A trip down the UK
Hey y'all, I was wondering if anyone had any advice/warnings/comments/thoughts/etc. about an anniversary trip (10 years!) my partner and I are planning for late May. For context, I have been to the UK before a few years back but my partner has not. Also, I'm American and I've never driven anywhere but the US. This is the rough and very basic itinerary:
Day 0: Edinburgh
- Land in Edinburgh
- Check in to hotel
- Wander around the city
Day 1: Edinburgh
- Rent car
- Drive to St. Andrews
- Drive around in the Scottish Highlands
Day 2: Edinburgh > Redmire
- Drive south to a bed and breakfast in Redmire
- Check out the English countryside
Day 3: Redmire > Manchester
- Drive to Manchester
- Turn in car
- Check in to hotel
Day 4: Manchester > Bath
- Take a train to Bath
- Wander around Bath
- Stay at bed and breakfast
Day 5: Bath > London
- Take train to London
- Check in to hotel
- Do touristy things
- Eat a lot of food
Day 6: London
- Anniversary dinner
Day 7: London
- Wander around
- Eat a lot of food
Day 8: London
- Depart from Heathrow
I fully intend to add plan out the details and activities as we get closer, though I would be grateful for any recommendations for things to do or places to see. It's my partner's real first time out of the country and given it's an anniversary trip I wanted it to be mostly relaxed.
The first half or so of the trip is predicated on me, an American who drives on the right, driving good distances in the UK. I've plenty of experience doing long distance driving in the US, it's mostly the driving on the opposite side that concerns me. Is this recommended? Would it be better to just use rideshares or transit in the cities and take trains over the longer stretches between instead of a mini-roadtrip? Thanks y'all!
EDIT:
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses! I will try to get to as many as I can as soon as I can!
If you are not dead-set on Manchester, and want to get out into the country a bit, consider swapping that part of the itinerary with a stop in the Lake District, which is very beautiful and a pleasure to be in in May. There are some scenic (but not strenuous) day hikes in the area, and you can do things like boat on Lake Windermere and in general soak up some of less-urban England. I stayed in Windermere proper when I was there, but Bowness-on-Windermere is closer to the lake and might be preferably. Keswick is a nice day trip as well, with the advantage of there being an impressive (and less crowded and developed than Stonehenge) stone circle not far outside of town (Castlerigg stone circle). All of these towns are connected by train or bus, but if you have a car that makes it even easier. On the topic of cars, all of the UK is pretty easy to get to via public transit.
You probably don't need the car to get between cities if you don't want, and not getting one might allow you to relax a bit more at the cost of a little convenience. I've been to the UK countless times and never felt the need for a car, personally. Within cities I would advise against it. Especially in London, the Tube is soooo easy to use. Easily one of the best public transit systems I've had a chance get used to.
The Peak District, southeast of Manchester, is also great and I can give recommendations there as well. Can also give plenty of London recommendations that are slightly off the beaten track.
Brit here, this is excellent advise, especially about London. A daily pay-as-you-go cap of £8.10 for tube zones 1&2 will cover trains, buses, and overground but cost you less than a single cab or Uber ride. Get an Oyster card and have at it!
Can't you just use tap to pay on your phone to get the same benefits? That way you don't have to put money on a card that will just sit there if you don't plan it perfectly.
You can.
“Travel as much as you like in one day or week (Monday to Sunday) and we'll cap your fares so you don't pay more.”
https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster/pay-as-you-go/contactless-and-mobile-pay-as-you-go
A transit card is a great souvenir/memory of the trip in and of itself. Plus, you still have access to transit if something happens with your phone or bank account.
Adding to that, you can buy an oyster card online and choose a station from which you'll get it.
Simply choose the station in which you'll arrive in London and go to the ticket boots / customer service boots. They will have your Oyster card ready for you.
