Two weeks in UK - itinerary help please

Slow down and absorb the experiences of being “there”.
Six relocations in two weeks will create memories of travel.
Create a daily calendar and color code in the time you will spend traveling from point to point, sleeping and making sure you have checked in and out of the hotel on time.
Forum members can help you plan an excellent journey if you limit the transitions and provide more time to actually experience the destinations.

Wow, you want to go to a lot of places. Its a shame to only be in York for a day. The city has free walking tours that take a couple hours. We did it and found it excellent.

You haven’t told us if you are using a car or relying on public transportation. If it were me, and you are set on the Highlands and Skye, I would bypass staying in Cambridge and York. I am more comfortable with not moving about a lot, and because I have only used public transportation, I have found the spoke and wheel kind of travel suitable for us. Everyone is different, though.Once leaving the Highlands I would go to London and do day trips to Cambridge, the Cotswolds and maybe even York from there. London really is great and I would think your graduating son will absolutely love it.

So I would do

5.15-5.17 Edinburgh
5.18- 5.21 The Highlands, Skye
5.22- 5.31 London. Attend match on the 23rd, day trip to Bath/ Cotswolds on another day, day trip to Cambridge, third day trip to York.

There are some wonderful folks on here to help you plan. It sounds like a fantastic gift for your family!

Just one more suggestion. If you wanted to venture to another incredible place as a trip from London you could take the train down to the Seven Sisters and walk the coastline from the Seven Sisters National Park to Birling Gap or Beachy Head. Drop dead gorgeous views. Breathtaking and May would be a great time to go. It’s an easy trip from London’s Victoria Station.

London to York on the train is about 2 hours on LNER each way. Its an expensive ticket, best purchased in advance.

You are zig-zagging across the UK too much. How are you planning on traveling within the UK? Car or public transport?

With the time you have I would base myself in Edinburgh and London. Edinburgh, Glen Coe and Skye would be at least five days but you would have time to actually get feet on the ground. Have a look at Rabbie’s tours for this. Train from Edinburgh or Glasgow to London is about five hours non-stop. Forget Bath and the Cotswolds this trip. Concentrate on London but consider taking day trips by train to Cambridge and maybe Bath. The Cotswolds deserve way more than a rushed visit….at least four or five days IMO. Don’t forget the soccer match will take up a good part of a day.

Regarding the soccer match…most premier league teams sell out quickly. This is a subject that comes up frequently in the forum so have a search and see what they say about how to buy a ticket. I believe the only way is through the Club. Should be don asap if not sooner!

On 20 May Skye to York that is one big journey. It's a 9 hour drive on a fairly good day with no stops. Or just about 12 hours bus/train arriving at 10pm.

It's 6 hours drive to Glasgow Airport, or 5 to Edinburgh, 3 hours to Inverness Airport, then whatever flights exist (timing wise and all the faff) probably to Manchester, then the transpennine train (90 minutes or so). Essentially flying is probably no faster than driving. It might be slower.

The Edinburgh to Skye via Glencoe drive on 18 May is nigh on 7 hours. So you get one day on Skye- 19 May.

That is quite some travelling to do.

Inverness to Cambridge- Cambridge Airport is open but has no scheduled flights, so The closest airport is either Luton with Easyjet- -one flight a day, which flight is too early to get there from Skye.

So this needs a bit of thought. It is rushed. The big problem is trying to shoe horn Skye into it. Get somewhere in mainland Scotland in the Highlands and it may be a bit more workeable. And I don't mean Mull either where any weather related ferry issues could scupper you.

And ditch the Cotswolds- far more on your line of route you have equally good if not better National Parks- the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District to name but two.

Something to be aware of with Premier League matches is that the date and time can move to allow them to be broadcast on TV. Spurs are scheduled to play on 24th May against Everton. This is already a 4pm Sunday kickoff so probably won’t change but you never know. Most matches are scheduled for Saturday at 3pm, but no football can be shown on Tv at that time to protect gate receipts for lower league teams.

A few comments from a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. Be aware that the date and time of the match may change to meet TV schedules. Probably not by more than a day either way but you need to check.

