If you are looking for a two week UK itinerary which includes Ireland, you have come to the right place. This UK road trip itinerary has you starting in London, and using a rental car as the transportation method. It covers some of our highlights in the UK, including cities, castles, and stunning natural scenery.
I have spent a great deal of time living in and exploring the UK. I’ve drawn on my experiences travelling here to put together my perfect two week UK trip to help you plan your own trip. This UK itinerary (which also includes Ireland) covers England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. It’s a self-drive road-trip, although could also be modified to support travel by public transport if you prefer.
If you haven’t driven in the UK before, do check out my guide to driving in the UK for helpful tips. We also have a guide to how much it costs to travel in the UK if you need budget planning help.
Without further ado, allow me to present my two-week UK itinerary.
Table of Contents
A 2 week UK Trip itinerary
This itinerary is very busy and fits a lot in, including time in Ireland. It is doable, but just be aware that it will be fast paced with quite a lot of driving. Naturally, you are welcome to take the itinerary and adjust it to meet your own interests and pace.
For example, many folks prefer to focus on the UK with their two weeks, and skip the island of Ireland, returning instead via the Lake District and Wales. However, if you want to see as much as possible, this itinerary is how to do it.
Days 1 & 2: London
The UK’s capital is one of my favourite cities in the world. It’s been hanging around for over 2000 years on the banks of the Thames, and there is just an incredible wealth of things to see, from historical sights, to amazing museums, to crazy street markets.
It’s a wonderfully walk-able capital, and you can easily take in the major central sights in a day or so, leaving you the second day to explore museums, art galleries, or go a little further afield and take in some of the other sights, from crumbling cemeteries to massive parks. And if all else fails, you will never be short on an incredible pub to while away some time before heading on.
For inspiration for your visit, take a look at our 2 day London itinerary, which covers the major highlights of the city, and also links to lots of other information about visiting, including tips on finding Harry Potter locations in London through to Winston Churchill locations in London – something for everyone!
My advice for London is to invest in an Oyster card to save money on your transport (don’t hire a car until you leave the capital – and check here for great rates on car hire), and if you think you’re going to use it, look into buying a London Pass to save money on London’s top attractions.
Available in 1, 3 and 6 day versions, as well as a version with an included Oyster card, the savings can really be quite impressive if you plan on visiting a few locations. You can read a full break down on when the London Pass is worth buying here, and buy one yourself here.
Finally, London is probably going to be the most expensive city in the UK for your accommodation. We recommend booking well in advance to get a good deal.
Some of our recommended accommodation options in London are:
The Walrus Bar and Hostel, The Z hotel in Shoreditch, Point A Hotel, Lime Tree Hotel and the Resident Victoria Hotel. You can see more London hotel listings here on booking.com. We also love the curated apartments available on Plum Guide.
Days 3 & 4: Oxford & the Cotswolds
One of the stipulations of the original question was the wish to avoid feeling too much like a tourist. Unfortunately, this is nearly impossible in Oxford, as nearly everyone there is either a tourist or a student. I lived in and around Oxford for a number of years, and generally felt like a tourist most of that time too.
Part of the reason for that is that this tiny city is absolutely jam packed with incredible buildings, largely in the form of the Oxford Colleges. These are seriously wealthy establishments, who clearly had no problem flaunting that wealth in an architectural fashion back in the day.
This means that yes, it is full of people wandering around, mouths agape, at quite how pretty the whole thing is. Yes, it’s jam packed with tourists. But for good reason!
So strap that camera on and snap away. Then go for a punt on the river, and enjoy some Pimms or a cream tea. Seek out the Harry Potter filming locations. Take a walking tour of the Universities. There’s no shortage of way to fill your time!
Read more tips for spending a day in Oxford, here.
From Oxford you are also well located to take in the incredibly picturesque Cotswolds area – all quaint villages and rolling countryside. The England that everyone imagines England to be like, with country pubs, village greens and cricket ovals. Lovely stuff. Check out hotel prices for Oxford here.
Days 5 & 6: Peak District and Manchester
From Oxford I’m going to suggest heading “up north”, towards the Peak District national park. Think rolling hills, quaint villages, and beautiful walks.
