Summer 2022 Family Trip to Great Britain

Buy your train tickets at the National,Rail website:

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

The best price is on Advance tickets, which are generally released about 12 weeks in advance of the travel date. They start low and go up as more tickets are purchased. The price can vary a lot between trains on the same day.

For the trains from Edinburgh to London on a random date in December, I see an Advance fare of £ 27.90 for the train departing at 9:11. Trains after that have Advance fares ranging between £44-53. The 10:52 train offers no Advance fare but only the 0ff-Peak fare of £108.40. Maybe this is what rail ninja was showing you.

The Advance tickets can only be used on the specific train you selected. The “Anytime” fare of £263 can be used on any train, whether Peak or Off-Peak travel time. (I think Peak is before 9:30 am).

As you can see, you can get much better prices buying well ahead. The lowest Advance fare I could find was £24.90, in January. I usually look for our UK train tix around 11 or 12 weeks ahead.

I hope when you drive through Bletchley Park you will stop and spend a couple of hours. It is well worth it. Since you mention Turing, your teens have probably already watched The Imitation Game, or they will before you go. A real surprise for us was the pigeon exhibit, which was fascinating. Maybe they would like to read about that aspect.

https://www.amazon.com/Bletchley-Pigeon-Spies-Bernard-OConnor/dp/0244666407

The tickets you get when you stop on your way to York are good for a year, so if anyone in your family wants to return for more exploration during your London stay, you can go for free ( or the cost of of a train ticket from London to Bletchley Park).

Hi Brandon, the only input I’m going to suggest is taking a direct bus from Heathrow to Bath (2h) and get a good night’s sleep before renting a car. Don’t expect to sleep while enroute if arriving from North America, especially since driving is the complete opposite of what Americans and Canadians are used to.
Many years ago, my sister and brother-in-law were traveling with friends who insisted on renting a car at the London airport. This was not the first time their friends had done this so they agreed. Unfortunately, their friend who was driving totaled out the vehicle not far from the airport and it was his fault. Luckily not one was hurt.
Here’s the website where you can learn more: https://www.heathrow.com/transport-and-directions/by-coach-or-bus/coaches.

Relative to what Mary Pat said, have you driven in England before? If not, driving on the other side of the road when you are jetlagged is a recipe for disaster.

I would look into returning the car somewhere other than the airport in Edinburgh. Airports often have a high surcharge/tax, and then you have to make your way into the town. You might save some money by returning to a location at a train station on the outskirts then taking the train into town. I wouldn’t dream of driving into Edinburgh itself.

I'm concerned about the amount of ground you want to cover in the time available. If you spend just one night in the Cotswolds, I don't see how you're going to see a bit of that area, go horseback riding and see Blenheim Palace. You're allowing only 3 nights in Edinburgh, which will give you just two days there by the time you drive up from York with stops at Hadrian's Wall and Alnwick Castle. And there's a great deal more to Scotland than just Edinburgh--though it is a very interesting city.

I'd suggest cutting back on the area covered and allowing more time at some of the remaining stops. If this is your first trip to London, 4 nights (3 days) is quite a short stay. I'd encourage limiting the trip to England and returning later to see more of Scotland. Five different lodgings is rather a lot for a 13-night trip; it takes time to check out of one place, load the car, drive to the new place and get settled in. Having a car will simplify things to some degree, but you have two long drives (the legs to and from York will be over 4 hours without any stops, traffic, navigational challenges, etc.).

Many of us are big fans of the walking tours offered by London Walks. They have dozens of them, with (in normal times) many being offered each day. The cost is £15 for adults, £10 for students over 15 and £5 for children 8-15. Prior to the pandemic you didn't need to make a reservation for the walks in London, so you could make a last-minute decision based on the weather and your energy level and just show up at the designated Underground station to begin the walk. These days they are asking for reservations; perhaps they'll be back to the earlier procedure by next summer.

I'd try really hard to make the Edinburgh-London trip by train so you can avoid having to deal with airports in the middle of your trip.

hey hey Brandon
like others here have mentioned, your are planning toooooo much in alotted days. make sure you get and IDP (international driving permit) from AAA/CAA. don’t know where you are flying from, USA or Canada. read up on it.
are you dropping car off in Scotland? There is a large drop fee from one country to another, another important issue. have you driven in England, other side of road and how narrow roads are, costs of tolls and gas?
I would take train to bath, get good night sleep then rent car. don’t buy rail pass, get point to point tickets. look at the england train site and book early for the cheaper tickets.
flying will take you longer, check out hotel, get to airport, checkin, wait for flight (sometimes 1-1/2 hours early)
arrive get luggage, find way to hotel. train is city center to city center, convenience and probably reach before flight.
do you have hotels reserved, know that rooms are small and may need 2 rooms, read fine print, if says 2 or 3 occupants only, that’s it. read cancellation policies. what are do you want to be, must sees. do all have passports, all vaccinated if still need to in July 2022, it will be crowded and busy during summertime, book attractions/activities early. have the kids do research too.
it may seem like deloris downer but it’s truth about traveling international.
aloha

You didn't specify the precise timing of the trip, and from the financial perspective that could make a great deal of difference in Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Festival, the Fringe Festival and the Tattoo cause lodging rates in the city to skyrocket during the month of August. It would be prudent to grab cancelable lodgings in Edinburgh right now if you expect to be there in August; the rates are likely to go considerably higher.

