Two RS tours on same trip: Best of London in 7 Days and Heart of Scotland in 8 Days?

I can't answer any questions about these particular tours. However, I can confirm that the train service between London and Edinburgh is excellent. It's very frequent, and takes about four to four and a half hours depending on how many stops it makes (the fastest train only makes two stops before Edinburgh). Trains in London leave from Kings Cross station. You can also get direct trains from London to Inverness, tho these are not as frequent, but you can easily change trains in Edinburgh onwards to Inverness. For me personally I would fly to Inverness as the train is at least seven hours which is a bit long for me. Of course you also have the Caledonian Sleeper option but this train tends to be very expensive and the flights can be very inexpensive (like double digit prices each way). Good luck with your planning!

My suggestion would be to do the Scotland tour first.

Here's why....

Fly from London to Inverness. The tour then ends in Edinburgh. Then take the train from Edinburgh to London. You might want to plan a day or two in York on the way. (It's a stop on the way.)

It's basically just logistics. You'll be covering the ground between Inverness and Edinburgh, basically, during the tour so why see it from a train on your way to Inverrness. And as Cat pointed out, it's a long train ride from London.

British Airways flies from Heathrow. Easyjet flies from Gatwick and Luton airports.

While I have not done these two tours, I did take two RS tours back to back a number of years ago. I took a weekend off in between. The tours are active and can be tiring. I would suggest, if possible, a few days off in between. You don't have to stay in either London or Edinburgh. If you do Scotland first, you could spend a few days in Glasgow. There are direct trains from Glasgow to London as well.

I totally understand the appeal of tours, I have taken them myself, but there really is no need to take a multi day organised tour of London. It is an easy city to navigate with a comprehensive public transport network. With a little planning you could easy pull together trip with more flexibility, seeing a wider range of sights for less money.

Obviously it’s a locals perspective, and it’s not a criticism of the tours in general, but I don’t really see the value in this one.

Value for your money would be to do the 13 day tour of Scotland. We did this one in 2022 and it was excellent. The West side of the country is beautiful and so different than the east side and would be a shame to miss plus Glasgow was a lot of fun. I agree London is easy to do on your own. My thought would be to fly into London and spend a few days then either train or hop a flight to Glasgow. That way you get over your jet lag before the tour starts. Fly home from Edinburgh.

I think Emma and sdw have hit the nail on the head with their comments. Returning to London by train (or plane) to fly home isn't the end of the world (as long as you're flying direct from London).

In 2024 we took Heart of Scotland, then did London on our own. My suggestions are similar to others' -
- consider the longer Scotland tour - we loved the shorter one but wished we had more time there
- I agree with Frank's routing. We flew into Heathrow, spent time in Canterbury, then flew Easyjet to Inverness. After the tour we took the train from Edinburgh to London - a lovely relaxing break from tour busyness. We splurged on first class - not that much more for the ticket.
- You do not need a tour to do London. Read the RS book, plan your priorities, buy recommended tickets in advance
Have a wonderful trip!

I agree with sdw that the longer Scotland tour gives you a richer and broader Scotland experience. Western Scotland is incredible and shouldn’t missed if at all possible. And as Emma and others pointed out you could explore London easily on your own. Enjoy your planning no matter what you choose to do!

We did the BO London on a B to B with Spain. It is an easy tour with no long bus rides and no hotel moves. We experienced things we would never have done on our own as with all 10 of our RS tours. We stored some of our baggage at the hotel and then flew back to London and spent a night there before coming home. What ever you decide enjoy the trip.

I've decided that if I do this trip, I'll do the Best of Scotland in 13 Days Tour instead of the Heart of Scotland in 8 Days. I'm still leaning toward doing the Best of London in 7 Days Tour, though, because being part of a tour group, one doesn't need to pay separately for museum passes or hotel reservations. With some city tours, public transport passes are also paid for. That was the case when I went on the RS Best of Paris in 7 Days Tour a few years ago. To me, having the logistics already taken care of is worth the extra cost. I'm still weighing the logistics of which tour to do first.

