United Kingdom with kids: family itinerary

The shape below is the 7-day version: four nights in London, then a train north to Edinburgh for three. It keeps travel days short, puts a park or open space into every afternoon, and leaves room for one big paid sight per day rather than three.

Children under 5 will not manage a Highland coach tour plus a city day in the same 48 hours. If you want mountains, add a second week and a car, or take a shorter organised day tour from Edinburgh and treat the rest of the day as rest.

Advance rail tickets on the East Coast Main Line are the single biggest saving for a family of four; buy as soon as dates are fixed. A Family & Friends Railcard pays for itself on one London–Edinburgh return if you are two adults and two children (2026 estimate).

In London, families do best in Zone 1–2 near a Tube line with lifts, or in South Kensington where the museums are walkable. Apartments with a kitchen cut food costs and give children space; hotels with family rooms are simpler but pricier in summer.

In Edinburgh, stay in the New Town or near the Royal Mile for walkable days. August festival accommodation is the tightest and most expensive of the year; book months ahead or choose early July or September instead.

York, if you add it, is small enough that any central address works; the railway museum and city walls are both free and both good for children.

Book these before you travel; the rest can be decided on the day.

Figures are 2026 estimates for a family of four (two adults, two children) and exclude flights. London is the expensive part; Edinburgh is close behind in August and noticeably cheaper outside it.

The largest variable is accommodation. Self-catering apartments and a supermarket breakfast typically save more than any attraction discount. National museums in London, Edinburgh and York are free to enter, which is why they anchor this itinerary.

Ten days adds two nights in York between London and Edinburgh, all on the same rail line. Two weeks allows Bath or the Cotswolds, or a car-based week in the Lake District, Cornwall or the Scottish Highlands — the last of these is the one that most rewards a car.

If your children are teenagers rather than small, swap a museum day for a football ground tour in Manchester or Liverpool, or a coastal walk in Cornwall. If you are travelling with a baby, keep to two bases and treat the train as the day's activity.