Scotland/England Trip in 2012

Hi Cindy, Since Ayrshire is near Glasgow, you might want to fly into that airport instead of Edinburgh. The two cities are only about 90 minutes apart by train.....Here is a possible itinerary: fly into Glasgow, rent a car and tour Ayrshire. Return car, train to Edinburgh for 1-2 full days. Get another car at the Edinburgh airport (we have had good luck with Hertz) and drive through the Borders, Northumberland, and Yorkshire, returning the car in York. Spend a full day in York, train to London. The region I suggest for your car touring is full of scenery and historic sites. We have enjoyed Dryburgh Abbey, St. Abbs Head, Lindisfarne (check tide tables to time your visit), Alnwick gardens and many nearby ruined castles and a super bookstore, Hadrian's Wall near Once Brewed, numerous abbeys and castles in Yorkshire, including Whitby on the coast, and York is fascinating for medieval streets as well as Yorkminster......We aren't fans of the Cotswolds ( a bit too twee for us), but you could also do a nice driving loop in that area, encompassing Cotswolds, Warwick, Stratford, Lacock, Wells, Glastonbury, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Winchester.........You could do Ayrshire after Edinburgh, but it's a bit out of the way.

if you know the dates you want to travel by train, the advance fare disocount tickets usually are up about 12 weeks prior to the travel date. You can get an estimate of what the fares might be by putting in a date that is about 12 weeks from now on the websites we have used this one in the past http://www.rail.co.uk/ ). Also check the price of "walk up" point-to-point tickets by putting in tomorrow's date. Then check the prices of various BritRail passes. While the passe are not quite the bargin they used to be when we were more active travelers , we liked the flexibility- didn't have to commit to a specific date, especially for our day trips, so we could change plans based on weather and other factors. When we are in Edinburgh, we like to stay at the Royal British Hotel. It is across Princes St. from Waverly station and well located for sightseeing. They also do a great breakfast! You might want to check out the VisitScotland website
http://www.visitscotland.com/ . It can be helpful. If you decide to visit the highlands (Ayreshire is lowlands/borders) let me know- I love Inverness and the Caringorm area.

Hi Cindy, I've done a day trip to Ayreshire. You're right, you'll want a car. It is Robert Burns Country and visiting his cottage in Ayre is interesting. It's part of the Burns Heritage Park. It's been a while since I was there. It can get quite touristy, and the Tam 0'Shanter Experience is a bit hokey. (Its a video illustrating the famous poem.) Not far from Ayre is a great castle, Culzean. I've not seen it, but it is very popular. Ayre is of course, on the west coast, and if you flew into Edinburgh, saw the city and then picked up a car and headed south to Ayre, you could also check out Dumfries and the Border area. Caerlaverock Castle is a classic medieval castle. If you go further east to the Debatable Lands you'll find Hermitage Castle which is really stark. The whole Borders area is fascinating on both sides and of Hadrian's Wall is right there. I enjoyed a short walk along the wall and exploring Housesteads. I would advise doing some research online regarding your husband's family roots. There are lots of Scottish resources that are available online. If you've researched in advance you'll enjoy the trip even more1 Pam

Awesome! Where is your family staying in London- I'm always in search of family digs. In Edinburgh we stayed at the Radisson Blu on the Royal Mile. Room was huge (odd shape but huge). As I recall, it was a bit more than we wanted to spend but the location is perfect. We took the train up from London and spent one night in York- that may not be in the cards for you but it was a great stop with kids. Our driving tour in Scotland didn't overlap yours. We did all the usual in Edinburgh-- the only thing I can think to add is the hike up to Arthur's Seat was a huge unexpected hit and we hit various Harry Potter related sites if that resonates in your family.

Have never used Britrail but we did a similar trip last fall. We bought train tics through Virgin Rail for travel between Edinburgh and London and they were very cheap-about $40 pp. We bought the tics here well in advance of travel time.

I will definitely check our Virgin Rail. Thank you!

Wow, Susan, that is a great price! I didn't know Virgin had rail over there. Thanks for that info.

Yes, Virgin Rail is owned by Virgin Air people. DH found all the info online. We did have two changes of trains during the travel between Edinburgh and London but there was no delay between connections. Have a great trip!

Virgin Rail is owned by Virgin Air people Well, nearly. Richard Branson and the Virgin gang own 51 percent and Stagecoach, the rail and bus company own the balance of 49%. Its much the same model as the other Virgin products. Virgin Atlantic is 51/49 with Singapore Air.