There are also some fabulous stately homes to visit, not to mention that on the way from Oxford you can stop off at Warwick Castle – one of the UK’s best-preserved castles.
Part of the request I was posed asked about the yarn industry in the UK – and Manchester is certainly no stranger to the fibre industry – in the 19th century she earned the nickname Cottonopolis. Plenty here for the yarn enthusiast in you.
Of course, if fibre isn’t your thing there are plenty of other reasons to visit Manchester, including excellent retail therapy and a variety of architectural highlights. Not to mention the music scene! See hotel prices for Manchester here.
Day 7: York
Not that far from Manchester (England is so quaintly explorable!), the city of York is another of my favourite UK cities. From the incredible Gothic York Minster (a climb to the top is highly recommended) to the winding, tumbled down alleyways of the shambles, to the Viking history – this is a city that just cries out for exploration.
It’s also an awesome place if you’re into ghost stories. There are a whole number of ghost walks that take in the spooky past of York, so if you want an evening of entertainment and intrigue, likely accompanied with a number of fine drinking establishments, an evening ghost walk is a great bit of fun. I’m not a great believer in this sort of thing usually, but I took a tour and thoroughly enjoyed it!
If you do plan on seeing a few things in York, you might save money with a York City Pass, which includes most of the attractions in the city as well as access to the York Sightseeing bus or York City Cruises. You can buy that in advance here.
For more York ideas, see our guide to spending two days in York, which has a comprehensive itinerary as well as tips on where to stay and how to get around.
For accommodation, you can check out and book the best York hotels here.
Days 8 & 9: Edinburgh via Northumberland
From York we’re going to wave farewell to England, and head up to Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. On the way though, you’ll be passing through some of England’s least travelled, yet stunningly beautiful, landscapes.
I am of course talking about Northumbria. From miles of deserted beach, to crumbling castles, to the Roman equivalent of the great wall of China, Northumbria really has a lot to offer someone looking for a slightly off the beaten track England experience. The rolling landscapes are breath-taking and you’ll find yourself alone much of the time. Worth taking a bit of time to explore, in my opinion.
Then of course, it’s up to Edinburgh, where you’ll not be short of amazing things to look at. From Edinburgh castle, to Arthurs Seat, from fine whiskys, to Princes Street, there really is enough here for a number of days of entertainment. And if you visit during the Fringe festival… well… plan on being entertained for a good many weeks!
See more ideas on spending some time in Edinburgh in this detailed two day Edinburgh itinerary that I put together, as well as our guide to things to do in Edinburgh, our tips on visiting Edinburgh in winter, and our guide to finding Harry Potter in Edinburgh.
Then check and book your Edinburgh hotels here.
Days 10 – 12: Ireland
Because the UK is an easily explorable place with decent roads and relatively short distances to drive, it is totally possible to include another country – Ireland! – in a trip like this if you’re up for it.
Do be aware that if you are renting a car, some car rental companies have restrictions on taking cars on ferries, or into other countries – so make sure you check before you go as there may be an additional fee to pay.
Of course, you could also fly to Ireland (Edinburgh to Belfast or Dublin for example), and use different rentals for different parts of your adventure!
If all that sounds like too much hard work, you could extend your time in Scotland, or alternatively, you could take in the west coast of the UK, including Glasgow, the Lake District, and Liverpool, as well as popping into Wales for the stunning Snowdonia national park, and rejoin this itinerary in South Wales or Bristol. The choice is yours!
If it is Ireland you want though, it’s a short ferry ride from Scotland (Cairnryan to be precise, which is 2-3 hour drive from Edinburgh) across to Belfast in Northern Ireland, from where you can spend a few days exploring the Emerald Isle.
We have previously travelled from Cairnryan with Stena Line, which has been a fast, comfortable and efficient service. You can book your ferry tickets here.
This part of the world has a lot to offer, and three days is quite a short amount of time. We can recommend spending some time in Belfast and driving north along the causeway coastal route to see such highlights as the Giant’s Causeway, ruined castles and spectacular coastline. Then, head south into Ireland, and see fabulous Dublin.
