hillarydzi

Alright, seasoned travelers, here is a very rough sketch of my itinerary for the summer.
Keep in mind I have from May 21 until June 31 and I have lots of flexibility. So here's what I've come up with.

May 21-25: Cork (Lots of day trips out to surrounding places like Ring of Kerry etc)
May 25-30: Dublin (Again, lots of day trips as well as some city exploration)
May 30-June 3: Belfast (Game of Thrones tour, some city exploring, open to suggestions)
June 3-June 7: Scottish Isles (hopping from island to island in a north-bound manner)
June 7-8: Overnight stay in Inverness (time to see Loch Ness, open for suggestions here too)
June 8-12: Glasgow (trips to Lochranza, Lindisfarne, St. Andrews, open for suggestions)
June 12-16: Cardiff (trips to castles mostly, open to suggestions)
June 16-19: Plymouth (trips to Tintangel and St. Michaels Mount mostly, open for suggestions)
June 19-31: London (this is the part of the trip that I'd like to trim down the most. I've done London before and I'd like to have a few days there to explore, but 12 days is too many.)

So where should I add days? Where should I cut back days? What castles can I not miss in Scotland? Any suggestions are appreciated--I want to see all of the most beautiful places I can in the time that I have. Again I'd like to limit my time in London to 3 or 4 days at most so there's a lot of days to add in here and there!

janisj

You are counting the same dates in different cities - it doesn't work that way. What you'll actually have is:

May 21-24: Cork
May 25-29: Dublin
May 30-June 2: Belfast
June 3-June 6: Scottish Isles . . . <blue>This is is too nebulous to know if it makes sense. Which islands? You only have 3.5 days which is a nice time on Skye for instance . . But is not long enough to see Islay/Mull/Skye/Outer Hebrides, or Islay and Skye, or Mull and the outer Hebrides</blue>
June 7: Inverness
June 8-11: Glasgow (trips to Lochranza, Lindisfarne, St. Andrews, open for suggestions) . . . <blue>This part makes no sense. Look at a map - Lindesfarne is all the way across off NE England England; St Andrews is east of Edinburgh; Lochranza is on the Isle of Arran. None of them are anywhere near each other and if you really wanted to see St Andrews and Lindefarne -- Edinburgh would be a MUCH better base than Glasgow</blue>
June 12-15: Cardiff
June 16-18: Plymouth

How are you traveling? If by public transport it will be very difficult to get to a lot of these places. If you are driving, then you will have some VERY long drives and net less time at each destination.

jamikins

Agree...why Glasgow and not Edinburgh?

I think you are underestimating travel time in the UK. Roads are small and windy in lots of places and can be packed in the summer months. The last Monday in May is a bank holiday so that weekend will be especially busy. Railways don't usually get you to castles etc.

The island may look small but that is deceptive when it comes to travel time.

Tony2phones

Cork as a base for the Ring of Kerry etc makes little sense.. Fly into Cork have a night there then head to Killarney which has more touring options. Or have 2 nights Cork 3 Killarney 3 Dublin. Lots of options from Belfast then Bus and Sail to Scotland.. Even Scottish tourism says it take 9 days fro the western Islands you have 3 so consider what might be possible.
Why Cardiff, Why Plymouth?

bilboburgler

I guess you need this http://www.calmac.co.uk/timetables
I prefer the Orkney and Shetland Isles but hey up to you. If I was trimming off London then I might slow down a bit on your Island hoping and watch out for Sunday (certain islands nothing happens)

Plymouth, (I'm sitting here thinking "why") I would look at visiting nice bits of Cornwall or Devon but Plymouth.... though I understand the 1968 bus terminal got an award.

