One week in the United Kingdom: a multi-city route
London's abbey and Roman-walled City, the Royal Mile from castle to palace, then Glasgow's free museums and a crane on the Clyde.
Photo by Arpita Ghosh on Unsplash
Interactive map of the route. The full stop list below works without it.
About 600 km as the crow flies
How do you spend a week in the United Kingdom?
London first, then the direct line north to Edinburgh, then ScotRail across to Glasgow. Every leg is by train, each walk starts within a few minutes of a station, and nothing on this route needs a car. The museums are mostly free, so the money goes on trains, beds and the handful of ticketed sights. Buy the rail tickets the day they go on sale.
- Days 1 to 3
London
Crown, City and river
London is where the trip starts, and the set pieces cluster: our Westminster walk runs from the abbey through Parliament Square to the Churchill War Rooms and Buckingham Palace, and the Square Mile walk takes in St Paul's, the Guildhall and the Monument. Give the river an afternoon on the Bankside path, where Borough Market and Shakespeare's Globe share the same stretch of embankment, and use a spare morning for Greenwich, the Cutty Sark and the Prime Meridian. Base yourself near a zone 1 Tube station and the Underground covers the rest.
- Getting thereHeathrow Express trains run non-stop to London Paddington in 15 minutes and leave every 15 minutes, with advance single tickets from £10.SourceHeathrow Express
- TicketsTower of London adult tickets are £37 booked online, and entry is timed, so reserve a slot before you travel.SourceHistoric Royal Palaces: Tower of London tickets and prices
London one-day itineraryLondon walking tours
Next leg · 533.7 km
- Days 4 to 5
Edinburgh
One ridge, castle to palace
Edinburgh is a single ridge of rock with a castle at the top and a palace at the bottom, and our Royal Mile walk threads the closes in between: St Giles' Cathedral, John Knox House and the courtyards most visitors walk straight past. Below the castle, the Grassmarket was the city's market square and its gallows, and the Vennel steps climb past a surviving stretch of the Flodden Wall to Greyfriars Kirkyard. Calton Hill is the easy climb for the National Monument and the widest view over the Old Town, and if you have hours to spare, Leith holds the Royal Yacht Britannia while Portobello offers a level promenade and two miles of sand.
- TransitLNER runs direct trains from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in about 4 hours 8 minutes, with 29 departures on a weekday and Advance singles from £41.40 when you book about three weeks ahead; Lumo runs the same route with advance seats from £31.90.SourceLNER: London King's Cross to Edinburgh trainsLumo: Trains to Edinburgh
- TicketsEdinburgh Castle costs £23.50 for an adult booked online and £26 at the gate.SourceEdinburgh Castle: Tickets
Edinburgh one-day itineraryEdinburgh walking tours
Next leg · 66.8 km
- Days 6 to 8
Glasgow
Murals, museums and a crane on the Clyde
Glasgow closes the trip and it is the cheapest place to spend time on the route: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is free, the cathedral and the Necropolis cost nothing to walk, and the City Centre Mural Trail runs through the Merchant City for free. Our Clyde waterfront walk takes in the Riverside Museum, the Tall Ship Glenlee and the Finnieston Crane, then finishes on Argyle Street, where tenement shopfronts now hold seafood and small plates. Govan, on the south bank, pairs Viking-age carved stones with the shipyard that built the fastest liners on the Atlantic, and its two museums keep April to October hours.
- TransitScotRail's Edinburgh to Glasgow trains start at £16.80 return, and peak fares were scrapped from 1 September 2025, so the fare is the same whenever you travel.SourceScotRail: Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow CentralScotRail: Peak fares gone for good
Less time?
With four or five nights, cut Glasgow and keep everything else: London first for Westminster, the City and the river, then Edinburgh for the Royal Mile, Greyfriars Kirkyard and the view from Calton Hill. You lose the Necropolis and the shipyard museums and gain a slower morning in the Old Town.
