United Kingdom in 10 days: London and Edinburgh

Day 2 — Royal day: the Abbey, the Guard, a show

• 09:15 — Westminster Abbey at opening (£31 adult / £14 child, superb multimedia guide included; closed Sundays to tourists): coronations since 1066, Newton and Darwin underfoot, Poets’ Corner. Two hours.
• 11:00 — Through St James’s Park (pelicans, palace views) for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace — held at 11:00 on most days in a rotating schedule (bands, bearskins, 45 min; check the Household Division calendar and claim the Victoria Memorial steps by 10:30).
• 13:30 — Lunch around St James’s or a picnic in the park (~£10–18).
• 15:00 — The National Gallery (free): Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Turner, da Vinci — 90 minutes of highlights — then Covent Garden’s street-performer hour.
• 19:30 — West End theatre night: the TKTS booth on Leicester Square sells same-day seats at 25–50% off (from ~£25–45); The Lion King and Les Mis forgive every pound.

Day 3 — The Tower, the Bridge, the dome

• 09:00 — Tower of London at opening (£37 adult / £18.50 child, online): straight to the Crown Jewels before the queue forms, then a Yeoman Warder tour (included, deadpan-hilarious, every 30 min) — a thousand years of executions, ravens and armour. Three hours.
• 12:30 — Walk over Tower Bridge (the walkway views are the free version), then Thames path to Borough Market for lunch — toastie legends, curry stalls, salted caramel doughnuts (~£8–15).
• 15:00 — St Paul’s Cathedral (~£26 online, closed Sun to tourists): Wren’s dome, the Whispering Gallery climb, city views from the Golden Gallery — or the free alternative: Sky Garden (book the free slot ~3 weeks out).
• 19:30 — Brick Lane for the East End curry-and- bagel evening, or Shoreditch’s street-art-and-supper version of the same postcode (~£20–30).

Day 4 — The wizard warehouse (or the museum mile)

• 08:00 — Warner Bros. Studio Tour — The Making of Harry Potter: adult tickets from ~£53 and they genuinely sell out weeks (school-holiday months) ahead — this is the trip’s book-first ticket. Getting there: Euston → Watford Junction (~20 min) + the liveried shuttle. Inside: the real Great Hall, Diagon Alley, butterbeer, 3–4 hours of the actual sets. Under-4s free.
• 14:30 — Back in town: the British Museum (free) — Rosetta Stone, the mummies, the Parthenon marbles — 90 minutes of the greatest hits.
• 17:00 — Oxford and Regent Street sweep (or its antidote: Daunt Books and Marylebone), Carnaby for the photogenic version.
• 19:30 — Chinatown dinner and Soho wander (~£18–30).
• Non-Potter households: swap the morning for South Kensington’s twin free giants — the Natural History Museum (the blue whale hall) and the V&A — with Harrods food halls between them.

Day 5 — A castle out of town: Windsor (or the Stonehenge day)

• 09:00 — Paddington → Windsor (~35 min): Windsor Castle (~£30–33, book the slot) — the oldest occupied castle on earth: St George’s Chapel (the late Queen’s resting place), the State Apartments, the dolls’ house. Eton’s high street across the bridge for lunch.
• 15:30 — Back to London for the afternoon you haven’t had yet: Notting Hill’s pastel mews and Portobello Road, tea-and-scones somewhere unapologetic (~£15–30).
• 19:30 — Thames-side dinner on the South Bank; the Eye by night if you’re riding it (~£30–40 online — views are best at dusk slots).
• The alternative day: coach tours run Stonehenge + Bath (~£95–110 with entries, 11 h) — the 5,000-year-old circle plus Georgian Bath’s Roman spa. Superb, long; families with under-8s usually prefer Windsor.

