If you can secure a Caledonian Sleeper Bargain Berth, then London Euston to Inverness by train is pretty good value, as price includes fare, bed and snack breakfast. Tickets go on sale 60 days before journey and are snapped up quickly, especially Friday and Sunday departures. There is no service on Saturday. Perhaps an option for getting back to fly from London - I'm guessing United fly from Heathrow or Gatwick?

I have just checked Pegasus flights at London Stansted and Gatwick - both to and from Istanbul. They appear to be running as normal.
And Turkish Airline flights from both Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen have arrived at Gatwick.

(Yes, I do know London isn't in America. I just put this up in case any British people have queries.)

Added - I've just been to look at Heathrow. Some American airlines flying in and out of IST, on a 'code-share' with British Airways. Mike, you might get a flight out that way.

That flight ban I mentioned applies ONLY to DIRECT flights between Turkey and the USA. As far as I know flights to nearly? all? other countries have resumed. I suspect that this action has a LOT to do with the fact that Gülen is in the USA and we may or may not extradite him to Turkey. The US Consulate in Istanbul has issued a warning NOT to go near the Consulate building today due to an expected demonstration (presumably regarding Gülen).

In most cases your luggage will be checked through to Edinburgh in which case it needs only collecting in Edinburgh. However this is not true of all airlines in which case you will need to collect at Heathrow. You need to check with the airline.
As someone who lives in Edinburgh I often connect through Heathrow/Gatwick and never had to collect my luggage there, mind you it has always been just European travel. At Edinburgh I have never seen a separate conveyor belt for 'international' luggage on an internal flight and often wondered whether this an easy route to avoid custom checks.

If you wish to consider travelling to other Arab countries in the future, and on the same passport, ask them NOT to stamp your passport.

For the benefit of future Thorn Tree readers, can you clarify which ‘’Arab countries’’?

My country too needs (in excess of)one hour to pass through immigration at either Heathrow or Gatwick airports.
I also dream of a time whens our HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force ''are thorough in their questions regarding why/where you are travelling, who you know in their country, and what you are carrying with you.''

The night of the 13th July is a bit of a party night in Paris. All the fire stations have a party for the locals. Jump in and enjoy.

Definitely get between London and Paris by Eurostar. However to go from London to Ams, this can be a good idea by plane on the one condition that you fly from LCY - London City airport (not heathrow, or gatwick or luton or southend or stansted). LCY is in zone 3 and just a 20 minute journey from The City, a dream airport in that it is compact and generally only used by adults. From Amsterdam take the Thalys (tickets are available now for travel in July).

I've done some more research on my questions above, so I thought I'd provide answers to some of my own questions! :-) Most of this has come from The London Toolkit web site (www.londontoolkit.com) which is a terrific source information.

1) Given that we'll need photo ids for a 7-day Travel Card, one of the Visitor Centres at Gatwick, King's Cross St. Pancras, Liverpool Street, Victoria, Euston, Paddington and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 seem to be the best places to get the card in London.
2) I don't have an answer for this one. If nobody else knows, maybe we'll ask when we're at Kings Cross.
3) I think the Travel Card will be available for purchase at Oxford.
4) Yes, you use the ticket slot.
5) It seems the card is valid until 04:29 the morning following the date of expiry.
6) I'm pretty sure my assumption is right.

If anyone has any better answers than mine, I'm more than happy to be contradicted!

Although Kent is "The garden of England", actually many of the leading gardens in the area S of the Thames and outside London are not in Kent, or if they are in Kent, many of them are actually right on the western edge. So a Sussex base may be easier. The leading gardens known to me in this region are se are, to my mind:

Wisley - this is SW of London, just outside the M25
Sissinghurst Castle Garden - This one is in Kent, but not very far into Kent...
Wakehurst Place - in Sussex not far from Gatwick
Nymans - this is a rhododendron specialist so you need to be here at the right time. In Sussex, not far from Gatwick or Lewes.
Bedgebury National Pinetum - the best conifer collection in the country, in Kent, but only just, not far from Sissinghurst. Being a pinetum, it specialises in conifers,
Savill Garden - in Windsor Gt Park, just outside London to the W, not far from Heathrow
Chartwell - another one only just inside Kent, in the far NW corner of the county just off the M25, formerly Winston Churchill's house so interesting historically as well as a lovely garden

Well, I ended up deciding to split the week up. So I have two days in the Medway area, will pick up a car in Canterbury and stay two nights in Chilham to get the village feel and drive around to see the gardens, drop the car back in Canterbury, and then have two more days. But I have to end up at LHR the last day. So I'm thinking of a seaside (south) town with train into London, or maybe somewhere south of Gatwick so I can get there and take the bus to Heathrow. I still have to work out all the transit.
Thanks, all! I'm one of those who has to have everything planned out before I leave, so this was very helpful.

• Month: go for September.
• Hotels: doesn't vary much. London is a year round destination.
• Flights: vary by the hour so impossible to say.
• Location to stay in London: preferably within the circle line. Fire up google maps, zoom into inner London, turn on transit and find a hotel in or close to the yellow (circle line).
• Day trips from London: as already said, forget it, London can last a week on its own.
• Flights to Amsterdam: available from all 6 airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, City and Southend) so take your pick.