2 weeks England, Ireland, Scotland Itinerary

Including the travel time, this 2 weeks England, Ireland Scotland itinerary is a more like 17days itinerary with 2 days of travel and 15 days of sightseeing.

Even in this short span, there is more to England, than London and more to Scotland than Edinburgh. 2 weeks in the UK / 2 weeks in England and Scotland or 15 days in UK and Ireland are not enough but then, if that’s the time you can get off work, this itinerary will the perfect itinerary to see these 3 countries.

Month: July, # of Days: 17 days, Countries: England, Scotland and Ireland

Itinerary: This 2 weeks England Ireland Scotland itinerary starts at England as we wanted to fly in and out of England and to save on visa costs for Ireland. There is no additional Irish visa needed when entering from Northern England but if one were to directly fly into Ireland, visa for both UK and Ireland is needed separately.

Ireland + UK Itinerary 2 Weeks or 15 days in UK and Ireland 

England: 7 Days (London, Cotswold, Warwick, Stonehenge, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon with stay at Cotswold and Wimbledon)

if you are looking for a UK itinerary with 2 weeks in England and Scotland, you can spend more time in London and plan to visit some other places like Brighton’s pebble beach or Harry Potter’s day tour if you’re into it. You can also stay on the Isle of Skye for couple more days in that case.

Day 0: Flight to London, Reach in the evening and settle in

Day 1: Day at leisure: Visit London eye visit during sunset; London bridge, Canary wharf

Day 2: Day Tour to Legoland

Day 3: London Sightseeing including Tower of London specifically the Jewel House to see the Crown Jewels and St. Paul’s Cathedral. If you’re planning for 2 weeks in the UK or 2 weeks in England and Scotland, you can take your time to visit each of these places.

Day 4: Buckingham Palace Change of Guards ceremony (11am to 12noon), Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament Square

While most of the people do see the change of guards ceremony, I would not recommend it. With small children in tow, on a summer afternoon, jostling for a view of the movement of guards within the Buckingham Palace with no historical significance per se, is not my idea of a holiday. The timing makes it quite horrible and there is really not much to the ceremony. To manage a decent view, you will anyways have to reach at least 30minutes prior which with small children isn’t a great idea.
Optional: You can head for Hamleys from there to do some toy shopping for kids. Hamleys has always been a real favourite of mine with their innovative toys and games

Day 5: London Zoo and Lord’s Cricket Ground (Take the guided tour conducted by one of the staff in Lords for interesting trivia and fun). If you are planning to spend 2 weeks in the UK, London Zoo is a must. Although one can find equally good Zoo in US, Singapore and Australia, if you don’t live in either of these countries, you will surely enjoy it.

Optional: You can end the day with Lion King Show at the Lyceum Theatre at 7:30pm. Its better to book in advance especially during tourist season.

Day 6: In a self drive car, drive from London to Cotswold, visiting Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon and Stonehenge on the way.
Notes: Visit Stonehenge in the morning so you can beat the crowd.
Stratford Upon Avon is the birthplace of Shakespeare so choose as per your interest. Similarly, for us just walking through a great university which is still functioning was a nice experience and a very personal one so Oxford can be skipped based on interest.

We chose to stay at Cotswold since we wanted to do one farm stay. If you have a UK itinerary of 2 weeks, you can spend more time in the lap of nature as Cotswold is known as one of the most quaint places on earth.

Day 7: We spent some time in the farm, then visited Warwick Castle on our way back to London.

Overnight Train from London to Edinburgh

Next leg of our 2 weeks England Ireland Scotland itinerary or 15 days in UK and Ireland itinerary was Scotland.

You can also check out our Turkey travels – 15 days Turkey adventures.

Scotland: 4 Days (Edinburgh, Inverness and Isle of Skye)

In Scotland even in summers, its dark by almost 6pm in the evening.
Especially in places like Isle of Skye the market closes by 6pm and so in case you need to pick up any essentials or grocery for kids make sure to pick them up on the way or before that.

Day 8:  Reach Edinburgh. Check in and Freshen up. Edinburgh Hop On Hop Off for local sightseeing including Edinburgh Castle, Scotch Whiskey Heritage Center and other landmarks.

Optional: In the evening stroll along the Princess Street and shop for Tartan and shortbreads.

Day 9: Inverness – Drive (Self drive car) to Urquhart castle, shores of loch ness, Inverness and Glenfiddich distillery. The drive is around 4.5hrs one way.
Overnight stay in Inverness. Inverness is largely wilderness.

Day 10: Isle of Skye – Drive to Portree, rock formations at Trotternish ridge including Old Man of Storr, Cuillin mountains and Eilean Donan castle. The drive is around 4hrs one way. The day we went to Isle of Skye, it was raining and extremely foggy, so we were not able to see the rock formation at Trotternish ridge so well. However we did not have buffer days to stay one more night and see them the next day.

Overnight stay in Isle of Skye. There are some really cozy B&B options in both Inverness and Isle of Skye which are fantastic when staying with kids.

Day 11: Isle of Skye to Edinburgh drive and Edinburgh to Dublin by flight

Optional: If it works for you, you can take the Jacobite (Howard’s Express train) that passes by the via-duct

Ireland: 4 Days (Dublin Sightseeing, Cliffs of Moher, Wicklow)

Day 12: Visit to Dublinia for a unique viking and medieval experience. It has a lot of activities for children and keeps the kids and adults engaged equally.

Day 13: Cliffs of Moher, City of Limerick (Viking history tales), tiny town Doolin (local music, Irish pubs)

Day 14: Wicklow’s countryside – Powerscourt estate (most famous homes and gardens) and traditional village of Bray

Day 15: Local Dublin sightseeing through Dublin Hop On Hop Off. If you are not hiring a self drive vehicle in Ireland, this is a great way for sightseeing the city. This HoHo has 30 stops including Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse and Dublin Castle.

Day 16: Flight back from Dublin to London and London to home