British Isles by Train

London — Bath — York — Lake District — Edinburgh — Ireland

This itinerary was developed and conducted many times as a guided tour, visiting the major destinations, provided here so you can follow it independently. Detailed guides to each destination are linked in the headings.

England is covered by train on the Intercity express network, while Ireland is best done by private hire van on guided group tour, or rental car for independent travel.

London

Three days in one of the world's great cities is barely enough, but with a clear plan it covers the essentials. The West End makes the best base — within walking distance of Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Covent Garden and the theater district of Shaftesbury Avenue.

A morning walk through St. James and Piccadilly, the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and an afternoon on an open-top bus to see the broader sweep of the city covers Day One well. Day Two opens up for the British Museum, the South Bank, the Tower of London or whatever appeals most. Day Three is free.

Bath

Bath is the finest Georgian town in England, built entirely in warm cream-colored limestone around the original Roman baths that gave the city its name.

The Royal Crescent and the Circus are two of the most harmonious pieces of urban design in Europe. The Roman Baths museum is one of the best in the country.

Cotswolds daytrip

The second day is ideal for a trip into the Cotswolds — Bibury, Bourton-on-the-Water, Castle Combe and the surrounding villages are within easy reach.

Alternatively, Stonehenge and Avebury make a compelling half-day in the opposite direction.

York

York is the best-preserved medieval town in England, still enclosed within its original 13th century walls, which you can walk in their entirety.

The Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in England and the stained glass alone is worth the journey.

The Shambles, one of the narrowest streets in Europe, leads into a network of pedestrian medieval lanes lined with independent shops.

The National Railway Museum, the Jorvik Viking Centre, and the Castle Museum fill any remaining time.

Lake District

Base your stay at Windermere, with the fells, lakes and stone-walled sheep pastures of the national park on all sides.

A half-day excursion by van tour or rented car takes you into the heart of the landscape — Grasmere, Dove Cottage where Wordsworth lived and wrote, Coniston Water and the quieter northern valleys.

A cruise on Lake Windermere is one of the most peaceful hours available anywhere in England.

Edinburgh

Scotland's capital divides neatly into two cities: the medieval Old Town along the Royal Mile, running from the Castle down to Holyrood Palace, and the Georgian New Town laid out in the 18th century as one of the first planned cities in Europe.

The National Gallery of Scotland on Princes Street holds one of the finest collections of Old Masters outside London.

Three nights allows a full day for an excursion to the Scottish Highlands — the route to Loch Ness passes through some of the most dramatic landscape in Britain.

Ireland

Galway, Dingle, Killarney, Kinsale, Dublin. Fly to Dublin from Edinburgh. From Dublin airport, travel west by private hire van in a tour, or rental car.

Galway

Galway is the gateway to Connemara, one of the wildest and most beautiful landscapes in Ireland — mountains, bog, rock walls, abandoned stone cottages and the Atlantic always in view.

Kylemore Abbey, set dramatically at the base of a mountain above a lake, is the most visited building in the region.

A day trip to the Aran Islands, reached by ferry from Rossaveel, adds prehistoric stone forts and a way of life that changed little in centuries.

Dingle

Dingle is a fishing port on the Atlantic coast of County Kerry, set at the head of a sheltered harbor. The town of Dingle itself is small, friendly and unpretentious.

Brightly painted pubs and craft shops line the main streets, and traditional music plays most evenings. The town is the gateway to the Slea Head loop, a coastal drive past cliffs, beehive huts and early Christian sites.

The Dingle Peninsula combines early Christian monuments — the 6th century Gallarus Oratory is remarkably intact — with the most spectacular coastal scenery in Ireland.

The drive around Slea Head and over the Connor Pass, with the Atlantic breaking far below, is one of the great drives in Europe.

Killarney

Killarney sits at the edge of Ireland's first national park, a 10,000-hectare landscape of lakes, ancient oak woods and the country's highest mountains. The town itself is lively and walkable, with traditional pubs and music.

Muckross House, Ross Castle and Torc Waterfall lie within easy reach, accessible on foot, by bike or in the horse-drawn jaunting cars that have carried visitors through the park for generations.

Kinsale

Kinsale is a small harbor town on the south coast, an hour below Cork. Narrow streets of brightly painted shopfronts climb from the waterfront, lined with seafood restaurants that give the town its reputation as Ireland's gourmet capital.

Charles Fort, a star-shaped 17th-century citadel, sits on the headland east of the harbor.

En route, the Rock of Cashel — a medieval cathedral and round tower rising dramatically from a limestone outcrop in Tipperary — makes a worthwhile stop coming from Kinsale.

Dublin

Dublin sits on the River Liffey with compact, walkable streets. Trinity College holds the Book of Kells.

Georgian squares line the south side, with Dublin Castle, Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral nearby.

Temple Bar covers the pubs, Grafton Street the shopping, and the Guinness Storehouse the city's best-known brewery tour.