geographically more feasible. In that case you could take the train to Oxford stay a couple of nights, hire a car there, visit the Cotswolds, return car in Oxford and take the train back to London.

Alternatively take the train to Edinburgh for a couple nights, then back to London, and then do a daytrip to Oxford and drop the Cotswolds.

Definitely don't drive unless you want to raise your blood pressure and waste time sitting in traffic on motorways.

Recently retired educator here. Now I have flexibility in my schedule, I still prefer to go to England at the beginning of June through to about the 15th July. Usually school in England are off around the Memorial Day weekend (1-2 week break) but I never found this to be too problematic. The reason I am saying this is, sometimes if you can catch a flight out that last part of May prices can be slightly cheaper. Depends when you school calendar finishes and if they add "snow days" at the end of it. I always got so excited at the prospect of jumping on a plane and jetting off somewhere the day after school lets out! As for your itinerary, I think the London, Oxford Loop is a good idea, but perhaps, do London, Oxford, pick up a car for the Cotswolds and then drop it back off. I don't know if you really have the time to squeeze in Edinburgh on only a 7-10 day trip. Driving is not for the faint of heart in England, but if you are younger than me, a confident driver, than go for it, but my suggestion would be to pick up the car after your visit to Oxford.

I recommend taking 10 days if you want to visit Edinburgh.

As for renting a car, I’ve driven a lot in the UK but wouldn’t recommend driving in London. Public transportation and walking work better.

You can spend several days in London, then take the train to Oxford. In Oxford, I use the bus and walk. Look for accommodation near a bus stop. You pay for the bus by swiping your credit card when entering and exiting the bus. Just use the same card.

Within the CityZone your fare is capped each day to £4.20 even if you take several buses.

There are traffic and parking restrictions in the City Centre, so with a car, you would park at a Park & Ride and take the bus to the City Center.

You might rent a car in Oxford to drive through the Cotswolds if you want to do your own thing there, but you can visit many of the towns by bus or take a day tour. This has been recommended:

https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/product/cotswolds-in-a-day/

For more ideas, look here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/5-nights-in-cotswolds

From Oxford, you can take the train to Edinburgh and use the time to relax instead of fighting traffic. Often, the train is faster than driving. From London to Edinburgh it’s about 5:20 hours versus 7:30 to drive. It’s about 6:30 for both from Oxford.

Another option is to take the train back to London and book the Caledonian Sleeper to Edinburgh. You leave late at night and sleep on the train so that’s one night you don’t need a hotel. Plus, you have more daylight for touring. I did this in the early 1980’s and it was great, but I can’t comment on the recent service.

https://www.sleeper.scot/

I haven’t been to Edinburgh since then, but you can probably manage without a car there as well.

I’m not against renting a car in the UK, especially to explore small towns and rural areas, but based on your itinerary and time frame, sticking with public transportation (except for the Cotswolds) would probably be more efficient and enjoyable.

As for what to see and do, it depends on your interests. Browse travel guides, etc. and think about what you really want to see and do. If you mention some things you really enjoy, you’ll get better answers about lesser known sites and activities. (For example, Harry Potter fans look for different sites in Oxford than Inspector Morse/Endeavour fans).

In Oxford, it’s fun to walk among the side streets and colleges, especially after dinner. There are nice walks along the rivers and bike trips as well.

In London, if you visit Westminster Abbey, it’s worth booking the Vergers Tour:

https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/guided-tours?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4Oe4BhCcARIsADQ0csn_eU3KBU8O2RWOggXvv797Ag9hZStP0lUnIAz-8gN8evaEqX9gabEaAkYQEALw_wcB

London Walks will have a variety of themed tours, and the guides are very enthusiastic and interesting.

https://www.walks.com/

For accommodation, if you’ll mention your budget per night, you’ll get better suggestions.

For London, think about where you plan to visit, then look for hotels with Underground stations nearby that allow you to get there easily. For example, I know that I will see several plays, so I want to get to the West End conveniently.

For Edinburgh, The International Festival and Fringe is on the whole of August. If that interests you, then it’s a good time to go. If not, then the city will be more crowded, so it’s best to avoid it then.

https://www.edinburghfestivalcity.com/festivals/edinburgh-festival-fringe

You can search the forum to see other posts that cover the areas you want to visit and other topics such as restaurants, hotels, and B&B’s.

All the best,

Raymond

What a fun trip and amazing way to celebrate! I'll chime in with my personal two cents in how I'd make this work in 10 days (not counting your departure days there and back) without cutting any locations:

• Days 1-3: arrive at LHR and take the coach straight from Heathrow to Oxford. Stay in Oxford 3 nights, giving you your arrival day (which is a bit of a wash), a full day in Oxford, and then a day trip to the Cotswolds from Oxford

https://www.gocotswolds.co.uk/product/cotswolds-in-a-day/

(You'd have to take the train from Oxford to the pick up location for the tour)

• Days 4-7: train to London, stay 4 nights, giving you three full days there

• Days 8-10: train from London to Edinburgh, stay 3 nights, giving you two full days there

• fly home out of Edinburgh

If that all ends up feeling a bit too rushed for you (it would be for me, but not for others!), you could go down to two locations, Oxford and London; or London and Edinburgh. You could also easily fill an entire 10 days staying in London only, including as few or many day trips as you'd wish (Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Stonehenge, Stratford-Upon-Avon ... )

Would love to hear your thoughts on everyone's suggestions and how the plans unfold!