Traveling to England and Scotland

$250 sounds like an ok deal for convenience if you want to cover so many miles on land first. It's a busy schedule but might be do-able. Others on here will know much more about the logistics of it as far as travel and such goes.

When you add up the costs of a train back to London, a night at a hotel (plus meals and local transportation), how much is that really costing you to fly home from Edinburgh? Wouldn't you rather use that time to sightsee in Scotland?

I, myself would choose either England or Scotland with only 9 days. Although, It might be enjoyable for you to take the train between London and Edinburgh. Open jaw flight to London out Edinburgh sounds like a good idea for only $200-250. I've been to Blair Castle and it is very nice, but I don't know that I would make it an end destination unless it's your clan, of course. The Laird used to live there, but heard that the heir moved to Australia. Windsor is sometimes closed for viewing, when the family is doing something there. Hampton Court is well worth visiting. You may have to have advance tickets for Stonehenge, some are disappointed that you can only view it from across a field, unless you are a real druid! Bath is very worth a visit. There are so many great places to visit near there, it's kind of a shame to rush off. Add 5 more days if you want to enjoy your visit to both countries. Look at www.nationaltrust.org.uk. Look at www.visitscotland.com.

The thought of riding a tram out from Edinburgh city centre to a quieter airport versus schleping all the way back to London on the train and then dealing with cross town transfers and the ride out to Heathrow or Gatwick sounds worth $250 to me.

All good points. I thought about the cost of the hotel in Edinburgh or London for that last night, and the cost to take a train back to London.

I didn’t consider by staying in Scotland, we get an extra day for sightseeing versus spending it traveling. In that case, it really does make the extra $250 worth it. We may never get back again.

I also realize we are squeezing quite a bit in with 9 full days. Thank you all! I’ll be posting again soon for more help.

I only get 4 weeks of leave all year (sick and vacation) and I’m also scheduling it around Memorial Day to steal an extra day.

Kathleen, you said: I've been to Blair Castle and it is very nice, but I don't know that I would make it an end destination unless it's your clan, of course.

Yes, my wife’s last name is Blair and she is a part of the Blair clan which is the main reason we want to go there :-)

I would recommend not trying to do Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath all in one day. Is that what you were thinking?

• Windsor Castle is an easy day trip from London. You’d want to spend at lead 1/2 to 3/4 a day in Windsor.
• Stonehenge can be done as a day trip if you take the train to Salisbury then get the local shuttle out to the stones run by Salisbury Reds, the local bus company. This picks up at the Salisbury train station.
• You can do Bath as a day trip although to me there is more to see than can be fit in a day.
• You could try to combine Stonehenge and Bath with an overnight stay either place. If you decide to stay in Bath I’m not sure if there is a luggage storage location in Salisbury. You’d not want to pull your luggage around Stonehenge although I have seen that.

If you are going to Blair you probably know that Culloden is in that area, do not miss it. You will feel a little haunted. You'll find my Clan Ogilvy there. PS It might be a little muddy in May.

My off the cuff recommendations for lodging in Edinburgh are what I would do if I were looking to stay for a couple nights.

I'd be looking in the New Town. I don't have any particular recommendations but I'd be looking there for at least 3 or 4 star hotels or apartments on shall-not-speak-its-name apartment rental site.

I spent early hours of the morning at party at a grand apartment in the New Town in the early or mid-nineties. I had a Prince Far-I tape and it wowed them on their fancy stereo. The host and friends japes were a little boarding school for our taste so we left fairly quickly.

Marchmont is another place I would look to rent an apartment or room for a short stay in Edinburgh. It was pretty student-y years ago but has gentrified and is now somewhat more upscale. It's nice being near The Meadows, and within a decent walk of the Old Town.

Spareroom can be worth a look for short term rentals in the UK sometimes, as well as the one we don't talk about.

We've done two previous trips to London and Edinburgh. The train from London to Edinburgh has been a highlight for us in times past. Also, as others have mentioned, we have secured a flat in New Town before, and have been near the Tram Stop at Shandwick Place. We've gone straight out of Waverly Station, got a Ridacard for the week which includes the tram ride to the airport.

In short, I recommend the into London, out from EDI. That said, look carefully at the flight times for the return flight. They vary wildly.