TFL will mail you one if you like
https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card
Hilariously, I did a very similar trip as a bicycle trip last summer! Flew into Edinburgh, biked to Glasgow, went through a lot of hills, small mountains, rock walls, and sheep to Manchester, over to the Welsh coast, down to Cardiff, over to Bristol, and hung out in London for a few days. It was my partner's first UK visit and first international trip (besides Canada).
In terms of cities, Edinburgh was very beautiful but felt a bit Disneyfied. I did manage to find some amazing local pubs on the peripheral, though. Shoutout to the Waters of Leith path that goes right through the city and through some very nice parks on the river.
Glasgow was way cooler, though. Felt so much livelier, had a billion great coffee shops and pubs, and the circular subway was of course adorable. Highly recommend a stop there if you're interested, I honestly think it is a better city than EDI in most ways (except for that gorgeous freakin' castle in the middle of EDI).
If you're heading south towards manch, I hear there are some very cute smaller cities on either coast on your way. Personally I really enjoyed the smaller inland towns, though. Peebles was beautiful and very quaint, and there's of course Hadrian's Wall. The country in these parts is truly breathtaking, looks so alien compared to the tree-infested Northeast USA I'm used to.
Manchester was a very cool city. The food scene here really surprised me. But I didn't get to stay as long as I liked.
I've seen some others recommend a drive around the Lake District. You really should try to stop there -- it is one of the most gorgeous places in the whole UK. Lots of hikes of variable difficulty, or you can just drive through and stop in towns. Just look up some pictures and see if you can resist!
If you don't end up in the Lakes District, consider checking out some of the Welsh mountains in and around Snowdonia. It's similarly gorgeous to the Lake District but a bit less touristy.
Most of the interior of Wales is gorgeous but could be a slow and stressful drive. The hedges are tall and overgrown. The roads have but a single lane (look up "passing places" to understand what's going on). The speed limit is still kind of high but you shouldn't go more than 30 because the visibility is awful.
Cardiff had great food (seriously, some of my favorite ramen ever) but the city itself is trashy, congested, and downtown is a big nasty sterile shopping mall.
Others here have recommended Bristol. I used to live there, so I'm biased, but we really loved our 4ish days there. Brilliant coffee shops. Great museums. Cute, classic UK streets. An alarming number of nice shops. Brilliant coffee shops (and I'm a coffee snob). Some excellent cocktail bars and wine bars, too. And of course one of the best pub scenes in the UK. One of those cities where I can just walk in a random direction at 8am and somehow fill my day up until I wind up in a pub I've never heard of at 10pm. I'm partial to White Ladies Rd and the area around the Uni (a gorgeous campus of itself). The Cabot Tower is a lot of steep steps but it's free and an insane view of the area! A cool way to scope out where to walk for a pint. You can walk anywhere in the core city area (the city centre and the donut of shops and cute neighborhoods surrounding) in less than an hour. So don't rideshare or drive, just walk and check out things that look neat.
Bath was fine. Bath Cheese makes a great toastie and an even better rarebit if you like soft cheese or funky cheddars. Great places for a stroll on their paths, too. But personally I would skip Bath and do Bristol instead. Both are super easy train rides, in fact Bristol is just a couple of stops further down the same line. Bath has a lot of really cool historical homes, and the baths are worth a stop... but if you've been touristing for a week already, I'm not sure it has much to offer. The food scene in Bath was one of the worst we dealt with the whole trip (besides the cheese place).
London is fine. Really touristy in the center, but of course it's neat to see Big Ben, the Tower, the bridges, the egg, and st paul's. I would pick one museum and one historical site, and view the rest from a distance. In fact, there's a lovely bike path right along the north side of the Thames. I would head over to Hyde Park, rent a bikeshare bike, and just... ride your bike past the palace, right next to Big Ben and Parliament, along the Thames to the City of London, all the way up to the Tower and Tower Bridge. You'll have seen all the sights in a nice, safe, quick bike lane without ever dealing with the downright unbearable tourist crowds in those areas. There's a lovely separated bike highway the whole way, marked in blue. Barely have to stop at all.
