London and Scotland with kids.

I suggest you fly to London and spend about 3-4 days- do a day trip to Windsor and maybe one other city. Then either train or fly to Edinburgh. Spend 1 or 2 days there then train to Inverness. You can drive or take the train to Ft. William. There are great day trips to Isle of Skye that also include Elliean Donnan Castle and some of the lovely Glens. There are nice cruises on Loch Ness that go all the way to Urquart Castle and the village of Drumnadrochit. There are several distilleries in the area and even distillery tours(1/2 or whole day). You could see Culloden Battlefield and Clava Carnes as well. Then fly back to London to go home. We took our kids at about the same ages and they loved Scotland and London. To get more time in Inverness, you could fly there from London and skip Edinburgh.

I go regularly from Madison, WI to Scotland. I connect from Madison through London to Glasgow. I've found that the airfare can vary. American Airlines used to have a direct flight to Glasgow that operated from May or April until Oct. 31. I've heard rumors that it may be coming back. You might email them and ask if they plan to restore the trip. I have no idea if they will respond. It's really easy to take public transport to Edinburgh. You can get a car when you're ready to head to the countryside. I booked my most recent trip to Scotland only two weeks prior! I would start looking at fares now and track them. (BTW it's a 4 hour trip London to Edinburgh.)

Personally, I think that if you only have ten days, spend it all in Scotland and save London for another trip. In June you should be able to find hotel accommodations fairly easily. July is when it starts to really get tough. But, that said, if you have your heart set on a particular hotel, you should book it. Car rental and train should not be a problem. I've booked cars as late as 2 weeks prior to a trip.

You can see Hadrian's Wall (see article in Smithsonian this month!) and maybe check out an Abbey in the Borders. Your kids might find Hermitage Castle interesting. It's rather formidable. Fort William is a great area and you can easily drive up to Loch Ness. You might want to go to Skye, and check out the Culloden Battlefield. Also, you can see the Clava Cairns. You can either head to Aberdeenshire for distilleries and more castles or head to the Cairngorms for hiking or to Pictlochry for a show at the festival theater and a distillery. Stop off at Stirling before heading to Glasgow for a return flight. PM if you have specific questions. Pam

One more thing--in Edinburgh, there is a great museum called Dynamic Earth which is great for kids. In Glasgow the transportation museum is very interesting particularly if you have a Thomas child. Also, there are lots of steam trains in Scotland. Google it and you'll find the websites. There is even a steamboat ride on Loch Katrine in the Trossachs. In Tobermory on Mull there are wildlife tours that your children might enjoy. Stirling Castle is a great castle to visit. I also thought that St. Andrew's Castle was very cool with an interesting underground passage. I really wished my nephew had been with me when I visited it! Pam

We were in Ireland with our kids this past June. We booked our car about a month beforehand, mostly because rates took a huge jump, but I had a lower quote that hadn't expired yet.

I'd recommend booking your rooms at least a month ahead. If you know where you'll be and when sooner than that, I'd book then. It's much easier to find doubles than to find a place for 4, and you may be stuck with what's expensive if you wait.

Carey - I aggree with Pamela, leave London for another time. Our family spent time in Edinburgh and Inverness this past summer. With Toni's help we found a couple of nice tours. One to the Isle of Skye out of Inverness, and one to Stirling Castle & Loch Lomond out of Edinburgh.

I'll send you a pm with a couple of nice B&B's we used this past summer.

Thanks for the great info! In Rick's GB book he recommends spending at least 2 nights on Is of Skye. Would you agree or is it more of a day trip? Any recs on where to stay if we do stay overnight?

Skye is a big island. I spent a week there on a photo workshop and didn't see all of it. I would stay two nights minimum. I like Portree because of central location. When I did the photo workshop I stayed at the Skye Picture House, which was very nice. Pam