Trip to Uk budget help?

Hi Fellow Berkeleyans, Don't be surprised at the tourist potential of the UK. We have visited at least 10 times, as well as having lived in London for a year; and there are a number of noteworthy places we still haven't seen (including most of the Hebrides and the Orkneys). Hadrian's Wall and Loch Ness can be viewed on your way to somewhere else. I wouldn't make any special effort for them. Bath and the Lake District are good choices. Since you're going north, I would include York as a must-see for 1st timers. I do think you're trying to cover too much geography in the 2 weeks outside of London. My suggestion is that you concentrate on no more than 3 areas. Do some digging into transportation information. Places near each other can be surprisingly difficult to get to unless you're driving. You should look at www.specialplacestostay.com. The UK is the author's home turf. He lists tons of places of all kinds - - hotels, inns, farmstays, b&b's, self-catering - - many with very reasonable prices and all with some level of charm.
Keep the questions coming. As your plans take shape, I'm sure you'll have many more.

I agree that trying to see all those places in that time frame would be pushing it. Bath would be a good central place to stay to see a wide variety of things. Several really good day trips from there - Wells / Salsbury Cathedrals, the cotswolds, stonehenge - if you choose. Bath and the Lake District both would be a good place for walking and enjoying the countryside. York makes a nice stop on the way north. I haven't been to Orkney Islands, but we spent 3 days in Edinburgh with a day trip to the highlands and I felt it might have been nice to have 1 more day, but we were able to see most everything we were interested in. Have a great trip!

First- Thank you for the details!!! Many questions are so vuage- you've done well with your initial planning. Here's one possible itenerary (based only on personal experience and preference and trying to accomodate your interests)(oh- and we've been to the UK LOTS of times): Day 1- flight to London Day 2-6 London- with possible day trips by train to any2 or 3 of the following: Windsor, Bath (could see Stonehenge with Mad Maxx tour), Cardiff Wales, Canterburry, Dover, Winchester, Stratford-upon-Avon (could see some of Cotswolds with local tour), Brighton Day 7- early train to York Day 8- York ( or move on to Aviemore and add day there or day to Inverness) Day 9- train to Aviemore Day 10-12 Aviemore (days trips/activities include distilleries, Blair Atholl castle, steam train ride, local microbrewery, funicular/hikes up Mt. Caringorm, Rothmurchie estate with cannoes, hikes, horseback riding, reindeer preserve, heather center....) Day 13- train to Inverness day 14-17- Inverness with day trips to any of following: Orkney (long but worth it), Isle of Skye and Eliean Donan castle and Great Glen or Glen Coe, Cullodean battlefield and Clava Cairns, distilleries, cruise on firth, cruise up Loch Ness with stop at Urquart Castle ruins and Drumnadrochit village, ......
Day 18- train to Edinburgh Days 19-20 Edinburgh and flight home. Aviemore is a nice village that gives you a good base for the hikes and some non-city stuff, York has a good market, and London is full of them. I'd recommend apartments in London and Inverness. If this sounds good, I'll give you some accomodation recommendations too. Also if you are intersted, private message me with your e-mail and I'll send you an article I wrote about basing in London and doing day trips by train.

Hi, there!! I'm going to the UK for my first trip this summer, and it sounds like my itinerary is pretty similar to yours! London: 6 days (includes day trip to Bath) York: 2 days (renting car at end of this) Moors/Hadrians Wall: 2 days Edinburgh: 2 days Highlands: 1 1/2 days
Orkney: 4 days My mom and I are budgeting about $3000 each (after paying for our plane fares and car rental), but we are splurging a bit with our hotels/B&Bs since we have to get two beds and Mom insists on en suite rooms. I was originally planning on 2 days in Orkney, but the more I looked at it, the more days I added! I am a big archaeology geek, though, so Orkney is my idea of heaven. Looking at visitorkney, they do have a decent transport (bus/ferry) from Inverness to Orkney, and then I think you can rent a car there in Stromness or St. Margarets Hope (depending on which ferry you take). We're staying outside of the two big towns (Kirkwall and Stromness) in a B&B near the Stones of Stenness (another bit of a splurge since we could have gotten a place for 10-15 pounds less/night, but I couldn't resist <a href="http://www.millofeyrland.co.uk/&quot;&gt;a converted mill!</a>). I wish we could have added a few days in the Highlands, but I have to get back to work (darn it all!). Oh, well...next time.

And a serial comment since I couldn't edit my previous one for some reason: If you are really into architecture and gardens, look into stopping at either Castle Howard (if you'll be near York) or Castle Dunrobin (north of Inverness). The first was the setting for Brideshead Revisited (both the BBC miniseries and the recent film version), and the second is a really neat-looking Victorian-era rehabbed estate set on the ocean with extensive gardens that have falconry exhibits twice a day (I can't resist birds of prey!).