London/Scotland/Dublin : 10 days

With only 10 days, I would suggest that you leave Scotland for another trip - I would have said Ireland, but it sounds like this won't be possible due to your flights.

August is Festival time in Edinburgh and most accommodation was booked out last autumn, so if you don't have anything booked, avoid, as what is left will either be very expensive or poor quality.

London - you will only scratch at the surface there with 5 full days, particularly as you will have to travel at the pace of the youngest of your group i.e. a 4 year old. York, Dover and Bath are all too long sat on a train for a 4 year old, so confine your trip to somewhere closer to London e.g. Windsor, Greenwich, Hampton Court, Brighton or the Harry Potter studio near Watford, although all the tickets have probably sold out by now. So 5 days for London plus 1 for a trip leaves 4 nights for Dublin or 7 in London and 3 in Dublin.

You need to book accommodation yesterday, as your options become more limited as each day passes. Look at the Premier Inn chain, who offer family rooms.

Pick up a distillery tour whilst in Dublin.

I hope for your next trip to explore the rest of England Wales and the rest of Ireland that you allow a few months, as this is an ambitious schedule!!

Hello,
My husband and I have been traveling with our kids since they were very little.

You list many places: and they happen to be in all directions from London.
Windsor - a good day out from London. Our kid enjoyed Windsor. Close to London.
Stonehenge - are you going there via a car? If you're driving , Aveburg might be a better spot. Free to go to and you can walk and touch the rocks.
Bath - can get there via train or car. It may be a long day out for the little one.
Dover- A very long day out by either train/car.
York- too far from London for a day trip. It would be a stop if you're driving to Scotland. And, probably an overnighter there. Our kids did enjoy going there.

I would personal just do one or two of your areas. Concentration on London might be the best choice.

I have been to Dublin with a college aged daughter and there were things to do together.
I am not sure what things are there for a 4 year old. Touring the Storehouse might not be his/her cup of tea.
Edinburgh is nice for all ages. Finding lodgings might be a problem for August.

In London, there is a Harry Potter walk, www.walks.com
I looked at the studio tour, they have some family tickets available, but you need to get the tickets asap, https://tickets.wbstudiotour.co.uk/Mobile/Products/Shared?ExternalId=TIXM3

When our kid were younger, we did Hampton Court and Hever Castle. Both easy to get to by trains.
In August they have fun days at these castles with stuff for kids. There is a trick water fun area for kids and jousting to watch at Hever Castle. Check out their What's On area on their websites.

Within London, go to a children's play. Take a boat ride on the Thames. Go to Greenwich.
Go to the tower of London. See the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace.

Here's a website for kids activities: https://www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/things-to-do/south-east-and-london/greater-london/london

Best of luck.

Have a great adventure!

Hi Sorry ... I agree I listed too many things but they were mostly questions and request for information. My intention was not to cover them all.

My original desire is to only cover 4 cities, since I am there for 10 full days : London/Edinburgh/Inverness/Dublin ... I was exploring, while there, if I could take a day trip out to someplace close ... looks like not. Also, I was not aware of the festival in Scotland and will be challenged finding a place to stay. I was in the impression that August is slow in Europe since the entire continent goes on vacation :-) :-) .... with many shops and store closings. So I thought it will not be too hard getting a place. This was all planned in a hurry. I wanted to lock down the days in the city and then look for hotels ... I

Also, I was planning to take the train everywhere using the Brit RailPass and not drive.

Anyhow since it appears Scotland maybe out of reach, let me replan. Thanks for your help and prompt responses. I will only plan to do Windsor from London, since my son is really keen to visit a castle in England :-)

Sorry if I sound like an idiot, ... that is why I am here for help and advice.

I see from your recent comment that you're willing to omit Scotland, and that is probably wise. However, if you still wanted to visit Scotland you could skip Edinburgh (because of the festival) and take the train to Fort William. From there you could ride the "Jacobite" steam train, extremely popular with Harry Potter fans. Fort William has rail connection to Glasgow, so you could fly Glasgow-Dublin to complete the Ireland portion of your trip.

From London, Windsor is a good day trip. Stonehenge can be done, but not by train. There is bus transportation to Stonehenge from Salisbury (which has a rail connection to London), but with your very limited time you'd be better off with a bus/van tour from London unless you were also interested in spending some time in Salisbury. York and Bath are each too far to make a day trip from London.

If you have only 10 days in all, that's really just 8 days on the ground. When you break that into 3 destinations, you have 2-3 days each in London, Scotland, and Dublin. You will just scratch the surface.

Drop Scotland.

Seems like you've booked your airfare. Have you done the same or assumed you could find something on the fly for your accommodations.

The currency exchange rate is at its best in years, London is one of the most popular cities to visit by all world citizens and your have chosen to visit during a busy summer month.

My first suggestions is to book your accommodations NOW!

As noted your trip is technically only 8 days because of arrival and departure days.

Given the ages of your children trying to see and do all that you've listed is far too much. The 4 year old will need nap time.

