Is this a good UK trip plan?

I'm planning a trip to the UK with my family and a couple of extended family members (so like 6-ish people probably), and want to know if any bongbros or experienced travelers think this is a good starting plan.
>Day 1-3 in London
>Day 4 quick visit to Canterbury and White Cliffs of Dover
>Day 5 Cambridge
>Day 6 Peak District National Park
>Day 7 York
>Day 8 Newcastle and Northumberland Coastal AONB
>Day 9 Edinburgh
>Day 10 Cairngorms National Park
>Day 11 Loch Ness and then a drive through Loch Lommond National Park
>Day 12 Glasgow and a drive through the Lake District National Park
>Day 13 Snowdonia National Park
>Day 14 Cardiff and Bristol
>Day 15 Bath and Stonehenge

I know it might seem like a lot of stuff in such little time, but it's hard to plan something that is longer due to everyone having a different schedule. Keep in mind I'm not looking for a super deep dive into any particular city, just kind of seeing the big landmarks like castles and checking things off of my bucket list like drinking at a real Scottish distillery, etc.

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  1. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Also, alternatively, I was thinking to cut out maybe Newcastle and make Edinburgh a 2-day visit. And then also maybe spend some time in Cardiff and then skip Bristol altogether and just go straight o Bath.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      skip glasgow

  2. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    You're not wrong this is an extremely rushed itinerary, I'm assuming you'll be hiring a car for the entire time to do this?
    If I were you I'd get rid of the following
    >White cliffs of Dover
    Only really with it if you're coming in on the ferry from France, Dover is boring and you won't get a particularly good view of the cliffs to make it worth the trip
    >Newcastle
    Just stay in a b&b in some village in Northumberland, it's a seldom visited area so if you put the kids to bed and go to a local pub you'll probably make some friends quickly
    >Cardiff and Bristol
    Neither of these places are particular interesting for a family trip, you'd have a better time in the Cotswolds I think

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Thanks for the response. Yes, we'll be renting 2 SUVs or 1 large passenger van for the majority of the trip, besides London where we will just buy bus/tube passes. It's been very hard to get everyone's vacation times lined up and if it were just me going I'd spend a good month there.

      Ok so we'll cut out Cardiff and Bristol and do the Cotswolds AONB and maybe Oxford instead. The same goes for Newcastle.
      Also, do you think Oxford or Cambridge are worth visiting anyway? They both have very old universities but I'm not sure that's really worth stopping for.

      I'd honestly skip Dover and even Stonehenge if I could but my parents insist on it because of their own bucket lists. And the only reason we're visiting Snowdonia is that my family lineage is from the little village (Blaenau Ffestiniog) inside the park apparently.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Seconding that this is a very packed itinerary. Consider breaking it up a bit into hubs where you stay somewhere that's less than an hours drive from a few days worth of activities. A bit more flexibility if you want to see more/less of a place.

        Ask everyone to name something they want to do, especially outside of London, you don't want people getting bored or someone sulking because they really want to do one particular thing (easy for preferences and requests to get missed in larger groups).

        Plan what you want to do for certain areas, for example, Peak district has Bakewell, Chesterfield, the plague village, loads of trails and walks and Alton Towers (biggest theme park in the UK). National parks are less singular parks and more wide areas of natural beauty so often just driving to them and stopping in a random place can mean you miss out.

        For Dover, go to the National Trust car park and take a trail or you can check out a tour. There's also Dover Castle that'll help fill a day

        Newcastle I'd struggle to recommend as a general touristy area, Liverpool seems more popular with tourists for some reason so you could do that as an alternative city (does mean more of an unbroken drive to Scotland though).

        The Welsh cities are a bit meh, you could however do the Brecon Beacons if you want to go somewhere nice and say you've been to wales.

        A lot of the UK is very seasonal, it's got a reputation for being grey and miserable for a reason. From Autumn to the start of spring, you've a very high chance of it being overcast, cold and wet and Spring to Summer is also no sure thing for brighter weather. Expect things to get very busy during kids holidays (late July to start of September, weeks either side of Easter and Xmas)/

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Oxford is worth a visit just for the Ashmolean alone, if you like museums. The city centre is quite interesting to wander around as well, and everything is pretty compacted so it doesn't take long to do so.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >do you think Oxford or Cambridge are worth visiting anyway?
        One of them for sure, if you can get a contact who studies there maybe through couchsurfing or something you can look around all the collages for free, otherwise you have to pay to get in which is a bit shit
        Not necessary to do both though

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        >Also, do you think Oxford or Cambridge are worth visiting anyway? They both have very old universities but I'm not sure that's really worth stopping for.