The Spurs stadium is not easy to get to by public transport. The nearest underground station, Seven Sisters (not the same Seven Sisters that Ivy mentioned) is about 1.5 miles away. White Hart Lane overground station is much closer but has very long queues. An alternative is the mainline station at Northumberland Park, again a mile or so away. Buses are diverted or short routed as the police chase nearby roads. The roads around the stadium are very busy for at least an hour after the match.

The easiest way to get there in my view is to get a bus from Seven Sisters to as close as it will go and walk the last third of a mile or so. Travelling back may be quickest by walking to Seven Sisters.

Hope you have a good time

Come On You Spurs!!

The Tottenham v Everton game will NOT change kick-off time. This game is on the last day of the season and all games have been moved from Saturday 23rd to Sunday 24th and all will kick off at 4pm.

This is very good news for the OP - for any other weekend date in Spring 2026 the games have not been fixed for live TV coverage yet and could have happened any time from Friday evening to Monday evening (although as it happens the OP is planning to be in London anyway across the weekend).

I would get on and secure hospitality tickets for the game directly from the club now. A delay will only mean extra expense or tickets selling out.

I'm thinking, if you want an islands trip the easiest might actually be Lewis/Harris in the Outer Hebrides. There are flights from EDI, and more importantly from Stornoway [SYY] to Manchester (for York) so that should bring the travel time down to around 5 hours- Stornoway to York. The flight is at 1645, via Inverness (stay on the plane) arrive 1920.
So that would give you almost 3 days on Lewis/Harris which is a pretty good schedule- if you take the 0655 from Glasgow on 18 May- transfer Edinburgh to Glasgow Airport on the evening of 17 May. (the EDI-SYY flight is mid afternoon on 18 May)

I'd consider leaving out Bath and giving a bit more time to York and/or Cambridge.
Also, the comment about the length of time to get from Skye to York is valid.

Much appreciate everyone’s feedback! We are planning to rent a car in Edinburgh. For the Tottenham on the 23rd yes we got our tickets with lounge access. So we can go there early and leave a little later that may help to avoid crowds on public transportation?

Still work in progress but here’s new plan. I have a few questions please:

5/15 - 18: Edinburgh - no change here
5/18 - 21: Glencoe/Skye - shall we spend a night in Glenco?
5/21 - 30: London and day trips to York, Bath, etc. by train (York for three people is pretty expensive though ☹️) If we really want to go to Cotswolds what is the best way to go there from London? We are open to driving and one way rental if it makes things easier.

York isn't too bad. Looking at 3 March (the last but one day bookings are open to) travel on Advance Tickets- the 0730 from London is £34 each to York, evening trains are about £24 each on the way back.
Travel out at 0630 from London to maximise your time in York, and that train is around £24 each as well.

So about £180 for 3 people for about a 380 mile (in round terms) round trip. It is almost the same as a New York to Boston round trip.

I think your new schedule looks good. You can fly from Inverness to one of the London airports- depending on the flight times maybe you want to spend the night before in Inverness. You may want to check which area of London you plan to stay in when choosing your airports as they're all at different ends of the city.

For getting to the Cotswolds from London, the easiest way is to get the train from Paddington to Moreton-in-Marsh. From there you can get buses to other parts of the Cotswolds. A route I recommend is getting the bus to Bourton-on-the-Water and then walking to Stow-on-the-Wold via the Slaughters. You can get a bus from Stow-on-the-Wold back to Moreton-in-Marsh. You can also drive, tho if you rent a car in London you will spend half your time just getting out of London. Good luck with your planning.

Where are you planning to return the car? The center of York is pedestrianised as is Cambridge. Otherwise, parking tends to be expensive and not easy to find. If you’re planning to stay in hotels, it’s worth checking if they have parking and, if so, is there any extra cost.

A car in London is a liability and I would return the car before getting there or as soon as you do.

if you drive in central London you will probably be liable to pay £18 per day to Transport for London for the Congestion Charge. Payable online within or before the day or pay £21 per day within 3 days..

