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Itinerary Help - 7 days in Scotland and 7 days in England plus 2 days to fly

Posted by on

Hello,
I would greatly appreciate some feedback. I am beginning to plan a trip for September 2016. My thoughts were to fly from Mississippi, USA to Edinburgh, Scotland. My husband is 74 and has mild/moderate Alzheimer's. We are still managing to get around ok. Last year we flew to Boston and rented a car and went up the east coast to Bar Harbor, Maine on to Quebec, Canada and back to Boston over a 2 week period stopping in many towns and cities . This trip may be our final overseas trip. I want to keep it easy and I am fighting my desire to try and stuff as much as I can into the trip. Number 1 on our trip is the Isle of Skye. We are interested in the Jacobite Steam Train. Edinburgh seems to be the "city" to see. Anything else in between these points of travel would be icing to us. We are interested in hiking, history, ancestory and Cairn Terrier Dogs. I have considered renting a car, BUT I want things to be stress free. Driving might be a challenge. After 7 days we would like to travel to London. From there we plan to make day trips to Stone Henge, Bath, Downton Abbey's castle and sights in London. In 2013 we spent 2 days in London at the end of a Rick Steve's 21 day Europe tour. We visited the big ones. Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, a play in Piccadilly etc.

Any comments, advice, thoughts would be appreciated. I know that September is pretty close as far as booking a trip.

Sandy Black Campbell

Posted by
3428 posts

If you fly into Edinburgh, I'd plan on 2 (or 3 days) there. Is your husband up to a good bit of walking? It is a very walkable city, but it is VERY hilly! Then I'd suggest a train to Inverness for a couple of days. You can 'do' Isle of Skye as a day trip from there (most of the tours include a stop and possible tour at Elien Donnan Castle, too) or plan on an extra day or two there. Then train back to Edinburgh and on to London. If you do Skye as a day trip while in Inverness, plan on 3 days there. If you want a change of pace, consider 1 or 2 nights in Aviemore (between Edinburgh and Inverness on the train route). It is in the Cairngorm Mountains and is lovely. You can get to some excellent Scotch Whisky distilleries by bus or train from there. If you want to break up the long train ride from Edinburgh to London, plan on one or two night stop in York. While in London, consider doing a day or 1/2 day trip to Windsor (again easy by train).

Posted by
6113 posts

Sorry, I disagree with post 1! I do agree that 3 nights in Edinburgh is sensible. However, if no 1 is Skye, why do this is a day trip from Inverness? Skye needs 3 days minimum to do it justice, so go there from Edinburgh. Look at Rabbies tours if you don't want to drive.

From Skye, take the train to London if you can afford the time, otherwise fly, but I don't think you can fly direct. Book air flights asap and train tickets 12 weeks out.

September is a very popular travel time for those not tied to school holidays, so you will need to book your accommodation asap. Skye accommodation is limited and fills up quickly.

Stonehenge and Bath should ideally be separate day trips, as they are too rushed as a single day trip. I orefer Avebury to Stonehenge. They can be done as organised tours, but are easy to do yourself by train. Tickets for Highclere are hard to get.

Great day trips out of London are either Greenwich by river boat, Brighton, Rye or Lewes.

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