        If you're travelling to the UK from somewhere far, they're both definitely worth visiting for a day. Just walking around them is interesting.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Stone henge is a fricker to get to purely because of traffic on a road not made to accommodate it. Do Oxford for like an afternoon. It’s just a university town really

  3. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    This is insane, unless you love driving on motorways then you need to remove some stuff. I’d suggest scrapping the following:

    >Canterbury and white cliffs of Dover
    >Newcastle
    >Glasgow
    >Cardiff

    I live in Cambridge so could offer advice on what to do for a day there. It’s definitely not the be all and end all for UK.

    Cairngorms are amazing for being isolated in the UK and doing mountaineering. I’m not sure what I’d do there for a day. If I had never been to Scotland then I’d consider checking out the highlands and Skye.

    Bristol is nice but why are you going there for a couple hours? Great place to live but I’m not sure what you’d get out of driving through it. Bath is good for tourists, as is York.

    Lots of the places you’re going would benefit from other hobbies (e.g. Peak District is great for climbing, mountain biking - Lake District even better)

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Also agree with this guy on dropping Glasgow, it's really not a great city and you'll have seen the rest of the Scottish worth seeing elsewhere on your trip

  4. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    It's also important to know where you're coming from, if it's West coast US for example bare in mind you're gonna be pretty jetlagged for the first few days and especially if you have young kids they might be being pretty grouchy rushing around so much

  5. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Oxford is more interesting than Cambridge, but you can easily fit in both in a day depending on what you want to do there. Oxford to Cambridge train is about 2 hours.

  6. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    [...]

    Given what you've said regarding your parents insisting on certain stuff and what you're willing to drop I'd suggest the following revision

    >Day 1-3 in London
    >Day 4 quick visit to Canterbury and White Cliffs of Dover (stay over in London early start tomorrow)
    >Day 5 Peak District National Park
    >Day 6 York
    >Day 7 Northumberland Coastal AONB (stay over here)
    >Day 8/9 Edinburgh
    Chose one day of 10/11/12 to spend an extra night in and just relax
    >Day 10 Cairngorms National Park
    >Day 11 Loch Ness and then a drive through Loch Lommond National Park
    >Day 12 Snowdonia National Park
    >Day 14 Cotswolds OR Oxford (I would suggest Oxford as you'll have seen a lot of countryside by this point)
    >Day 15 Bath and Stonehenge

    Furthermore you could maybe choose to do just one of Cairngorms or loch Lommond if you want to save another day and not take it so quickly

  7. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Spend 2 days in Cornwall.

  8. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    Look I know the UK is a small country relative to places like the USA, but you still need to account for travel time. You have to remember we don't have big Autobahns or 6 lane highways, best you're going to get is the 3 lane M1 that's constantly full of traffic and roadworks.
    > Day 1-3 London
    Assuming you arrive the day before and sleep, this is doable if you have a short list of things, ie. go on the tube, see 3 or 4 museums/galleries, visit some landmarks in central London, etc.
    > Day 4 Kent
    > He doesn't know about the M25
    I'm assuming you're driving, you need to set aside a couple hours to get from London to Canterbury. The road you will be on is chock full of trucks on their way to France and you have to go through the cursed M25. Add in another half a day to go to Dover and back, only an hours drive one way from Canterbury provided good traffic conditions. Honestly Id give yourself like 2 days for Kent.
    > Day 5 - Cambridge
    Ngl its going to take you best part of 3, maybe 4 hours to get there from Canterbury (M25 again), definitely need more time
    > Day 6 - Peak District
    Yeah, no. Just getting to Derby/Notts is going to take a couple hours, and once you get into the Peak District proper 1. the roads are shite, 2. you're guaranteed to get lost at least 4 times. If you want to do any walking and not just drive through you need like 3 days or something.
    > Day 7 - York
    Honestly just skip the Peak District and do the Yorkshire Dales if you intend on going to York over Manchester, in the UK going East <-> West is a pain as there aren't many good direct roads that way, especially up North. York is small enough you can do it in a day (good luck finding parking ;p)

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      > Day 8-9 - Newcastle + Edinburgh
      Most of these days will be spent driving, and Edinburgh has a lot of shit to do, curious as to why you allocated 3 days to London and not also to Edinburgh.
      > Day 10-11 - A bunch of Scottish national parks in the middle of bumfrick nowhere
      You ARE aware of where Loch Ness is, right?
      > Day 12 - Going down the M6
      Probably my least favourite major road after the M25. Also considering you are going to Snowdonia/Cardiff and then Bristol I'm assuming you will be headed for Gloustershire via both Manchester and Birmingham. Have fun is all I can say.

