Ireland vs. Scotland?

Old May 22nd, 2004, 02:34 AM
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Ireland vs. Scotland?

HI, We will be in England for a few days and had about 3 extra days. Would you suggest going up to Scotland or Ireland? Am confused as to which to choose from. Also, my brother took a night trip on the ferry to Ireland. Any comments and suggestions? We will be in England in a few days. Thank you. Hey, here is our iteneray. What do you think of it?

4 days in London
rent car and drive to Bath
1 day in Bath
drive to ferry in Wales(w/car on ferry)
evening ferry ride to Ireland
(3 days in Ireland)
evening ferry to Liverpool
day in York
2 days in Cotswold area
back to London for 1 day
fly home

OR

4 days London
morning train to York
rent car in York/visit area
Drive to Scotland
(2 nights in Edinburgh)
1 night Liverpool
1 night Bath (ancestors from here)
2 nights Cotswold
Back in London 1 day
fly home


London June 8-11th
other: June 12-20
fly home June 21

There will be 3 adults traveling (no children). Any suggestions would be greatly
appreciated. Shelley
bungietwo is offline  
Old May 22nd, 2004, 04:37 PM
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I like both countries (they are the two last places I visited) but for just 3 days, I would choose Scotland. Save Ireland for when you can spend more time.
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Old May 22nd, 2004, 04:44 PM
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I agree with bigtyke. Ireland deserves more than 3 days, unless you decide to confine yourself to a cityfix only, centred around Dublin.
Having said that, Scotland also deserves more than 3 days, but it seems somehow more accessible for short trips - maybe because there's no big stretch of water to navigate. Again, you're pretty much confined to an Edinburgh cityfix - but there'd be time for trips to Stirling, Dunfermline etc as well.
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Old May 22nd, 2004, 04:49 PM
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I LOVE both countries -- but I really don't like either of your itineraries much. An awful lot of driving. And the expense of taking your car to Ireland for only 3 days seems really extravegant. And on that version, you have yourselves going to Bath - over to Ireland via Wales - to Loverpool - and then all the way back almost to Bath to sample the Cotswolds.

Is there a specific reason you want to visit Liverpool? Unless it is for Beatle connections you would be better served in your short time in the UK to concentrate on other areas.

Also - Scotland is my FAVORITE place on earth - but you seem to only plan on 2 days there - all in Edinburgh. Edinburgh is a fabulous city - but there is a LOT more to Scotland.

With you family connections in the Bath area I'd probably do something like 2 nights in Bath - see the main sites, some of the lovely villages nearby, and ancestor hunt. Then drive up to the Cotswolds for a couple of days, on to York for two days. Drop your rental car in York - take the train to Edinburgh for 2 nights and then back to London (either by train or even better, a cheap flight)
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Old May 22nd, 2004, 04:50 PM
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Sorry 'bout that - "Liverpool" of course (maybe a Freudian slip)
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Old May 23rd, 2004, 10:11 AM
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Janis:

Personally, I'd prefer a Jungian slip. Carl Jung, Freud's rival, dreamt that "Liverpool was the pool of life, the very centre of the life force itself" - an insight which he actually thought was his most significant dream.

Liverpool has, apart from the world's wittiest people and most spectacular pubs, the largest number of conservation-quality buildings and the largest amount of publicly-accessible art in the British Isles outside London.
It's probably the best example anywhere of the civic buildings of the High Victorian era - the era that shaped today's world at least as decisively as the eras encapsulated by Cotswold villages, Oxbridge colleges or Barchester cathedral closes.

And, unlike some of our prissier tourist venues, it's practically impossible to go to Liverpool and not have a cracking (or, more accurately, craicing) good time.

If you don't like the place, that's your judgement. But nothing is served by dismissing anywhere without some explanation.
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Old May 23rd, 2004, 02:40 PM
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Just a quick comment...a train trip to York, visiting the area, picking up a car and getting to Edinburgh at a decent hour that night might be a bit much. It's a beautiful drive from York to Edinbugh, don't miss Hadrian's Wall, but this doesn't leave much time outside of the train or the car...any chance of a cheap flight from London to Edinburgh and driving south?

I really prefer the last suggestion from Janis, although you could return the car in Edinburgh if you are interested in seeing Hadrian's Wall. That's pretty much the route we took last fall and there was hardly any backtracking.
 
Old May 23rd, 2004, 03:22 PM
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flanneruk -- of course you're right. Liverpool is a fun place to visit -- BUT when someone has only budgeted 8 days to see Bath, the Cotswolds, York and either Ireland or Scotland - a visit to Liverpool is probably not the best use of their VERY limited time.

bungietwo: AnnieMakie makes a good point about keeping the car until you get to Edinburgh. The drive up from York could be the highlight of your whole trip -- depending on your route you could see Hadrian's Wall, the Borders, Alnwick/Bamburgh castles, Holy Island, and/or gorgeous coastal scenery.

But you REALLY don't need or want a car in Edinburgh. So depending on how much time you have left (which depends on how long you spend in the Cotswolds and in York) you could drive to Edinburgh and drop the car there -- or drop the car in York and take the train to Edinburgh.

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