Yes, for me that sort of part of the problem flying out of EDI. I found decent prices for non stop flights from home to Heathrow and back. With EDI, there is a 3 hour layover in Heathrow LOL.

I agree it makes sense to fly out of EDI, mostly because it gives us that extra day of touring instead of traveling.

Ah... I had pictured a direct flight from Edinburgh to your home airport. Three hours at Heathrow is a bit of a PITA but might be worth doing still. I'm not sure who's flying direct to The United States from Glasgow these days, but that's also an option if you're ending in Scotland.

There are direct flights from EDI to the US but maybe not to a convenient airport for you. Have a look at options via Dublin, which has the great advantage of US pre-clearance for your flight home.

For your plan, whilst the train up to Scotland is a lovely way to travel and see some of the countryside, with only limited time you could fly up from Bristol to either Edinburgh or Inverness - Blair Castle is between the two. Bristol is a shortish bus ride from Bath so it would save considerable time.

I was also going to suggest flying from Bristol to EDI. I just went through Bristol airport last week and it was easy to navigate. Flight time should be about 1 hour. The taxi ride from Bath to Bristol was around 25 mins. You can do a day tour out to Stonehenge from Bath but I would spend at least two nights in Bath - lots to see and do. I would suggest purchasing the multi-city option of returning to the USA from EDI. You will likely have to connect through Heathrow or Dublin, but it will save on the purchase of returning to Heathrow via train and potentially the cost of another night in a hotel and will save you time.

I wouldn’t rule out flying back via Amsterdam or Paris either, especially if your favoured air alliance is SkyTeam (Delta).

I’m also fascinated why Americans all seem to have to go to Bath but almost nobody talks about Bristol. Bath is nice and interesting but Bristol beats it as a tourist destination for me.

Of course you don’t need to go into Bristol to get to the airport from Bath, as it’s some way south of the city (and where my wife was born in a long gone nursing home almost opposite).

"I wouldn’t rule out flying back via Amsterdam or Paris either, especially if your favoured air alliance is SkyTeam (Delta)."

This is a good suggestion. In fact I did this to fly back to North Idaho via Amsterdam and Seattle from Aberdeen in August.

BTW, it's the Roman ruins that first attracted me to Bath, then I am also a fan of Regency "ro-mance" so seeing the streets mentioned in novels is a kick for me!

There is an hourly direct coach from Bath to Bristol Airport 24/7.

I favour Inverness one way and Edinburgh the other, that way you see the whole Highland main line. Use Blair Atholl station for Blair Castle, but not all trains stop there. Inverness Airport has its own station.

Sometimes it is easiest to use Pitlochry station, where all trains call and then Elizabeth Yule's bus to outside the castle.

If you start your return flight from Inverness on a connecting ticket you avoid paying Air Passenger Duty!!

Left luggage in Salisbury, is a hard thing to find- or at least handy to the station, from previous threads on the subject.

We ended up deciding to reverse the trip. I also found it cheaper to fly into Glasgow instead of Edinburgh so thank you all for your tips!

I looked earlier and United and Delta both seem to be flying direct to Glasgow from JFK. Glasgow's a decent little airport to fly into. Bit less busy than the London terminals.

I’m also fascinated why Americans all seem to have to go to Bath but almost nobody talks about Bristol.

We go to Bath because Rick Steves tells us to.

We go to Bath because Rick Steves tells us to.

True!

Well, in next year's edition of his guidebook, Rick has also now found Bristol, apparently, and all it has to offer.

So next year he will also be "telling you" to go to Bristol!!

If you are still looking for a hotel recommendation in Edinburgh, I can recommend the Ibis at St. Andrews Square. We loved our stay there in June. It's very centrally located in New Town. We walked everywhere. The rate includes a nice buffet breakfast. The dining area and lobby are very attractive. Our room was very clean and the bed was comfortable; the room is a bit on the small side but that's to be expected in European cities.

Edinburgh is so expensive! More so than London it seems. We want to be central as much as possible. I did book Kildonan Lodge Hotel for $177 a night. The others were $300-$500 a night.

We go to Bath because Rick Steves tells us to.

I assume that why you all feel the need to go to the Cotswolds as well.