London-Bath-Edinburg - Need help planning

Rail, to either destination. If it was me, I'd go from London to Bath, back to London, and then to Edinburgh. Bath is west of London, Edinburgh north, and most, but not all, rail lines run east-west or north-south out of London. Bath is about 2 hours by train out of Paddington Station. You can "do" Bath in a single long day, coming back to London that night, if you want. I'd recommend staying over. Edinburgh is 4-1/2 hours from London's King Cross station. You will stop at York at the two-hour mark. Easily worth a day or two.

In Edinburgh, Dynamic Earth is a great museum for kinds. It's a science museum and has lots of hands on activities. It's geared toward Scottish children, but yours should enjoy it as well. I agree that the train is best. Nigel will probably come on and give you the best route. You might post the question on the transportation forum if you don't hear soon. It does look like it's a long train ride from Bath to Edinburgh. Pam

Thanks. Let me ask for a more focused input Day1/Day2 - London Day3- fly from london to edinburgh day3/4 edinburgh day 5 - flight from edinburgh to bristol. train from bristol to bath. day 5/6 - bath
day 7 - train to london. what is the approx cost i should expect for flights to edinburgh? are the connections from bristol to bath frequent? Thanks

Is seeing Bath really important on this trip? Your itinerary would be so much simpler if you chose instead London - York - Edinburgh. There's a lot in York and environs that your children would enjoy, but IMHO, I doubt if they will be too interested in Bath.

Looking at British Air from London to Edinburgh, I don't see the advantage in flying. The fare is comparable, rail or flying out of Gatwick; much higher to fly from Heathrow. The flight time is about 1.5 hours vs. train of 4.5. However, you have to get to Gatwick allowing sufficient checkin time and then bus from the Edinburgh airport to downtown. Also, there is the train cost to Gatwick. Far easier, cheaper, and probably quicker to take the train.

Sigh, wanted to suggest the same idea--London, York, Edinburgh. Think about this, will you be back? What are the odds? I know that you are with kids this time, so maybe think about what they would enjoy and save the other for the two of you? I just hate to see you spending so much time in transit rather than enjoying the place. ; ) Pam

Thanks Pamela/Cynthia. I've been kinda of thinking the same thing too. It seems quite a hassle to fit in bath as its a bit of detour. What are we missing in Bath? We definitely want to go to Stonehenge and Costswald and looks like we can take daily tours from London.

on the same note - if we wanted to take trains into York or Edinburgh whats a better neighbourhood to stay in lOndon. Looks like most trains are out of Victoria, so is Belgravia a better pad? Is getting from marlybone to victoria difficult?(ie multiple train/bus hops)

Trains to York and Edinburgh leave from Kings Cross train station. London has a bunch of train stations. It is not difficult to travel from the Victoria area to Kings Cross. Victoria may be a more attractive area for lodging.

You might enjoy the Bloomsbury neighborhood. It's right by the British Museum so you can pop in there frequently - your kids would like that museum - mummies, swords, Elgin marbles, Rosetta stone, Sutton Hoo treasure, etc. Bloomsbury is only about a mile from the Kings Cross train station where you get the train to York and then on to Edinburgh. It's easy to rent a car in York at the train station in case you would like to also visit some of the abundant ruined castles and abbeys in Yorkshire.

Cynthia has made a good suggestions. I did that very thing. You could also stop off at Hadrian's Wall and see the ruins of s Roman fort. ; ) The Yorkshire Dales are wonderful. Or, has your 11 year old read the Secret Garden? It takes place in Yorkshire. On the moors though. Check out this article. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-top-five-best-towns-visit-yorkshire-3693124.html The other literary link to Yorkshire is James Herriot's books of which the first one is All Creatures Great and Small. I just reread and it's lovely. It is probably a bit much for the kids, but the older one might like the PBS series if you can find it. Maybe at your library or maybe Netflix has it. ; )

Ok. Here is what we are thinking: London - York Stay in York and drive for a day York to edinburgh edinburg to London. Couple of things on this itinerary:
1. We will be in York sat afternoon. Are there sights in York that we can drive to on Sunday or should we do edinburgh first? 2). Looks like there are many websites to buy train tickets from? which one is reliable. I saw that rail europe is cheaper than most options. Is this a credible company? Thanks

Is it a good trip itinerary for a plan like: Flying to Edinburgh for staying three nights Edinburgh to York for two nights by rail York to Bath for two nights by Rail and stay for the last week in London and nearby. Thanks.