DIY UK Tour after Greek Cruise

We will embark on a month-long vacation in Summer 2018; begin with a Greek cruise and then spend 4 days in Rome post-cruise. Having spent 10 days in Rome and Athens this past June, I am pretty comfortable with the planning aspect of this part of the trip.

Below are what I have planned so far for the other part of our trip. I would like to get opinions of those who have done what we plan to do, or those who live there and have suggestions/feedback. TIA!

After Rome:

• Fly to Heathrow for 4 days/3 nights. Half of our group wants to visit "London". Me personally, my preference is outside of the city of London. I have already booked an apartment in the Pimilco area, but am reconsidering. I found another place in Brentford; high riser with unbelievable views of Kew Gardens, Windsor, etc..
  
  • Would like to hear from anyone familiar with Brentford and whether our plan is doable. My main questions are (1) how easy is the drive to Bath/Cardiff and parking and (2) any Americans/Canadians (or anyone who are unfamiliar with driving on opposite side of the road) experience driving on the opposite side of the road.
    
  • Shuttle/taxi from Heathrow to Brentford.
    
  • Day One: Rest
    
  • Day Two: The group who wants to visit city of London via South Ealing line.
    
  • Day Two: Rent a car to drive to Windsor/Costwold area one day.
    
  • Day Three: Rent a car to drive to Bath/Cardiff/Stonehenge another day.
    
  • Day Four: Fly to Dubln
    

  [*]Fly to Dublin for 5 days/4 nights. Rent an automatic car. One less thing to worry so that we can focus on driving on the correct side of the road. :-)

  • Drive from Dublin to Cashel. Overnight at B&B.
    
  • Drive from Cashel to Killarney, with a stop to visit Blarney Castle. 2 nights stay at B&B.
    
  • Drive the Ring of Kerry
    
  • Drive from Killarney to Shannon with a stop to Cliffs of Moher. Overnight at B&B.
    

  [*]Fly from Shannon to Edinburgh for 4 days/3 nights.

  • We rented an apt on the Royal Mile. I read that it is easy to go from Edingburgh airport to Royal Mile???
    
  • Day One: Royal Mile
    
  • Day Two: Part of the group will go to St Andrews Golf, while the other half will head off to Northnumberland castle. Is it better to rent a car or take a train to either these two locations?
    
  • Day Three: Royal Mile
    
  • Day Four: Fly to London
    

  [*]Fly to NYC and spend time there before making our way home.

Edinburgh there is a new tram system linking airport to princes street

Royal mile involves up hill walk from there or take taxi from Waverley train station nearby

Not sure what you mean by Northumberland castle

Do you mean Alnwick castle where Harry Potter was filmed?

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Edinburgh there is a new tram system linking airport to princes street

Royal mile involves up hill walk from there or take taxi from Waverley train station nearby

Not sure what you mean by Northumberland castle

Do you mean Alnwick castle where Harry Potter was filmed?

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Yes Alnwick Castle. My bad!

Is Waverly Station where the tram stops? We can definitely take a taxi from there. Although the apt is about 1 1/2 blocks from the station.

Brentford is right on the M4 which is a motorway (toll-free) and the main route from London, past Heathrow to Bath. Driving on the 'wrong' side is a lot easier on a divided highway, but when you get near Bath you will be on local roads and Bath itself is very congested. Personally, I would go by train - direct from Ealing Broadway. By the time you add up the cost of a hire car and the (expensive) fuel, the train, especially if booked in advance, will be cheaper and easier. Bath has a fairly good HoHo bus to get you around or you could just walk.

The same road takes you to Cardiff, but again, a train would be a lot more convenient.. you could hire a car when you get there

This then begs the question of why you are returning to London in between. You could easily find a nice B&B in Bath and go to Cardiff in the morning or stay in Cardiff (which would be cheaper)

 

This then begs the question of why you are returning to London in between. You could easily find a nice B&B in Bath and go to Cardiff in the morning or stay in Cardiff (which would be cheaper)

I didn't factor in that fuel is much higher in UK than US. Good advice.

As for the London question, 1/2 of the group wants to see the central london tourist stuff (i.e. Buckingham Palace, etc). My family personally wants to see Stonehenge, Bath and Cardiff, and maybe Windsor Castle. I was trying to find a happy medium. We have to return to LHR for our flight to Dublin.