Many of the London museums are free. The Tate is cool, but overwhelmingly modern at times. The National Gallery (think that's the name, near-ish Buckingham) has a wide variety of historical paintings, is free, and even includes some well-known hits like Monet that you'll recognize and appreciate if you aren't an art-head.
If you're anywhere near big tourist landmarks in London, don't bother with the pubs. They'll be super pricey, poorly staffed, with a crap drink list and worse food. And likely part of a pub conglomerate, so no culture either.
Hackney is a really cool neighborhood with some of my favorite food and drink in the whole city. Best coffee shops in London, and safely away from the worst tourist traps.
Victoria Park was lovely and gorgeous.
Take the tube at least once. As an American, it's astonishingly well run and clean (of course, as an American, I also felt the regional trains were great -- brits disagree heartily). But seriously trains work in a way you will struggle to comprehend here. You can get from any city to any other city on the isle of Britain in a matter of hours by train. Meanwhile I can't even get a train to Boston in the USA without driving an hour+.
You honestly don't need a car at all for your trip unless you really want to get out of cities, for instance to see the Lake District. Brits will tell you that the trains suck. They do, to them. For us Americans, the trains are awesome, and incredibly reliable compared to the trash that is Amtrak. Pretty cheap, good stations, fairly fast. But if you ever visit Switzerland you'll understand why the Brits say they suck 🫠
Don't bother with Stonehenge, it's crap.
Edinburgh is mucho dinero and crowded, but there are things to see and shops to buy from. Might want to see about taking in a show just to get off the pavements for a while.
I don't remember there being much to do in St. Andrews, but there might be a theatre? I know there's a little aquarium on the waterfront, near the seawall.
Man, I haven't been out of town in ages.
Be wary of the major sights in London, because they can be incredibly crowded tourist traps. The tour we got of the Tower of London was good, though. The Yeoman Warders were a friendly bunch. I've read serious warnings against Madame Tussaud's wax museum, but I went to the London Dungeon on a group tour once and that was [very crowded but] nice. Hold onto your valuables, don't put your trust in backpacks and don't set your bags down out of sight.
Edit: Mein effing gott, do not drive around Edinburgh or London! Don't do it. D:
If you like museums Edinburgh has the National Museum of Scotland which can be a really fun afternoon. London has too many to mention but if you're passing nearby I'd recommend the Tate Modern Turbine Hall gallery just to stick your neck in as it's a large rotating installation hall that's normally fairly interesting.
If you plan on doing things like the changing of the guard in London or the gun salute in Edinburgh then it's well worth making sure you get your timings right as it's easy to miss with travel hiccups.
I'd also recommend Mildred's if you're vegetarian as a nice mid range restaurant.
National museum of Scotland is one of my favourite museums. It’s huge, incredibly varied, with informative descriptions!
If you have a morbid curiosity the surgeons hall museum in Edinburgh is also very good with lots of pathology specimens.
I would recommend skipping the day trip to St Andrews from Edinburgh. It's not the most exciting place in the world and you'd have to go quite a bit further to actually get to the Highlands proper.
If you want to go somewhere with a beach, I'd suggest going along the Lothian coast to North Berwick for the day. It's a gorgeous small seaside town and there are trains going every hour from Edinburgh Waverle which take about 30 minutes. There are lots of independent shops on the highstreet, two lovely beaches and a very sweet old harbour, as well as a hill (the Law) you can climb. You can also get boat trips out to the islands in the firth - the Seabird Centre offers a variety at different price points. If you're going in May you'll be able to see puffins, as well as the largest gannet colony in the world. For food there is the Lobster Shack during the day and the Rocketeer in the evening, both run by the same people and offering great seafood and chips.
Otherwise, if you want something more in the Highlands, you could go over to Loch Lomond for the day. I'm not sure how long it would be to drive but it would take around 2 1/2 hours by train, changing at Glasgow Queen Street and getting the train from there to Balloch. There's walks you can do into the hills from Balloch, boat trips on the Loch (overpriced from what I've heard but you might think they're worth it) and great views to the mountains. The Balloch House is good for a nice meal but there's not much else going on there.