I’ve explored Dublin and her surroundings, taken a trip down to the Dingle Peninsula, kissed the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle, gazed at the Cliffs of Moher, and visited the Dark Hedges of Game of Thrones fame – to name but a few of our wonderful experience on the Irish Isle.
In Dublin there’s the Guinness Factory, of course, as a popular highlight, but also oodles of Gaelic history and culture to get excited about.
There are also of course the Irish people, well known for their love of a good time! Personally, I’d head on down the coast from Belfast, through Dublin and down to the port of Rosslare, where after three exciting days in Ireland another ferry service will whisk you across to the last of the four countries to make up the UK: Wales!
Day 13: South Wales and Cardiff
In Wales you will arrive either at Fishguard or Pembroke – both excellent places to explore the Pembrokeshire Coast national park. Here you will find beautiful beaches, rugged cliffs, and fabulous opportunities for walking.
You’re also not too far a drive from Cardiff, the Welsh capital. Four capitals in a fortnight – not bad going! Here you’ll find castles, sporting venues and more Welsh based culture than you can shake a stick at. Plus, arrive at the right time of year and you’ll find the Great British Cheese festival in full swing. What’s not to be excited about? Find and book your Cardiff hotels here.
Day 14: Bristol & Bath
From Cardiff you’ll cross the enormous Severn estuary over the impress Severn road bridge and be back in the UK, or Bristol to be precise. Here you’ll find all sorts of interesting items of historical interest, largely running on a nautical theme, as well as some of the best street art in Britain.
For over a thousand years Bristol has been an important English port. From early explorers and traders, to the dark years of the African slave vessels, to filling Australia with immigrants, it is hard to understate the role that Bristol has played in Britain’s sea faring history. There is, after all, a reason for the expression “ship-shape and Bristol fashion” having a place in the English language.
I can highly recommend taking a trip round the SS Great Britain when you’re in Bristol. Built in 1843, and designed by the engineering genius who was Isambard Kingdom Brunel – the man who almost single-handedly revolutionised both engineering and public transport in the UK.
The SS Great Britain is notable as being the first steamer to cross the Atlantic – setting a record pace for the time of 14 days. An amazing bit of history. Note that tickets are slightly cheaper if you book them online, which you can do online here.
For more ideas in Bristol, check out our guide to things to do in Bristol, which should give you plenty of ideas to fill your time. Find the best prices on Bristol hotels and book here.
From Bristol it’s on to the Roman spa city of Bath, a world heritage site. Like Oxford, this is a difficult place to be anything other than a tourist, but it is so worth it all the same!
Day 15: Back to London, via Stonehenge!
Our last day of our just over two week UK itinerary takes us back to London. No trip to the UK though would really be complete without taking in perhaps our most famous monument – the circle of rocks known as Stonehenge.
There is just something about the place that makes you wonder. A circle of rocks, built by a people who had nothing but their hands and some bits of wood to help them out, in the middle of the Wiltshire countryside, hundreds of miles from an actual quarry, is just mind blowing.
Add in the pagan ritualism, the relationship between the rocks and the sun, and the sheer mystery of the place, and you have somewhere that is capable of really capturing the imagination. Worth your time to visit (see more thoughts from a trip to Stonehenge here).
Plus, while you’re there you can pop into Salisbury and enjoy the cathedral, which boasts the highest cathedral spire of any church in the UK.
And then… back to London, where this tour finishes!
2 Weeks in the UK: Road Trip Map
Here’s a map of the route, for your reference.
2 Week UK Itinerary Summary
- Days 1 & 2: London
- Days 3 & 4: Oxford & the Cotswolds
- Days 5 & 6: Peak District and Manchester
- Day 7: York
- Days 8 & 9: Edinburgh via Northumberland
- Days 10 – 12: Ireland
- Day 13: South Wales and Cardiff
- Day 14: Bristol & Bath
- Day 15: Back to London, via Stonehenge!
Can you do this 2 Week UK itinerary by public transport?
A popular question from readers is whether or not this itinerary can be done by public transport. I appreciate that of course not everyone wants to drive in the UK, and the answer, for the most part, is yes.