      You need to at least double your estimated times to make this manageable. Considering you said you have family along with you triple is as its guaranteed not everyone will be ready to be up at 7AM and on the road every day to make any of this possible.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      > Day 8-9 - Newcastle + Edinburgh
      Most of these days will be spent driving, and Edinburgh has a lot of shit to do, curious as to why you allocated 3 days to London and not also to Edinburgh.
      > Day 10-11 - A bunch of Scottish national parks in the middle of bumfrick nowhere
      You ARE aware of where Loch Ness is, right?
      > Day 12 - Going down the M6
      Probably my least favourite major road after the M25. Also considering you are going to Snowdonia/Cardiff and then Bristol I'm assuming you will be headed for Gloustershire via both Manchester and Birmingham. Have fun is all I can say.

      You need to at least double your estimated times to make this manageable. Considering you said you have family along with you triple is as its guaranteed not everyone will be ready to be up at 7AM and on the road every day to make any of this possible.

      I appreciate the reply. It's not that I thoought the UK was small, I just kind of based the travel times off of what Google Maps gave me when I looked the destinations up. I suppose that didn't account for traffic really. We did mainland Italy a few years ago in a similar manner and we got to most of the major spots save for Venice which was out of the way, but I really shouldn't have assumed it would be similar I guess.

      > Day 1-3 London
      >Assuming you arrive the day before and sleep, this is doable if you have a short list of things, ie. go on the tube, see 3 or 4 museums/galleries, visit some landmarks in central London, etc.

      Yeah we are doing one of those hop-on hop-off double-decker bus tours to see the major landmarks in central London. Unfortunately I think for the most part we will try to stay away from museums because my dad will literally sit there all day and fully read every single entry. I'm assuming something as huge as the British Museum would take like a week to fully see.

      As for the rest of your response I definitely am taking a lot of that into consideration. We're definitely cutting out some of that stuff, probably similar to this revised plan

      [...]
      Given what you've said regarding your parents insisting on certain stuff and what you're willing to drop I'd suggest the following revision

      >Day 1-3 in London
      >Day 4 quick visit to Canterbury and White Cliffs of Dover (stay over in London early start tomorrow)
      >Day 5 Peak District National Park
      >Day 6 York
      >Day 7 Northumberland Coastal AONB (stay over here)
      >Day 8/9 Edinburgh
      Chose one day of 10/11/12 to spend an extra night in and just relax
      >Day 10 Cairngorms National Park
      >Day 11 Loch Ness and then a drive through Loch Lommond National Park
      >Day 12 Snowdonia National Park
      >Day 14 Cotswolds OR Oxford (I would suggest Oxford as you'll have seen a lot of countryside by this point)
      >Day 15 Bath and Stonehenge

      Furthermore you could maybe choose to do just one of Cairngorms or loch Lommond if you want to save another day and not take it so quickly

      that this other anon suggested. So Cardiff, Cambridge, Newcastle, Bristol, and Glasgow will all be cut out and that should save us at least a little time. Additionally we will spend another day in Edinburgh.

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Are you arriving & departing from the same airport?

        Have you considered using a train to get from London to Bath?

        You can also get the train from London to Salisbury, and from there you can get a taxi or bus to Stonehenge. If you do thris on a Saturday or Tuesday you can also visit the outdoor market: https://www.visitwiltshire.co.uk/salisbury/shopping/salisbury-charter-market-p438893

        Personally I would use London as a base and use trains to visit Southern England.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Yes, we're arriving and departing from the same airport in London. We might end up using a train to get to London from Bath but since we're using a rental car we will have to see whether or not there is a place we can drop it off in Bath.

          >London
          British museum, tate Britain, V&A, Highgate cemetery.
          >Canterbury
          Meh. I'd spend more time in Edinburgh and drop this.
          >Peak District
          Shitter version of others but the drive over snake way is fun
          >York
          Chavvy shit tip
          >Scotland take the detour to drive back down the west coast through Glen coe and Rannoch moor. Probably the most beautiful drive in the UK. I'd swap the cairngorms for Glen Coe or Skye.
          >Snowdonia
          Tryfan is the most fun - snowdon is the most epic but there's a train line and a cafe on top which ruins the summit feels.
          >Cardiff
          Don't waste your time - spend the day in Puzzle Wood and the wye valley.
          >Bristol
          Stick around Clifton. Cheddar gorge is cool if you're in the area. For the last two you'd be better off in the cotswolds or just spending longer in Bath.
          >Bath
          Pretty cool way to end the trip. Stonehebge is iconic but be warned its just some rocks in a field. It's only worth the trip when it's surrounded by horny druids on mushrooms.

          I'll have to look into Puzzlewood and Cheddar Gorge, those both look great. And interestingly enough I've actually heard of Cheddar Gorge because that's where Tolkien's Battle of Helms Deep/Hornburg was inspired if I'm not mistaken.