Consider a trip to Bristol between Bath and London. Bristol is a gorgeous city with a lot of really interesting maritime history to go at (alleged home of Blackbeard!). There are some very nice pubs and eateries around, and in May the city will be just gorgeous. You can wander up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge for a spectacular view of the gorge (careful if you have a fear of heights!). The SS Great Britain is a really good museum, and depending on the day the old steam train might be running along the harbour.
You should be ok driving, my American friends have never had an issue with it here. The motorways are good, but be more cautious on smaller roads around Scotland and the North of England. There are bad drivers everywhere, but you can easily get into a bad situation going too quickly on country lanes with lots of blind corners. I'm not sure if car rental companies in the UK offer the ability to drop off a hire in a different city than the one you collect it from, but that's just lack of experience on my part.
Trains here aren't always super reliable, and there are still a lot of strikes going on, so you would be best off keeping an eye on this website in the weeks leading up to your trip: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/travel-information/industrial-action/ . That said, they're not as bad as some make them out to be, and you wouldn't necessarily have too much trouble using public transport for the entire trip, since you're aiming for cities. YMMV.
This is also great info, haven’t hired a car in quite some time, are you likely to get an automatic even if you don’t explicitly ask for it? Most Americans I know can’t drive manual (stick).
Also the locals pronounce it “Brizzol” me anzum.
I think UK people get a it confused about travel plans because to us the travel from Edinburgh to Bath is an ENORMOUS distance, but to an American it's only 350 - 400 miles. That causes a bit of disconnect.
I think in that context your plan looks fine, but a bit cramped.
For London sometimes it's quite nice to just be there because it is a large, multicultural, city with a long history. But it's also useful to have some guides because otherwise you just miss a lot of stuff. We have so much history we don't bother pointing it out a lot of the time. Here's some examples:
Hidden details: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EaS-Rf8Ceyk
War time canon repurposed as bollards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxdJrqV0l4c
Lots have disappeared, because during the Second World War we dug them up and used them for the war effort: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRvJjHkRxZg
Hidden Roman wall in a car park: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hAr3Hhd1P94
Anglo Saxon dock: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_P8WflwBgWo
Execution Dock: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s8w7G8TtyFQ
I don't really know what point I'm trying to make here - London is great if you just want the big overwhelming immersive experience, and it's great if you like detail, but either way planning will help you get a better experience.
Bath has several excellent touristy things and would be a place to stay a couple of days if you had time. Oxford is nearby and is beautiful and interesting.
Edinburgh is beautiful. York is exceptionally beautiful.
London is fascinating. Have a great time.
There can be a lot to do in Edinburgh, it's a ton of fun (not as good as Glasgow though) and the restaurants are great. In terms of touristy stuff, outside of the castle which is always a good, fun way to burn through an hour or two there's the Camera Obscura or Dynamic Earth. You could even book a tour of Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament building.
In terms of food and drink there's some cool places in Edinburgh,
The Dome is a beautiful building, one of Edinburgh's most famous restaurants and the food is great to boot.
Tattu is an amazing looking Chinese restaurant where the food is beautifully presented and tasty, it's also quite expensive.
Panda & Sons is a fun cocktail bar set up like a speakeasy hidden in a barbers. Serves great cocktails and you might catch a live performance.
Hoot the Redeemer is a quirky little bar with tarot-inspired cocktails, retro arcade machines and a claw machine where you grab three ingredients at random, take them to the bar and the staff will make you a tasty cocktail out of them.
If you're looking for a cosy pub restaurant to chill in then there's plenty to choose from down in the Grassmarket. I've always liked The Beehive Inn but that's just one choice out of tons and tons of great pubs and bars in the area so have a look about and see what takes your fancy.
UK is reasonably driveable – the trains are not great (they aren't very reliable) so driving might be a safer bet.