One night in York is way not enough. We spent three nights there and there is so much to see. We spent four hours in the Minster (Cathedral). Also, the National Railway Museum in York is amazing. Walk the ancient walls and visit some of the other great museums there. Recommend The Minster Hotel, near the north gate of the city.

Cambridge is good, but between it and York, I would definitely pick York.

Stratford Upon Avon is worth a day. Also, Windsor Castle and Stonehenge. You can do a day trip to see those places.

Bath, you need one full day there minimum. Recommend the Brooks Guesthouse, a great B&B. Also, the Scallop Shell restaurant nearby with the best fish and chips in England.

Jc - the Tottenham game is on Sunday 24th and not 23rd.

Geo, I agree that to properly see York, more than one day would be best, but I will add we had a fantastic full day there on a day trip from London a few summers back. It was a way to see many of the sites, walk the walls, etc. Obviously we would have loved to spend more time, but for that trip, it wasn’t possible. Now, we have plans to return, though, and do it justice! lol

Jc, we left very early- I think it was the 6:30 am train and stayed until after dinner. It’s a really pretty ride there! I just took a peak at a random week day LNER round trip ticket for May (was able to see May Stuart, don’t know how but was on my phone) and the 6:33 am train is £52 ($70 pp) 1:52 direct. There are 2 hour returns offered - I just plugged in the 6:31 pm one to see the cost- and on back to Kings Cross. If you decide you wanted to do this, getting the tickets as early as possible saves quite a bit of money. We had three travelers as well and that’s what I was able to do to save money for all of our day trips. Of course it ties you into going on that particular day, but we lucked out with weather and scheduling.

Anyway, just more food for thought!

A day trip to York is expensive and consumes a lot of time traveling in contrast to time spent visiting the city. Hence, suggest this is not a day trip candidate.

Unsure of your driving experience in UK, but not to be compared to USA in terms of travel speed and distances. Leave the driving to the train engineer and enjoy a more relaxed form of transport.
The following are some options for Bath:
1. On your own take a day trip via train.
2. Consider taking a small group tour which will start in Central London and drive, via smaller bus, to Bath and provides a guide to add value to the journey.
3. On your own create an overnight trip by taking a train to Salisbury, then use public bus for 20 minute drive to Stonehenge, return to Salisbury and continue trip to Bath and spend the night. Next day visit Bath and train back. This option provides three experiences by visiting Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. A bit rushed, but provides a good variety over 48 hours.

Strongly recommend taking a pass on the Cotswolds for this trip. The place gets a lot of justifiable press, but is best experienced at a stroll in lieu of a dash.

Recommend striving to travel at a pace allowing “Be There” memories in lieu of “See There” travel memories.

Curious, from London what ACTIVITY is most important to your family to EXPERIENCE as a day trip?

For the Tottenham on the 23rd yes we got our tickets with lounge access.

jc. as noted above by John, it sounds like the game has been moved to the next day (the 24th), so check on that. You should have gotten an email. When I was in London earlier this year with two of my grandchildren, we had tickets to a West Ham game at London Stadium and we were told that if the game moved they would let us know. Luckily it didn't, which was great but I would definitely check on that.

I would also reiterate what Bill said above about getting to and from Tottenham Spurs Stadium. We went there for a stadium tour (which I highly recommend—my grandkids absolutely loved it!), but the directions can be confusing. It was fairly easy to get there but coming back when I was trying to find the tube station, we got very lost. I'm sure it was mostly user error on my part but I would definitely plot out your route coming back ahead of time so that you know exactly where you should be going.

@mustlove dogs- on rechecking yes LNER are open to 15 May on weekdays (a lot of weekends still not open)- we've had this before that they have a very odd cheap fares calendar which doesn't keep pace with events. The very last train back from York to London is at 2259 so you can get up to 15 hours in York if you take the first train out at 0548.

Re Mardee’s post. Yes, a good idea to plan your route back after the game particularly if you are walking to a station but be careful using a mobile phone too openly in public spaces as phone theft is a problem in London (as elsewhere).

