Scotland/London w/kids

Hi Carey, You will find that the drive from Edinburgh to Skye is longer than you think. It will take you half the day to get up to Inverness and you're buzzing past some good sights. You might want to stop for one night in Inverness. I would add one day from Glasgow on to Skye. Here are some things that I would recommend. In Edinburgh, the Castle is handsdown the best. If it's rainy you could spend time at the Museum of Scotland. It has some things that would interest kids--a guillotine, a steam engine and more. Near by is the Grey Friar's Bobby statue. Check out the story in a guide book. Also, though, think about Dynamic Earth. This will give you an intro to the geology of Scotland. It's very child friendly and half the people in it are local children.

As you go north on the A9 toward Inverness, you can look into stopping at Blair Castle. It's the only one with its own army. ; ) In Inverness, you should definitely go see the Culloden Battlefield. It has a new visitor center with great activities and great tours. If you think that stone circles would be of interest slip over to see the Clava Cairns. They are very close. Fort George is interesting too as it's an active base as well as a nice parallel to Culloden.

Take the northern side of Loch Ness and stop off at Urqhart Castle. You'll see lots of Nessie stuff on the way. I can't vouch for any of those attractions. ; )

Skye is lovely. The castle is good, but you might look into some walks. In Glasgow, Kelvingrove and the transport museum will likely appeal to kids.

I'm running out of characters. If you want to PM me with any particular interests, I can give more advice. It's a great, friendly country.

Pam

After getting almost past the sw end of Loch Ness, continue on A82 to Ft Agustus and then hook toward Skye on A87 (not A887). Kids will really like seeing the boats going up and down the staircase of locks.

Not a Glasgow fan at all. You might want to consider spending the night at Ft William. A couple of the restaurants there have folk stuff (dance, pipes, singing, etc) with supper at a price that isn't too steep. Something else that would be interesting to kids. This would make it one night in Glasgow to keep on schedule -- which is probably good enough.

One night in York would be enough for me. You're only four hours or so out of Glasgow, which would give you lunch, the shambles, and the minster, plus a wall walk before supper. Skip the viking tourist trap "Jarvik" or something similar.

My only real question would be why Skye? it's neat, as is Mull, but a bit odd for a first trip; or even a third one. That's rhetorical, none of my business.

I have to disagree with some of the above recommendations. First- why drive? Personally we love the trains in Scotland (and so did our kids). I agree that Glasgow is not worth 2 nights. I'd skip it and add time to Inverness. Stay there rather than Isle of Skye. You can do great day trips from Inverness- including Skye ( and that included Eliean Donnan Castle, too). Culloden is a must as are the Clava Cairns (again- there are compaines that do day/1/2day trips with excellent guides)- also take a cruise up Loch Ness and stop at Urquart Castle. York is well worth an afternoon- again don't need more. I LIKE the Jorvik museum and the kids will love it. Think Vikings done disneyesque. London needs lots more than 2 days. But if that is all you have-- at least it is a start. The kids will love the Tower and if you can go- Windsor castle- both have great weaposn displays) Covent Garden is well worth a wander. In Inverness we stay at the Royal Highland next to the train station. In Edinburgh- the Royal British, across Princes St. from Waverly station.

Skye is my favorite place in Scotland. I think it's a great idea to spend two nights there. I would skip Glasgow entirely. You could add a night at Inverness and/or York or add them both to London. There's a ton to do in London, including easy day trips by train, which would help you get an overview.

Thanks for your help everyone. Sounds like we should stay in Iverness and spend less (or no) time in Glasgow. If we stayed in Ft. William instead, would it be too far to drive to York? (There is an ancestral home we want to see near Ft. William.) We really want to see Hadrian's Wall. Would it be better to stay in Newcastle upon Tyne or Durham rather than York and catch the train from there to London? Rick's book highly recommends Skye, but maybe we should save that for another trip to save some more time for London?

Look into going to Stirling instead of Glasgow. The Castle is fantastic. You can climb up the Wallace Monument and get a good view of the Braveheart battle area. If your kids have seen that movie, then all the more reason to go to Stirling. You can also stop off at Bannockburn although there is not much to see other than the visitor center.

Pam

What about this- Fly into Edinburgh- 2 nights. Train to Inverness- 3 nights- rent car and do day trip to Ft. William. Train to York- 1 night. Train to London- 4 nights with day trip to Windsor and maybe to one other location(Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Cardiff Wales, Canterbury and Dover, Brighton....). Fly home from London. You could also reverse it. Newcastle is ok for an overnight- but nothing to DO there- wouldn't recommend it. We have been to the UK more than 40 times- took the kids when they were the age of yours (1 girl, 1 boy). Feel free to private message me. Also- here is a link to an article I wrote for AAA Carolina's "Go" magazine about basing yourself in London and doing train day trips (note- if it asks for a zip code- use 28208 and if it goes to current issues,click on archives and select Jan/Feb 2008)

http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28201&stateprov=nc&city=charlotte

Hi Carey,

Being from Durham, I must recommend Durham as a great city to stay in. It's cheap, has plentiful accommodation, some great restaurants and is very compact. We also play host to (not just in my opinion) the greatest Cathedral in Europe. Durham is about 30 minutes drive from Hadrian's Wall, down some beautiful roads (the roads around the A68 are some of the finest drives in England).

From Durham, there are trains to London about every hour, all calling at York and taking about 2h45 to London. Newcastle is 10 minutes away and trains run every 15 minutes, so you could drop the car there. York is 40 minutes by train.

Mark

Hello Carey,

My kids were about that age when we took them to Great Britain. I understand the desire to see as much of Great Britain as you can but one thing to consider is how well do you kids do with changing hotels every couple of nights?? Some kids do well with it and some don't - mine definitely fall into the "don't" category. Given the distance you are considering, in 10 days you won't get a "general sense" of the area but rather more of a mish mash IMO - sort of the "if it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" routine. With 10 days . I would focus on 1 country - either England or Scotland - this will minimize the amount of time you spend in transit and allow you more time to actually "see" the country.
For Scotland, I would simply expand upon the suggestions you have received - you could easily fill up 10 days and at the end you would a very good feel for Scotland. For England, you could do London, with several day trips included. London has a tremendous number of sites that are interesting to kids and you could easily spend the entire 10 days there. Yes, you will see less of the country, but you will have better sense of those areas you do see.

Obviously, everyone has a different preferred style of traveling but it is something to consider especially with kids!