r/TravelUK

Hi everyone,

My girlfriend and I are coming to the UK in the last week of May. We’ll land at Stansted Airport and stay for 5 days / 4 nights total.

We’ve already visited London before, so this time we also want to see Edinburgh. At first we thought about trains or flights, but train prices seem insanely expensive, and even though flights can be cheap, we started thinking that doing it as a road trip could actually be a much more fun experience.

We haven’t fully decided on the route yet, but we’re thinking about stopping in places like Cambridge, York, or maybe other nice towns/villages/nature spots along the way. Part of the appeal for us is seeing beautiful scenery and smaller places during the drive.

A few questions:

- Is this realistically a good idea with only 4 nights?
- Would you personally recommend doing London to Edinburgh by car?
- Which route would you recommend for the best scenery and stops?
- Are there any must-see towns/villages/nature spots on the way?

A few more things I’m wondering about:

- It will be my first time driving on the left side of the road. Is it something you get used to quickly, or should I avoid this idea completely?
- I have a driving licence with English texts on it. I assume that should be fine for renting?
- We’re thinking about renting directly from Stansted and returning the car there at the end of the trip.
- Maybe another option could be driving all the way to Edinburgh and dropping the car there instead (I assume there’s an extra fee for that?).

About rentals:

- Are there rental companies I should avoid?
- Any common scams/hidden fees to watch out for?
- When booking through sites like Booking or Kayak, are those usually the final prices, or should I expect a lot of extra costs?
- How does insurance usually work in the UK? Is basic insurance normally included?

And also:

- Will parking be a problem during stops or in Edinburgh?
- Is one full day + one night in Edinburgh enough to enjoy it properly before driving back?
- Or would you suggest spending less/more time there?

We don’t necessarily have to spend all 4 nights on the road trip itself. Depending on the plan, we could still spend another day back in London before flying home from Stansted.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer even some of these questions :)

Hello all, i’m going on my first vacation to ireland-> wales-> england(on a very tight budget)

i will be going to wales for 3 days, i would like to experience the welsh culture and language.

where would you guys recommend?

All suggestions would be appreciated:)

Hello,

I plan on making a trip to the UK from America this fall as I would like to visit Scotland and also work my way over to England too see my favorite team, Manchester United, play at Old Trafford. Given I am visiting 2 seperate countries I was planning on going through a travel agent but I have searched the sub and cant find a consensus best agency to help me. Any help/advice would be wonderful and thank you.

I’m planning to go to the UK for my honeymoon this July, I have a few questions kindly bear with me
Will the upcoming elections make any hassles for us? Do I need to be wary of things? Please share them

My plan is the following so far, any tips and suggestions are welcome:
-Flight to London, take the train to Edinburgh, stay 5 days there
-Rent a car in the last day, go to Glasgow for 2 days
-Head back south with the car (this part is still not properly planned yet, if there are must visit places along the way let me know please!). Although I want to visit York (maybe 2 days)
-Drop the car at York and take the train back to London, stay 5 days

Hot weather is our enemy, we are planning to stay 2-3 weeks, there is room for more stuff to do.

I have never visited Scotland but I wanna visit this June/July. Dont have a specific location in mind but anywhere with mountains would be great.

what are the accommodation options if I want to spend up to 100£ per night?

Hi! I’m 27F. Solo traveller from Canada. Looking at visiting the Coswolds for 5 days (Mon-Fri). Not interested in Bath (visited already).

I’m really struggling to get a general consensus of what area to stay in… I’m open to either hotels or Airbnbs. Not super concerned about price points. Just want a lovely relaxing time. Main interests are sights (houses & churches), and great food! Not sure if I should rent a car or just take the train in?

Open to any and all recommendations!!

Im going to the UK for two months and am not sure what card i should use. I only have a cash app and i heard that Wise is good for switching currencies, but i dont know if im meant to use another card after that?

If I were to visit England what are the place I should visit and go

HelloI'm trying to book tickets from liverpool wine to london houston on the direct avanti train on august 4th. Train.com house of tickets, and they're quite expensive even though they're advance tix. But a body doesn't have any tickets after july 31th first. I bought the ticket the other way around for july 30th 4 days ago. Not sure what to do. Should i wait for avanti to show that they have the advanced tickets. . This is for people with the two together rail card.thank you

Hi all, flying from Gatwick in June with a 5am departure. Planning to use the Official Long Stay car park and need to be at the terminal by 3:30am.
I’ve read online that the shuttle runs 24/7 every 10–12 minutes, and that during off-peak hours (midnight to 5am) you need to press an intercom at the bus stop to request a pickup.
Just wanted to hear from anyone who’s actually done this at that kind of hour did the intercom work? How long did you wait? Was there any issue or did it all go smoothly?
Also arriving back at 11pm any issues with the shuttle on the return at that time of night?
Pre-booking in advance any tips on whether the official Gatwick site or a comparison site (Holiday Extras, APH etc.) gives better value for a 4-night stay?
Any help appreciated, thanks! 🙏

driving from Colchester to Edinburgh any advice on a half way stop maybe overnight stay

In the new year my family, which will include a 4 year old and an infant, are planning a long haul flight departing Heathrow. We live on the East Coast main train line and on balance I think I would prefer to travel to and from London by train.

Our flight will be an overnighter so I think it makes sense to travel down earlier the same day, whilst leaving a generous buffer, rather than getting a hotel the night before. Either way we would have a wait at the airport, but it would be quite a lot longer if we travelled down the night before.

In an attempt to offset some of the discomfort I am shoot to budget a first class ticket to try and promote our comfort a little bit. However, as my eldest will only be 4 years of age, she travels for free without a seat reservation (baby obviously doesn’t need a seat!). If it’s not prohibitively expensive I am happy to get a ticket for my older child so she gets a reservation.

Would this be an ok option with two young children? We obviously won’t let them make too much disruptive noise if we can help it, but it would be a bit taboo to travel in First Class with two young children? Has anyone else ever done anything similar?

Traveling to Ireland and the UK this summer and trying to dial in my day-to-day carry setup for sightseeing days. I’m a 50s guy and normally would just use pockets or a backpack, but I really don’t want to carry a backpack all day walking around Dublin, Edinburgh, London, trains, etc.

For the guys here who travel in the UK regularly:
Do slings look normal/common there for men?

Do you keep wallet/phone in the sling or still use front pockets?

Any issues with pickpocketing on trains or Tube when using one?

Is an 8L sling overkill for daily sightseeing?

Trying to balance comfort, practicality, and not looking like an overprepared tourist. Appreciate any advice!

Hello! A friend and I are going to London in a few days and were wondering if you can recommend us some must do/see places? And if you have any suggestions about restaurants/pubs/clubs etc in/around Camden we would greatly appreciate it!

Currently planning a family trip to the UK and France for summer 2027. Our kids are 16 & 20. Looking for recommendations on places to stay in and around London. We are looking at spending 4 days in London to see the typical sites Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey etc before continuing over to France for another 4 days. Planning on only using public transportation to get everywhere. Anyone have any suggestions on places to stay? Hotels, Airbnb, short term rentals etc. Any tips and suggestions are appreciated.

My husband and I are finally getting to take our honeymoon to London and the surrounding areas. However, we don’t want to leave our 6 year old for that long, so he is coming with us. If we wanted a night out alone, are there any nanny services available?