United Kingdom

United Kingdom, in a few days

From London to the lochs of the Scottish Highlands, by train and then by car: the map, what is worth booking, everything that costs nothing, travel times, and where to sleep at three budgets.

Day by day

1

London

Days 1-2

A city of nine million on the Thames, where the Tower has stood since the eleventh century and most of the great national museums are free to enter.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Tower of London and the Crown Jewels2h30 · from €35
  A royal fortress, prison and armoury for nine centuries, with the coronation regalia kept under guard inside.
• London Eye at sunset30 min · from €32
  One slow thirty-minute turn of the big wheel on the South Bank, 135 metres up at the top, timed for the last light.

✦ Free to visit

• The British Museum
• Westminster and Big Ben
• Camden Market
• Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace

📲 Book things to do in London on GetYourGuide

2

Edinburgh

Days 3-4 · 🚆 Train 4h30

The Scottish capital, built over extinct volcanoes. The medieval Old Town and the Georgian New Town face each other across a valley, and are UNESCO-listed together.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Edinburgh Castle2h · from €22
  The fortress on Castle Rock, home to the Honours of Scotland, the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles.
• Scotch whisky tasting2h · from €30
  A guided tasting that sets the smoky malts of the islands against the softer ones of Speyside.

✦ Free to visit

• The Royal Mile and the Old Town
• Walking up Arthur's Seat
• Calton Hill
• Dean Village

📲 Book things to do in Edinburgh on GetYourGuide

3

The Highlands and Glencoe

Day 5 · 🚗 Car 2h30

Mountains, lochs and empty glens, with Glencoe the most dramatic of them. Fort William, at the foot of Ben Nevis (1,345 m, the highest peak in the UK), is the base for the rest.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Ben Nevis and Glencoe day tourFull day · from €55
  A day through the western Highlands, with stops in Glencoe and at the foot of Ben Nevis.
• The Jacobite steam train and the Glenfinnan ViaductHalf day · from €60
  The steam train from Fort William to Mallaig, over the curved viaduct made famous by the Harry Potter films. It runs in the warmer months only and sells out early.

✦ Free to visit

• Glencoe
• Loch Lomond
• Steall Falls
• Highland villages

📲 Book things to do in The Highlands and Glencoe on GetYourGuide

4

Isle of Skye

Days 6-7 · 🚗 Car 1h45

The largest island of the Inner Hebrides, joined to the mainland by a bridge since 1995. Basalt pinnacles, sea cliffs, and weather that can turn in ten minutes.

🎟️ Worth booking

• Skye tour: the Old Man of Storr and the QuiraingFull day · from €65
  A day around the Trotternish peninsula, its rock pinnacles and its great landslip, without driving the single-track roads yourself.
• Seal-watching boat trip1h30 · from €35
  A short trip out to the rocks where common and grey seals haul out, with seabirds overhead.

✦ Free to visit

• The Old Man of Storr
• The Fairy Pools
• The Quiraing
• Neist Point and its lighthouse

📲 Book things to do in Isle of Skye on GetYourGuide

Worth sorting before you go

Train first, then a car · London to Edinburgh takes about four and a half hours by train. From there, hire a car for the Highlands, and remember that the whole country drives on the left.

📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly

🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta

🚗 Car hire
Compare the agencies before you land.
Compare · Booking

💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut

🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer

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Flavours & local habits

🍽️ Worth tasting

• Fish and chips: white fish fried in crisp batter, with thick chips, salt and malt vinegar.
• Sunday roast: roast meat with potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, the long pub lunch of the weekend.
• Full English breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes and toast. North of the border it becomes a full Scottish, with black pudding and often haggis.
• Haggis: sheep's offal, oatmeal and spices, served with neeps and tatties (mashed swede and potato).
• Shepherd's pie: minced lamb under a baked crust of mashed potato.
• Cream tea: scones with jam and clotted cream, a tradition of Devon and Cornwall.

⚠️ Best avoided

• Skip the crowded pubs around Leicester Square: expensive, and rarely good.
• Look right first when you cross the road: traffic drives on the left.
• On Tube escalators, stand on the right and leave the left for people walking up.
• Do not pay to enter the national museums: most are free, with a donation box at the door.
• On single-track roads, pull into passing places to let others by, and never park in them.

Words that help

✈️ Flight delayed by 3 hours or more, or cancelled? You may be owed up to €600. Check your flight on AirHelp.

The practical page

Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/uk

Packing checklist

Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.