We have travelled both London and Scotland with our kids with similar interest. We did a trip just Scotland when they were a little younger than your daughter, for reference.

I like previous suggestions of York and Edinburgh. Edinburgh was wonderful and if you have any Harry Potter fans the walking tour was very good. - both fun tidbits about the series but also perspective on the city. Kids also liked Edinburgh Castle and Hollywood. We thought about a food tour but didn’t have time. We ate well on the trip.

We had a lot of time so we travelled around a bit. I know you can’t do that but you could probably consider a side trip to Stirling which was good and/or the Cairngorms. We loved the latter if that proves feasible - we did some hiking and also visited the reindeer which the kids loved.

Hope you have a great trip!

Anonymous wrote:I'd do break it up and do this:

Day 1 - Morning train from London 2 hours up to York, overnight York. There are several hotels right near the train station. Lots to do there - the Minster (climb the bell tower), a walking tour (see the Shambles), walk around the wall, Betty's Tea Room for Fat Rascals (you'll thank me later...) and a real proper scone and Yorkshire clotted cream (better than you'll get in London).
Day 2 - Head to Edinburgh. Stay 2 nights in Edinburgh. Castle, underground tour, stroll around.
Day 3 - More Edinburgh.
Day 4 - Back to London.

The logistics are simple and you can enjoy two new places, York and Edinburgh.

I did almost this exact itinerary about 10 years ago. York is a great add to the trip. We did a walking tour and the tea at Betty’s Tea Room.

Our train back to London from Edinburgh was pretty early and there was very drunk hen party in our car. The train was easy, but it might be noisy!

We were able to get to the Trossarchs National Park without a car and then took this bus around the park

https://www.mccolls.org.uk/new-service-trossachs-explorer-starts-monday-7th-july-2025

I can't remember if we took the train or a bus from Edinburgh to Sterling??? But there's lots of options to get to little towns in the country without renting a car. Edinburgh is also very cool.

Anonymous wrote:OP, not sure why everyone is so down on this idea. Not everyone has the money or time to take multiple extended trips to Europe. I think you could easily add Edinburgh and it is such a fun, magical city for a 14-year-old. It would be a lot to try to add Inverness but it is spectacularly beautiful.

OP here - thanks! There are some great tips on this thread so appreciate it!

OP, not sure why everyone is so down on this idea. Not everyone has the money or time to take multiple extended trips to Europe. I think you could easily add Edinburgh and it is such a fun, magical city for a 14-year-old. It would be a lot to try to add Inverness but it is spectacularly beautiful.

Anonymous wrote:I think Scotland deserves its own trip to explore it properly. I would use that time to see somewhere in England--perhaps with good hiking/country walks--that you can't reach on a day trip from London. The Jurassic Coast or the Peak District come to mind for me but there are lots of possibilities.

+1