British Isles Itinerary Help Needed

Thanks for the reply. Flying (rather than ferrying and training) is probably a good idea for both time and money reasons. I do like the idea of renting a car for part of the time in order to take in the Lake District and also to experience driving in the country side. We can still accomplish that by flying from Dublin to York, renting the car and driving to the Lake District for one night, returning the car in York, then training to Edinburgh for 2 nights. Although I would rather drom the car off in Edinurgh, I think there are high costs and hastles for dropping the car in a different place.

Hi Cindy, I would suggest flying to Edinburgh, taking train to York, pick up car in York driv to the Lake District then drive down to Preston (Preston is around 40 miles south of the Lake District)drop off the car in Preston then take the train to London. Preston is very easy to get around in, you wouldn't have any trouble. I have picked up cars in Preston before. The way you have it would would be doing some back tracking which you really don't need to do.

The closest airport to York is Leeds.

But why double back to York.

To save time, fly from Dublin to Edinburgh, drive to the lake district, drive to York, train to London.

Cindy - I'm not experienced with taking the ferry from Ireland. What i've read on the helpline is that they are time consuming. Rather than taking the ferry, could you catch a flight from Dublin to Edinburgh(looks Aer Lingus has non stop flights from $75 pp) and spend your 2 days there. Then take the train to York and spend your 3 days there, and then take the train from York to London?

Cindy,

My suggestion would be along the same lines as suggested by Robin. It would be much more time (and probably cost) efficient to fly from Dublin to Edinburgh via RyanAir. However, be forewarned that they are VERY restrictive with baggage limits and tend to "nick" passengers for numerous extra charges (this is the airline that's thinking of charging passengers €1 to use the WC in flight and perhaps having passengers stand on flights rather than sit down - that way they can pack them in like sardines).

After visiting Edinburgh, take the train to York and rent a car for travel to the Lakes District (one night seems a bit short for visiting that area). Return to York and drop the car off and spend two days touring in York. Then take the train to London (it's a very quick trip).

The Lakes District is a bit of a drive from York, so you could possible stop in Newcastle to rent the car? You won't be staying there, but renting the car there would reduce your driving time a bit. All the major rental firms are represented there, but try to find one with an office close to the train station. A GPS unit would be a good idea, along with a good quality Map (Michelin?). Which town in the Lakes District were you planning on staying in? You could arrange to drop the Car in York, which shouldn't be a problem.

Happy travels!

Thank all of you have replied. At this point, we are planning to stay the one night in Keswick, as Rick suggested in his book.

What are you hoping to see on this trip? We have been to all of the places you mention. My initial reaction is that you are missing the best bits by centering yourself so much in cities and in the Lakes District. But of course it depends on what you and your family want to see...

Cindy,

Given the very short duration of your trip, another option would be to drop the Lakes District from this trip due to the transportation times (as Rick frequently says "assume you will return"). I've found that driving in the U.K. always takes longer than planned, sometimes significantly longer! The car rental will also add extra cost and perhaps some stress if you've never driven on the "correct side of the road".

It's essential to allow adequate travel times between locations, and dropping the Lakes District would allow for a more relaxed (and probably more realistic) travel Itinerary.

Does the 10-day period also include your flight day? Keep in mind that you'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes (you'll generally arrive the day after you departed).

A few thoughts on the travel times:

Dublin to Edinburgh - allow at least half a day. It's may be a short flight but there's also the time getting to the airport, check-in, security and the usual, and then getting into your destination city on arrival.

Edinburgh to York - allow about 3 hours. Travel time is ~2H:30M.

York to London - allow about 4 hours. Travel time ranges from ~2H to 5H:42M (depending on which train you choose).

With such a short trip, those cities should allow you to "see and experience the beauty, history and culture of Great Britain".

Cheers!

Cynthia, We simply want to see and experience the beauty, history and culture of Great Britain. I started with the itineray of an organized trip that I considered but did not meet our schedule. Tt focused on literary sites. What I found difficult was connecting the places. What would you suggest are better places?

Another option would be to drop Dublin this trip as well as the Lake District. Why not fly into London- spend 3-4 days with a day trip to either Bath or Stratford-upon-Avon or Canterbury and a 1/2 day trip to Windsor. Then train to York- spend 2-3 days, then train to Edinburgh for 3 days- fly home from there or cheap flight to London then home.

Cindy,

I agree with Toni. Why not see Dublin on a future trip to Ireland? Seeing Dublin is best combined with travel to other parts of Ireland than other part of the UK.

I've been thinking about it for days now and I have a real hard time giving up on including Ireland. I've been to London and have done the day trip around London (although my family hasn't). I've never been to Ireland or Scotland.

But I understand, the UK on it's own is more do-able. And we can rent a car and drive into the countryside in order to see more than just cities. What do you think of this itineray?

Day 1: Fly into London Heathrow, pick up rental car, drive to Cotswolds and stay 2 nights.
Day 3: Drive to Lake District and stay one night.
Day 4: Drive to Edinburgh and spent 2 nights.
Day 6: Drove to York and spend 2 nights.
Day 8: Drive to London, drop off car, stay 3 nights.
Day 11: Fly home.

I'be become obsessed with these maddening decisions. I do appreciate the feedback.

Your plans seem to have changed, Cindy, so this may be superfluous. We rented a car from Enterprise in Perth and dropped it off in Manchester. The drop of fee wa minimal - it might have been 20 GBP. 2 day rental, including drop off and Insurance was just over 100GBP.

I would drop off the car in York and take the train to London if possible. You will not ned the car in York, very walkable city. I would suggest Ambleside as a base in the Lakes.

Tom

Cindy,

I'm sure it was tough to drop Dublin, but I think you'll get a lot more out of your trip this way. Besides, London is inexhaustible and you'll have plenty of new sites to see in England and Scotland.

And since you've sacrificed on this trip for your family, next time you can lean on them to go wherever you want to go!

Cindy,

Dropping Dublin will certaily make the trip a bit easier to plan. However, with such a short trip I'm not sure that travel primarily by rental car is a good idea. A previous post suggested dropping the car in York, and that's what I'd also recommend.

You can use via Michelin to plan your driving times, but use these as a guideline only and add about 30-50% to the driving times they list. I've found that driving in the U.K. ALWAYS takes longer than I planned (sometimes significantly longer).

Good luck with your planning!