Travel Planning HELP?! England & Scotland Family Trip

If you were able to fly open jaw, you could arrive London and depart Glasgow. Glasgow airport is actually in Paisley, as you probably know. Are you already locked into flying London-London?

Not sure of answers to your other questions, but I can recommend Roslyn Chapel as an intriguing and beautiful place to visit. It has a very nice visitor centre (with a good cafe) and there are tours inside the chapel a few times a day (check the website for times). We took the bus from Edinburgh & back and since we'd bought a day pass we were then able to use the bus again later in the day for other trips around Edinburgh.

Yes, plane tickets are already purchased. Flying into and out of London. Thanks!

Stephanie, just a word of caution. You've put your full name, your city, and the dates you'll be out of town out on the internet. That's an invitation for Mayhem to visit while you're gone. Most people use pseudonyms for security. Dont want to ruin your trip by worrying about home.

That’s a really good point, thank you so much for thinking of my safety ( And I love the Mayham reference!!) I’ve changed some of the info so hopefully it looks better? And for anyone thinking of stopping by our house we will have a house sitter there the whole time. Thanks again

You can also take a direct airport shuttle from Heathrow to Bath (quoted 20 pounds). Blenheim is on the far eastern edge of the Cotswolds 45 mins from Oxford. For convenience of travel I suggest rental of a van (for togetherness)or 2 sedans (since some may care to go a different direction or stay in 2 locations and rendezvous later). The Cotswolds is difficult to visit without a vehicle. You can be your own tour guide quite easily in the UK. Use such web sites as National Trust for UK and many others referenced on RS site. You don't need a car in Edinburgh so turn it in, so you could all train back to London stopping off in York. Hampton Court is also a great daytrip from London.

I know Rick recommends going straight to Bath but I think a better option would be to go from the airport straight to Oxford. Maybe you can get rooms in one of the colleges. Next day visit Blenheim. Check out what flight prices you can get from Bristol to Edinburgh, you may get a shock leaving it this late and in the school holidays. You might be better off foregoing Bath and taking the train from Oxford to York instead and then after a night or two continuing by train to Edinburgh. Buy off peak train tickets 12 weeks in advance which is presumably around now.

We planned for a 4 week self-drive tour of Wales and England in October 2017. It took a lot of research. I had previously rented a car and driven on the opposite side of the road for three days in England, but this time it was for 28 days.

Driving in Great Britain had some challenges, with its traffic (heavy in the South of England and near London, Birmingham and Manchester). Parking is a concern, even in small towns. You must have coins to pay for the toilet and parking.

I booked mainly B&Bs near the city centers were parking was available. Still, in Bath, the parking was more of a problem than I expected. Still, we managed.

For Bath, I recommend the Brooks Guesthouse B&B, it is walking distance from the city center and a great place to stay. They have wonderful breakfasts. The nearby Scallop Shell has the best Fish and Chips in England. Don't miss it.

We stayed in Chipping Campden at the Volunteer Inn, a B&B with a nice Pub and Indian Restaurant. We used it as a base to visit Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon, Oxford and of course, the Cotswolds.

Not sure why you are going to Bristol, but consider York, it was wonderful.

Here is my trip review with details:
28 days in Britain and Celebrity Eclipse home
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=599139

Taking the train to the Cotswolds will take you to Moreton in Marsh. If you rent a car, you could see if one is available from there, or Oxford.
We did tour Blenheim Palace one day from Chipping Campden. It is less than an hour's drive and will take about half a day of your time. You plan to arrive in the Cotswolds by train and explore the Cotswolds that day. You will need more time than a fraction of a day. We spent about 1 1/2 days exploring the Cotswolds. Rick Steves guide to Great Britain has a recommended day tour by car.

You are missing out on Oxford as well as Stratford Upon Avon. Those cities are great places to visit.

I know you want to visit Scotland, but you are spreading yourself too thin. You don't seem to be spending any time in Edinburgh?

Also, you plan to have a rental car while in Glasgow. You don't want to have a car in a large city in the UK.

I suggest that you plan other trip later for Scotland and spend more time in England for this trip.

I'm assuming that the entire trip is in July? I mention this because the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh is most of the month of August , and altho a great time and worth experiencing , will make the cost and availability of hotels a booking challenge. Enjoy your trip.
Safe travels!

I agree that the Cotswolds should be eliminated from this trip. I wasn't that impressed with Blenheim. I would definitely prioritize Windsor above Blenheim and Windsor is easier to get to. In my opinion(and that of others on this Forum), York is much more interesting than the Cotswolds and Blenheim. Your current schedule does not allow enough time in London to day trip from London(except Windsor) and Cambridge is also a worthy and easy day trip. You can do a day tour of the Highlands with Rabbies tours from either Edinburgh or Glasgow. Remember that you lose a lot of time every time you change hotels. If you haven't driven in the UK before, you may find it to be harder than you think. Trains are much easier and often quicker. Personally, I would suggest you only rent cars for the Fairleigh visit and only if there's not a good train connection there. We don't typically think of trains in most parts of the US, but in most parts of the UK(except Ireland) they are amazingly convenient. I love them! But you do need to limit the luggage you're carrying when traveling on trains.

If you have time at Rosslyn chapel, take the path down the hill just prior to it and there are ruins of a castle etc down there,

Taxi to Bristol, Fly (EasyJet?) to Edinburgh...

We did that and it really saved a lot of time compared to the time need for the train from Bath to Edinburgh. If memory serves correctly, we could have taken a train from Bath to Bristol and then a bus or taxi to the airport. We opted instead to use a private car service. With the size of your party you might want to consider doing that. Much easier and probably not any more expensive. We used a Bath based service and their web site is chauffertravel.co.uk. The email address to let them know your needs and get a quote is enquiries@chauffertravel.co.uk. We would not hesitate to use them again.

EasyJet is easy to deal with. You can (or could) book online, check in online, and get boarding passes online up to thirty days before the flight. They are (or were) very strict about their one carryon rule. A purse for the ladies is (or was) considered a carryon. But for just a little more money you can (or could) upgrade and carry on two small bags -- or a bag and a purse / personal bag. You'll need to check out their allowable carryon size as it is smaller than the U.S. carryon size. The upgrade also gets (or did get) you first boarding.