Planning your route
How do I get from London to Edinburgh?
LNER runs direct trains from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley in about 4 hours 8 minutes, with 29 departures on a weekday; Advance singles start at £41.40 when you book about three weeks ahead. Lumo runs the same route with advance seats from £31.90. Both operators are cheapest the further ahead you book, so buy when tickets for your date are released.
SourceLNER: London King's Cross to Edinburgh trainsLumo: Trains to EdinburghHow do I get from Edinburgh to Glasgow?
ScotRail's trains between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central run through the day, take about 1 hour 15 minutes on average and start at £16.80 return. Peak fares were scrapped across ScotRail from 1 September 2025, so the price is the same whenever you travel.
SourceScotRail: Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow CentralWhat should I book before I leave?
Your ETA if you need one, then your train tickets as soon as they are released, about 12 weeks out. After that, reserve timed entries for the sights that sell out: Tower of London adult tickets are £37 online, and Edinburgh Castle is £23.50 booked online against £26 at the gate.
SourceGOV.UK: Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA)Trainline: London to Edinburgh train times and faresHistoric Royal Palaces: Tower of London tickets and pricesEdinburgh Castle: TicketsDo I need a car for this route?
No. The three cities are compact, the walks start close to stations and the rail legs run on main lines, so a car would only add parking and traffic. Trains also drop you in the centre of each city, where the walking begins.
How much walking is there?
Most Wayside walks in these cities take between about 15 minutes and an hour of steady walking, and the Westminster route runs closer to two and a half hours because of the stops. Two walks a day is comfortable. The steep stretches are the Vennel steps in Edinburgh, the climb through Greenwich Park and the hill up to the Glasgow Necropolis.
Where should I stay in each city?
In London, anywhere in zone 1 within a few minutes of a Tube station keeps the Westminster and City walks easy to reach. In Edinburgh, the Old Town puts the Royal Mile and the castle on your doorstep, while the New Town is quieter and still walkable to everything. In Glasgow, the city centre works for the murals, the cathedral and the Necropolis, and the West End for Kelvingrove and Byres Road.
More of the United Kingdom
- Walking toursWalking tours in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom packs four nations onto one small group of islands, and the ground changes faster than the map suggests: Highland lochs and islands in the north, the fells and lakes of Cumbria, the mountains of Snowdonia and the Welsh coast, then the Causeway Coast's cliffs. London has Westminster Abbey, the Palace of Westminster and a riverfront of markets and galleries; Edinburgh climbs a volcanic crag from castle to palace; Glasgow keeps its Victorian swagger and free museums; Cardiff has a castle beside the main shopping streets; Belfast built the Titanic and remembers it. The food is comfort cooking, done properly: fish and chips from a good chippy, a Sunday roast with Yorkshire pudding, the full breakfast, and curry houses that have fed the country for generations. Getting around feels easy: trains put you in the middle of each city, pubs anchor every town, and history is the everyday backdrop.
- Know before you gothe United Kingdom essentialsThe national facts to settle before a first UK trip: entry authorisation, money and local visitor levies, inter-city trains, plugs, and what to do in an emergency.
Do it yourself
Follow it in the app
Download Wayside for self-guided walks in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.
Provenance · last verified September 27, 2026
Researched and routed by Wayside, with inter-city detail checked against the source.
SourcesPlantrip: London and Edinburgh trip cost breakdownGOV.UK: Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA)GOV.UK: Apply for an ETATrainline: London to Edinburgh train times and faresLNER: Trains to EdinburghRailcard.co.uk: Railcards and pricesHeathrow ExpressHistoric Royal Palaces: Tower of London tickets and pricesLNER: London King's Cross to Edinburgh trainsLumo: Trains to EdinburghEdinburgh Castle: TicketsScotRail: Edinburgh Waverley to Glasgow CentralScotRail: Peak fares gone for good
Photo by Arpita Ghosh on Unsplash