England and Scotland

If you are interested in natural sites, castles and food Cornwall springs to mind.

In a certain sense, it isn't enough time to see either England or Scotland. What it is enough time to do is to see certain focused areas of the country, and you could include focused areas from both England and Scotland if you chose, or you could choose focused areas in just one or other of the two.

But bearing in mind that most of what is interesting in Scotland lies in the central lowland belt and further north, it is worth remembering that it is a journey of 400+ miles from anywhere in the more southern parts of England, which will take pretty much whole day in each direction to drive, a not very restful drive given the generally crowded nature of Britain's long distance roads, even in Scotland.

That tends to suggest that if you want to include areas of both England and Scotland in your itinerary, and noting that you have already seen some classic sights of southern England, you might want to focus on some areas of northern England. And having made that decision, the airport you rent a car and drive out of might be better selected as one in northern England, or indeed one in Scotland - you'll get better flight frequencies from London to Edinburgh than just about anywhere else, and it is a conveniently located airport.

So - tour of Yorkshire? Lots of castles, lots of nice scenery, lots of pretty villages, especially in the hillier areas, huge variety of scenery from flat agricultural plains to high limestone moorlands to craggy coasts, including the only gannetry accessible to the tourist in all England near Flamborough head. Possibility of detour to Lake District - if you have the flexibility you can check the weather forecast first, it is the wettest place in all England - so better if you can delay that into September. Or else Northumberland for more fine coast, (but too late for the puffins), castles and Hadrian's Wall. And a bit of Scotland. The best of the scenery is in the Highlands, but the villages and castles are often better in the east. For me the very best of the scenery is in the NW Highlands, but those are a long way even from Edinburgh. Remember that the festival occurs in Edinburgh in August, and this fills all the acomm in Edinburgh and nearby for its duration, check when it runs.

If you are a real castle freak, the best castles of all are in N Wales. An English/Welsh tour would also be perfectly feasible, indeed easier. Areas of England adjacent to Wales are some of the nicest parts of the country to explore for pretty villages, obscure castles, and little known scenic areas.

http://www.the-cotswolds.org/

Am sorry #1 but no matter how delightful Cornwall certainly is - it is certainly hell in the Summer and also a long tedious drive on poor roads after Central Devon.

Delightful places often ignored by the masses include the mid-Welsh coast and Snowdonia - great for castles also, The ancient city of Lincoln. Northern Yorkshire and Northumbria come readily to mind.

I was born here over 70 years ago and know where to avoid in August.

I would recommend that you explore the delights of Scotland another time - the Northern part is stunning, the Central Lowlands, except maybe Edinburgh and Stirling are not generlly considered remarkable except NW of Glasgow.

Just a further thought - have you considered flying in to Manchester or Birmingham - there are many regional airports which have great connections thru Schipol - look at KLM's schedules - this could save you a ton of aggro and is probably cheaper..

Yet another further thought - why didn't I think of it before - fly into Humberside from Schipol and start in lovely Roman Lincoln.

Edited by: Grahamapoole

Edited by: Grahamapoole

Got to agree with above on Snowdonia/North Wales Castles, in fact South Wales has some great castles and scenery as well.

Also surprised that by title "England and Scotland", Op ruled out Wales - the best part of the UK for castles!

Also agree with Grahamapoole's suggestion about flying into a regional airport - I'd add Newcastle upon Tyne as a possibility, ideal for Tyneside itself (industrial heritage, Tynemouth Priory / Castle, Roman sites & museums), Sunday market in Tynemouth Metro railway station, Hadrian's Wall (east end), Durham, York (a bit further south) and only an hour south of Edinburgh. Having also lived in Birmingham (with a good airport, with airport railway station), I consider it very under-rated, particularly by people who've never been there - lots of canals, industrial heritage, Jewellery Quarter etc, near to Shropshire for Ironbridge (birthplace of industrial revolution), Long Mynd ancient earthworks, Ludlow & Clun Castles etc.

I have to agree. You should spend much of your time in Northern England, from South Yorkshire on up into Scotland. Northern Wales is so worth visiting. I love castles, abbeys, quaint villages, and lovely countryside. You'll find that and more in this area. If you plan to visit lots of castles and abbeys, you might want to consider purchasing an English Heritage pass and overseas visitors can get a reduced admission good for 9 or 6 days.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/
There are so many places to visit that English Heritage takes care of. You could plan a trip solely around these sites and have a wonderful vacation.