Certainly, between the major cities on the itinerary there are good rail and/or bus links, with the train usually being a little faster. The main challenge is the rural sections of the route – for example, exploring the Cotswolds, Northumbria or the Peak District. This is possible using local buses of course, but it can definitely slow you down a fair bit, and so you would need to adjust the itinerary a little to fit the schedule.
Another option is to add in some days in London or Edinburgh, and doing some specific day trips from these cities to take in the out of town attractions.
For example, there is this day trip from London that takes in highlights such as Bath and Stonehenge. Then, for Northumbria and the Scottish Borders, including beautiful Alnwick Castle, consider this tour from Edinburgh.
If you are interested in doing this itinerary by public transport, check out my guide to taking a 10 day UK trip by public transport, which as well as a route, has lots lots of ideas for how to book different forms of transport in the most effective and cost-efficient way.
What About Touring the UK With A Tour Company?
Another popular question is whether or not this sort of trip can be done with a tour company, and if we have any companies we would recommend for this.
So you have a few options for doing this which I have outlined below.
The first option is to take a group tour of the UK. There are a number of companies offering small group tours – we’d recommend finding a service which operates tours of 15 people or less. We usually use and recommend Rabbie’s Trail Burners, who operate trips around the UK and Ireland, and have a number of tour options to choose from.
We haven’t found a tour that exactly matches our UK wide itinerary, but we still have a solution for those of you wanting the do a similar trip as part of a guided tour.
First, we recommend you spend two or three days in London, following our suggested London itinerary.
Next, we recommend you take something similar to this small group tour, which takes eight days to take you from London to Edinburgh.
In Edinburgh, you can spend a couple of days following our Edinburgh itinerary, after which you can easily fly to either Belfast or Dublin direct from Edinburgh.
Here you can either explore these lovely cities, or take a tour to explore more of the country, we’d recommend either this three day tour of Northern Ireland or this three day tour of the southern and western coast.
Alternatively, if you’d prefer to skip Ireland, you could take something like this five day tour of the Scottish Highlands and Skye.
Finally, you can either return to London, or have your flights home depart from Dublin or Edinburgh, depending on your tour choice.
The other option is a bespoke tour company and/or a private tour guide, who will be able to put a tour together for you, including guiding, transport and accommodation.
Of all the options, this will generally be the most expensive way to travel, but it will also give you total flexibility in terms of your trip and schedule, plus you’ll have a guide with you every step of the way, taking all the hassle out of your trip.
For this sort of tour, we recommend the services of Robina Brown, who is a blue-badge guide offering tours across the UK. See her website here.
When to Visit the UK
You can visit the UK at any time of year, although for the best weather and longer daylight hours, we’d definitely suggest visiting in the warmer months – from May to September. May is probably our favourite time of year, the weather is usually quite reasonable but the tourist crowds are not too intense.
Christmas, and the period leading up to Christmas, can also be a wonderful time to visit, when the streets and shops are all brightly lit and decorated for the festive season. For a good example of this, check out our guide to visiting Edinburgh at Christmas.
Where to Stay in the UK:
For accommodation, there are a great many options to choose from, ranging from cosy B&B’s through to upmarket hotels, and everything in between. Finding the best deal on your accommodation is an important part of trip planning – helping you to get the most from your budget, as well as find the property that is right for you.
- We’ve tried a lot of booking sites, and nearly always find ourselves using Booking.com. They have an extensive selection of properties, many with no-fee cancellation policies, and often run discounts and special offers. Click on each city title to see their listings: London, Oxford, Manchester, York, Edinburgh, Dublin, Cardiff and Bristol.
- If you prefer an apartment or more of a hosted stay, then we recommend Plum Guide. We’ve tried all the others, and in our experience Plum Guide consistently has the highest quality options for the locations they are available.
- If you can’t find what you want on Plum Guide, or you want some new options to try out, we wrote a whole post on the best alternatives to AirBnB, as well as a guide to our favourite holiday cottage accommodation in the UK, which you should check out!
Between these options, you should find the best prices and places to stay for your trip, as well as a good selection of reviews and feedback to help you make an informed decision.
