Hilton HHonors - London-Scotland intinerary help

Need some advice for a family trip this summer. Daughter is looking into a 3 week study abroad trip to London-we are thinking about meeting her there and tacking on our family vacation at the end of her coursework (myself, husband, and college student brother). We will have 9 or 10 nights to spend. I am trying to maximize potential use of AXON 4 night stay awards. I would like to spend 4 nights in London and possibly 4 at Hilton Dunkeld in Scotland. This leaves 2 days. I also thought about taking the train from London to Edinburgh, renting a car for the trip to Dunkeld, 4 nights in Dunkeld and then a stopover for one night on the way back to Heathrow or Gatwick prior to our flight home. Is this do-able? Is it woth the drive up to Dunkeld? Any suggestions welcome!

I'm very interested in seeing the responses to this. I booked a week in Dunbartonshire Scotland and another week in Devon England with 5 days between when we would like to see London. We'd need two rooms in London.

After that, I completely stalled with my planning, especially when I saw the summer airfares.

Sheila

Scotland is a beautiful place, and time there is well-spent I'd say. Seems like you are considering several nights in the countryside (Dunkeld, which I've never seen but I hear is nice). What about spending more time in Edinburgh? It deserves at least a couple days to visit the castle, the Royal Mile, etc. Both Hiltons there are acceptable (although not remarkable), and walking around the city is easy enough.

Alas, I have not driven to Dunkeld, but don't see much of an issue getting there by car. Warning: the highway from London to Edinburgh is a long day's drive. Note: the closer you are to London, the more difficult driving becomes (because of the crowded round-abouts and just sheer volume of cars - particularly to be avoided in rush-hours). I'd plan on staying overnight at whichever airport Hilton you are leaving from in order to avoid morning rush (i.e., Heathrow Hilton or Gatwick Hilton - Gatwich is very easy to walk to terminal).

The train is also a nice idea, and makes sightseeing along the way easy, but you definitely need a car to see the countryside of Scotland. Just be sure to request automatic, unless you are more talented than I am with your left-handed shifting.

In fact, what about just getting a train or flight to Edinburgh from London, driving from there around Scotland and then hopping back on a train or flight back to the airport of your choice to London from Edinburgh when you are ready to leave? This would avoid the potential nightmare of London traffic altogether, and Edinburgh airport is MUCH more manageable in terms of getting in/out and around! Note: flying into and out of London can be like flying into and out of NYC airports in terms of logistics.

In any case, have fun.
:D

It is very do-able. However you might not have the greatest time driving in or out of London. I agree with the previous poster on the train or a cheap flight to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
I have driven in the UK and find it to be fun driving "backwards". That said the Scot countryside is definitely worth driving in. You want to get a VERY good map showing ALL the roads and what designation they are. The B & C roads are a trip all to themselves. Also check out Historic Scotland and the National Trust for discounts and passes on access to the historic sites.

We've done a couple of all-over-Britain roadies. I used to live there and have taken family back a couple of times.

My basic take on hotels in the UK is probably counter to a lot of advice you'll get here: I avoid the big American business hotels. They are either (a) bland, or (b) extremely expensive. In London, I suppose I might do an AXON for convenience sake. In Scotland, there are so many awesome B&B's throughout the countryside that I'd never consider using my HH points. Even in Edinburgh - lovely city, by the way - I'd go with a B&B or other boutique hotel.

Driving isn't really a problem once you get used to it. We always got a rental car for maximum flexibility. On a 2-week trip to the UK, we'd usually pick up and drop off the car in central London at one of the many rental agencies throughout the city. Basically, for our in-London time, we'd have no car - use trains to get to/from the airports. The only recommendation I'd give is to arrange your pickup outside of rush hour. One time I found a place open at 7AM on a Saturday...picked up the car then, and had no problem zipping out of London to the highways heading north.

Catch the train up, but book it 2-3 mths ahead if you can. A first class round trip, travelling off peak is available London-(Kings cross) to Edinburgh for £69.00.this includes seat assignments and refreshments...and takes just over 4hrs. DON'T travel on a Sunday, as this is when Engineering work is undertaken. If you try and book on the day, it could cost you OVER £300 and you could even end up standing!!! Booking a hire car locally in Scotland is well worth it. an inclusive weekend rental should be about £100.00
Don't even THINK about driving in London... I would suggest leaving London on a thursday............. Enjoy!! Oh, & the Hilton at Edinburgh airport is more like a Motel..........

Concur with the above. We did the train to York (stayed two nights) and carried on to Edinburgh. I had to phone GNER to get the cheap tickets - maybe now they are available online but they weren't in 2004 for foreigners. You can pick them up at the machine in the station. For us it was worth it to get a family rail card. We did open-jaw award tickets and just flew back home from Edinburgh via London. We did four days in the city and one driving around to Stirling and tracking down the ancient family hovel. Gorgeous countryside - would love to go back and see the Highlands.

Deleted

SO I leave it to the OP - if you want HILTON advice please post your Hilton questions, otherwise it's turning into a Britain tour thread and I'll move it to the appropriate forum.

thanks

squeakr
MOD Hilton

SO I leave it to the OP - if you want HILTON advice please post your Hilton questions, otherwise it's turning into a Britain tour thread and I'll move it to the appropriate forum.

thanks

squeakr
MOD Hilton

Ok agreed, but back to the original request. I have visited Dunkeld House for 14yrs on business and pleasure. It was originally the country seat for the Earl of Strathmore. Stakis Hotels Ltd leased it and Hilton, when buying Stakis, aquired it. Quite recently, it has been aquired by some Israeli guys but is managed by Hilton, still! At weekends they have a dinner dance, attended by locals, so bring you kilt if you have one!

It's fantastic, purely relaxing in beautifull Perthshire countryside and yards away from the best river in Scotland, the Tay!
In many acres of grounds you can, fish, shoot, archery and 4 wheel drive or just spend your time walking for hours in the woodland. The leisure complex is good and I have spent many an hour looking out of the window in the Sauna whilst the snow has come down. Been snowed in on two occasions!
It's an hour half drive from Edinburgh max. but you can also catch the train to the small station in Dunkeld.
You won't be disapointed in visiting this hotel but please remember it is a Country theme not a City theme!!!

PS You can ask for the river view suites with original four poster beds - guaranteed to impress the Ladies ;)