Carleen

Hello,

I am going with my daughter to London end of May 2011-- she's always dream of going there-- I have already been, having lived there in my early 20's. Our trip is 12 days long and we do not want to spend it all in London.

An idea to break it up is London 4 days (with day trip to Oxford which is a must), Dublin 4 days, Paris days- train travel between countries

Option B: London, Edinburgh, Dublin- train back to London for departure home. We are flying roudntrip Montreal- London.

I am looking for a nice, decent place to stay in London, safe area, 3 star hotel minimum, with attractions easily accessible by Tube. I lived in a Kensington Hostel way back and I noticed that hotels in that area are far cheaper than say Piccadilly or Soho or Covent Garden, but perhaps less practical for ease of access. Any ideas?

I have never been to Dublin.., anyone who has and can offer insight on accomodation ideas, must sees (castles!) would be much appreciated.
Thank you

avalon

South Kensington is very accessible. Numerous bus lines and th tube, 3 stations, South Ken, Gloucester Rd and Sloane Square,
Try Londontown.com for good rates

jamikins

Hi there,

Sounds like a really fun trip for you both. I think you may have already booked your flights but if not consider flying into 1 city and out of another - logitically into Dublin, out of Paris or vice versa. But you may have already booked to London.

There arent any castles in Dublin - another option I will throw in is Paris, London and Edinburgh. I prefer Edinburgh, its got lovely archetecture and a castle overlooking the town. I dont really like Dublin all that much (mind you that may be due to having to go there for work so much). I just dont really like the austere georgian archetecture and find the sites very spread out. Plus I find it as expensive (if not more so) than London for food and drink. But thats just me.

Sites in Dublin include the Guiness Factory, Jamesons Tasting, Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, Temple Bar, Post Office, Pheonix Park and Dublin Zoo.

Or split your time between London and Paris as there is so much to see there 4 days isnt really enough. You will spend 1/2 day moving each time so you do lose alot of time, especially if you cant book your flights into one place and out of another.

The eurostar to Paris is cheapest about 120 days out, the earliest you can book, and gets more expensive the closer to the date so watch for your dates at www.eurostar.com

Hope this helps!

jent103

Do your 12 days include travel days, or do you have 14 days total? What all do the two of you want to see in London? With at least a half day recovering from jet lag and one full day in Oxford, two full days in London isn't all that much.

jamikins is absolutely right - if you have not bought plane tickets yet, definitely book open jaw. I do like the Edinburgh option too. It is easier to get to from London and has a castle right in town. There's also Stirling Castle an easy day trip away, if castles are really your thing. I think for a typical visitor, two days in Edinburgh is a good amount of time. The quickest way to Dublin from London is to fly, which involves getting to and from each airport and security time, but the trains between London and Edinburgh (and London and Paris) run city center to city center. So you would have a little more sightseeing time in Edinburgh than in Dublin.

You might do London, train to Edinburgh (or flight to Dublin), then fly to Paris, then take the Eurostar back to London *if* you've already bought plane tickets.

nytraveler

Sorry -

Dublin does indeed have a castle. It;s built on top of a viking fortification and very interesting. (I am always amazed that so many people that go to Ireland ignore Dublin when there is so much to see and do there.)

alanRow

Astoundingly both Paris & Dublin can be done as a day trip from London - the former with Eurostar, the latter with a flight.

You can even do Edinburgh that way.

The only problems are very early starts and very late finishes.

janisj

After London - my choices would be in order 1) Paris, 2) Edinburgh, 3) Dublin.

If you have 12 days on the ground you could do 5 in London 4 or 5 in Paris, and a couple in Edinburgh. In any order - flying open jaw into one city and home from another. Train between London/Paris, flights between Paris/Edinburgh.

I'd skip Dublin myself.

But if you only have 10 days on the ground - pick two of the above cities.

IMO 4 days is not long enough for a first visit to London -- and especially if one day is spent in Oxford. The first/arrival day is pretty much lost to logistics and jetlag. So 4 days actually nets 2 full days to see London.

Michel_Paris

I'd do London, Eurostar to Paris, Ryan Air to Dublin, home

Or...skip Dublin.