How to Get Around the UK
For this kind of trip I also obviously recommend that you look into renting a car. We have used and can recommend Enterprise Car Rental, they usually have great rates, especially for one way rentals. We also recommend comparing car prices using a service like Rentalcars.com, which compares prices across a range of providers to help you find the best deal.
A hire car will give you a lot more flexibility than public transport, and prices are generally fairly reasonable. However, if you would prefer to do a trip like this by public transport instead of driving yourself, check out our UK itinerary by public transport for ideas.
Another option for travelling in the UK is to hire a motorhome. Whilst this might not be practical for a city focused trip, you might prefer it if you are planning on visiting more rural locations.
For campervan rental we suggest checking out Motorhome Republic. They offer a campervans from a range of companies at different price points, so you can find the right one for you. You can see their UK listings here.
Further reading for your UK Trip
We’ve got lots of resources to help you plan your trip to the UK, from posts we’ve written ourselves to third party content we’re happy to recommend. Here it is:
- If you want a shorter trip, taking in some more off the beaten path destinations, check out this one week itinerary of the UK that I put together. If you’d prefer not to drive yourself, we also have a 10 day UK itinerary by public transport.
- To prepare for your trip to the UK, we’ve put together a detailed UK packing list which covers both London and the wider UK at any time of year
- This is a self-drive trip, so you should definitely check out our guide to driving in the UK for helpful tips.
- We also have a guide to how much it costs to travel in the UK which will help you cost out a trip like this.
- We have guides to many of the cities and sights in the UK for you to bookmark, including:
- A guide to driving Scotland’s epic North Coast 500, as well as accommodation options on the North Coast 500
- When you’re near Glasgow, you should check out the beautiful Devil’s Pulpit in Finnich Glen
- A two day Edinburgh itinerary & 21 Highlights in Edinburgh
- Edinburgh: Getting off the beaten path
- A Two Day Glasgow and Loch Lomond itinerary
- A guide to 10 of the best Stately Homes in England, to give you some ideas as you plan your itinerary
- For London, we have some detailed itineraries to help you plan your visit. These include a 1 Day London Itinerary, a Two Day London itinerary and a Six Day London itinerary
- The top Harry Potter sites in London
- The Best Photography Locations in London
- Tips on Buying and Using the London Pass
- Eight Things to Do in Kensington
- The Highlights of Oxford
- Our guide to things to do in Cambridge
- Visiting Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds
- 20 Things To Do in Dublin, a 2 day Dublin itinerary and a 3 day Dublin itinerary
- A Guide to Touring the Scottish Borders
- Getting online when travelling in a foreign country can be daunting – check out our guide to getting online when travelling to help you figure out the best options for your trip
- If you’re interested in getting better photos when you travel, take a look at my online photography course, where I’ll teach you everything you need to know about getting better photos – whatever camera you have!
- If you want a physical (or digital!) book to accompany your travels, then Amazon do a good line in UK Travel Guides, and there is naturally a Lonely Planet and a Rough Guide to the UK available.
If you’re planning on visiting a number of historical properties, there are a couple of options you have for saving money as a visitor to the UK. Two main organisations exist to preserve these properties, the National Trust, and English Heritage.
Both of these organisations offer specific passes for visitors to the UK, which represent great value for money for visitors.
For the National Trust you can pick up a National Trust touring pass. This is valid for 7 or 14 days, and gives you access to every National Trust property in the England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For English Heritage, you can get an English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass. This is valid for 9 or 16 days, and gives you access to every English Heritage property in the UK.
Alternatively, you can also buy a full membership to these organisations, which will last a full year. You can buy an English Heritage Membership here and a National Trust membership here.
So those were my thoughts for taking in a slightly longer than two week trip in the UK. I’ve obviously missed out a great number of places, as no two week trip can possibly hope to see everything, but I’d like to think I covered a great many highlights of this truly fascinating country.
As always, if you’ve got any thoughts on this post, do hit up the comments below!
Iskandar Zulkifly Bin Ali says
Hello there ! finding this website was such a blessing for me! i am a student who wishes to travel around UK for 2 weeks before i go outside UK ( around Europe for a month ).
my only problem is, i am studying in london therefore i’m gonna skip london from this amazing itinerary, and am also skipping Scotland cuz i went there last Dec already. which will give me extra days to fill in to make it 2 weeks. would you please help me to suggest places to fill in between the itinerary ? ps; i really really want to see Jurassic coast and cambridge and watergate bay. where should i put these places in terms of best route wise?
thank you in advance for your time !! you got a follower on your ig !