The walk back to Seven Sisters is the most straightforward. Get to Tottenham High Road, the street that the stadium fronts on to, and just walk south. With luck, in late May the sun might help with direction finding 😀

If you know the tune, singing “it’s a long way to Seven Sisters “ to the tune of Tipperary can help to pass some of the time.

You are trying to cover too much ground in too short a time period. I have driven a lot in England, Wales and Scotland. It is not like driving in the US. There are few double lane divided highways and most have a lot of cars so full speed limit is often a problem. I have driven from Portree, Skye to Stirling (between Glasgow and Edinburgh) in a single day. The bulk of the roads are either single land with 2 way traffic or lane and a half. None allow you to go fast and it is stressful driving - on the left; at speed; cars, buses, trucks, etc. seeming to drive directly at you, and none of the roads are straight so you don't always have much warning a vehicle is coming at you due to a curve.

The places you are suggesting are good places to see, but you need time to actually see them. With this itinerary all you will see is roads or train tracks, and not every place is accessible by train so there will be buses in there too.

The way you are listing your itinerary is potentially misleading to folks who just glance at it. It's confusing when the same day is listed for two different places. In the most recent version you include this:

5/18 - 21: Glencoe/Skye - shall we spend a night in Glenco?

To some of us, this looks like 4 nights and 3 full days. In actuality, 5/18 is the day you travel from Edinburgh to Glencoe and Skye, and 5/21 is the day you travel from Glencoe/Skye down to London. You only have two full days for Glencoe/Skye, 5/19 and 5/20.

To me Skye deserves about 3 days, if not longer, given all the things to see and the amount of travel time needed to get there.

You also have only 2 full days in Edinburgh, on the first of which (5/16) you may be dealing with lingering jetlag. That will probably work for Edinburgh alone if you don't want to see many of its museums.

I would cut Cambridge, not York. I would want more time in York than just a day trip. Your son would probably enjoy walking the wall in York.

Confirming that we notice the game is on the 24th. Thank you, Tottenham Hotspur supporters!

We are narrowing down to two areas to stay in London, Paddington station or Rusell square tube station. Which would be a better location for our 10 days in London? Any recommendations for a hotel or apartment? Our top priority is the Tottenham game (our son says it is the best gift in his life!). For London vs day trips we have some split decision. My husband likes to spend more time in London. I prefer day trips. When we are based in London we should be able to make split decision and do what each prefers to do for a couple of days.

For highlands and Glenco we have total 3N. What would be a good home base? Thank you again all.

I would select Russell Square over Paddington, it's a bit more central. For highlands base, you could look at Fort William which is very close to Glencoe. It's also easy to drive from Fort William to Mallaig to get the ferry to Skye. And a convenient location if you are considering climbing Ben Nevis.

Just adding that the train ticket to York is not expensive if purchased in advance. If purchased day of, quite expensive. I'm pretty sure at least 75 GBP/person.

Also adding--Look at the wealth of knowledge just in this thread! We are so fortunate to have so many forum people, especially locals that help us all plan our trips! I sure appreciated all the help we had for our September trip.

A couple of suggestions without knowing your budget. For a hotel a 100 meters from Russell Square tube there is The Celtic Hotel. They are a family run place that has a triple room, which are hard to find in London, (a dbl or three singles) and have the option of a full English breakfast (for a fee). I think there may only be one of these rooms there, however.

https://celtichotel.com/

There is another hotel that has received good reviews on here in Bloomsbury called the Arosfa. I believe they have a family room with two queens. Worth checking out as well.

Edit: I just remembered one more that has family rooms, The Ridgemount Hotel. It also gets really good reviews. Nothing fancy, but clean and well run.

https://ridgemounthotel.co.uk/our-rooms/

For a flat, we stayed with a company called ivylettings. www.ivylettings.com. I just plugged in places for three adults and they have a flat in Paddington -8 min. Walk from that tube station. It’s Sale Place. Sleeps 4, 2 bedrooms w king beds and 1 bath. They don’t have anything near Russell Square that I could see.

https://www.ivylettings.com/search-rentals/sal/

We were really pleased with the customer service of ivylettings, but if you wanted to stay near Russell square The Celtic or The Ridgemount would be a good options, too. Hope this helps.