UK travel itinerary - advice request

Day tours from Edinburgh - look at Rabbies Tours

Absolutely fly from Belfast to Edinburgh. Please clarify how you are getting from LHR to Belfast. In one place you mention flying. In another you mention the train. I hope the latter is an error.

For places and activities, please get some good guidebooks. Also have a look at each city in the Explore Europe section of this website, under the relevant country heading: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe

Be sure to book advance tickets to all the sights that recommend them.

EDITED TO ADD

It looks like the only Underground station nearby your London hotel is Pimlico. It only has a single line, the Victoria, so you would have to ride it to another station to pick up other lines going to your destinations. Use Google Maps, CityMapper, or tfl (Transport for London) to find your Underground lines and buses. Or, since you are already using Premier Inns, have a look at the Waterloo or County Hall branches of that hotel for places with better access.

Oops. I did screw up on the travel from LHR to Belfast, and my intent is to fly.

Thank you for the other advice. I was leaning toward Rabbies, as I've seen them recommended and read that they are small groups. Will definitely get guidebooks and review the other Forum topics you suggest!

Read the RS guides for each of the locations you are interested in.

Book train tickets if you choose that way of travel between Edinburgh and London. If you mean Belgrave Road in Pimlico you can walk to the Palace and then down Whitehall on Birdcage walk to Parliament Square.

Make certain your debit and credit cards are tap cards.

On the morning of the 16th, you might consider taking a Black Cab Tour of the "Troubles." They can then drop you off at the airport. I suggest flying from Belfast City Airport rather than Belfast International. Smaller and easier to get to from Belfast itself.

If you are flying on a separate ticket to Belfast from LHR and you miss your flight to Belfast, you will have to buy another ticket. Keep that in mind when alloting time for the connection. You also don't go through regular passport control at Heathrow but a separate one for flight connections.

Plug in your flight informtion into this website to get instructions on how to make the connection at Heathrow:

http://www.heathrow.com/flight-connections

Hi! I have just one note, and that is: it escapes me why Buckingham Palace is considered a “must see” in London. It is a perfectly adequate squat stone building of impressive size, but it is nothing earth shattering. Yes, walking around in the vicinity and seeing the sights is amazing and excellent (down The Mall, explore St. James’s Park, or from Hyde Park up Constitution Hill, Birdcage Walk, catch the fabulous daily pomp at Horse Guards, etc., etc.) but unless you are having tea with the king, I can think of many other places in London that would be more characteristic and interesting than Buckingham Palace itself. :-)

Westminster Abbey
St. Paul’s Cathedral
The Globe Theatre
The National Gallery (or pretty much any museum)
Covent Garden
Borough Market
Camden Locks
The Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial
To list just a few… :-)

Sounds like a great trip and you are really packing a lot in. A few thoughts from me:

-I used Allen's tours for Causeway Coast many years ago and was very happy with it: https://allensbelfastbustours.com/
-For Scottish Highlands, Rabbie's is very good- everyone here recommends them and I agree
-Definitely fly from Belfast to Edinburgh. As mentioned above Belfast City airport is much closer to the city centre, but you can also easily get a bus to International airport- they both go from the new Grand Central station: https://www.translink.co.uk/airport-services
-in terms of getting around London, to me the biggest factor is being close to a tube station- once you're on the network it's very easy to get around
-must do in Belfast: for me, Titanic museum. I believe the hop on/off bus takes you to Shankill/Falls Roads but if not I would do a black taxi tour.
-must do in Edinburgh: walking the Royal Mile end to end, visiting the castle and/or Holyrood House, climbing Arthur's Seat, Princes Street Gardens
-must do London: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, British Museum, walking along the South Bank
-something really cool about the time of year you are visiting is you will have so much daylight- in fact at that time of year in Edinburgh it doesn't even get fully dark- even late at night you can still see a bit of light in the sky (you wouldn't forget it was nighttime, but it does seem less dark than it should)

What a fun trip! It is so cool that you have a family connection to Craigmillar Castle. I loved visiting it - you could feel the history there. The views from the tower are beautiful! When you are walking the Royal Mile, veer off and explore the "Closes". They are beautiful pockets of buildings and courtyards.

Your responses have all been incredibly helpful. As a result I will likely change my hotel reservation in London to one more centrally located with better access to the stations.

Thanks to Frank II for this: On the morning of the 16th, you might consider taking a Black Cab Tour of the "Troubles."
I've checked it out and will likely do this.

As for the question from Volva about Buckingham Palace being an attraction, guess I just didn't know any better! :-). Thank you for the other suggestions!

The train from Edinburgh to London is a long trip, so you might consider taking the Caledonian Sleeper on the night of June 18. You’d depart at 11:40 PM and arrive at 7:15 AM, which gives you more time in London.

It’s not cheap, but depending on your budget, it may be worth the extra time.

https://www.sleeper.scot/

While in London, you might check out London Walks; the guides are excellent, and they cover a variety of interests. You’ll often walk past some of the more standard tourist sites as well.

https://www.walks.com/

All the best,

Raymond