Sounds perfect Alan. Glad you will do the longer Scotland tour! You know your own travel style best and if the London tour works for you go for it! :-)

We just did the Best of London 7 day tour and the Best of Scotland 13 day tour back to back (July 2026). We flew to London Heathrow two days early, spent two days in Edinburgh between the tours, then went to Glasgow the day before the Scotland Tour started. After Scotland Tour ended, we stayed an extra night in Edinburgh, then went back to London for a couple more days before flying to US. We were gone about 4 weeks! Loved it!

LONDON in July was crowded, hot (heat wave), but we loved it and can't wait to go back in off-season! Loved learning how to be an Underground pro, the British Museum, the 1940s Double-Decker Bus Tour, the East End food tour, the Globe Theatre Tour. (Also, not part of tour - the Victoria & Albert Museum; and saw 3 plays.)

SCOTLAND was scenic, warm, cool, sunny, rainy. Loved the cairn & standing stones, Iona, Loch Ness boatride, open-air museum with the crannog, the Scottish bagpiper (Gilly), feeding the hairy cows & red deer, Loch Ness boat ride, seeing sheepdogs in action, Isles of Inverness, abbey ruins at St. Andrews (not part of tour).

MORE INFO
From Heathrow we took Underground to town (easy to tap in & out with credit card at stations). Pretour we stayed near Westminster. In hindsight, to avoid moving luggage, we'd stay pretour at our tour hotel (Montague on the Gardens, super close to the British Museum).

Our London Tour was Sun. to Sat., and our Scotland Tour started on Tues. and ended on a Sunday. After London Tour ended on Sat., we took a noon-ish LNER Train from Kings Cross Station to Edinburgh (4.5 hours, prebooked using LNER App), where we stayed two nights (Sat & Sun) at the Premier Inn York Place. On Mon. afternoon, we took a ScoRail Train from Edinburgh to Glasgow Queen Street Station (45 minutes; prebooked with ScotRail App). Stayed 1 night at an Apex Hotel, then moved our luggage to tour hotel. In hindsight we'd stay pretour at tour hotel (Clayton Glasgow).

Scotland Tour started on Tues. in Glasgow and ended in Edinburgh on a Sunday. Post-tour we stayed one extra night in Edinburgh (again at the Premier Inn York Place). Took LNER Train on Mon. back to London Kings Cross Station (prebooked on LNER App). Then stayed at Premier Inn County Hall.

PRE LONDON TOUR
FRI afternoon we walked around Westminster (Big Ben & exterior of Abbey). Walked past Buckingham Palace & parks. Got dinner. Went to bed at 7:30pm.
SAT we bought 2 All-Day Passes for the Thames Uber Boat (used their app) to go to Greenwich (Cutty Sark ship tour, Royal Observatory, Park). Boat to Tower Bridge; walked exterior of Tower of London and over bridge. Boat to Westminster. Walked exterior of St. James Palace. Leicester Square for Mr Bean & Paddington Bear Statues. Saw a play ("Lion King", hadn't seen it before & it was great).
SUN morning toured the great British Museum. It's included in London Tour, but it's huge & we wanted to see a lot (and it's free). Tour started Sun. afternoon. On our free Weds night saw a play ("The Play That Goes Wrong", a farce, which we enjoyed).

EDINBURGH PRE SCOTLAND TOUR
SAT night went to show at performing arts theater close to hotel.
SUN took all-day Rabbie's tour to Hadrian's Wall.
MON took hop on/hop off bus to excellent Nat'l Museum of Scotland. About 4:30pm-ish took train to Glasgow.

GLASGOW
TUES morning went to Kelingrove Museum. Tour started Tues afternoon. (Note: Thursday used Laundry service in Oban.)

EDINBURGH POST-TOUR
SUN went to lovely Royal Botanical Gardens (great cafe at West Gate).

LONDON BEFORE FLYING HOME
MON train to London; walked Southbank of Thames.
TUES went to interesting Science Museum and superb Victoria & Albert Museum (astounded by the "Casts Court": life-size plaster casts from 1800s of famous artifacts & structures). Went to play ("Operation Mincemeat", a musical, loved it!).
WEDS Train to Bletchley Park (10am to 2:30pm). Went to Regent's Park.
THURS Underground to Heathrow.

