England and Scotland

itinerary map

Table of Contents

  • 24 days
  • 2012 Fall

I lived in London for a couple of years in the 80s but didn’t do much traveling in Great Britain for one reason or another. So I’ve been planning a comprehensive trip (at least in my head) ever since. In 2012 I was finally able to take enough time off to make the three-week trip. It was a lot to cover and we didn’t have time to do justice to everywhere we went, but it was a great trip. 

Food and Beverage $22 per day*

Average per person per day. Breakfast was included everywhere we stayed, and since it was an English breakfast, we typically only needed one more meal per day!

Lodging $113 per night*

Average per night. London was our most expensive stay, of course. Breakfast was included everywhere we stayed. We stayed primarily at B&Bs

Transportation $524 per person*

Transportation includes our train, bus, and ferry fares plus a week's local transportation in the London area. We saved a couple hundred dollars over the cost of railpasses by buying tickets ahead of time.

Entertainment $389 per person*

We went to three plays, which are included, plus entrance fees to all the various sights. We bought most tickets in advance, except for WIndsor Castle. We would have saved hours in line had we bought those in advance!

* Costs in US dollars at time of trip

Day 1: Salisbury

The Plan: Two things: Stonehenge and the cathedral.

The Reality: We got to see both but thanks to delays in getting there we had a very brief time at the cathedral. If you really want to see both I’d plan on at least a full day. Or at least not flying into the country in the afternoon and getting a train onward the following morning.

  • Stonehenge
  • Salisbury Cathedral

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Days 2-3: Bath

The Plan: We wanted to start with a smaller English city, not London, and Bath worked well for that. There were lots of sights in Bath itself and it was a decent base for a day trip to Glastonbury.

The Reality: It worked as planned, though ideally we could have used at least one more day in Bath itself to feel less rushed. 

  • Bath Abbey
  • Roman Baths
  • Glastonbury
  • Assembly Rooms

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Day 4: Oxford

The Plan: I’ve been to Cambridge and wanted to see Oxford too. And wanted to stay in a dorm and have breakfast in a dining hall. Because we could.

The Reality: We had a great day wandering the city and seeing the sights and while the dorm room wasn’t much it wasn’t bad, and breakfast in the dining hall was everything we hoped for. 

Day 5: Stratford-upon-Avon

The Plan: We wanted to see Warwick Castle and probably could have done that from Oxford. But we also wanted to see a play so we spent a night in Stratford to make that easier.

The Reality: Everyone said you need a full day at Warwick Castle. We had an afternoon and it was enough time for us. And the play was great! We were also able to fit in Shakespeare’s burial place. 

  • Warwick Castle
  • Shakespearean play
  • Shakespeare’s burial place +

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Days 6-7: Chipping Campden

The Plan: The Cotswolds weren’t originally on my list of places to stop but after reading more about them we added them.

The Reality: It was worth the additional effort to get here and in fact we’d like to come back. Even though we missed our bus connection. 

  • Walking
  • Viewing cottages
  • Hidcote Manor Garden

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Day 8: Chester

The Plan: Chester was a quick stop between the Cotswolds and the Highlands. We wanted a stop that we thought we could do justice to in half a day.

The Reality: We had a pleasant afternoon in Chester even though it was even shorter than planned thanks to missing our bus out of Chipping Campden and having to catch a different train. 

Days 9-11: Fort William

The Plan: Our time in the Highlands was planned around scenic train trips through the area. We also wanted to do some hiking and stayed here for proximity to Ben Nevis and Glencoe as well as train connections.

The Reality: We did fit in some hiking, though some of it was on the way to Ben Nevis rather than Nevis itself. We still got out and enjoyed the scenery, if not quite the scenery originally planned. 

  • Climbing Ben Nevis (partway)
  • Hiking Glen Coe
  • Hiking around lochan at Glencoe

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Day 12: Plockton

The Plan: They had me at palm trees in Scotland. It also made a nice break between the train out to the west coast of Scotland and then back across to the east coast.

The Reality: It was everything we expected and more, since we were recommended a local walk that is one of the prettiest we’ve been on. We enjoyed it so much we did it twice! 

  • Scenic train from Fort William and bus around the Isle of Skye
  • Beautiful local walk in Plockton +

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Days 13-15: Edinburgh

The Plan: We went for the city and the hallmark sights.

The Reality: We didn’t get to see as much of the New Town as we would have liked but we did enjoy those activities we did have time for.

  • Royal Mile and Oldtown
  • Edinburgh Castle
  • Hop-on hop-off bus focusing on New Town 
  • Calton Hill for views
  • Arthur’s Seat, or more New Town
  • Leith for dinner and drinks
  • Holyrood House +
  • National Museum of Scotland +

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Days 16-17: York

The Plan: The Shambles and York Minster were the big draws here.

The Reality: We enjoyed York and found it a good place to just wander. And it had one of most unique pubs we’ve been to. We thought about a day trip to Castle Howard but decided we’d rather spend time exploring the town.

  • York Minster
  • Shambles
  • City Walls
  • Castle Howard?

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Days 18-24: London

The Plan: I lived in London for a couple of years and have wanted to go back ever since. We wanted to see some of the typical tourist sights and also some of the places I lived and visited as a local.

The Reality: There is NEVER enough time in London for me. So much to see and do. We packed a lot in and still missed out on live music, art museums, a food hall, and a cab ride. Guess we’ll have to go back! (Spoiler: We did go back, ten years later, and visited art museums. I guess we need to go back again.)

  • Hop-on-hop-off bus tour
  • Thames River Cruise +
  • British Museum
  • Tower of London
  • St Paul’s Cathedral
  • Westminster Abbey
  • Hampton Court
  • Kew Gardens
  • Street markets and other shopping
  • Places from my past
  • Theatre
  • Live music
  • A food hall
  • Art museums 
  • A cab ride
  • Windsor Castle +
  • A few minutes at the National Gallery +

Related Posts: The first post describes daily activities and the destination. Other posts cover anything that generated lots of photos!

Resources

We used Lonely Plant England and the Rough Guide to Scotland as our main resources.

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Christmas Ornament

ornament
It took us forever to figure out that the cute little birds we were seeing were robins. They look very different from American robins. So we needed a robin ornament.