Laurence Norah says
Hi Iskandar!
Thanks for your lovely comment and following on IG! We’ve actually just recently visited Cambridge and written a detailed guide to the city, which will be live on the blog in the next few weeks 🙂
To answer your question, first I have to assume you are driving. If not, this might have to change a bit to accommodate public transport. But I would say I would go from London to Cambridge, then up to the Peak District, Manchester and York. You could then go across to the Lake District if you wanted, then across to Holyhead and to Ireland (if you wanted to visit Ireland). Then south wales, Oxford and the Jurassic coast.
I hope that works for you 🙂 Have a great trip!
Laurence
HANNAH JOHNSON says
This has been an amazing help! If possible, I did want to ask about more recommendations as far as castles/history goes. This is a very close itinerary for what I think we want to do, but I was wondering if you had any more info on what I could add/take away from this list in order to do more of that. Also, we will be departing from the atlanta, GA airport, and returning back to (or starting from) england isnt entirely necessarily. I definitely agree and would take your advice of ending in dublin and returning from there or wales, but im basically trying to avoid flying/ferrying more than need be. What would be your recommendation for doing everything in the UK in one vehicle and then only crossing into ireland once? if that makes sense
Laurence Norah says
Hi Hannah!
So there are a lot of great castles in the UK, and it’s hard to travel anywhere without finding history! Some of my favourite castles are in Scotland and the Northumberland area, and you’ve also got Hadrian’s wall up there. But York has all the Viking history too, and then cities like Oxford or Cambridge have more from the middles ages, Bath has the Roman empire.. So there’s really no shortage of history to find.
If it was me though, I’d spend a bit more time exploring some of the castles in Northumberland like Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh, as well as some in Scotland.
If you want to do everything in the UK that would be possible, just continue from Oxford to Bath and Cardiff, and then head north from there to York. You might want to bypass Manchester in order to get more of the history you are interested in as it’s more of a town that had it’s heyday with the industrial revolution, which might be a bit too recent history for your interests. You could instead add Warwick, which has a popular castle and a lovely town centre.
I hope this helps a bit!
Have a great trip and let me know if I can be of any more help!
Laurence
Hannah says
For sure! Thank you so much.
Maribel says
Hi, I am planning a 2-week trip to Great Britain flying from Mexico City to London. Your post is very helpful. My trip HAS to include the Isle of Man but I do want to go to Edinburgh and Ireland. What do you think would be the best route? Thanks for your amazing post!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Maribel!
Great question, and the first time anyone has asked me about the Isle of Man, which I have to admit, I haven’t been to!
There are direct ferry connections to the Isle of Man from Belfast, Dublin, Lancaster and Liverpool.
So assuming you want to do a fairly similar route, mug suggestion would be to follow the general outline of this trip, but take the ferry from Dublin to the Isle of Man, and then on to Liverpool, instead of from the southern end of Ireland to Fishguard. I think that’s the most logical option.
There are other option too – you could go London -> Oxford -> Liverpool -> Isle of Man -> Dublin -> Belfast -> Cairyan -> Edinburgh -> London.
So up to you really! Have a great trip, and let us know if you have any more questions!
Laurence
Maribel Felix says
Laurence,
Muchas Gracias! I appreciate you advice very much. I will send you an update of my trip on my way back to Mexico.
Laurence Norah says
Please do Maribel – we love to hear back from people on how their trips go, and incorporate feedback into our content to help everyone!
Sara says
Hello! I am planning a 28 day trip in in May 2019. What would you recommend to fill in the extra days? Thank you so much! And thank you for sharing such a lovely itinerary!
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sara! It’s hard to give a precise answer without knowing your interests, but if it was me I would extend my trip up into the northern half of Scotland, perhaps spending 7-10 days driving the North Coast 500, visiting the Isle of Skye and seeing the highlands. You could also head out to the some of the other islands, like Lewis. May is a great time to head up into that part of Scotland.
