London - York - Edinburgh Help

We spent 8 nights in London. It was a good amount of time, but we still left much to do for any future trip. I see you've been to London. In that case, I would definitely take one of those nights and give it to York. I've never been to Edinburgh, but I'm in the process of planning a trip there. There are MANY day trip options from Edinburgh. Stirling castle is one and considered a "don't miss".

We took the train from Kings Cross to York. We loved York. The train ticket is expensive, take a look at the two together train card. Use the LNER train website. https://www.lner.co.uk/ I haven't been to Edinburgh yet, but York is along the way.

We visited Paris which I would assume has a similar climate in January and really enjoyed ourselves. It was less busy. You might look into whether right after Christmas is a good time. I'm thinking Christmas decorations may still be up and I would think it is less busy.

The train ticket is expensive,

You can do London to York for under £30 without any railcard which doesn’t seem excessive, or under £40 for two with a Two Together card.

Yes, there are many ways to save money on the train. We booked our return ticket to London in advance with the rail card. My point, perhaps I should have expanded more, is that the walk up ticket is quite expensive unless purchased in advance and/or use a train card. We had to purchase the tickets the day of travel to York because we had just flown in from the U.S, even with the two together card is quite expensive.

I like your breakdown of dates. I think 8 nights is good for London, 3 for York, and 5 for Edinburgh. Unless you're planning to spend some time taking day trips out of York, it's a small city and you can see pretty much everything in two-plus days.

Going in January, February or December, would definitely affect your ability to see as much, mainly because of the shortened days. If you go in the summer, it doesn't get dark till almost 10pm. But if you go in the winter, you're looking at sunsets around 4pm. As long as you're OK with that (and you've got plenty of time), you shouldn't have any trouble seeing what you want to see.

That said, London in December would definitely be a little crowded as a lot of people come there for the Christmas season. However, it's also a wonderful time to see London, with all the lights and Christmas activities going on, so there's that. You just have to consider whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. 😊

Here are a few places I loved:

York:
York Minster: This an incredibly beautiful cathedral. They have free guided tours are available that are included with your admission price, so I would try and take advantage of that if possible. https://yorkminster.org/free-guided-tours/

Edinburgh:
Stirling Castle (and town): As Jules mentioned, making a day trip to Stirling would be perfect. The town of Stirling is a gem, with many historical sites, like Church of the Holy Rude, and Stirling Castle is just wonderful. It's an easy 40 minute train ride from Edinburgh to Stirling, and the town itself is very walkable. Keep in mind that the castle is on a hill overlooking the city period. You can get a taxi up there or a bus, or walk if you're so inclined. I actually walked and I enjoyed the walk and when I got to the top, seeing the beautiful view from the castle over the countryside was incredible. The castle itself offers free guided tours beginning at 10 am every hour on the hour. Take one of those if you can. They're well worth the time. Our guide was fantastic; very funny and very knowledgeable.

Also, Stirling has Darnley Coffee House, which is located in the house that Lord Darnley, who was married to Mary Queen of Scots, lived in. I highly recommend this place. When I was there, the room was filled with locals, and we all started talking. They were asking me lots of questions about the states and about my travels, and why I was traveling alone and so on. But they said they all come here a lot because they like it. The food was very good, and the building itself is pretty cool.

Edinburgh Castle: I did not really enjoy my visit here. I had bought a Historic Scotland pass so booked a time online but did not have to pay anything extra, which I’m happy about. I think that paying the steep price would have annoyed me. The sheer size of it and grandeur was impressive, I’ll admit, but the inside just wasn’t that appealing. I think I would have been happy just seeing the outside. I'm not sure why, although part of it is probably because it's mostly about the military, which I'm just not that interested in. If you are, you might think differently. And of course, many people love the castle.

St. Giles Cathedral: This was beautiful on the outside and inside, and had some interesting history. I especially enjoyed seeing the John Knox statue, but even more finding out that his burial site is outside in the car park below number 23.

Calton Hill: This is a hill that you can walk up and look out over the city. There are some steep climbs, but the end result is worth it and you get a glorious view.

