Summer Vacation - London, York, and Edinburgh with 2 sons age 10 and 15

We did something similar in 2015 when our boys were 10 and 12. I think you should add time to London, we had 5 full days, could have used another. One kid and dad went to Harry Potter and loved it, but book really early as it sells out. Churchhill War room and IWM were big hits. Other kid and I saw Wicked and he loved it.

We then went to York for only 1 night on our way to Glasgow for a soccer training... and surprisingly York was my little one's favorite place of all the trips we have taken. They really liked the ... CLifford's Tower? I think it was. As well as the climb to the top of the Minster. There were some other museums we did not have time for, but I think 3.5 days in York is way too many... unless there is a day trip or something else, but I think a 1.5-2 days is plenty.

We stayed in Glasgow which I actually really liked for a week while the boys did soccer... we got to spend most of a day in Edinburgh and it was really fun, plenty to do there, would have loved to stay longer.

Some other things we looked at in scotland but didn't make it to were the Falkirk Wheel and the... Battle of Bannockburn exhibit (http://battleofbannockburn.com/)...

Another thing throwing out, we had never done an Escape room until we were in Prague over Xmas and my kids are hooked. We did one since returning home and I am sure this is going on the list in every city we visit.

Kim

So more days in London and maybe more time in Scotland. Less in York? It seems to me that there is a fair amount to see in Edinburgh but we could easily take a couple day trips north to see castles or other stuff.

I would skip Windsor Castle and go to Hampton Court instead.

I recently undertook this same set of cities, albeit by myself. York turned out to be my favorite of the 3 as well, though I agree that 3.5 days there might be a bit much, unless you want to go out into the surrounding areas a bit. I did 5 days in London (plenty for my tastes), 2.5 in Edinburgh, and 1.5 in York. If ever I get the opportunity to go back I will skip London and spend more time in Northern England and Scotland.

Windsor Castle is great, though may drag after a while for teen boys. Definitely see the Tower, I think that was the most youth-appealing tour I took in the UK, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.

Factoring in the day we arrive and day we leave we have 12 full days. Just want to make sure we don't allocate too much time on one place and not enough in another.

Thanks for the help.

Consider renting a car for a few days in the Highlands, that's also really nice.

Yes you may want to consider adding some non-city time... a nice break. I know when we travel my kids really like biking, so in the summer we always make time for that. Maybe there is a bike tour around there somewhere?

At the Edinburgh Castle be sure you see the 1 o'clock gun. I thought it was super awesome! Get there early and get a spot right up near the gun. We all laughed so hard after it went off!! We also did the Edinburgh Dungeon (we had a giant group of boys) and I thought it was hysterical - super touristy, but fun. Not sure when exactly you are there but we hit the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which they liked, and just missed the Military Tattoo which I would have loved to have gone to.

Also, in Glasgow we went lawn bowling (not sure if it's something they always have) - a nice old guy taught us how to do it, super fun. In the winter we did eisstock in Germany, which is kind of like lawn bowling but on "ice". Point being... this is the kind of stuff we seek out so my boys don't completely melt about doing the other things that I want to do.

From Glasgow we also visited Loch Lomand, which was ok... we did some biking and a boat ride. Probably lots of this all over Scotland I would guess.

Are they soccer fans? We also always visit the stadium (and take in game when possible) when over there.

Also we did pretty much that exact route by train and it was super easy.

Have fun!!
Kim

Unless you want to do a day trip out of York, two full days there should be enough. Don't miss the National Rail Museum - free entry - in York. Plus you should see the Minster, the Shambles and have afternoon tea here.

There are plenty of things to do in London, so I would add another night there. However, if you want to see more of rural Scotland, you would need to add the night here.

I would have thought that your children would prefer to visit something like Greenwich Observatory rather than Windsor or Hampton Court, not that the whole trip should be based around their interests!

Seriously this is my itinerary with our 2 sons ages 13 and 19 but we are going in july.