Touring Scotland and England

The end of your time, in the Lake District, is probably going to correspond with the end of August public holiday when the area will be very busy.

An alternative to going to Manchester then promptly taking a Rabbies tour back north would be the train from Oban to Windermere (change at Oxenholme)- or Ambleside or Grasmere by bus from Windermere.

The even easier way to Windermere is train to Penrith then the #508 bus from outside the station to Windermere over the Kirkstone Pass.

Then take 2 x one day tours with the local company Mountain Goat tours- their tours are far more comprehensive than the Rabbies tour which only gives you very selected highlights, looking at the itinerary. Rabbies are a very recent incomer to the Lake District. Mountain Goat have been around for over 50 years.

Then at the end of Day 9 Mountain Goat will drop you at Windermere Station for a direct train to Manchester.

Thank you - not sure about staying in Windermere since there is so much said about congestion. Wondering what time in August is best for lesser amount of crowds. I had thought nearer the end of the month would be better - here in the states most of the schools go back mid August. Wondering if we should reverse the trip and start in Lake District, end in Iona.
Revised possibility:
Day 1 Arrive in Glasgow Glasgow
Day 2 Day tour from Glasgow Glasgow
Rabbies: Loch Ness, Glencoe, Highlands
Day 3 Train to Oban 3 ½ hr, transfer to Iona Iona
Day 4 Iona Iona
Staffa Tours: Staffa from Iona 9:30 or 12:15
Day 5 Iona to Oban Oban
Day 6 Train to Windermere 6 ½ hr Windermere or Keswick
or Oban to Penrith then bus to Keswick or Windermere
Day 7 Ten Lakes Spectacular tour with Mountain Goat Windermere/Keswick
Day 8 The High Adventure tour with Mountain Goat Windermere/Keswick
Day 9 Mountain Goat tour or day on own Windermere/Keswick
Day 10 Train to either Manchester or Glasgow Manchester/Glasgow
Day 11 Flight Home Manchester/Glasgow

The Lakes will be very busy in August. English schools return in the first week of September. Scottish schools go back in mid August.

I think isn31c's suggestion for you to stay in Windermere and take tours from there is a good one. He lives in the area, so knows what he's talking about. The Lakes will be busy but you want to visit them. Surely better to stay there than waste part of the time travelling back north from Manchester? Most people's concerns about congestion stem from them having to drive and find somewhere to park. You will be doing a tour so that part of the stress is removed for you.

Thank you - what is the temperature the last of August versus the beginning or end of September? We aren't set on the dates yet. I don't like it hot and my husband prefers it not to be too cold. I was last on Iona in October and it was very chilly, so hoping for something between 15* C and 25* C.

We can only tell you about the weather in late August or early September in mid September. It could be anything - hot, cool, cooler. wet or all in one day. Hot in this context though would be highly unlikely to be much more than 25 degrees and Cole unlikely to be much below 15. It could definitely be warmer at the end of that period than at the beginning. Overall it's a good time to be in the UK.

The Lakes will indeed be busy in late August but this is all relative. around Windermere and Bowness and the road upon to Grasmere through Ambleside can often be at a crawl but get away from there and you soon lose the crowds. The Mountain Goat tours will have you all over the place and most of the time there will be few people around.

Keswick will still be busy but will feel a bit calmer than Windermere and Mountain Goat will I think still pick you up from there.

The specific reason I didn't mention Keswick is because Mountain Goat no longer pick up from there.
And anyone who says Keswick is less congested wasn't there at 5.30pm tonight.
The central area was gridlocked due to too many cars trying to use too few parking spaces.

If really seeking to avoid congestion then Grasmere is your place to be in the Central Lakes. But in Windermere the congestion is limited to a small area and a couple of key road junctions. But Ambleside has more facilities than Grasmere- there is no perfect solution.

Likewise in Ambleside it is essentially due to one road junction and one set of traffic signals, at Waterhead.

You really, really are not achieving anything by choosing Keswick over Windermere on the pure grounds of congestion.

It is said time and again- the true way to avoid the crowds is to stay a little bit out of that key central zone- spread the load a bit.

Weather wise it’s just not possible to say whether August or September would be better. It’s very unlikely to be more than 25C though.