There are some really lovely country mansions which have been converted into hotels – they might be a bit pricey, but they are really nice. The National Trust (a charity which owns a lot of historical properties across the UK) also has a lot of cutesy little cottages you can rent if that's the kind of thing you like. Definitely visit a few pubs, maybe for lunch and/or dinner.
Edinburgh and London are really the two best places in the UK, in my humble opinion, so great to visit both.
In terms of London, London of course has great theatre and culture. Things you might like to try are the Royal Opera House (warning – pricey) or the ENO (English National Opera) which sings in English (more accessible) and stages a lot of Gilbert and Sullivan which is a kind of lighthearted and humorous opera. If you like brutalism and theatre then there's the National Theatre (amazing brutalist building) and also the Barbican (which often stages a lot of Shakespeare in collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company, iirc) which is a housing estate (they filmed some of Star Wars: Andor there) mixed in with a cinema and like a million other things.
Tea in the Shangri-La (or staying there if money is not an object) is a great way to see London (it's on like the 30th storey of The Shard, which has glass walls, so a great view) and not that expensive (last time I went there it was like £6 for a cup of tea).
I really enjoyed the zoo in Edinburgh, even in the colder months. I never thought I'd see safari animals in the snow.
This seems like a very fast trip for the amount of things you want to see...but that is all about preference.
I got used to driving on the other side of the road after about an hour. Not sure if you have done it before. Look out for skinny roads...it can be quite the situation squeezing through a small country road with a bunch of tour buses in the other lane.
The Cotswolds was beautiful and an easy day trip from London. We did the Secret Cottage tour with Becky which is low key and includes tea in a traditional thatched cottage. Super fun, unique experience!
https://secretcottagecotswoldtours.co.uk/
If you find yourself with time in Scotland, especially if you like being outdoors, check out Scotland’s Wild tours. We hiked to a beautiful waterfall with John and it was a highlight of our trip. Since then he’s expanded considerably and has lots of options that leave from areas near Edinburgh. Even if you don’t want that intensity but want to be outdoors, I highly, highly, recommend them.
https://www.scotlandswild.com/
I can’t recommend these first two things strongly enough.
Here are some other notable things we did:
Blenheim Palace is a little out of the way but worth it if you like grand old estates. Hampton Court Palace was also a quick train ride from central London and fun for history buffs.
We did some driving through lower Scotland, stayed in Aberfeldy at Townhouse Aberfeldy which was awesome, then hit the Edradour distillery and walked around Pitlochry which is a quaint Scottish town.
In Bath we enjoyed a tour of the Roman baths and then caught the Big B bus which circles the city. Was a great way to see some views and just relax.
We loved the Tate Modern in London, and were not even huge art buffs. If you like shopping take a walk through Liberty or Fortnum & Mason. Borough Market was fun for a low key lunch.
I'm always surprised by how fast I adapt when changing road sides. The first few km take a bit more concentration - especially because it's usually around an airport so there's lots of roads and traffic, and I've probably just got off a plane - but it doesn't take long before it's just driving.
Might be worth having a backup plan in case it doesn't work but honestly, if you know your way around a car and how to drive it you should be totally fine. Most hire cars in my experience are automatics these days so you shouldn't even have to worry about the wiggly stick thingy.
That said, how are you with roundabouts?
I would say sometimes less is more. For 7 days that’s a lot of stops. You will probably find you spend a lot of time travelling and getting to know a location and then leave just as you get comfortable moving around.
I’d stay in Edinburgh/Scotland an extra day, spend sometime in a rural area Yorkshire dales or Lake District (Lake District is lovely), and skip either Manchester or Bath, and then finish in London. Bath might be more missable as it’s out on a limb compared to the rest and adds a lot of travel for limited benefit.
You won’t get to see anything more than a small slice of the UK in a week, so I would suggest exploring the places you go in a bit more depth. Then plan another trip another time to see things like:
And many more!