tjw61

Hi,

We are thinking of going to the British Isles for 10 days. Our thought was doing 4 days in London (possibly day tripping to Paris), 3 in Edinburgh and 3 in Dublin. While we know these trips will be rushed, college and work are our driving factors on the time. We have looked and saw tripmasters has great airfare\hotel combos. We don't want to do one of the their full tours, we want to plan our own so we are not at the will of their timing. Any thoughts\ideas on this?

Thanks.

MmePerdu

In your count of the "days" are you allowing one between each city for travel? Instead of 10 days it could work out something like 3/2/2 days of useful sightseeing time instead. If so, you might consider 2 cities instead of 3.

twk

When you factor in travel time (and traveling by air between London and Edinburgh rather than by train), you really are probably only talking about 3 days in London, and 2 each in Edinburgh and Dublin. Personally, I think you'd be better off just doing two cities. And, for that short of a stay in London, doing a daytrip to Paris would not be a good idea for most folks--there is way too much to see in London to end up wasting half a day sitting on a train between London and Paris.

BigRuss

<<Any thoughts\ideas on this?>>

Too bloody rushed.

Cities are not equal just because they're cities. You could blow the whole lot in London and barely scratch the surface. Dublin is not representative of Ireland.

janisj

>>Any thoughts\ideas on this?<<

YES -- cut back to London and Edinburgh or London and Paris (or London and Dublin if you must)

Is your full trip 10 days? If so you will only have 7.5 days on the ground. Barely enough time for London -- but squeezing in two cities would be OK (because Paris/Dublin/Edinburgh are each much smaller than London)

4 days in London requires 5 nights - are you accounting for 5 nights? Plus 4 days in London is time for maybe 6 or 7 major sites (out of scores) and you want to take away a full (expensive) day to get a teensy peek at Paris.

If your full trip is 12 or 13 days (netting you 10 days on the ground) then you could possibly fit in London, Edinburgh and Dublin -- but ONLY if you fly open jaw in to one and home from another.

remember -- the more destinations you cram in only increases the % of time devoted to airports/train stations/packing/unpacking . . . and results in LESS time seeing/doing.

StCirq

Way too rushed. You haven't accounted for travel time between places. Pull out a spread sheet and write down every move you'll make and you'll see this will not work.

tjw61

Great input, we did not factor in whole days lost for travel time. If we went to 2 cities out of the 4, we would either do London\Paris or Edinburgh\Dublin (which would not be 4 night in Dublin, but using it as a hub to travel around Ireland). Any thoughts on this change? Thanks again for your input.

janisj

Go to whichever two most interest you but your changed options aren't necessarily the best combos IMO. Dublin and Edinburgh each have a fraction of the sites of Paris or London (and Edinburgh is one of my favorite places on earth).

It does seem as if you are just making a list. Sit down and decide which sites interest you most and then decide. FYI Dublin isn't really a 'hub to travel around Ireland' -- it is on the east coast and many of the scenic bits are all the way over on the west coast. If you want to see the RoK or Dingle or cliffs of Moher, etc - it would be better to fly into Shannon than DUB.

When is the trip? Time of year could make a difference. But if it was my trip (which it isn't ) I'd do either London + Edinburgh, London + Paris, or London (<u>just London</u> with maybe a day trip into the countryside or Oxford or somewhere)

BigRuss

As Janis noted, Dublin's not necessarily a good hub for the best parts of Ireland (Dingle/Galway, Ring of Kerry) because it's on the east coast and the other attractions are across the country to the west or south.

The Irish also don't have a real hi-speed rail network in contrast to the UK (whose own network pales next to that of the French, Germans, Italians, Spaniards and the Japanese). That means you're not rocketing from one part of Eire to the other so using Dublin as a "hub" means you're going to spend a lot of time on the train.

Christina

YOu don't lose a whole day in travel time going between those places. I never have, they aren't that far apart. I flew from Dublin to Edinburgh in a little over an hour and was completely checked into my hotel by noon. That doesn't lose half the day unless your day is over by noon. Flights from EDI to London take 1:30 but of course, that takes more time getting from the airport into the city. You still don't lose an entire day. You can get from London to Paris by Eurostar in a couple hours, also.

PalenQ

take Caledonian Sleeper trains London-Scotland to save daytime time though you miss nice scenery last part of trip - check www.seat61.com for lots on trains; general info on night trains also www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. Book Eurostar trains ASAP for discounted day-return tickets: www.eurostar.com.

janisj

Christina: By the time one packs, checks out, travels to the airport, goes through security, flies, collects bags, gets to the next hotel and checks in it will be at LEAST 4 hours . . . which is essentially <u>half of a sightseeing day</u>. So sure you could be at your hotel by noon -- if you took an early flight.

And between DUB and say LHR it takes longer because it basically takes an hour to get from the airport to anywhere in central London.


>>You can get from London to Paris by Eurostar in a couple hours, also.<<

Sure you can . . . IF you teleport to St Pancras and from Gare du Nord. Mere mortals do need to get TO/FROM the stations . . . With the taxi or tube ride, 45 minute advance check in, 2+ hours train ride, taxi or Metro to the Paris hotel that '2 hours to Paris becomes 4 to 5 hours.

BigRuss

<< that '2 hours to Paris becomes 4 to 5 hours.>>

Going London to Paris also LOSES an hour due to the time change - it's like going from Chicago to NYC. Going from Paris to London gives you an extra hour.

deladeb

We are independent travelers but chose to do a British Isles cruise a couple of summers ago (it was stressful for us driving on the opposite side of the road when we visited Ireland previously)
Here are 2 suggestions:
http://vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=21981 (no Edinburgh)

with Dublin and Edinburgh
http://vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=34440

janisj

>>it was stressful for us driving on the opposite side of the road when we visited Ireland previously<<

I personally think for a first time driving on the left -- Ireland can be a real problem. IMO/IME the driving is generally easier in most parts of rural England and Scotland.

MmePerdu

Small town & village Ireland and England have always been the easiest driving experiences for me. Cities can be a nightmare because of the speed that decisions need to be made and big busy roundabouts/traffic circles. So the idea of getting in & out of cities by train and getting cars in towns with agencies is a good one, I've found.

The down side of rural areas are the 1 lane roads with pull-outs for passing and hedges can scratch the side of the car trying to maneuver in these tight quarters, unnerving when concerned about damage.

The one place I invariably end up on the wrong side is pulling out of parking lots. I always find myself on the right of the exit onto the street. Though I get some puzzled looks occasionally, people have humored me and it is the least dangerous place to be on the wrong side.

MmePerdu

Translation: parking lot = car park.

janisj

re the car parks -- I seldom have problems pulling out . . . but while driving around WITHIN the car parks can be pretty confusing and I sometimes (not often thankfully) end up on the wrong side of aisles, especially when backing out of a space.

MmePerdu

And then there's the added puzzle of which side once I'm home. A left turn from a stop sign is where I most often have to think about it, but luckily I'm stopped while I figure it out.

janisj

>>And then there's the added puzzle of which side once I'm home.<<

Ain't that the truth

One time I had to drive up to a rural area to consult w/ someone not far from where you live two days after returning from a three week driving trip in Scotland . . . and was coming back through Alta Sierra and came around a curve smack into the path of a pickup truck! The truck wasn't in the wrong lane - I was. Luckily I have a couple of seconds to react and get back where I belonged. I do find the driving back home to be harder for a few days than I ever do in the UK.