          >London
          British museum, tate Britain, V&A, Highgate cemetery.
          >Canterbury
          Meh. I'd spend more time in Edinburgh and drop this.
          >Peak District
          Shitter version of others but the drive over snake way is fun
          >York
          Chavvy shit tip
          >Scotland take the detour to drive back down the west coast through Glen coe and Rannoch moor. Probably the most beautiful drive in the UK. I'd swap the cairngorms for Glen Coe or Skye.
          >Snowdonia
          Tryfan is the most fun - snowdon is the most epic but there's a train line and a cafe on top which ruins the summit feels.
          >Cardiff
          Don't waste your time - spend the day in Puzzle Wood and the wye valley.
          >Bristol
          Stick around Clifton. Cheddar gorge is cool if you're in the area. For the last two you'd be better off in the cotswolds or just spending longer in Bath.
          >Bath
          Pretty cool way to end the trip. Stonehebge is iconic but be warned its just some rocks in a field. It's only worth the trip when it's surrounded by horny druids on mushrooms.

          >York
          >Chavvy shit tip
          my experience as a tourist there did not reflect this

          Some people will get lucky but it's a universal small town experience in the UK.

          Depends on how many tourists are around I suppose. I lived nearby and was never impressed with York - always got a distinct tracksuit vibe.
          [...]
          It's not a bad place to visit but compared to other places on the list its tier C at best. Bath is nicer.
          [...]
          It's one of the most beautiful pieces of woodland in the world which is why it's used for filming so regularly. Stonehenge is boring as shit, hands down the dullest attraction in the UK.

          Yes, even if it might be a little grimy I do definitely want to see York. From what I've looked at it has almost all of the old walls intact and it seems like a ton of the city is still fortified, which is really fascinating. Plus I can tell all my American friends that I've been to Old York!

          • 1 year ago
            Anonymous

            >Yes, we're arriving and departing from the same airport in London. We might end up using a train to get to London from Bath but since we're using a rental car we will have to see whether or not there is a place we can drop it off in Bath.

            Many cities like Bath have a "park and ride" > https://travelwest.info/park-ride#bath-1

            Don't listen to the other guy about Stonehenge, it's worth seeing just to say you've done it. Salisbury Cathedral is just down the road.

  9. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    UK is not a big country but that's way too much driving, you're not accounting for delays, finding car parks and so on.

    I would skip Dover, Cardiff & Bristol. If you want to save time, just see York in Northern England, concentrate on London, Oxford, Bath & the south, then Scotland. Use York as a rest stop on the way to Scotland.

    If you're doing Stonehenge, why not Salisbury and its cathedral, it's a stones throw away. A better day would be 1) Stonehenge 2) Salisbury 3) New Forest, end the day in a nice New Forest pub.

  10. 1 year ago
    Anonymous

    >London
    British museum, tate Britain, V&A, Highgate cemetery.
    >Canterbury
    Meh. I'd spend more time in Edinburgh and drop this.
    >Peak District
    Shitter version of others but the drive over snake way is fun
    >York
    Chavvy shit tip
    >Scotland take the detour to drive back down the west coast through Glen coe and Rannoch moor. Probably the most beautiful drive in the UK. I'd swap the cairngorms for Glen Coe or Skye.
    >Snowdonia
    Tryfan is the most fun - snowdon is the most epic but there's a train line and a cafe on top which ruins the summit feels.
    >Cardiff
    Don't waste your time - spend the day in Puzzle Wood and the wye valley.
    >Bristol
    Stick around Clifton. Cheddar gorge is cool if you're in the area. For the last two you'd be better off in the cotswolds or just spending longer in Bath.
    >Bath
    Pretty cool way to end the trip. Stonehebge is iconic but be warned its just some rocks in a field. It's only worth the trip when it's surrounded by horny druids on mushrooms.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >York
      >Chavvy shit tip
      my experience as a tourist there did not reflect this

      • 1 year ago
        Anonymous

        Some people will get lucky but it's a universal small town experience in the UK.

        • 1 year ago
          Anonymous

          Depends on how many tourists are around I suppose. I lived nearby and was never impressed with York - always got a distinct tracksuit vibe.

          Canterbury meh? Ignore this chud.

          It's not a bad place to visit but compared to other places on the list its tier C at best. Bath is nicer.

          >Puzzle Wood
          If you describe Stonehenge as rocks in a field I fail to see how Puzzle Wood isn't sticks on a track

          It's one of the most beautiful pieces of woodland in the world which is why it's used for filming so regularly. Stonehenge is boring as shit, hands down the dullest attraction in the UK.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      Canterbury meh? Ignore this chud.

    • 1 year ago
      Anonymous

      >Puzzle Wood
      If you describe Stonehenge as rocks in a field I fail to see how Puzzle Wood isn't sticks on a track

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