London/Scotland....is this a good amount of time?

6-7 days in Scotland is very, very short. Most people who head up that way want to see several scenic rural areas as well as Edinburgh. Many of us are also very fond of Glasgow. Travel outside the cities can be very slow. Even spending all 12-14 days in Scotland would require painful decisions. My friend is still annoyed that she had only 19 days there. You need to get a guidebook to Scotland and really dig in.

Travel time from London up to Edinburgh is only 4-1/2 hours by train, so at some point, cost-wise, I'd be willing to fly in and out of London. But you might need to buy the train ticket well in advance in order to get a decent price. I'd want to save many hundreds of dollars on airfare to justify not flying into or out of Scotland.

It depends on your Scotland travel goals beyond Edinburgh if it is enough time in Scotland.

Have you ever been to London before? If "yes" on London, but "no" on Scotland, with a 2 week trip, I would pare back on days in London to say, 4, and devote the balance of the trip to Scotland.

If you've never been to either, then consider only five full days in London and the rest in Scotland. London is one place and you can see and do more things in less time. In Scotland, things are farther apart and more time will be consumed getting from one place to another. Of course, what you really want to see and do is the most important factor. Perhaps make a list of the things you are most looking forward to, and plan a time line based on those desires.

With two weeks pick one country and go with it.

It is doable if you think of it as only a “highlights” trip - and depending on your travel style.

Start with a list of what you want to see. As TC said, start with 5 days for London. Then consider you spend most of a day getting to Edinburgh. Plus a day back for the night before your return flight. You are up to 7 days.

Just my opinion but often the places people on the forum actually want to see that are kind of near London aren’t really “day trips”. So it depends on what you are looking at. But a couple of,”day trips” brings you up to 9 days, leaving 5 for Scotland (if you truly have 14 full in-country days available).

2 full days for Edinburgh. Here is where you have to make decisions. Do you do a couple of sampler day trips with someone like Rabbies or do you change locations and head to an island or to the Highlands or see Glasgow?

If 14 days is what you have to work with, you can. You will just have to make choices - and that’s ok. I am about to make my 5th visit to England and am just now getting to London, where I will have a full week (with a day trip to Windsor) - and I am having to make choices. I have spent 4 weeks in Scotland and not nearly seen all I want to see.

But you are the only one who knows what is important to you. Once you decide, we can help with logistics.

I think your plan is fine-I think we spent a week in Scotland and it was enough for me-Edinburgh and a one day Rabbies tour. Husband and daughter did a day trip to St. Andrews. It will depend on if you go to islands(we didn't) or want to spend more time in the Highlands. What are your priorities? Natural scenery? Museums? Historic buildings? If it's your first trip to London, I would definitely want at least 6 full days.

When you are considering airfares, be sure to add in the cost of a train ticket back to London from Edinburgh and that you may need an extra night in London before your international flight.

I'd go for this. There is no way you will see anything but the highlights in 2 weeks or so anyway so choose what you want to do. I MIGHT structure it so youv'e got the Edinburgh days in the middle...a few days in London, up to Scotland, back down to London just to account for any travel glitches.

Everyone has a different travel style. We did a 16-day trip that included a few days in London (we had been there before, several times), a week in Scotland, a few days in Wales, and a few in Cornwall, returning to London for another night before flying home.

We felt that was a perfect balance for us—our main focus was on walking, but we also took in some museums. Our time in Scotland was 2 nights Edinburgh, one in the Highlands at a lovely hotel right on the West Highland Way (yet accessible by train), 2 nights in Oban, and 2 nights in Glasgow ( including the excellent Transport Museum and the Charles Rennie Macintosh Trail. Of course we did not see everything in Scotland (such as Loch Ness/Inverness, Isle of Skye, and other popular sights. But we got a good “taste”of Scotland, and we can return another time if we want to see more areas.

We bought our train tickets between London and Edinburgh, and the tickets for the return via Wales and Cornwall, well in advance to get the discounted fares (officially named Advance tickets) which can be less than half the full fare. And we used a Two Together railcard for an additional 30% off.

Friends of mine spent a week based in Edinburgh staying at a condo. They used public transportation and took a lot of daytrip tours and really saw a lot of the Countryside. Their photos of the historic red brick buildings in Edinburgh were really quite wonderful and moody. Look at www.visitscotland.com. for an expanse of travel info. I have spent a week in London more than a few times; there is so much to see and do. There are many easy daytrips you can take on the trains with day return tickets such as Hampton Court Palace, Brighton Palace, and Canterbury, etc. Consider some of the Admission Passes. Some have couples passes to save even more money. We have enjoyed supporting www.nationaltrust.org.uk which has many sites in Metropolitan London.

Thank you for all the replies. We will have 15 days on the ground. That is excluding travel days and a jet lag day😉. All of you have given me much to think about.

@Pam - I like the idea of a few days in London at the beginning and the end with Scotland in the middle. I know we won't be able to cover all of Scotland but it will give us a taste.

@Lola - That sounds like a wonderful trip.

@Kathleen - Thank you for the links.

@TexasTravelmom - We'll probably skip the islands.

@acraven - I do need to look closer at the train travel times in Scotland especially since we will be relying on public transportation. We could rent a car and cover more ground but my husbands driving scares me in Texas, so I can't imagine him driving on the left side of the road! Kind of makes me cringe just thinking about it😬.

@JoJorabbit - No, we have not been to either.

@geovagriffith - That's always easier said than done! Haha! My husband always says, "Let's just go a little bit further". Which is why I always get tired and perhaps a little cranky! And why earlier this year we went from Wyoming to Montana to Idaho...
And the year before, Massachusetts to Maine to New Hampshire and OH wait....it's just a little bit further to Vermont.

This trip plan is actually in place of my original plan for France; Paris and the D-Day beach's. Which also included Amsterdam and Bruges. That would have been a lot! But.... decided to leave that until after the Olympics and the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

We just spent five days in Scotland which included two in Edinburgh and three day trips then train to London for six days. Felt.we.had seen a.lot but we had already been to.each before. I would double check on prices of air fare as we found minimal difference flying into Edinburgh and out of London. Plus you won't waste five.hours back on a train. We were.going to.do.just that but decided to to go on to Paris.and then flew.home.from.there.. Enjoy whatever you decide.

It's about 360 miles from London to Edinburgh and ViaMichelin estimates the driving time at 7-1/2 hours. The train would be much faster (plus you could have lunch on the way without stopping). A car could make sense if you wanted to wander around rural England on the way, but for me that would need to be a different trip if you want to see London and part of Scotland in 15 days on the ground.

I used public transportation in Scotland, which was challenging in some places (including the Isle of Skye). A car could be really helpful there if you have enough days outside Edinburgh and Glasgow to fully utilize the car.

You could use the Caledonian sleeper service from London Euston to either Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Fort William or Aberdeen. It would 'save a day's travelling...

@JoJorabbit - No, we have not been to either.

In that case, splitting the time evenly makes more sense to me, realizing you will only scrape the surface of London and Edinburgh and environs.

Since every day counts, I agree with others to avoid a backtrack day just so that you can depart from the airport you first arrive at. Open jaw this trip, into London, out of Edinburgh.

London and day trip environs can be easily done on public transport, but Scotland outside of Edinburgh is a little tougher (would be better with a rental car).