Hi everyone,
My mom and I are working on planning a week in England and Scotland before our Europe in 14 Days tour begins. We have a rough idea of what we'd like to do, but no concrete plans until we leave London on June 26. Does our idea sound feasible? Do you have any suggestions?
Day 1- Arrive in Glasgow in the morning. What should we make sure to see in Glasgow before we leave? We're planning to rent a car at the airport and drive north... we're just not sure where yet. We're leaning toward Inverness or Isle of Skye.
Day 2- Stay in Scotland wherever we end up. Ideas for day trips, etc. would be awesome.
Day 3- Drive to Derbyshire to see Chatsworth House. The drive will be around 7 hours, but we're planning to stop along the way if we see anything interesting. Stay near Chatsworth that night.
Day 4- Tour Chatsworth. After lunch, we're planning to drop off the rental car and board a train to London.
Day 5- Tower of London, Double Decker Bus tour.
Day 6- National Gallery. Walk to Parliament, Westminister Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. We'd like to have tea somewhere in the afternoon, and possibly see a play that night.
Day 7- Finish up anything in London we may have missed or possibly do a day trip.
Day 8- Meet up with our tour in Paris!
Posted by
Gig Harbor, Washington, USA
1863 posts
Day 1--if you have any interest in standing stones, you might want to skip Glasgow and head north and slightly west to the Kilmartin Glen. You can visit Loch Lomond (Luss) and Kilchurn Castle on the way. Day 5---don't know where your hotel is, but it's a pleasant walk along the south bank of the Thames from the London Eye, past the Globe Theatre (Swan pub there does a nice lunch with a view of St. Paul's), cross the foot bridge to St. Pauls which you can visit if you wish (not my favourite church but you might like it), continue on to the Tower of London late afternoon. On Day 6, start with Westminster Abbey to avoid the lengthy queue, but don't drink lots of coffee before you go (no bathrooms!) You might enjoy the Victoria and Albert Museum which is a mile or so from the Abbey. Also, visit St. Martin in the Fields near the National Gallery--lovely church with a nice restaurant in the crypt and an excellent gift shop. And don't miss the superb British Museum and also the Museum of the City of London if you have time for it.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2776 posts
I have to tell you, Laura, I don't think this is such a great plan. Scotland is wonderful, but you are devoting just two days to it, including your day of arrival. If you will be arriving from the US, you may be tired and jet-lagged and not up for a long drive. Have you tried this before? Some people handle the time change well, but many do not. Remember you'll be driving on the "wrong" side of the road.
Even if you feel fine, you are still doing an awful lot of driving to spend essentially one day in the Scottish highlands. It will be a scenic drive, but it would not appeal to me. Why not take the train over to Edinburgh. It's a fabulous city with lots to do. Plus you'll have more time to enjoy it because you'll be spending less time driving.
If you have your heart set on seeing the highlands (and I couldn't blame you for that), I think your idea to go to Inverness is a good one. It's a nice small city with lots of great sites around it. If you could find another day to spend there, I think it would be very worthwhile (I'd skip Derbyshire). You could spend one day traveling to Skye (my favorite place in Scotland) and another seeing the sites closer to Inverness (Loch Ness, Culloden, Clava Cairns, etc.)
If you can only do one day, you might also consider taking the train to Inverness and then arranging a bus tour the next day (less driving = less stress at least for me). There are many to choose from. I would pick Skye for it's fabulous scenery, but you may have different interests.
London is great; I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time there.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
I agree with Carroll- Skip Derbyshire and Chatsworth. Don't rent a car. Take train from Glasgow to Inverness. Spend 2 or 3 days there. Then train to London (try for an overnight one). In Inverness you can do day trips to Isle of Skye with Eliean Donan Castle included. Also curises up Loch Ness and on the Firth to see whales and dolphins, etc.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
I'm going to agree that you're trying to do too much. I would get the car for Scotland. I would head straight north from the airport. If you want a scenic drive, then head north along Loch Lomond toward Glencoe and ultimately Fort William. Drive north to Inverness along the North side of Loch Ness. Stop off and tour Urqhart Castle. Spend the second and third night in Inverness exploring the local area. Drive to Edinburgh and either spend the fourth night there. Ditch the car. Either fly or take the train to London. You can easily fill the rest of the time in London. Pam