Why Brentford? It seems to offer few advantages in terms of the areas either half of your party want to visit.

I'd go further west, outside Greater London, but where your London party can still get in quite quickly by train and those going west have a head start. Cardiff to Brentford will take at least two and a half hours, so I agree with Bob that heading back to London from there makes little sense.

But I feel I must be missing something about your choice of Brentford?

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Edinburgh there is a new tram system linking airport to princes street

Royal mile involves up hill walk from there or take taxi from Waverley train station nearby

Not sure what you mean by Northumberland castle

Do you mean Alnwick castle where Harry Potter was filmed?

 

 

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Yes Alnwick Castle. My bad!

Is Waverly Station where the tram stops? We can definitely take a taxi from there. Although the apt is about 1 1/2 blocks from the station.

The tram stops near the Waverley station

Edinburgh not the easiest city to drive round and geography means roads to Northumberland either follow coast road which is lot longer or narrow roads over hills

I think it would be easier to get train to Alnwick and get local taxi to castle

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Just one question OP......

Why London twice. Would you not fly Rome to Dublin, then carry thru' your itinerary as posted, except tag London and environs on to the end of your trip. You will then be in London area for the nights prior to your flight back to NYC.

• fly from shannon to edinburgh for 4 days/3 nights.
  
  • we rented an apt on the royal mile. I read that it is easy to go from edinburgh airport to royal mile???
    
  • there's an express bus (x100) from the airport to the city centre and the tram which as others have said is a fairly recent thing. The bus will stop closer to the Royal Mile and also has dedicated luggage space so I'd go with that. Price is the same. The Royal Mile is very long however (well it's a Scottish mile) so where exactly will you be as it may be that a taxi is the best option? You can pre-book (I can give details if you want)
    
  • Day one: Royal mile. this is fine for a day as there's plenty to see. But there is so much more to Edinburgh than the Royal Mile. Edinburgh is where JK Rowllng lives and where she based most of the locations for Harry Potter - including Hogwarts- so it's possible to do a Harry Potter walking trail. I cannot imagine why you would drive all the way down to Alnwick which is in effect a country house when you have edinburgh castle with all its history on your doorstep. I'm probably biased. It is possible by taxi, train and taxi to get to alnwick but that would take longer so better to rent a car
    
  • day two: Part of the group will go to st andrews golf, while the other half will head off to northumberland castle. Is it better to rent a car or take a train to either these two locations? train to St Andrews isn't straightforward because it doesn't have it's own railway station but buses connect with the train at the nearest station so it still works out quite cheap and pretty fast. There's also a bus direct from Edinburgh which is fast and which I'd probably do. They probably know they have to book well in advance to play on the Old Course but if they haven't already booked there's the option of the draw 48 hours in advance or of playing one of the other courses or just taking a walking tour of the Old Course.
    
  • day three: Royal mile - like I said there's so much more to Edinburgh than just the Royal Mile
    
  • day four: Fly to london
    

  [*]fly to nyc and spend time there before making our way home.

For some reason when I posted this, it changed all my capital letters to lower case so I apologise for the poor grammar. I tried to change it but it kept changing back so it may be sorted....... or it may not!!

Another interesting visit in The Royal Yacht 'Britannia' which is decommissioned and now open to the public in Leith. (a quick bus trip from Edinburgh). Worth seeing if only for the 'Us' and 'them' sleeping arrangements.

Check out the Day Tickets on the bus in Edinburgh. Very good value!

Alnwick hasn’t had a railway station for almost 50 years. You need to get a train to Alnmouth, which is about an hour from Edinburgh, then take a taxi or bus.

The earlier you book train tickets the cheaper they are. Cheapest tickets are made available 12 weeks before date of travel.

Just one question OP......

Why London twice. Would you not fly Rome to Dublin, then carry thru' your itinerary as posted, except tag London and environs on to the end of your trip. You will then be in London area for the nights prior to your flight back to NYC.

In honesty, just bad planning on my part

Why Brentford? It seems to offer few advantages in terms of the areas either half of your party want to visit.

 

 

 

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Brentford was pick for no particular reason other than the apt we are looking at is pretty cool.

For some reason when I posted this, it changed all my capital letters to lower case so I apologise for the poor grammar. I tried to change it but it kept changing back so it may be sorted....... or it may not!!