You may find this useful http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2...epeatingloop=Y as it links up all the public transport

bilboburgler

Sorry Tony2 I hadn't seen your Why question, still great minds etc

Tony2phones

Tis fine.. I personally would have put Newquay as the mid point between St. Michaels Mount and Tintagle.. North Wales for Conwy, Caenarfon and a couple of dozen more Castles

hillarydzi

Well my plan in all of this was to stay in these cities just as a base, but it seems like it might be better to just try to stay overnight in the places I want to see rather than having an anchor in one place and doing day trips out to them all. Since I have so many extra days that might be the more plausible idea, especially since I will be using public transport.

BigRuss

Glasgow may be perfectly fine in general, but there's a reason that Edinburgh is the #1 destination city for travelers to Scotland.

If you're into castles, Stirling (castle of same name) and Edinburgh (eponymous castle, Palace of Holyrood House) would be spots to visit. Near Inverness = Cawdor Castle and the Culloden battlefield.

The Giants' Causeway is accessible by short trip from Belfast. So is Bushmills.

And the best castles in Wales (Conwy, Caernarfon) are in the north of the country, which is not convenient to Cardiff. Lots of Welsh castles are ruins. http://www.castlewales.com/home.html

hillarydzi

Thanks very much, BigRuss, that was super helpful!

janisj

>> rather than having an anchor in one place and doing day trips out to them all.<<

Hub and spoke from a base location works great for some areas . . . But I just think you didn't realize where some of these places are. Lindesfarne for instance. Holy Island is more than 120 miles from Glasgow - and would probably take most of a day to get there by public transport.

Is there a reason you don't want to rent a car for at least part(s) of your itinerary?

hillarydzi

The only reason I won't have a car is because I'm only 21. And while some agencies will still let you rent a car if you're 21, usually if you're under 25 there's a hefty charge.

jamikins

Have you researched how to get to these places with public transit? We drive so I am not familiar with getting to places with public transit, but you may want to focus on castles etc near towns and cities - Stirling or Edinburgh. Some won't be easily accessed without a car. I would spend some time on site websites, most describe how to get to them using public transport and that should help you plan your sites and timelines.

jamikins

One idea would be to join tours...for example from Edinburgh (which has a fabulous castle in town) you can join tours like Rabbies to see the highlands and castles etc. so you could base there for several days, tour the city,and maybe join a few tours...

jamikins

Here is their website

http://www.rabbies.com/tour_scotland...FYQfwwod1SYAqA

janisj

OK - yes - for your situation, public transport is best. So instead - why not plan your itinerary around areas that are easier to reach by train/local buses rather than all these far flung places.

Another viable option -- there are a few companies (Timberbush and Rabbies specifically in Scotland) that do wonderful 1, 2, 3 day or longer small group tours. They do lots of tours out of Edinburgh and Glasgow - to places like the Highlands, Skye, etc. These are small groups - usually 12-15 people in small buses so they go more off the beaten path than the huge coach tours manage.

So you could base say in Edinburgh for a week. One day go to St Andrews on your own (there are day-trip tours but it is easy to do on your own), another day maybe Lindesfarne and St Abbs Head (Or take a tour that includes the Borders) . . . and also take maybe a 2 or 3 day tour to the Highlands/Skye.

jamikins

Janisj - once again we think alike

hillarydzi

If I can find a place that does car rentals for a really low price and won't charge me extra for only being 21 I would so much prefer to have a car. Because those far-flung places are really the ones I'm interested in seeing and it's proving mighty difficult to get out there without a car. Do any of you very helpful folks happen to know of any places like this? I don't need anything fancy, just a functioning vehicle to get me from place to place.

jamikins

I think most places charge hefty fees for under 25's unfortunately. .

I think joining smaller tours like above would be your best bet. It will provide you with the most options and will likely be the most efficient use of time. Some areas just aren't possible without a car unfortunately due to the logistics.

jamikins

Also check out www.walks.com when in London. They do great and affordable day trips using public transport. You can join their tours or use them as examples of what can be fine from London.

Windsor and Hampton court are easy day trips on your own from London, as is Stonehenge / Salisbury for example.