Day 6 — Village London and the meridian

• 09:30 — Camden Market as it opens: food stalls firing up, canal-side seats — then walk the towpath to Primrose Hill for the skyline framed by park.
• 13:00 — Greenwich by river: ride the Uber Boat downstream (tap contactless, ~£9–12 — London’s best commute): the Cutty Sark, the market, and the hill up to the Royal Observatory to stand on the Prime Meridian (~£20, or straddle the free line outside the gate; the view is £0).
• 17:30 — Back by boat at golden hour — the Tower and Bridge from the water is the shot.
• 20:00 — Farewell-London supper: Dishoom (the breakfast naan argument can now be settled at dinner), a chophouse, or the pub you’ve been eyeing since Day 1. Pack — the north calls at nine.

Day 7 — The East Coast line to Edinburgh

• 08:30 — King’s Cross: photograph the Platform 9¾ trolley (the queue moves fast at this hour), then the 09:00 LNER Azuma north — 4h20, Advance singles from ~£35–60. Sit left for the sea: after York and Newcastle the line runs along cliffs into Scotland, and Berwick’s bridges are the overture.
• 13:30 — Arrive Waverley — the only station named after a novel — and walk up into the Old Town.
• 15:00 — First Royal Mile descent: St Giles’ cathedral’s crown spire, the closes (the alley-veins off the Mile — duck into every one), the outside of Holyroodhouse at the bottom.
• 18:00 — Victoria Street’s curved candy-coloured shops (a Diagon Alley claimant with receipts) down into the Grassmarket under the castle rock for dinner — haggis-neeps-tatties for the brave, superb curry houses for the homesick (~£18–30).

Where to stay in Edinburgh (three nights)

• Luxury: The Balmoral — 4.6/5 (~5,800 reviews), the clock-tower landmark over Waverley (its clock runs 3 min fast so no Scot misses a train). ~£350+.
• Mid-range: Market Street Hotel — 4.7/5, Old Town ramparts location, skyline breakfasts. ~£180–250.
• Value: Premier Inn Edinburgh City Centre (Princes Street) — 4.4/5 (~4,400 reviews), castle views from the lucky rooms at chain prices. ~£90–150.
• August warning: Fringe month triples rates and sells the city out — book by March or come in September.

Day 8 — Castle, closes and the little mountain

• 09:30 — Edinburgh Castle (~£22 online, timed entry — book ahead in season): the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Destiny, St Margaret’s 12th-century chapel, the war memorial, and the One O’Clock Gun if you time it. Two-and-a-half hours on the crag.
• 13:00 — Lunch off the Mile (Makars Gourmet Mash for the theme, ~£12–18), then The Real Mary King’s Close (~£25 — the buried 17th-century street under the Royal Exchange; book) or the free National Museum of Scotland rooftop terrace.
• 16:00 — Arthur’s Seat: the extinct volcano in the city’s back garden — 45–60 minutes up the easy spine from Holyrood, the whole city, firth and bridges below. (Calton Hill is the 10-minute version with 80% of the view.)
• 20:00 — Old Town evening: a ghost tour among the vaults (~£20–35) or a whisky tasting flight (~£25–40) — Edinburgh does darkness and drams equally well.

Day 9 — The Highlands in a day

• 07:45 — The big one: Loch Ness, Glencoe & the Highlands day tour — £65 adult (~£63 child), 12.5 hours with a storyteller-driver: Glencoe’s brooding valley (the Skyfall country), Ben Nevis views, the full length of Loch Ness (Urquhart Castle + monster-water cruise ~£20 extra and worth it), Cairngorms edges, and the contractually-guaranteed hairy coos.
• 20:30 — Back in Edinburgh: late fish supper or the hotel bar’s dram — you’ve crossed half of Scotland today.
• DIY alternative: ScotRail to North Berwick or Stirling Castle for a gentler £15 day — but for Highlands-in-a-day, the tour genuinely beats the maths of doing it yourself.

Day 10 — Home from Edinburgh

• Morning — If the flight allows: Calton Hill at sunrise (10 minutes up, the postcard of the Mile, Balmoral clock and Arthur’s Seat) or the Dean Village photo stop. Tram to EDI (~£7.50, 35 min); direct Gulf flights home. Open-jaw (into Heathrow, out of Edinburgh) closes the line without backtracking.