Mandy4305

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are taking a 15 day trip to Europe in May (2014). We had previously posted and got some great advice and since then have done some research on which countries we'd be interested in visiting.

Our very basic itinerary at the moment:

6 days in London
2 days in Bath
7 days in Ireland

My question is, are we planning enough for 15 days worth? Should we check out another country perhaps? Or will our current itinerary give us plenty to experience?

Thanks!

bobthenavigator

It is really not Europe to me, but 15 days in the UK is still time well spent. I am not sure the attraction in Bath, but I would consider Edinburgh instead. Have fun!

jamikins

You could do Bath as a daytrip from London and then instead of 2 nights in Bath take the train to Edinburgh and spend 3 nights there. It's then an easy flight to Ireland (where in Ireland do you want to go?) for the remaining 6 nights.

There is definitely enough to pack into the above places to keep you occupied for 15 days!

Mandy4305

I've heard good things about Edinburgh as well, Bath looks like such a romantic place to visit and I love Jane Austen so it seems like a good place for a brief visit. We are thinking of getting an apartment in Dublin-- my bf wants to check out the Guinness Brewery and the Jameson Distillery tours. Any other Ireland suggestions? We've never traveled abroad so we are open to other suggestions. We aren't renting a car so public transportation is pretty important to be close to.

jamikins

Well Dublin is my least favourite city in Europe. I find the archetecture quite boring and the city itself kind of depressing in a down and out way. I just dont think there are enough sites there to keep me occupied for more than a couple of days. You can do the brewery and the distillery in 1 day. This is of course my own opinion.

I would spend maybe 3 nights in Dublin to see the city and then head out to somewhere in the countryside for the remaining time as I think thats where the magic of Ireland is. I cant help here because I havent been to the countryside.

BigRuss

Edinburgh > Dublin; Scotland > Ireland. Seriously, if he wants distillery tours, go to Dufftown area of Scotland. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a distillery. And whisky is better than whiskey.

bilboburgler

There are some good galleries in Dublin, a very relaxed and social eating and drinking style, plus Trinity college. The local train will take you out to some little towns.

The usual way to enjoy Eire is to take a car out of Dublin and visit some pretty areas. Staying in Dublin you may find yourselves a loose end by day 5.

What do other people think?

janisj

You can't 'do' Ireland in 7 days - most of the major scenic areas are on the W/SW sides of the country while Dublin is on the east side. And 7 days is IMO much much too long for Dublin.

So IF your BF wants to see Guinness and Jameson . . . you could fly over to Dublin for a couple of days. That's nough time to see the highlights and visit the Brewery/distillery.

Then use all the rest of your time in the UK. 6 days in London, 1 night/1.5 days in Bath. Then you could fly from Bristol to Dublin for a couple of days. Then fly from Dublin to Edinburgh.

You could do these cities in just about any order - but definitely book open jaw in to one city and home from another. In to London/home from Edinburgh, in to Dublin/home from London, in to Edinburgh/home from London or Dublin . . . any combo you want. But basically (<u>Assuming you mean 15 days total</u 1 night flying in, 7 nights London, 1 night Bath, 2 nights Dublin, 3 nights Edinburgh, 15th day spent flying home.

IF you actually mean 15 days 'on the ground' (a 17 day trip) then you could juggle the days a bit or rent a car for a couple of days for touring EITHER eastern Ireland or central Scotland.

Mandy4305

Thanks for the tips and ideas-- will look more into some of these-- didn't mean to mislead by saying 7 days to do all of Ireland, just meant that we aren't committed to just Dublin-- looking for some kind of itinerary to fill up those 7 days.

Thanks for the tips and keep'em comin!

mariha2912

Advice depends on specifics, for example your arrival/departure points/flights are located on London? I would personally try to save my stay on departure point for tale end of my trip, I like planning to be near my outbound flight airport one or two days in advance to have some lee time in case something goes wrong during my trip (flight/ferry cancellations/delays, public transport strikes, a flat tire or whatever). And I think splitting my time in an area backtracking,packing/unpacking, checking in/out of hotels twice is lots of hassle. So I would save London for the end of the trip and connect straight away to another destination upon arrival - assuming London is your transport hub : ))) For your Ireland part of the trip you may want to fly from London to Cork, Kerry or Shannon (or even Belfast if you wish to visit Northern Ireland), explore a bit around one of those areas,make your way to Dublin and fly back to London from Dublin. I appreciate that a car gives lots of flexibility, but I find buses and trains in Ireland decent enough to get a glimpse of various places.
Or you could spend all your Ireland days based in Dublin while exploring this city in leisure and maybe taking a couple of side trips. There are some nice coastal town near by, easy to reach on suburban train and organized bus trips to Newgrange, Glendalouch etc. You could always take an overnight trip using public bus to places such as Kilkenny too.
Personally I always try to spend at least 4-5 days in Dublin every time I visit Ireland, although I have been there many times. I spend 7 night in total on my first visit, and I did not fell bored...But I like to take it easy and enjoy each destination in leisure rather than been all the time on the go...

longhorn55

I think your itinerary looks just fine. I've been to Bath a few times and agree that you can easily find enough to do there for two days. It's a lovely town.

I agree that 7 days in Dublin is too much. I would probably recommend 4 days in Dublin--2 days for sightseeing in Dublin itself and 2 days for day tours. (My recommended day tours would be Glendalough/Wicklow and Newgrange. Howth makes a nice half-day visit and is easily reached via DART.) For the remaining 3 days, you could take the train to Galway. Spend a couple days sightseeing in Galway and then do a day trip to Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands. (See Aran Island Ferries for transportation from Galway.)

These recommendations are based on 7 days "on the ground" in Ireland. If your itinerary does not provide for travel days, I'd drop a day from Dublin to account for travel time. And, finally, if you can arrange for public transportation from Galway to Shannon Airport, you might consider leaving from there. It's closer to Galway than returning to Dublin.