Yes, the United Kingdom is one of the easiest places in Europe to backpack on your own: English is spoken everywhere, trains and coaches link every city, and hostels cover cities and national parks alike.
Dorm beds run about £20 to 45 (US$25 to 57) a night, with YHA and Hostelling Scotland hostels in the
Lake District,
Snowdonia and the Highlands. A realistic daily budget is £50 to 85 (US$65 to 115). Book train tickets 8 to 12 weeks ahead:
London to
Edinburgh can cost around £40 (US$50) in advance and over £150 (US$190) on the day. Public footpaths make hiking straightforward, and in Scotland access rights allow responsible wild camping.
Plan on 10 to 14 days for a first trip to the United Kingdom, enough for London, one or two historic cities and one mountain or coast region.
With 7 days, stick to one area, such as
Edinburgh plus the Highlands and the
Isle of Skye. Two weeks covers
London (3 to 4 days),
York,
Liverpool, North Wales,
Bath and Cornwall by train. Three weeks lets you cross England, Wales and Scotland at a relaxed pace, adding the
Lake District and the Cairngorms. London to Edinburgh takes 4 hours 20 minutes to 5 hours by train, and Edinburgh to Portree on Skye about 6.5 hours by train and coach.
Yes, you can travel the United Kingdom comfortably without a car between towns and cities; only remote Highland, island and moorland areas get thin on service.
Trains run
London to
Manchester in about 2 hours 10 minutes and London to
York in under 2 hours. Coaches take longer but cost less, often £10 to 30 (US$13 to 38) between major cities, with London to
Edinburgh taking 9 to 10 hours. A 16-25 or 26-30 Railcard costs £35 (US$45) a year and cuts most fares by a third. On the
Isle of Skye and in rural Wales, buses may run every 1 to 3 hours and less on Sundays, so check timetables before committing to a hike.
The United Kingdom’s must-visits are London, Edinburgh, Bath, York and at least one mountain region, such as the Lake District, Snowdonia or the Scottish Highlands.
Give
London 3 to 4 days; the British Museum, National Gallery and Natural History Museum are all free.
Edinburgh needs 2 to 3 days for the castle, Old Town and Arthur’s Seat.
Bath and
York each work in 1 to 2 days, both under 2 hours by train from London. For landscapes, the
Isle of Skye is about 3 hours by coach from Inverness, while the
Lake District and
Snowdonia each reward a 2-night stay with a full hiking day.
On a short trip to the United Kingdom, skip the far-flung islands, the theme parks and anywhere that only works by car.
Shetland is a 12 to 13 hour overnight ferry from Aberdeen, and
St Kilda needs a weather-dependent boat of about 3 hours each way from Harris, so both need extra days.
Alton Towers and
Blackpool eat a full day for rides you can find at home. The
Cotswolds are slow to explore by bus, so
Bath and
Lacock give you similar honey-colored stone in half the time.
Northern Ireland is excellent but needs a flight or ferry, so save it for a trip of 2 weeks or more.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for the UK in seconds. Try it out!
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