A friend and I are in the VERY beginning stages of planning a trip to at least England and Ireland (maybe Wales and Scotland if you think we should!). Does anyone have any advice for this phase? <BR>We'll be going mid to late October for a total of 2 weeks. <BR>THANKS!!

Lists: what do you hate? what do you like? Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland have wonderful cities, but the countryside is the big draw, just to start the discussion. <BR>Budget: what is the most you can spend? That will determine how far and where you can travel <BR>Driving vs train: the countryside is best seen by car, but if you don't want to drive, then get a route map for the trains (you can't go where the trains don't go, or you'll have to then get bus info) <BR>How do you travel: backpacks and walking shoes or large Luis Vuitton and pumps? light travelers can easily cover more territory because not so much to haul around; more baggage, fewer stops. <BR> <BR>I'd say stick to 2 countries, a week in each, or even just one country...they look teeny weeny on the map, but they cram a lot of stuff in those little countries... <BR>

Thanks for getting the ball rolling! <BR>My friend is a very seasoned traveller, I've been to Eastern Europe once, thats it. <BR>We are both very practical, so I'm sure it'll be sneakers and light luggage, although it'd be fun to dress up once or twice, maybe. <BR>I'm sure she's more interested in the romantic castles and such, and I'm more interested in hisorical stuff, but I imagine the two interests will be closely related. <BR>Haven't gotten as far as whether or not we'll get a car. If its cheap enough, I suppose it'd be a good idea. Would anyone recommend a car for the entire trip? I susupect it'd be expensive, but probably make the best of our short time there. <BR>We're both city girls so I'm sure we'll want to see a nightclub or two, but I'd hate to waste our time in cities, so most of it would be visiting the country side. <BR> <BR>Thanks for the input!

It still really depends on what you want. The young people tell me that Glasgow is a "happening" place. It was UK weekend break destination of the year last year in one of our top awards. It also has the benfit of being in a great location for getting, by train, or car to some of Europe's most stunning scenery and even the odd castle or two. But it's unlikely to be sultry. <BR> <BR>Glasgow, City of Culture <BR>Glasgow, City of Architecture <BR>Great pubs; great sense of humour; great Mcintosh architecture; great shopping; great art; great place to leave to get somewhere else! <BR> <BR>Glasgow'smiles Better!

Deirdre, since I was in the same boat as you last Spring, here's what I did (my trip is in May). Get a good travel book or 2 (I personally like the "Eyewitness" series, but I have several others). Do searches in this forum (top of the page) on things that interest you. Chances are others have asked the same questions that you are interested in. I have learned so much from this forum reading the questions & answers posted here. A lot of the people who take the time to answer the questions are very knowledgable & VERY patient (since we keep asking them the same things as others before us). Continue to post your own questions trying to get as specific as you can (the more info you give them, the more help they can give you). One of the first things you have to decide is, do you want to skim the surface on a lot of places or do you want to see fewer places in more depth. Good luck!

Deirdre, <BR> <BR>My husband and I did a similar trip in Sept/Oct about 3 years ago. We started out in London for 3 nights, took the tube to the airport and picked up a car and drove by Stonehenge (didn't pay to get in, I sat on my husband's shoulders and took a picture with out the chain link fence in the way, it came out great) Stopped in Avebury, wandered around the stones- marevelous, and had lunch at the Red Lion Inn then drove to Bath where we stayed at a great B&B. The next day we drove to Wales for a night- beautiful walks, castles and churches (wish we stayed 2-3 nights, we are going back in May) dropped off the car at Fishguard and took the ferry over to Ireland for 7 nights,picked up a car there(I personally wasn't a big fan of Ireland on a whole though parts were wonderful- after Wales it was a bit of a let down) Try to stay on the dingle peninsula for atleast a couple of nights, it is wonderful. We stayed in Cahir (not recommended) Blarney (we left Cahir a day early otherwise we wouldn't have stayed here), Kilarney, Dingle and Adair. Each for 2 nights, except Adair for 1. We were exhausted at the end (at 25 that is pretty pathetic) Wish we had stayed 3 nights at less places. If I were to do it over I would have had more time in England (Devon, Cornwall possibly) and in Wales and skipped Ireland. Just my opinion, most people love Ireland. Hope this helps a little.