I agree there is more to do than the Royal Mile. Any suggestions?

Another interesting visit in The Royal Yacht 'Britannia' which is decommissioned and now open to the public in Leith. (a quick bus trip from Edinburgh). Worth seeing if only for the 'Us' and 'them' sleeping arrangements.

 

Check out the Day Tickets on the bus in Edinburgh. Very good value!

Thanks!!!

Why Brentford? It seems to offer few advantages in terms of the areas either half of your party want to visit.

 

I'd go further west, outside Greater London, but where your London party can still get in quite quickly by train and those going west have a head start. Cardiff to Brentford will take at least two and a half hours, so I agree with Bob that heading back to London from there makes little sense.

 

But I feel I must be missing something about your choice of Brentford?

 

 

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Do you have any suggestions on cities/towns I should look into?

I agree there is more to do than the Royal Mile. Any suggestions?

The Royal Mile in Summer is the magnet for tourists so tends to be incredibly busy. I would advise booking tickets for Edinburgh Castle and The Palace of Holyroodhouse if you intend visiting both or either. On the Royal Mile itself you've got the Scotch Whisky Experience (payable entry), St Giles Cathedral (free), Real Mary King's Close (payable, underground museum showing what life was like in Edinburgh in Middle ages,) Camera Obscura

• Edinburgh has lots of interesting galleries if you like art - Modern Art, Royal Scottish Academy, National Gallery of Scotland, Portrait Gallery to name but a few
  
• The Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith has already been mentioned. Leith is just an area of Edinburgh and 15 minutes from the city centre.
  
• I would climb Calton Hill at the end of Princes Street for great views of the city centre and various quirky / interesting sites.
  
• We have an amazing museum - Royal Museum of Scotland. It is just off the Royal Mile, as is the Greyfriars Bobby Statue, Greyfriars Kirk, the Elephant House cafe where JK Rowling looked out at the school which would provide inspiration for Hogwarts.
  
• I like just people-watching in Princes Street Gardens and climbing the Scott Monument.
  
• The Botanical Gardens are worth a visit to get some peace and quiet and great views
  
• Visit the pubs on Rose Street for a few drinks
  
• Shop in Jenner's on Princes Street
  

I know these all sound a bit vague but without knowing your interests it's hard to be more specific.

The Royal Mile in Summer is the magnet for tourists so tends to be incredibly busy. I would advise booking tickets for Edinburgh Castle and The Palace of Holyroodhouse if you intend visiting both or either. On the Royal Mile itself you've got the Scotch Whisky Experience (payable entry), St Giles Cathedral (free), Real Mary King's Close (payable, underground museum showing what life was like in Edinburgh in Middle ages,) Camera Obscura

 

• Edinburgh has lots of interesting galleries if you like art - Modern Art, Royal Scottish Academy, National Gallery of Scotland, Portrait Gallery to name but a few
  
• The Royal Yacht Britannia at Leith has already been mentioned. Leith is just an area of Edinburgh and 15 minutes from the city centre.
  
• I would climb Calton Hill at the end of Princes Street for great views of the city centre and various quirky / interesting sites.
  
• We have an amazing museum - Royal Museum of Scotland. It is just off the Royal Mile, as is the Greyfriars Bobby Statue, Greyfriars Kirk, the Elephant House cafe where JK Rowling looked out at the school which would provide inspiration for Hogwarts.
  
• I like just people-watching in Princes Street Gardens and climbing the Scott Monument.
  
• The Botanical Gardens are worth a visit to get some peace and quiet and great views
  
• Visit the pubs on Rose Street for a few drinks
  
• Shop in Jenner's on Princes Street
  

I know these all sound a bit vague but without knowing your interests it's hard to be more specific.

Thank you for the wonderful advice, esp about booking tickets ahead for the Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyroodhouse. We arrive about noon on Wed and fly out around 11am on Saturday. This would give us about 2 1/2 days to sightsee.

Wed afternoon: Roam around Royal Mile / Princess Street

Thurs: Half of our group wants to visit St Andrews golf. The other half (which I am a part of this group) thought about going to Alnswich Castle. However, not sure if this is doable from Edinburgh. Calton Hill is a possibility. Is this something easy to do, or will we need to find a tour guide.