Other options include Wales or Cornwall, or extending your time in Ireland. There’s so much to see and do, even 28 days will be filled easily!
Nathaniel says
Could I use this itinerary for a school project. You will be credited and cited, obviously. Thank you if yes and thanks anyway if no. This was fun to read, regardless of your reply
Thank you again,
Nathaniel
Laurence Norah says
Hi Nathaniel,
Thanks for asking! Could you e-mail me about this so I get more of an idea of the use? It’s laurence@findingtheuniverse.com 🙂
Thanks!
Laurence
Sam says
We are planning a 3 week trip to UK (2 weeks) and Amsterdam (1 week).. We will fly to Amsterdam from London. We were looking at your 2 week itinerary and wanted to ask what would you suggest instead of Ireland, We only want to visit London, Wales and Scotland start at London and return to London. Family with kids who like a bit of adventure, culture so interested in castles, nature etc. Also would like to visit Whisky distilleries preferably Glenfiddich and Aberlour. Also we will be hiring a car in London and return there. Would really appreciate your suggestions.
Laurence Norah says
Hey Sam,
So my suggestion would be to do a loop from London, similar to that I’ve described here, but instead of going across to Ireland, to head down the west coast of the UK, and then visit the Lake District and Wales on your way down.
In terms of distilleries, certainly, Aberlour and Glenfiddich are achievable from Edinburgh, but you are looking at a three hour drive each way. So you might prefer to visit a closer distillery like Deanston, which is also right next to Doune Castle, which I’m sure your kids will also enjoy 🙂
Hope this helps a bit!
Laurence
Navtej says
Hi, a very helpful article. As I plan my next year travel to Europe after a gap of 15 years…it’s a god send. I propose to spend a few days in Amsterdam-Bruges and then fly to London. Here I catch up with another couple and there 12 year old daughter and plan to drive to Scotland and Ireland. We have a total of 10 / 11 days for this.
Am thinking will cut Wales from my itinerary and which other place would u recommend I skip ?
Many thanks
Navtej from New Delhi, India
PS another slighlty unrelates question : If I fly into London should I take a flight into Amsterdam and the train back from Bruges or is this complicated and expensive?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Navtej,
It’s hard to give specific recommendations as to what to skip as I’m not sure as to your personal interests. If you are more interested in culture / museums etc, then you will want to include more of the cities, and less of the countryside. Conversely, if you are less interested in the outdoors, perhaps leaving out some of the countryside attractions would be a good idea 🙂
Generally my advice would be just to stick to flights as it’s likely going to be easier and probably less expensive. The train though can be a good option if you book far enough in advance, it will just take a little bit longer.
Hope this helps – have a great trip!
Laurence
Leslie says
Four women from Texas will be traveling to the UK in September and wanted to drive (one of us is brave enough to drive on the wrong side of the road). We spend 8 days in London last September with side trips to Bath and a tour to Oxford and Cotswolds and Warwick Castle. We have relatives in Glasgow, so plan to see that area of Scotland. Your information is a Godsend and thank you so much for all your planning. We will let you know how it goes!
Laurence Norah says
Thanks Leslie – please do! We always love to hear feedback as to how our posts help people (or if they need changing, we love to hear about that too!)
Have an awesome trip!
Laurence
Ruth Deane says
A good travel guide to the UK. I know it is difficult to provided a balanced approach due to limited wordage but the emphasis should be on the UK. N. Ireland and its capital Belfast have been sadly neglected in this article and the focus was Dublin which is not part of the UK. Surely something coulf have been added about Belfast and N. Ireland in general. It is a beautiful place. The author did make a reference to the Dark Hedges but associates them with Dublin. Last time I checked they are quite definitely in N. IRELAND. Hope this criticism is constructive. N. Ireland continues to get a bad press but it is a beautiful place and the majority of the people are that bad either.
Ruth
Laurence Norah says
Hi Ruth!
Constructive feedback is always welcome! We’re actually visiting Northern Ireland next week for a week to fully explore Belfast and the Coastal Causeway, and will be updating our content (and creating new content!) to have more information on this part of the UK 🙂 Stay tuned!