Wow, Happy Camper, your reply is so detailed! I might actually follow a similar itinerary. Your reply shows me that it can be done. I would also stay any extra nights in the tour hotels to avoid having to move luggage. I might go to a few different museums or points of interest, but my basic itinerary will likely be the same. It appears that Heathrow is an easier airport to fly in and out of than Gatwick due to its location on a London Underground line, so I'll likely book my flight into Heathrow. I've just booked the two tours back-to-back!

Congrats on signing up for them both! Have fun planning your "on your own activities". So much to choose from!

For the Underground, we used Google Maps to see the schedule of all the upcoming Underground trains and to decide which station we wanted to walk to and which line and direction (and platform #) to get on & off. (Google Maps > Directions > type in Start and Stop locations > click the Public Transportation button (looks like a bus).) Tip: Take a screenshot of the directions. They list the Station Name, Platform # and Direction, Name of Line & Its Last Stop, and Name of Stop To Get Off (and the same info if you need to transfer to another Line). It's hard to remember all those things, even when muttering them over and over to yourself while walking through a station!

Also, if there's a heat wave when you're there, the museums will probably be quite warm (no A/C), so bring some lightweight clothes, go earlier in the day if you can, and buy a folding hand fan when you get to London (sold at many tourist souvenir shops for a decent price, but pricey near St. Paul's Cathedral). For plays, the theatres will probably have air-cooling, but a short-sleeved top will be more comfortable than a long-sleeved one.

Lots of great information. We've just decided to add the 9-day Italy tour prior to our 13-day Scotland tour next September. We'll have a five-day break between the tours. We'll likely fly from either Florence or Rome to LHR, spend a couple of days in London before taking the train to Glasgow. We'll spend an extra couple of days in Edinburgh before heading back to the states. Any recommendations for lodging close to one of the train stations for our connecting trip to Glasgow?

It appears that Heathrow is an easier airport to fly in and out of than Gatwick due to its location on a London Underground line, so I'll likely book my flight into Heathrow. I've just booked the two tours back-to-back!

Gatwick is just as easy but you’d take a train. However, you often don’t have a choice when flying from North America; nearly every transatlantic flight lands at Heathrow. If you use the airport code ”LON” when you search for flights, it will show flights to all five of the London area airports. I usually do that and then choose the best flight option.

We flew home from Gatwick to NY and it was so easy. We left from Victoria Station.
We try to avoid Heathrow at all costs, the worst airport in our opinion.

Alan,
Good for you booking both the tours you wanted!

People have the right to their opinions but to tell someone they can do London on their own is to misunderstand the value of a tour. Your room is paid for, all breakfasts and half your dinners, passes to many sights and local transport. Plus, the excellent RS tour guides and the social aspects of being on a tour are a lovely part of touring. Please forgive me but I mean no harm in expressing my opinion.

I just returned a couple weeks from the 8 Days Heart of Scotland tour and fell in love with the country and the people. We stayed 3 days post tour in Edinburgh and took in the Royal Military Tattoo and a couple Fringe Festival events. I mention these annual events in case you signed up for an August tour. The Tattoo dates next year are August 6-28, 2027.

“We try to avoid Heathrow at all costs, the worst airport in our opinion.”

Someone has not been to Stansted!

Actually as someone who has flown in/out of Heathrow 100s of times as this point, I think it’s pretty good.

Alan,
Good for you booking both the tours you wanted!

People have the right to their opinions but to tell someone they can do London on their own is to misunderstand the value of a tour. Your room is paid for, all breakfasts and half your dinners, passes to many sights and local transport. Plus, the excellent RS tour guides and the social aspects of being on a tour are a lovely part of touring. Please forgive me but I mean no harm in expressing my opinion.

Judy B,

I agree with the value of being on a tour. As you said in your reply, a tour has so many benefits. I've never been disappointed with a Rick Steves tour; they have always been enjoyable and educational. I think that the Best of London in 7 Days Tour and the Best of Scotland in 13 Days Tour will be as well.