Must-visit places during 3 week England-Scotland Trip

The Cotswolds to the Isle of Skye is one huge leap in one day, whether you drive or you use public transport.

What really concerns me is that you are going to be doing that journey on Easter Weekend- depending on how you count the days on Good Friday or Easter Saturday.

Normally you could do it in one day by train and bus starting from Oxford (not Moreton) via Glasgow, but not that weekend due to engineering work on the railway. Driving that weekend you can expect traffic congestion.

The best way to do that journey by train would be to use the Caledonian Sleeper on Friday or Sunday night from London Kings Cross (diverted from the normal Euston) to Glasgow then bus or train forward to Skye next day. If travelling on Saturday night then the overnight bus from the Cotswolds to Glasgow then connecting to Skye.

If you have already made hotel bookings those are your choices. If you hadn't then whether driving or using transit I would have suggested breaking the journey in the Glasgow area overnight.

The other way to do the journey in one day, which has a big carbon footprint, and a real risk of missed connections, is to fly to Inverness from either Bristol or London Gatwick in the early afternoon, or from London Heathrow mid morning, then the 1745 bus from Inverness- or car rental from Inverness which would involve night time driving across Skye.

Hi isn31c, I have booked a morning flight from Luton to Inverness, and a train from Inverness to Skye. On the 3rd day of Cotswolds, I'll be coming from Cotswolds to Luton (with a pitstop at Oxford to explore Oxford during the 3rd day after keeping luggage somewhere) to stay overnight at the Ibis hotel next to the Luton airport. So essentially it's not 3 days at Cotswolds but rather 2 days at Cotswolds and a 3rd-night stay at Luton after exploring Oxford.

We've traveled extensively in Great Britain and love the country, especially the countryside.

Been to all the places you listed except Isle of Skye. Going to northern Scotland that time of the year, take WARM clothes. Shetland is great, but four days might be a bit much, but if you are hiking, perhaps not.'

Loch Ness is not far from Inverness and you can visit some great historic battle sites as well.

We stayed at the Volunteer Inn in Chipping Camden when doing the Cotswolds, strongly recommend it.

Wales is very scenic, consider visiting Tenby and St. David's in South Wales (as well as several castles). North Wales has Conwy and more scenic places.

York is a must see place as well as a trip over the Yorkshire Moors.
Hadrian's Wall is worth a stop.

Hhi, sandeepj1991, I think your itinerary looks great, and you will love all those places. I'm assuming you have booked all your lodging now. Are you staying in Portree on Skye? Or someplace else?

Regardless, London is fantastic. Have you looked at any guidebooks yet? There are a number of good ones from Rick Steves or Lonely Planet that have all the "must-sees" of London. I'm heading there myself and in fact, will be in London from March 19 through March 24, and have plans to see Westminster Abbey (a must for me), Tate Britain (there is an exhibit of John Singer Sargent paintings I want to see), St. Paul's Cathedral, The British Museum, The British Library, Kew Gardens, Richmond, Greenwich (and all the attractions there), Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate Modern museum, Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

There are many other things to do as well. If you like walking in green space, there is Kensington Gardens, Kew Gardens, St. James Park, Hyde Park and much more.

Can't help you much with the Cotswolds, but was in Skye for 4 nights last year and loved it. I had a rental car, however, so that made it much easier. One suggestion you might consider as an alternative to renting a car is to do some tours while you are on Skye. One of the members here did that and posted about it. So check out this thread of his: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/skye-without-a-car

I haven't been to Shetland (yet) but I do not think 4 days is too much. I plan on staying for 7 days once I am able to get there. Here is one post that might be helpful: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/activities-on-shetland

Some good websites for Scotland are Undiscovered Scotland, which has a wealth of information about the places you are visiting, and Walk Highlands, which gives detailed information on hikes and walking in Scotland

Edinburgh is lovely as well. It's a very walkable city with a lot to see and do. If you have time (and you should), you could take a day trip to Stirling Castle, which is wonderful. This was one of my favorite places in the area and I am so glad I went. It was easy to get to, involving a quick 45 minute train ride to Stirling. The castle is gorgeous and they offer free guided tours, and there are incredible views from up there. The town of Stirling is lovely and interesting, too, with many historic buildings and a nice ambience.

Oh yea!! to Shetland! For myself 4 days (5 nights???) is not too much! I do think you are going to need to rent a car there. I did a tour there last year - Orkney and Shetland combined and did 6 nights on Orkney and 7 nights on Shetland and did not have enough time to see everything. We hiked a little bit but not much. We did take the ferry over to Yell, drove across and took the ferry to Unst...the Northernmost island in UK, saw the Northernmost bus shelter and ate at the Northernmost tea room for lunch, hahaha! A splendid day.

I've already booked with the same tour company for Shetland in 2025 and he's expanded it to 8 nights. I'll go up at least 3 nights ahead so I can do some things he doesn't cover.

I'm happy to give you links to the tour company's itinerary so you can see how he organizes days there. Here is the link to my TR but you'll need to scroll down to the start at the Shetland portion.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/seymour-travels-scottish-island-tour-orkney-and-shetland

Are either of you interested in local textiles? Knitting, etc? We had a wonderful visit to the Hoswick Visitor Center. The ladies that run it are locals and have been knitting their whole lives, I think. Mark had arranged with them to give us a presentation but if you just stop in there they will talk away as long as a cruise ship isn't in port and they aren't busy!

We did 2 boat trips - one out to Mousa Broch, to see the Iron Age tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broch_of_Mousa On another day we did one of the wildlife watching cruises out around the island of Bressay to see the Gannets and other birds. We were hoping for whales but saw none. We did see a school of porpoises which excited the boat captain who whipped out his camera with an extremely long lens so he could document them for the wildlife survey folks.

I'm not sure in your time frame is cruises will have started so you may have an advantage there. We only had a day or 2 of minor crowds with the cruise passengers.

Have a wonderful time. I'm glad you've got time on the end in Edinburgh in case your flight from Lerwick has a delay. Weather can be an issue for the flights in/out.

Hi geovagriffith, thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately, we won't be able to visit York & Wales this time, and being left with time after London, Cotwolds & Scotlands - will plan next time.

Hi Mardee - yes, we have booked all accommodations. Yes we are staying in Portree. Thank you so much for sharing the suggestion about the places, and those links to the other threads on Skye & Shetland seems filled with so much useful information, I'll go through them. Thanks a lot again.

Hi Pam - thanks for sharing the links and the suggestions for place, will go over them and plan. I am not much interested in local textiles, I'll check with mom if she would be keen. We are going to & returning from Lervick via Ferry btw. Thanks a ton for the suggestions.