London
Five or six nights, walking and the Tube, one day out to Windsor or Bath. Hotels are the budget line; I'll tell you which neighborhood earns its rate.
Destinations
Britain is three trips. Pick one.
Britain is three different trips wearing one passport stamp. London is a city week. Scotland is a driving trip with a distillery in it. The Cotswolds and the coast are for people who want to walk to dinner. I'll help you pick one — or pair Scotland with Ireland, if that's the trip you've been picturing.
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01 — Which one
Three trips
Scotland
Edinburgh, then a car north: Highlands, a distillery or two, St Andrews if it's golf. Single-track roads and long summer light.
The countryside
The Cotswolds, the Lake District or the Cornish coast. Rail in, a car for the days between villages, dinners you can walk to.
02 — Clear support
How it actually works
What I do
Rail in England, a car in the Highlands.
The UK entry authorization sorted before you fly.
London hotels chosen by neighborhood, not star count.
August in Edinburgh planned a year out or avoided.
Be reachable when the train strike hits.
What I don't do
London plus Scotland plus the Cotswolds in nine nights.
A rental car in central London.
Leave the ETA for the airport.
Book Edinburgh in August without knowing it's Festival month.
03 — Two islands, one trip
Pairing with Ireland
Scotland and Ireland pair well: Edinburgh and the Highlands, a short flight to Dublin, then the west coast. Twelve to fourteen nights does it without rushing.
London and Ireland pair less well — they're different trips with a flight in the middle. If London is the point, give it the whole week.
04 — The travel day
Getting there from Columbus
- 01
The flight
One stop to London or Edinburgh, overnight, through Chicago, Washington, New York or Toronto. Dublin nonstops from Cleveland or Indianapolis are the back door to Scotland.
- 02
Entry
US visitors need the UK's electronic travel authorization: a small fee, an app, usually approved in minutes. It's on my checklist.
- 03
The first day
You land early. A walk, lunch and an early night beat the Tower of London on no sleep.
05 — Questions, answered
Before we begin
06 — Begin