Fri: Visit Edinburgh Castle and Palace of Holyroodhouse

Sat: Fly to London

DH and I personally like to do things that locals do. We are only do the touristy thing because of my in laws.

Do you have recommendations on pubs and restaurants, prefererably those frequented by locals rather than us tourists?

Alnwick hasn’t had a railway station for almost 50 years. You need to get a train to Alnmouth, which is about an hour from Edinburgh, then take a taxi or bus.

 

The earlier you book train tickets the cheaper they are. Cheapest tickets are made available 12 weeks before date of travel.

Is this doable in one day?

Have you considered doing Dublin as the last part of your tour? In my opinion it's the best airport in the British Isles to fly from when travelling to the US. You can clear US Customs and Immigration in Dublin airport which saves a lot of time queuing after a 5.5 - 6 hour flight.

Have you considered doing Dublin as the last part of your tour? In my opinion it's the best airport in the British Isles to fly from when travelling to the US. You can clear US Customs and Immigration in Dublin airport which saves a lot of time queuing after a 5.5 - 6 hour flight.

Unfortunately we already bought plane tickets. I was not aware of this about Dublin - learn something new each day.

I do have a question - I do not fully understand what you mean by clean US Customs and Immigration in Dublin? You mean I would not have to go through Customs again in US? In the US we have Global Entry, so clearing customs is pretty quick and easy.

Unfortunately we already bought plane tickets. I was not aware of this about Dublin - learn something new each day.

 

I do have a question - I do not fully understand what you mean by clean US Customs and Immigration in Dublin? You mean I would not have to go through Customs again in US? In the US we have Global Entry, so clearing customs is pretty quick and easy.

The other way around - if you clear in Dublin on your way here you don't have to do it again. This doesn't matter anyway since you are coming from Rome.

 

• Fly to Heathrow for 4 days/3 nights. Half of our group wants to visit "London". Me personally, my preference is outside of the city of London. I have already booked an apartment in the Pimilco area, but am reconsidering. I found another place in Brentford; high riser with unbelievable views of Kew Gardens, Windsor, etc.
  

how easy is the drive to Bath/Cardiff and parking and (2) any Americans/Canadians (or anyone who are unfamiliar with driving on opposite side of the road) experience driving on the opposite side of the road.

Sample return train fair pp to Bath £54.50. Sample train fare pp Brentford > Cardiff > Brentford would cost around £100, These might be reduced by playing around with dates and times, but may well go up next year.

• 
  
  • Shuttle/taxi from Heathrow to Brentford.
    
  • Day One: Rest (Why not visit Windsor in the afternoon?)
    
  • Day Two: The group who wants to visit London via South Ealing line. (Note - the City of London is what you would call 'downtown' - but does include the Tower and Tower Bridge)
    
  • Day Two: Rent a car to drive to Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath area one day.
    
  • Stay in Bath for the night.
    
  • Day Three: drive to Cardiff/Cotswolds/Brentford next day.
    
  • Day Four: Fly to Dubln
    

Is this doable in one day?

I’ve done a day trip to Edinburgh from Alnmouth, so no problem. We caught a train about 9am and came back about 6pm. It was however Christmas, so didn’t spend as long in edinburgh as we could have, too cold!!

 

My suggested itinerary:

• 
  
  • Shuttle/taxi from Heathrow to Brentford.
    
  • Day One: Rest (Why not visit Windsor in the afternoon?)
    
  • Day Two: The group who wants to visit London via South Ealing line. (Note - the City of London is what you would call 'downtown' - but does include the Tower and Tower Bridge)
    
  • Day Two: Rent a car to drive to Windsor/Stonehenge/Bath area one day.
    
  • Stay in Bath for the night.
    
  • Day Three: drive to Cardiff/Cotswolds/Brentford next day.
    
  • Day Four: Fly to Dubln
    

This makes a whole lot more sense than what I already planned!!! Flying out of Cardiff to Dublin probably would've been cheaper as well.

I am researching how difficult it is for Americans (or anyone not used to driving on the opposite side of the road) to drive in UK.

As for car insurance, I am told my credit card company they cover the CDW and we would not have to purchase add'l insurance. I will need to research this further.

As for Windsor, I didn't know it is doable in one afternoon. Good suggestion!