The queen's Platinum Jubilee will be widely celebrated during an extended bank holiday weekend on June 2 - June 5. I don't know how much impact that will have on lodging rates outside London, though.

Firstly, PLEASE DON’T DRIVE TO BATH WHILST JET LAGGED. It’s dangerous for you, your family and unfair on other road users. Take public transport to Bath then hire a car when you are departing there. Hiring a van in the U.K. will get you a commercial vehicle!

Are you really interested in Stonehenge? I ask because many on this forum feel that they ought to visit rather than actually having an interest. You need half a day there. I think Avebury is more interesting, as you can get up close to the stones. The reaction at Stonehenge is that it’s smaller than imagined.

I agree with other posters - you are trying to cover far too much ground, so you have 2 options - cover London and points north up to Scotland OR cover London and points west ie Bath and the Cotswolds. My choice would be north.

If you can fly open jaw, you will avoid a day backtracking. Start in London and cover Blenheim and Bletchley as day trips by train.

Blenheim Palace will fill a day. Bletchley Park again will fill much of a day and merits more than a couple of hours whilst en route to York. Stanton via Bletchley to York is around 6 hours driving without stopping, so too much for one day including time at Bletchley Park.

From London, take the train to York. Hire a car for a couple of days to see the countryside or the coast. There’s plenty to see in York too - the Rail Museum, the Minster, the walls etc. Either take the train or drive to Edinburgh, (about 5 hours drive time) seeing Alnwick Castle en route or see some of the more interesting castles in this area such as Dunstanburgh, Bamburgh or Lindisfarne Castles. You would be pushed to see Hadrian’s Wall, Alnwick and drive all in one day. You could over night in Northumberland and go horse riding here if that’s a must. It’s a stunning coastline.

Then head to Edinburgh and return the car. Ideally fly home from here. Edinburgh is best avoided in August, assuming the Festival goes ahead next year.

There is a new competitor on the London-Edinburgh train route: Lumo.

You can Google their initial voyage last week where they had lots of folks along.

https://www.lumo.co.uk/tickets

Hi Brandon -

One of the reasons you are possibly going to find doing Hadrian’s Wall and Alnwick difficult on the same day is that the best bits of the wall, the bits that are shown in publicity pictures with the wall snaking along the Whin Rigg, are in the centre of the country, from Greenhead in the west to around Housesteads fort in the east. On a journey from York to Edinburgh via Alnwick there’s almost nothing left of the wall to see, so you are going to have to go ‘the long way round’ to cover the best bits. Now, given the opportunity, I’d go with Hadrian’s Wall over Alnwick Castle every time but it’s your show and those are my preferences, but forewarned is forearmed!

Jennifer is right that if you are not the biggest megalith fan in the world, then Avebury is a better bet than Stonehenge. There’s no entry fee, it’s enormous and you can get up close and personal with the stones. But I understand the iconic nature and appeal of Stonehenge. It is TARDIS-like that it is often seen as much smaller than you’d think in person, but once you’ve learned about the alignments it’s on and what it might - or might not - be used for, it grows bigger in your mind. If you can find time to fit both Stonehenge and Avebury in, then so much the better - they are less than 30 miles apart.

Do walk the city walls in York. The railway museum is good too if you are in anyway interested in trains/railways/rolling stock. Speaking of which the ‘Advance’ railway tickets are the way to go, but you are tied to that specifically timed train. Do reserve seats as the trains are usually packed throughout the whole journey.

Oh yes, don’t ask for a ‘van’ when renting in the U.K. - you might end up with a commercial vehicle with just front seats! I think you are asking for what is termed a ‘people carrier’ here, but if you can get away with something smaller, I’d go for that, especially if you end up slightly off the major routes and you haven’t driven in the U.K. before. There are plenty of You Tube pieces of Americans taking to the U.K. roads which may (or may not) give you pause for thought!

I’m sure you’ll have a great trip!

Ian

Each person needs to consider how safe it is to drive after a transatlantic flight. I have done so twice and had no problems. I was so pumped up and excited about our trip, that jet lag was no issue. However, I didn't drive very far.

Consider stopping in York, it is amazing.

For the Cotswolds, one day is better than nothing. We stayed in the Volunteer Inn at Chipping Campden.

Please consider staying more than one night in the Cotswolds.

are you dropping car off in Scotland? There is a large drop fee from
one country to another, another important issue.

Even if the SNP are doing their best to change it, Scotland and England are still both part of the UK.

