7 days in United Kingdom: itinerary

The United Kingdom is four nations on two islands, and seven days covers a slice of one of them well. The workable shape is a big city plus one other base: London for the museums, royal sights and food, then Edinburgh for the castle, Old Town and a Highland day tour. Both are on the East Coast Main Line, so you move once, by train, in under half a day.

Two bases in seven days is the ceiling. Adding York, Bath or the Lake District means three hotel changes and most of a day lost to each move. If you want smaller towns rather than a second capital, swap Edinburgh for York: 1 h 50 from London, walled, walkable, and easy to cover in two days.

This is a first-trip itinerary. If you have already seen London, start in Edinburgh and add Glasgow or the Highlands instead.

One line, one move: London → Edinburgh, roughly 530 km north. Trains leave from King's Cross and arrive at Waverley, in the middle of Edinburgh. From London you can day-trip to Oxford, Cambridge, Windsor or Brighton without changing hotels; from Edinburgh, a coach or train day tour reaches Loch Lomond, Stirling and the southern Highlands (check tour details and timings).

If you fly into London and out of Edinburgh, you avoid backtracking. Open-jaw tickets into Heathrow or Gatwick and out of Edinburgh usually cost little more than a return to London (check).

Day 1: land, drop bags, and take an easy first walk. The South Bank from Westminster to Tower Bridge gives you the river, the skyline and no ticket queues. Eat near where you are staying rather than crossing town.

Day 2: Westminster Abbey in the morning, timed ticket booked ahead, then the National Gallery, which is free. Walk through St James's Park to Buckingham Palace. Evening: theatre in the West End, booked before you fly.

Day 3: Tower of London first thing, when the queues are shortest, then St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern. Borough Market works for lunch on a weekday; Saturdays are packed.

Day 4: British Museum at opening, then Covent Garden and the Victoria and Albert Museum if you have energy left. This is also the day to day-trip to Oxford or Windsor instead, if museums are not your priority.

Day 5: morning train from King's Cross to Edinburgh, about 4 h 20–5 h 40 (check). Afternoon on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh Castle if you have a timed ticket, and the Old Town closes in the evening.

Day 6: pick one. A coach day tour to Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle and the Trossachs covers a lot of ground without a car (check operators). Staying in the city: Arthur's Seat for the view, then the New Town and the Scottish National Gallery.

Day 7: the National Museum of Scotland, Dean Village and the Water of Leith walk, then the tram or bus to Edinburgh Airport. Leave three hours before a long-haul flight.

Trains do the intercity work. London to Edinburgh runs roughly hourly on LNER and Lumo from King's Cross to Waverley (check schedules). Advance single tickets are much cheaper than fares bought on the day, and they go on sale months ahead; book as soon as your dates are fixed (check).

Inside London, use contactless bank cards or a phone on the Tube, buses and most National Rail services in the city; daily caps apply. In Edinburgh, the trams and Lothian buses take contactless too, and the city centre is walkable end to end in about 30 minutes.

Skip the car for this route. Parking, congestion charging and one-way systems make it a cost, not a convenience. Hire a car only if you extend into the Highlands, the Lake District or Cornwall.

In London, stay within walking distance of a Tube station on the Piccadilly, Northern or Central lines. Bloomsbury and King's Cross put you near the British Museum and the station for Edinburgh; Southwark and Waterloo are cheaper and central; Paddington suits the Heathrow train. Expect small rooms at every price.

In Edinburgh, the Old Town puts you on the Royal Mile with the castle above you; the New Town is quieter, Georgian and five minutes away. Both are walkable to Waverley station. August is festival month: prices jump and the best places sell out months ahead.

Book one hotel per base, not several. Two check-ins in seven days is the practical limit; a third costs you half a day of sightseeing.

For one person, seven days in the UK costs roughly £535–1,700 excluding flights, using mid-range hotels, trains booked in advance, paid attractions and one or two restaurant meals a day. Hostels and self-catering pull the low end down; London hotels and August Edinburgh push the top end up.

The big variables are accommodation and rail timing. Advance train tickets can cost a third of a walk-up fare. Many national museums in London are free, which offsets the paid sights: the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Edinburgh Castle are the expensive tickets, so book them online in advance.

Swap Edinburgh for York if you want a smaller, walled city: 1 h 50 from London, two nights is enough, and you can add a day on the North Yorkshire moors or the coast. Swap London for Edinburgh if you have been before, and use the extra days for Glasgow or a two-day Highland tour.

With more time, the natural extension is the 10-day route: London, York and Edinburgh on one train line. Fourteen days adds Bath and the Highlands. Both keep the same rule: move by train, and add a car only for the far north, the lakes or the far south-west.

If you are here in August, decide early. Edinburgh's festivals fill the city and raise prices across the board; book accommodation and trains months ahead or move the trip to late September.