14 days in G. Britain

We have been there several times. Our tastes run to atmospheric scenery, medieval ruins, neolithic stones. So, knowing our prejudices, here are the bits we enjoyed: Skye, Edinburgh (one full day--two nights is enough), Inverness and Loch Ness and Skara Brae, Glencoe, Dryburgh Abbey, York and the area around it (better than the Lakes District I thought), Kennilworth Castle, Warwick Castle, Avebury, Lacock, Stonehenge, Salisbury, Winchester, Glastonbury Abbey, Tintagel, most of Cornwall (best castles + Lost Gardens of Heligan). Finish up with three full days in London.

Places we did not much care for: all of the midlands( but you have to cross them somehow), Wales, East Anglia, most of Southeast England, Bath (The Roman baths were interesting, but we didn't find much else there unless you are crazy about Georgian architecture), and Windsor (ostentatious castle---we much prefer ruined castles like most of the ones in Scotland and Cornwall.

Depends on what you like. No one can advise you on sights. Do a google search for "London sights" and same for other cities. Read what there is to see and pick the ones which appeal to you.

That will give you a description of most of them and pictures. You may find a hundred places you want to see; so you will have to list them in order of your interest and then plan to see as many of them as time permits.

I have always done that and never been able to see ALL the sights on my list. But I know I have seen first the ones which interest me most.

I spent three weeks in Great Britain in June/July. I love England, so I was enthralled by almost every place I visited. My recommendations would include Bath, Oxford, the Cotswolds, York, the Lake District in England. There's so much to see there, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are wonderful. I'm interested in GB's literary heritage, so those were "must-sees" for me.

Also, I'd always wanted to go to Wales, so I spent a couple of days in Aberystwyth, which was absolutely wonderful - a very quaint seaside town, an old-fashioned railway, a castle, and lovely B&Bs on the seawall promenade. Edinburgh and Inverness in Scotland were good choices, too. Loch Ness was beautiful, as was the train ride between Edinburg and Inverness to get there.

Hi Jim,
A little info on what your interests are or goals for your trip would be helpful to get the info you would benefit the most from.
Prejuidice is a terrible thing, lol. East Anglia is a beautiful part of England. Thetford has priory ruins, Bury St Edmunds has abbey ruins and is a lovely town. The Angel Hotel is across from abbey gate and is beautiful and The Nutshell, smallest pub in England, is down the street. Ely (use to be surrounded by water and eels so plentiful they were used as currency)has a beautiful cathedral with a labyrinth inside the front entrance you can walk and the town itself is lovely with some nice shops and The Minster Pub that is suppose to be haunted (however my grankids weren't afraid to go down to the basement to use the bathroom so I have my suspicions on that). Goodstone Garden and the Iceni Village, the Norfolk Castle with a mound defense vs a moat and the list goes on. The little town of Brandon has a beautiful country park and the list goes on. East Anglia is beautiful and has a lot to offer. Seriously though research your interests through the internet or guidebooks and have a great trip!! Happy trails, Pam

Do you want to stay in England or are you open to Wales and Scotland? If so, here's an idea.. Fly into London(Gatwick if possible) stay in the Victoria area (3 nights) do a day trip to Windsor. See Tower of London, Greenwich, Kew Gardens,Covent Garden/Leciester Square/Picadilly area, Parliment/Big Ben, Buckingham and one or both cathedrals. Slip in a museum or 2 if you want. Train to York (1 or 2 nights) Train to Edinburgh (1 or 2 nights) Train to Inverness (4 or 5 nights) Train to London. Stay in London rest of time and do day trips to Cardiff, Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Canturburry, or Oxford, or Cambridge. Fly home. Feel free to PM me for more ideas or specifics.

Hi Jim, Are you planning to rent a car or just use trains? If you are renting a car, the Cotswolds should be on your list. We have been to England many times over the years. If you rent a car I would recommend picking it up at the airport, not in the city. We usually like to spend a 3 night in London and then go out to the airport and pick up a car for touring the countryside.

I think if I had two weeks to introduce someone to Great Britain (and not just Scotland!), I'd start in London. i would then go to York, an the Dales, over to Cumbria and the Lake District, north to the Borders with stops at Hermitage Castle, and one of the Abby's--Melrose, Kelso or Jedburgh, on to Edinburgh. What I did in Scotland beyond Edinburgh would depend on interests. A golfer would want to see St. Andrews, a literary person might want to go to Ayre and Robbie Burns country or Peebles and Sir Walter Scott's home. Or if they just wanted beautiful scenery, I'd go up to Perthshire or over to the Trossachs. Glasgow has a great airport to fly home from. Much better than Heathrow! I suspect too that I would throw Cambridge into the mix as well.

Everybody's trip will be different. It might help if you could give a hint about your interests. Music? history? golf? literature? Gardens? Whiskey? ; )

Here's what we just did with two weeks in Britain. We stayed 6 days in London at the Lime Tree Hotel close to Victoria Station. What you can see in London is so varied and vast, I think you just have to decide from reading the books what you want to do. We then rented a car at Gatwick airport (don't even consider driving in London). We took 10 days to drive from London to Inverness Scotland. We went through the Cotswolds, up to York and the Dales. The absloute highlight was the Scottish highlands. We especially enjoyed the drive north from Loch Lomand over the highlands to Fort William and the Isle of Skye. Inverness was OK, but I would probably opt to look for a nice B and B somewhere in a small village instead. We then flew back to London from Inverness and took the Eurostar to Paris.

We had a wonderful time and especially enjoyed having the freedom of a car. I suggest two things concerning the car. Get an automatic transmission (just one less thing to have to think about in addition to driving on the left) and a navigation system. The navigation system allowed us to wander around out in the remote areas and get completely lost. Then we could just put in our hotel's address and off we went in the right direction.

You'll have a great trip.

Here's what we did a couple of years ago. Flew into London, then Bath for two nights with side trips to Stonehenge, Avebury, Glastonbury and Wells. We drove through the Cotswolds, stopping for lunch, then to Warwick Castle, ending the day in Chester. It was a long and tiring day, but a really nice one. Next we went to Liverpool and did the Magical Mystery Tour then drove to York. We turned in the car there and spent two nights, then to Edinburgh for another two nights. We took the train back to London, where we spent 5 days. We loved every place we went.