5 Days in the UK: A First-Timer Plan
Five days is enough to do London properly and still get a genuine second city under your belt, no rental car required. This first-timer plan spends three days in London on the icons, the free museums and a big day trip out to Bath and Stonehenge, then rides the train north to Edinburgh for two full days of the Castle, the Royal Mile and Arthur’s Seat. The United Kingdom is four nations under one government, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with London as the capital; the separate Republic of Ireland, which uses the euro, sits outside this route entirely. Budget in pounds sterling, not euros, pack a waterproof for the UK’s changeable weather, and get your ETA sorted before you fly, not at passport control.
This plan gives Edinburgh a full two days instead of squeezing it into one. Tighter on time? The 2-day and 3-day plans stay in London the whole time, and the 4-day version reaches Edinburgh too, with one less day in London first. Got longer? The 6-day and 7-day plans add a third stop, pushing on into the Highlands or the Lake District.
Book these before you go
- Tower of London and Crown Jewels tickets, on GetYourGuide : buy timed entry online, the walk-up line eats a real chunk of day one.
- A combined Bath and Stonehenge day tour from London, on Viator : Stonehenge has no direct train line, so one coach tour is the simplest way to see both without a rental car.
- Edinburgh Castle entry, listings on GetYourGuide : grab a timed slot before you leave London, it sells out on Fringe-adjacent weekends.
- A hotel for your Edinburgh nights, rates on Booking.com : prices climb well before the Fringe even starts in August.
Do you need an ETA for a UK trip?
Yes, in nearly every case. The UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation is now required before boarding for most visa-exempt travellers, including US, Canadian, Australian and EU/EEA passport holders; only British and Irish citizens travel without one. Apply on the official app or gov.uk a few days before you fly. The fee is roughly £20 as of 2026, already up twice, so check the live figure at gov.uk rather than trust an older number.
Day 1: Westminster, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London
Start at Westminster, where Big Ben, officially the Elizabeth Tower, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey all sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other. From there it’s a short walk to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard; the schedule moves around by season, so check the current days rather than build your whole morning on it.
Spend the afternoon at the Tower of London. Close to a thousand years of history, the Crown Jewels and the Yeoman Warders make it one of the few paid stops on this trip that genuinely earns its ticket price, so book a timed slot online rather than queue at the gate. Finish day one with dinner at a pub near the river, a steak and ale pie or fish and chips is the honest choice.
Day 2: free museums, the South Bank and a West End show
Give your morning to the British Museum, free to enter for the permanent collection (the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, Egyptian mummies), and to a genuinely great UK fact: the National Gallery and Tate Modern are free too, with no advance booking needed outside their ticketed special exhibitions. Book a timed slot online if you’re visiting between April and August, when queues stretch long.
In the afternoon, walk the South Bank from Tower Bridge past Borough Market to the London Eye, a scenic riverside stretch with street performers and food stalls the whole way. In the evening, use the West End show you booked ahead of time; walk-up tickets for a good seat on a good night are not something to bank on. Keep your phone in a front or inner pocket on the Tube and around Oxford Street, violent crime here is genuinely low, but phone snatching in crowded spots is the one real safety habit worth building before day one even starts.
Day 3: a day trip to Bath and Stonehenge
Day three is the one day this trip leaves London by road rather than rail. Stonehenge has no direct train line, so the simplest way to see both it and Bath in a single day is a combined coach tour booked from central London; it takes the logistics that a self-drive itinerary would otherwise cost you off your plate, with no rental car and no left-hand-drive adjustment to think about.
Stonehenge is the neolithic stone circle most people picture when they hear the name, dated to roughly 3000 to 2000 BC, and worth the visit for scale alone. Bath adds the Roman Baths and the Georgian streets of the Royal Crescent, a gentler afternoon after the stone circle. If you’d rather skip Stonehenge and take Bath at a slower pace on your own, a direct GWR train from Paddington gets you there in about an hour and fifteen minutes each way.
Day 4: the train to Edinburgh and Edinburgh Castle
Leave London mid-morning from King’s Cross on an LNER direct service to Edinburgh Waverley, a genuinely comfortable ride of around 4 hours 8 minutes, with standard advance fares starting from roughly £34 to £35 one-way if you book ahead. It beats flying for comfort and skips airport security twice over, and it’s the one long journey on this trip where the train isn’t just the cheaper option, it’s the better one.
Check into your Edinburgh hotel, then walk straight up to Edinburgh Castle while the afternoon light holds. The castle sits above the city on an extinct volcanic crag, and the view back down the Royal Mile is worth the climb on its own. Close the day with haggis, tatties and neeps at a restaurant on or near the Mile.
Day 5: the Royal Mile and Arthur’s Seat
Walk the full length of the Royal Mile in daylight, from the Castle down to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, ducking into the closes and courtyards that branch off it on both sides. Scotland is not England, and the people running the shops and tours here are Scottish, part of the same United Kingdom but with their own parliament, their own capital and their own accent worth listening for.
In the afternoon, climb Arthur’s Seat, an extinct volcano right at the city’s edge with a real summit and panoramic views over Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth, under an hour each way. Fly home from Edinburgh Airport, or ride the train back south first if your onward flight leaves from London.
Should you drive between London and Edinburgh?
No. It’s roughly 400 miles by road, a long day of driving each way for a trip this length, and you’d still face London’s Congestion Charge (£18 on weekdays) and ULEZ (£12.50, every day) just leaving the city; check current rates at tfl.gov.uk if you’re weighing it up. The train covers the same ground in about four hours, city centre to city centre, with no charge to dodge and no need to adjust to driving on the left. Check current times and fares at nationalrail.co.uk before you book.
What does 5 days in the UK cost?
Prices already include the UK’s 20% VAT, so the ticket or menu price is what you pay; there’s no tourist VAT refund in Great Britain since Brexit. London runs noticeably more expensive than Bath or Edinburgh, especially for hotels and dinner, and the coach tour adds a set cost on top of a normal day’s spending.
| Day | Focus | Base or train | Rough daily spend (GBP, excl. hotel) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Westminster, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London | London | £90-140 |
| Day 2 | Free museums, South Bank, West End show | London | £80-130 |
| Day 3 | Bath and Stonehenge day tour | London (day trip) | £90-150 incl. tour |
| Day 4 | Train to Edinburgh, Edinburgh Castle | London to Edinburgh (LNER, ~4h8m) | £70-110 plus the train fare |
| Day 5 | Royal Mile, Arthur’s Seat | Edinburgh | £60-100 |
Is 5 days enough for London and Edinburgh?
It’s enough for a real look at both cities plus one genuine day trip, not a rushed checklist of every UK region. You get three unhurried days in London, a full day out in the countryside, and two proper days in Scotland’s capital, which is honest pacing rather than a flight-day scramble. Use visitbritain.com , the official planning site, as your next stop once the Highlands or the Cotswolds start calling for a longer trip.
Book your London-Edinburgh train the moment your dates are fixed. Advance fares climb by the day, and the roughly £34 one-way price only holds for travellers who commit early, the same goes for the Bath and Stonehenge coach tour once the summer months start filling up.