Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Is 10-14 days too short of a time to cover all three? Husband feels we should choose two, either Scotland and Ireland or Scotland and England and save the third for another time. I feel like we will likely never make it back to do that third one. That said, Having never been to any of them I would hate to "rush" through them.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,718 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46185
Ireland and Scotland are a lot bigger than they seem, and country roads are not fast.
How much of the cities do you want to see, and how much of the countryside?
Wales is REALLY great!!! don't miss it! Our hosts there and in NW England were fascinating. (spent 1 month; excluding London and metro BTDT) but including ALL of Scotland (too short)). A friend did a 2 week West coast ride (Wales and Lake District) on horses and B&B's, that was neat (and sore).
Ireland I could have done without, but many really like it. There is a lot to see hiking is best (we did a month there, too long IMHO) Dublin Botanical Gardens was a treasure! as were rural abbeys and such that we found using MapsMe (not listed on the road signs or tour books). Irish people seemed to have a chip on their shoulder (for good reason), but the Scots were FUN (and funny!).
We only stayed with locals, no hotels. a couple AirB&B's in Ireland (they were terrible). The registered B&B's are cheaper and better (we did a couple of those, but prefer to stay with local hosts ($free to $20 / night World wide)) http://wikitravel.org/en/Hospitality_exchange
Consider England, Wales and southern Scotland.
Northern Scotland and the Islands (and Ireland would be very fun on a sailboat!)
Wherever you go, spend more time that you plan (have at least a free day every week.) we always found interesting things and people when we were more relaxed and free to stop at will.
I see you are from a Sunny area... Remember.... the weather can be TERRIBLE (for months on end) (And I am USED to 280 days of drizzle / yr). We were in Ireland during June (supposedly their best month) it was nice a few days, and we lucked out on NW coast / Mohrs... the fog cleared for a few hours! It was FREEZING. (we were on a 1 yr / 1 bag trip, so not really 'equipped' for Ireland. Just like home (PNW USA.... much more comfortable in poly prop Long johns 24x7. (Very light to pack)).
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 04-11-2017 at 01:29 AM..
It always depends on what you want so see? The cities like London, Edinburgh, Dublin? Or the landscape and nature? I have been to the islands of Barra and Benbecula last year, and enjoyed it, but this is rather a very remote place to calm down and not a vibrant location for partying.
For a city tour, your time frame is enough, but for a nature and history trip with some hiking and scenic locations, I would not put it all in 14 days.
Also check out clever flight connections to skip unnecessary time for transfers. For example there are some niche connections that I used last year, Inverness-Dublin with flyBE or something like that, which really saved a lot of time.
I'm more interested in history. I would love to see London's usual's. I wanted to go in August to Scotland to do the Tattoo but DH isn't interested in anything touristy. He doesn't want to deal with crowds. He would like to go and hike all the mountains of Scotland.....NOT ME! I do want to go to the Highlands and he Isle of Skye. I want to go to Edinburgh and Id like to see the historical castles etc. Debating car rental vs train as well.
Is 10-14 days too short of a time to cover all three? Husband feels we should choose two, either Scotland and Ireland or Scotland and England and save the third for another time. I feel like we will likely never make it back to do that third one. That said, Having never been to any of them I would hate to "rush" through them.
I would give London at least 5 days if you haven't been there before. It's like a country in itself.
The remaining 9 days should be enough time to see other major areas in the UK.
Edinburgh during the Festival and Fringe (August, pretty much the whole month) is exciting, very crowded and very expensive. London is exciting, very crowded and very expensive year-round. Dublin is expensive.
Here's what I'd do, having lived and worked in Britain for years. First, wait until September if that's possible. The crowds will be smaller, the heather in bloom, and the roads empty.
Fly to Edinburgh (nonstops from several US cities, or easy connections.) Spend three days in Edinburgh while you recover from jetlag and time change.
Then get a car and so a brief loop of the Highlands, followed by heading south into the North of England, thus: https://goo.gl/maps/insV2qs1ka22 .
Travel via Loch Lomond up to Glen Etive and Glen Coe, then back past Stirling to Edinburgh. But then continue southeast over the border into Northumberland. Visit the incredibly historic Holy Island of Lindisfarne (birthplace of Christianity in Northumberland and the North) and nearby Bamburgh (my vote for most impressive castle in England, a high bar.) The North Sea coast from Scotland through Northumberland is stunning - picturesque fishing villages like St. Abbs, Alnwick ("Ann-ick") with its giant castle made famous as Hogwarts in the HP movies) and other small coastal villages.
Continue south to Durham with its astonishing cathedral and fabulous medieval old town winding down the hill to the river, then on to York. Drop the car in York (one-way rentals are cheaper in the UK than in the US) and after visiting the city take the train to London for the rest of your stay.
I'd end on London rather than starting there because it's just too much to wander around the huge city while you're a zombie from jetlag, endangering yourselves by stepping into the street in front of a big red bus that's coming on the "wrong" side of the road.
I'd probably allocate my time thus - three days in Edinburgh, four in London, and the rest on the road. The Google map tends to be a bit optimistic on drive times, but the distances are not that great. Rent a car with an automatic transmission so you don't have to figure out gear changing with your left hand, on top of looking for mirrors (always the hardest thing for me for the first hour or so.) Pick up the car at the Edinburgh airport since you're right on the motorway (freeway) system where getting a handle on driving on the left is easier.
Save Ireland for a later date; it's not going anywhere, and it's cheaper to get to than other places in Europe.
Edinburgh during the Festival and Fringe (August, pretty much the whole month) is exciting, very crowded and very expensive. London is exciting, very crowded and very expensive year-round. Dublin is expensive.
Here's what I'd do, having lived and worked in Britain for years. First, wait until September if that's possible. The crowds will be smaller, the heather in bloom, and the roads empty.
Fly to Edinburgh (nonstops from several US cities, or easy connections.) Spend three days in Edinburgh while you recover from jetlag and time change.
Then get a car and so a brief loop of the Highlands, followed by heading south into the North of England, thus: https://goo.gl/maps/insV2qs1ka22 .
Travel via Loch Lomond up to Glen Etive and Glen Coe, then back past Stirling to Edinburgh. But then continue southeast over the border into Northumberland. Visit the incredibly historic Holy Island of Lindisfarne (birthplace of Christianity in Northumberland and the North) and nearby Bamburgh (my vote for most impressive castle in England, a high bar.) The North Sea coast from Scotland through Northumberland is stunning - picturesque fishing villages like St. Abbs, Alnwick ("Ann-ick") with its giant castle made famous as Hogwarts in the HP movies) and other small coastal villages.
Continue south to Durham with its astonishing cathedral and fabulous medieval old town winding down the hill to the river, then on to York. Drop the car in York (one-way rentals are cheaper in the UK than in the US) and after visiting the city take the train to London for the rest of your stay.
I'd end on London rather than starting there because it's just too much to wander around the huge city while you're a zombie from jetlag, endangering yourselves by stepping into the street in front of a big red bus that's coming on the "wrong" side of the road.
I'd probably allocate my time thus - three days in Edinburgh, four in London, and the rest on the road. The Google map tends to be a bit optimistic on drive times, but the distances are not that great. Rent a car with an automatic transmission so you don't have to figure out gear changing with your left hand, on top of looking for mirrors (always the hardest thing for me for the first hour or so.) Pick up the car at the Edinburgh airport since you're right on the motorway (freeway) system where getting a handle on driving on the left is easier.
Save Ireland for a later date; it's not going anywhere, and it's cheaper to get to than other places in Europe.
Thank you! The only thing you didn't mention that we know we would like to see is the Isle of Skye.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