Greyfriars Cemetery: This was one of my favorite places and not just because of Harry Potter. It has a very macabre vibe to it, so going in the dusk of the evening is best. I first saw the memorial and grave of Greyfriars Bobby, the loyal little dog who guarded his master’s grave for so long. Then I tracked down the gravestone of Thomas Riddell, whose name was the inspiration for J.K. Rowling’s notorious villain. If you’re looking for it, just put the name in Google maps and it will show you the way. It was also fun looking through the black gates to see the school that inspired Hogwarts.

National Museum of Scotland: I loved this museum! There were so many interesting and eclectic items here that I could have spent days instead of hours. Dolly the cloned sheet is here, as are more of the Lewis chess pieces I saw at Lews Castle. And much much more! I was there when several school trips happened to be visiting but the kids loved it and were so excited about all the exhibits.

Sorry, couldn't fit them all in. More Edinburgh ideas:

Gladstone’s Land: This is a 17th century tenement house that was built in 1617 by Thomas Gladstone, a wealthy merchant. It was later owned by a series of other merchants and tradespeople. The house was bought by the National Trust in the 1930s, and is now a museum that shows how people lived during those times. There is a nice cafe below with teas, coffees, pastries and ice cream. It sits right on the Royal Mile and is worth a stop if you enjoy history.

National Portrait Gallery: I enjoyed this a lot but I think you really need to like this kind of thing to enjoy it. I like history and so it was fun to walk through and see the various portraits.

Sandy Bells: This was a bar near Greyfriars that offers live music. I went here one night and got to enjoy some fun music, along with a beer and a Scotch egg! Very friendly people there!

If you go to York in December then the Christmas Market will be happening from 13 November to 21 December, likewise in Edinburgh.

That may or may not be a good thing for you.

But generally in all 3 cities there will be all kinds of (pre) festive experiences happening.

In all 3 months (but especially in January/February) if we actually have a proper winter for once then there is the potential for rail disruption. In December the days are gradually shortening up until 21 December, so will be very short throughout January.

If I wasn't going in early December my first thought is that early February would be the better option than January.

These are all wonderful places to visit.

I think your breakdown is good, tho I might consider removing one day from York and adding to Edinburgh. But what you have is also fine, it's down to personal preference.

Yes, train is best, and very easy, you even get some non stop services from London to York.

I do not enjoy late autumn/early winter in this country at all, personally. It is cold, it is wet (which makes it feel even colder), and it is very dark. As Mardee says, the sun is setting very early. In December the sun sets before 4pm. I don't know how much you like to visit places like historic homes, but a lot of these shut in the winter. On the pros side, if you are mostly doing things indoors (that will be open), it may not matter as much. I'm not much of an xmas person but if you like holiday markets, lights, decorations, etc, you do get that in December. Tho I wouldn't come here just for the markets as they're not like what you would get on the continent.

For York, my favourite things are the railway museum, the Minster, and the Jorvik Viking Centre (plus walking around the walls, Shambles, etc). For Edinburgh, walking down the Royal Mile end to end, including the little closes, Holyrood House, hidden tours like Mary King's Close and the vaults, and walking up Arthur's Seat, altho that is more of a fair weather activity. If you are interested in the royals at all you can get the bus or tram to Leith and visit their former royal yacht, Britannia, which is was quite a personal space for them and feels quite intimate. If you're there at the end of January you'll be there for Burns Night so can go for a Burns supper (haggis, neeps, and tatties with whiskey sauce- and if you're veg there is very good vegetarian haggis). I hope that is helpful!

I forgot about Leith and Holyrood House. Leith was one place I was really wanting to get to and just ran out of time, and Holyrood House was closed during my days there. I was sad about that. It might be worth looking ahead to make sure there's no closures while you're there. They do close it periodically for various events and for royalty and so on.

And definitely five nights is a good amount of time to spend. I'm assuming you're talking about nights in your original post? That gives you four full days, plus possibly some extra time depending on when you get there on your arrival and when you depart. And you could even take an extra day from York if you wanted, as Cat suggested. York really could easily be seen in one day.