I'd not land/leave out of London if you can possibly get an Open Jaw ticket. Time wasted back-tracking

janisj

Oh -- and if you do open jaw -- it will be cheaper if you fly in to the UK and OUT of Paris. UK exit fees/taxes are much higher.

jamikins

nytraveler - ok yes, there is a 'castle' in dublin buts its certainly not a castle n the traditional sense. Not like Edinburgh castle! It may be called a castle, but not really what most people would be looking for when they say castle!

jamikins

And I have spent many weeks in Dublin, so I wouldnt say I ignore what it has to offer. I just dont think its as interesting as other capitals. I am entitled to my opinion. Everyone is entitled to their own but dont assume about others.

janisj

"</i>I am always amazed that so many people that go to Ireland ignore Dublin when there is so much to see and do there.</i>"

Actually, very few ignore Dublin. But IMO Dublin just doesn't have the drama of Edinburgh, beauty of Paris, or overall magnificence of London.

As cities go - it is perfectly fine. But as a top-5/must see destination, probably not.

nytraveler

I'm not saying it's one of the top 5 of europe - but if you're going to Ireland it's worth at least 3 days versus the countryside - which is pretty - but IMHO a little too much green (prety but not worth 75 or 80% of a trip).

As for Dublin Castle not being a Castle -- well obviously everyone can have their own opinion - but IMHO it's much more of a castle and a historic sight than an lot of ruined castles all over the British Isles.

If I had 12 days would do just London and Paris - and ski everywhere else - and do it open jaws. But the OP did ask about Dublin.

Carleen

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have changed my flight to be Montreal-London-Dublin-Montreal, as we really want to see the Irish countryside-- and yes, Dublin, as well.

Any ideas for day trips from Dublin.. or even overnight stays, would be welcome... I want to see rolling green hills... I have read about the area called The Pale, but as I know nothing, it is hard to decide where to go. A rolling green coutryside with a castle would be ideal...

Our trip has also been shortened, so we will have 11 days total- 9 on the ground... budget restraints.

Thanks

janisj

"The Pale" is just the name for the area around Dublin.

There are scenic areas near and near-ish Dublin, but most of the main/famous scenic areas are over on the west coast-across the country from Dublin. Places like the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, etc. You won't have enough time for those but a few days in Dublin will let you at least sample a bit of the east side of the country/Glendalough - maybe Kilkenny

jent103

Glendalough is beautiful.

With 9 days on the ground, are you still planning to try to fit in Paris as well? I do tend to travel quickly, but if you want to see Oxford and some of Ireland outside Dublin, I don't think that you will have time.

jamikins

How are you getting to Ireland? You can get cheap flights if you book early enough on www.ryanair.com or www.easyjet.com or on www.aerlingus.com

The earlier you book usually the cheaper the tickets are.

flipflops101

If you want to get a taste of the irish countryside when you go to dublin you could do a day tour of nearby County Wicklow some of the highlights are Glendalough as mentioned http://www.glendalough.ie/ and Powerscourt waterfall and Lough Tea (the guinness lake). Other great day trips from Dublin would be Howth, a small village on the coast where you can walk along the cliffs or Newgrange.

lavdi99

Last winter we visited Amsterdam, Paris(train), Dublin(Ryan Air - $80) and London (Ryan Air again). It took us 12 days, 3 days in each city. I agree with some other people that I would skip Dublin if possible. The center of the city is very small and you can observe it within one day (although visiting to Guinness Factory and Jameson Distillery was quite interesting), we also used train to go out of the city (about 30 min ride) to see castles. In both Paris and London you can spend as much time as you have.

Carleen

Thank you all once again. I will check out the flight to Dublin instead of Train & ferry. Dublin is definitely in... and we will certainly do at least one or two day trips to the countryside. I have been to both London and Paris...my duaghter has always wanted to go to London and is more interested in Ireland area than Paris right now. As some of you mentioned, Dublin center needs only a day so this will give us extra time for day trips to the country, perhaps even an overnight.
Anyone know how long it takes to get to Glastonbury from London-- is it complicated? I know you have to get to Bristol first.

Thanks in advance... we have 5 months to plan our itinerary and make this a great mother/duaghter trip abroad.