London, Scotland, Ireland

When is this trip, and what are your interests- all of you? Your children really need to have substantial input, so you will have a memorable time. Safe travels!

You don’t have time for Ireland so fly in and out of London and Edinburgh (book multi-city or one-way tickets). London alone needs to six nights meaning no day trips. Take an overnight train between London and Glasgow or Edinburgh and reserve a sleeper car: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/live-trains/.
Rent a car in Scotland meaning you’ll be driving on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is opposite too. Drive up to Isle of Skye. You also want to spend a minimum of two nights in Edinburgh.

Two weeks would be fourteen days and generally take away at least one and a half for travel counting arrival.day as a half day to get oriented and a small amount of sightseeing. You could start in London and then train to Scotland. Leaving for.home from.Scotland. do not buy one way tickets they are usually extremely more expensive. Buy multi city tickets. I agree you don't have time for three countries but of course others would say you could have four days in each country. That is up to you and your family. Get the children involved as to what is important to them so you can all enjoy. Once you decide on the itinerary come back here for more specific advice. Good luck.

Years ago we did a "highlights" tour over two weeks, following a general Rick Steves Itinerary: Bath, Oxford, Edinburgh, York and London. It didn't feel rushed and we were able to see major sights in each location. It left us with four nights in London - theater every night. All travel by train.

If you were willing to arrange for open jaw flights into London and out from Edinburgh, you could then swap London and Edinburgh in the above itinerary. And make substitutions based on your interests.

I agree with the other comments that Ireland would best be left for a separate trip.

Even just hitting the highlights that is ambitious for 14 days. Agree with the advice to scrap Ireland this time. There's more than enought to fill your time in England and Scotland.

Get a copy of DK Eyewitness Great Britain and get the kids to decide what their priorities are.

So many suggestions! Took our 15 year old son to the UK, and he loved everything. Pretty sure this is what we did: fly to Dublin. 2 nights. Rented car. Drove to Cashel (Rock of Cashel). One night. Drove to Blarney Castle, one night in Killarney. Up early and drove Ring of Kerry. One night in Tralee. Drove to Cliffs of Moher. Night in Galway. Drove back to Dublin, flew to Edinburgh. New car. Drove Edinburgh to Oban, one night. Drove Oban along Loch Linnhe through gorgeous Fort William past Ben Nevis, along Loch Ness/Urquhart Castle to Inverness. Two nights in Inverness. Day trip to Culloden. Inverness to Pitlochry, whisky tour at Edradour. One night in Pitlochry. Pitlochry to Edinburgh by way of Stirling Castle. Train to London. All the delights of London—then back home. I think our trip was 16-17 days. A whirlwind, but one of our best trips ever. The key is planning and reserving family rooms in hotels so you know where you are sleeping!

You will love the British Isles.

We have been to all the countries more than once and will still return.
Our last trip to the UK was a FOUR week drive tour (didn't do London at all) in south Wales and England. We did the countryside and key cities like Oxford, Bath, Wells, Winchester, Stratford Upon Avon, Warwick, Blenheim Palace, York, Durham, Hadrian's Wall, The Lake District, Cardiff, Tenby and St. David.

With two weeks, I suggest not trying to do Ireland this time. You could spend the entire two weeks in either England or Scotland.

Renting a car and driving on the left is doable if you are careful and rent an automatic. British drivers are relatively polite.

Still, roads in remote areas are narrow, many with large hedges that you have to take care not to scrape with your car. The countryside in beautiful and not to be missed. Still, you would need to plan your tour in detail, booking lodgings and planning WHAT you want to see in WHAT cities or towns.

Driving in the London area is frustrating, the orbital around the city is a parking lot most of the time.

Traffic is better in northern England, Wales and Scotland.

If you plan to stick to places like London, York and Edinburg, do the trains, but for the countryside, like the Cotswolds, you will need a car.

Another option is to take a guided tour of the country or countries you plan to visit. Look at Gate 1 Travel, there is a great tour of Ireland for 9 days for $1400 pp. There is another for Ireland and Scotland for something like $2800 pp.

Rabbies has some great tours that are budget. Trafalgar is great, but more expensive.