Laurence
Craig Grimston says
Thank you!!
September is a perfect month to come to Texas – the weather is perfect then! I’d be happy to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability (I’m not a native Texan – originally from Australia), but there is a lot of great things to do here. Austin and San Antonio are great too.
Thank you for offering to answer any questions! We are going in a group, so I’m sure a lot of questions will come up! I’ll try not to bombard you with them, but I may just hit you with a few! We are planning for somewhere in June to August next year (I plan ahead big time!) and couldn’t be more excited to see your beautiful country!
But please, definitely hit me up with any questions you have about Dallas or Texas. If I can’t answer them, I can track someone down who can!
Thanks!!
Craig
Craig Grimston says
Hi Laurence and Jessica,
I just wanted to say thank you for posting this itinerary. I really wanted to plan a road trip in the UK and after googling about it all I got was a bunch of blogs pointing out all of the negative things and basically saying “don’t bother”!
As I was about to give up and go the typical tourist route, I came across your website. It was exactly what I was looking for! It is inspirational, and put the joy and adventure back into my travel plans.
I’m pretty much going to stick to your itinerary with the exception of Ireland (I wanted to check out the Lake District and Liverpool), so Ireland may have to be a separate road trip!
I have a million questions, but I’m going to spare you of that! LOL. I really just wanted to say a big thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge!
Kindest Regards,
Craig – Dallas Texas
Laurence Norah says
Hi Craig,
Thank you so much, it always means a lot to hear that people are finding our content useful. I think you are making a sensible choice – there is a lot to see on the mainland of the UK, and it’s also less hassle to worry about rental cars and ferries if you leave Ireland for another trip 🙂
We’re happy to answer any questions you have. We’re actually planning a trip to Texas for late September, and will be swinging by Dallas, so may have some questions for you in return!
Have an awesome trip!
Laurence
Vanessa says
I’ve googled “hire car” and it says “rental car.” But on your site here it seems that a rental care and a hire car are different things. What exactly is the difference?
Thank you!
And also thank you for this post – it’s amazing and I think I will definitely base my trip -whenever that may be… – around it. Bookmarking this page!!
Laurence Norah says
Thanks Vanessa! I think in the UK we use the term hire car, wheras in the USA it’s more likely to be called a rental car. But yes, they are the same thing in my mind, you can use the terms interchangeably as far as I know 🙂 Have a great trip, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions at all 😀
Saurabh says
Hi Lawrence, This is a great post! I think I can use some help. We are planning a 2 week trip to UK in August with a 1 year old toddler. What from above or otherwise will be a good itinerary for us. How realistic is it for me to cover what you have listed here? Appreciate any help. Thanks!
Laurence Norah says
Thanks Saurabh! First, I should say that not having kids ourselves this isn’t an area of expertise for us 🙂 However, based on experiences of friends who travel with family, my suggestion would be to probably cut the itinerary in half, and focus on some of the major cities. As it is, it’s quite a busy itinerary, and I think you will have a better time doing a bit less and having the time to really explore some of the cities on the itinerary. So for example, maybe just do England and Scotland, and skip Ireland and Wales. This will reduce your travel, and let you spend a bit longer in each city. I’d also advise finding accommodation close to the city centres and attractions, so at least one of you can go out sight-seeing if one of you needs to stay behind for naps etc. I hope this helps – have a wonderful trip!
sarah says
My husband and I are following this itinerary this summer, flying round trip into Gatwick from Canada. I was looking at the cost of the ferry from Scotland to Ireland and than Ireland to Wales and was shocked at the cost. Do you know of any Ferry discounts?
Laurence Norah says
Hi Sarah – you can try the various ferry search companies like directferries or a1ferries I think they are called. Unfortunately that time of year is school holidays, and there aren’t many companies operating the routes, so the prices go up. You might consider instead flying from Edinburgh to Belfast or Dublin instead, and hiring a car in Ireland rather than taking the ferry, if that is a cheaper option!
Badariah says
Awesome
I am planning for a 2 week get away to UK. Your article helpsss a lot.
Planning to go in mid sept till end of sept
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much – have a wonderful trip!