So:
Day 1: Arrive. Check into accmodation, freshen up. Depending on where you are staying ( what London neighborhood) will dictate what to do your first day besides dealing with jet lag.

Day 2: Parliament Square to see the iconic Elizabeth Tower a.k.a. Big Ben ( which is the bell), the Houses of Parliament. Then would the family more interested in Westminister Abby, riding the London Eye, taking a boat on the Rivers Thames, Horse Guard Museum, Churchill War rooms, seeing the Pelicans being fed in St James Park, Buckingham Palace, or photo ops near the Trafalgar Square lions?

ALL within walking distance of each other but you'll need to decipher which suit your interests more and time you will allocate to them. . Depending on your choices you'll need to have lunch and could always picnic in St James or Green Park. Take a long look at the satellite birds eye view on Google maps.

Do some planning and adjust your day accordingly.

Day 3: Morning train ride to Windsor Castle. Afternoon back in London. Maybe the Natural History Museum or London Transport Museum. Or paddle boats at Regents Park? Or seeing the buskers in Covent Garden?

Day 4: All day Harry Potter tour. Book your tickets NOW!

Day 5: early flight to Dublin. Check in at your accommodation. Tour the Guinness Museum. See St Stephens Square, explore Grafton Street. Dinner at a pub so you can enjoy your pint of Guinness.

Day 6: early train or bus ride ( 2 hours for either) to Belfast, visit the Titanic Museum, take a Black Cab tour of the Troubles then have them drop you at the train or bus station for your return to Ireland. This way you can say you visited 3 countries in 8 days.

Day 7 tour the Gaol and research to see if seeing the Book of Kells would be something the family would like.

Day 8. Shopping for gifts to bring home. Seeing whatever you missed.

Thank u everyone for such awesome feedback ... I will be 11 days on the ground (one day to travel to Dublin), so technically 10.5 days on the ground. My actual trip is 13 days. That is the reason I requested itinerary help for 10 days, Yes, I am looking for hotels right now ... Thank u. I was not sure how many days to spend in each city to confirm hotels.

My Goal was to cover only London and Dublin ( ... and not England and Ireland) and as much of the country Scotland as possible. I was looking forward to Scotland, but after reading your comments I have decided to drop Scotland for another time and stick with London/Dublin and see as much as I can. Intention is not to boast how many countries I covered, even though it may have sounded like that.

Anyhow, I see u recommend that I do 7 days in London and 4 days in Dublin (... and I do not mean England and Ireland). Is that correct ? I don't have to completely plan my trip around my kids. It will be balance and they like it that way as well ... We do travel a lot and most of our trips are in short notice unfortunately ...

That said : can u please help with 7 days in London and 4 days in Dublin ... any hidden gems (place/event/activity) close to these cities that will be worth a trip. What is a good place to go Shopping in London (Oxford street?) ... something for my wife :-)

Another question : is the festival in all of Scotland or just Edinburgh ?

".... I was in the impression that August is slow in Europe since the entire continent goes on vacation ...."

That's not really the case in the UK. Whilst August is a popular month for holidays it is primarily parents with children. Anyone who doesn't have kids can avoid the exorbitant price hikes and travel outside of the school holidays. The tourism sector is in full flow in August so expect accommodation to be scarce, Europe is "on vacation" in August and they're all looking for places to stay, the hotel industry is anything but slow in August.

Given you are going next month I'd make time to buy and read the RS guidebooks for London and Dublin. So helpful and would provide clarity to some of your inqueries.

You can use our friendly and generous suggestions for what to do and see but it's your trip and should be based on what your family interests are.

You can also search about what will be going on in each city via TimeOut online. An excellent resource to review prior to departure.

As far as shopping in London for your wife, any of these locales would work. Bond Street, Carnaby Street, Charlotte Street, Liberty, Camden Lock Market OR given the size of Selfridges Department store you could spend a half of day wandering the aisles.

Other options of interesting places to explore. LONDON: Review www.walks.com. Walk along the canals of Little Venice. Aldgate Bell Foundry. Highgate Cemetary ( you'll need reservations for the side with Karl Marx's grave. ) Brick Lane. Climbing the steps of St Pauls. Wilton Music Hall. Olympic Stadium. Portobello Road Market. Leadenhall Market. Hampton Court. Kew Gardens. Regents Park Outdoor Theatre.

DUBLIN: Glendalough, Newgrange, walk along the river, Trinity College, the Gaol.

Paring it down to only two cities is a great plan because you will lose at least three quarters of one day just getting from one to the other. That lost time should, in my opinion, come from the days allotted to London. In London the war rooms from which WWII was directed is a tremendous bit of history. In Dublin make a trip to Newgrange as it is also historical. Google them and see if they are of interest.

"Another question : is the festival in all of Scotland or just Edinburgh ?"

The Edinburgh Festival is in Edinburgh (as the name suggests).:-)
https://www.edfringe.com/