Thanks everyone! I am so happy I posted and so grateful for the replies.

I am going to make some changes, just not 100% sure what. I'm thinking of removing Edinburgh and adding a night to the Cotswolds, York, and London. But not sure. So much we want to see, but I think this change would be a benefit and we will need a second trip to focus on Scotland and do it properly.

Appreciate the advice on the railway. With the changes, we would take the train from York to London instead of Edinburgh to London.

I drove in Australia and New Zealand a couple years ago, but not on the day of arrival. (That was an experience, though, rented a vehicle much larger than I normally drive, had to work my way out of a narrow parking spot in a tight downtown Auckland garage, immediately merge into busy traffic, get the wipers on because it was raining, and then figure out how to pull over in front of the hotel to load bags.) I can see the appeal of getting the vehicle in Bath.

London Walks sound good - I imagine we will do a couple of them.

Thinking we will do a day drive from Bath that will include Avebury, Stonehenge, and Salisbury. Sounds like we will enjoy Avebury more, but I think we need to also go to Stonehenge because it's Stonehenge.

I'm sure we will go to the Tower of London, but I also want to take a day trip from London to another castle - considering Bodiam, Warwick, or Windsor. Hmmm...

Also considering Harry Potter Studios, but then that would be two days out of London when we are only there 4.5 days.

And, two weeks sounded like such a nice, long time for a trip... :)

You are probably right to cut Edinburgh this time round. Scotland deserves a separate trip of its own, and the longer the better because it is genuinely stunning. This from an Englishman!

I can see the appeal of getting the vehicle in Bath.

I used Enterprise rent a car in Bath. If you call a day ahead they will pick you up at your hotel and take you to the car lot. I picked up in bath and dropped at Gatwick.

We've arranged for an Enterprise car from Bath next June. We've driven from Heathrow many times but we wanted to spend a few nights in London upon arrival and it's easy to take a train from Paddington to Bath.

Since there will be four of you, consider a private car service from the airport to Bath. We've used car services in different locations and our experiences have been that using a service based in the destination city works well as they always seem to know "the best way home". We used one based in Bath to go to the Bristol airport but we would not hesitate to use them from Heathrow to Bath. The web site (if memory serves correctly) is chauffeurtravel.co.uk and the email address is [email protected]. We sent an email detailing our needs and had a reply within 24 hours. Not sure about the price since we didn't actually go from Heathrow to Bath, but by the time you total up bus / train fares, the hassle factor, time involved, all while being jet lagged on unfamiliar turf, it's a small luxury we feel is well worth the price. This is especially true considering the size of your group. Also, get the teens involved in the planning. The more invested they are in the planning the less likely you'll have unhappy campers.

If your kids are HP fans, you must go to the Studios but you must make reservations many months in advance-we made ours in July for Dec 24 in 2014. I don't understand "two days out of London"-it's a day trip from London.

hey hey Brian
Look at wowcher.co.uk. It’s like groupon, register with email and get lots of 2 fo 1’s good for your family
streetsensation.co.uk. Street markets London, afternoon tea, b-bakery.com. Red double decker bus around London attractions, walks.com. Check what’s available on different days.
cross-pollinate.com/ London
search under apartments for you and the gang
londontheatredirect.com
discount theatre tickets for plays
Piccadilly Circus and regent street
so much to see, “free entertainment” bring your pounds it’s so fun
m&m store
in Leicester square (1 Swiss court London). Big m&m largest store
if you do changing of guard, go early to buckingham palace. Gets so crowded
timeout.com/London
so much to see and do, go have fun and enjoy
aloha

For rail travel, use nationalrail.co.uk as already stated, advance tickets are the cheapest and go on sale about 12 weeks before the travel date. You have to use the train that you book.
The most expensive will be if you just turn up at the station on the day asking for a ticket.
You can buy a railcard for £30 which will give you a third off all travel after 9:30am for a year. So if you are spending over £90 on tickets, it will save you money even though you won't be in the country for 50 weeks of the year. A "2 together" would be ideal for a pair of you as you will always be travelling together.

So Brandon, How exciting!!.
I wonder if this change might open thing up for you. Instead of going to Bath, a lovely spot but a full 2 hours from the airport, might you consider spending your first night in Windsor? It is a 20 minute drive from the airport (there are cabs, busses or you can hire a driver to pick you up,) And you had spoken of adding a castle and either the arrival afternoon or the next morning, you can have bought tickets to visit Windsor Castle, which is pretty neat. And also walk across the bridge to Eton , which is a pretty big deal and a stopping point in its own right. You can rent a car (in Slough I think but maybe 5 minutes away) and then drive to Stonehenge or Bletchley , whatever spot you chose as more important. I do realize that the stop in Windsor does indeed turn Stonehenge into an outlier, but it makes the Cotswolds, Bletchley and York much more convenient.

Best of luck, this shuffling part is one of the parts of travel I most enjoy.