Husband finally got the ok from work to take off the last 2 weeks of September for our UK trip! That was our last obstacle - so we are really on our way (almost). I would love any tips on our itinerary that we have put together. My one qluestion right now is - will we be able to see any gardens in bloom in the Cotswolds? Day 1 Leave USA Day 2 Arrive Heathrow Bus to Windsor, pick up rental car, drive to Cotswolds Day 2-5 Spend in Cotswolds B&B Day 5 Drop off car in Windsor-train to London Day5-9 London Day 10 Train to Newcastle Dinner with family then on to Edinburgh Day 11-16 Edinburgh with a couple of day tours
Day 17 Fly home out of Edinburgh
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
Your itinerary looks good. I do hope you plan to actually 'visit' Windsor one of the days. it is a lovely town and the castle is one of my absolute favorites. Have you checked to see if there is a car rental place there? I think I read here or on TripAdvisor, that you actually may need to pick up the car in Slough. I'm not certain about that, so do check.
Posted by
OP
Guthrie, OK
251 posts
Thanks, Toni - there is actually an Avis car rental in Windsor now. Someone on this site told me about it. We were thinking if we took the "red eye" flight from home we would need to overnight in Windsor, instead of trying to drive the first day. We have never drive in the UK before! Even though Stowe (our first night in the Cotswolds) is only about 80 miles or so from Windsor, we will have jet lag. So depending on what flight we book, we may very well just stay in Windsor - have the afternoon to walk around and spend the night there.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33820 posts
will we be able to see any gardens in bloom in the Cotswolds? Yup. Granted the end of September is not June or July, and of course we don't know what the weather will do this summer - just about to find out that we had the the second hottest February since the mid 1800s) so the roses will mostly have finished but have a look at the fabulous Hidcote Manor Garden near Chipping Campden with its magnificent Red Border, and click on some of the nearby properties. Congratulations by the way.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
3428 posts
If you do decide to stay in Windsor, let me recommend The Castle Hotel. We stayed there once and loved it. Also, if you like gardens, Princes St. Park in Edinburgh is very nice. it is 'down' in a bit of a valley (gulley really) and the sides are landscaped with roses, thistles, and other lovely flowers. There is also a clock made of flowers. Some of the day tours we've been on out of Invereness included some gardens, also, so check the ones you are considering out of Edinburgh- you might get lucky! By the way- in Edinburgh we like to stay at the Royal British Hotel. It is across Princes st. from Waverly Train station. Not a luxury hotel, but nice enough. In London we splurge a bit and stay at the Victoria Thistle (now called the Grosvenor). Very good location right inside Victoria Station. We've also stayed at the Radison Edwardian on Mercer St. in the Covent Garden area (used to be called the Mountbatten- definitely a splurge) and the Hilton at Paddington station- also nice. If you stay in Newcastle, we've stayed at the Thistle there, too.
Posted by
Los Angeles, California
1986 posts
the drive from windsor to cotswolds would be quite do-able on your arrival day. We usually do an overnight flight from west coast, arrive at Heathrow in morning and drive to cotswolds (or vicinity) immediately from heathrow. you are West of London, so will avoid some of the traffic tie-ups however, Windsor is a very nice little town, and th castle has so much to see, so staying overnight is not an imposition. Parking in Windsor can be a bear with very few and tight parking lots. If you decide to stay overnight, dont pick up your car until you are ready to leave