Wow, thanks so much for the input. Based on what you've said, we think we're going to go and make it smaller, we think we're going to do Edinburgh, Dublin, and Shannon to do the west coast of Ireland. Not stuck on those 3, but are thinking it will make it more doable.

Ah the West Coast of Ireland - great decision to concentrate of Scotland and Ireland. I'd may start in Cork - Blarney for bussing stone - Killarney - then Connemarra and up coast to Galway then Shannon - fly to Edinburgh and do Scotland maybe withn help of some small guided tours.

So we decided to go with Edinburgh and then Dublin\Shannon. We plan on 4 nights in Scotland, 6 in Ireland. We are excited because it looks like we will be in Scotland during the Military Tattoo @ Edinburgh Castle. Looks pretty cool, any thoughts on that or anything else? Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.

If you want to attend the Tattoo you will want to book tickets far (FAR) in advance. Edinburgh will be absolutely chockablock so your general (non-Tattoo/non-Festivals) sightseeing will be very crowded.

Thanks, we actually purchased them today. I was surprised how many seats were already gone so I am happy we did.

Yes -- every night will be a sell out. You will love it. Do dress warmly and umbrellas are not allowed.

We are trying to set up things to and day trips using Edinburgh as our home base. We were looking to see if we could do a day trip to the Jacobite Steam train, but can only find day trips from Glasgow, not Edinburgh. Does anyone know if we could do it from there?

Well Edinburgh to Glasgow is just a short train ride to connect with tours from Glasgow. It will be a long long day trip and with limited time in Edinburgh...

The Jacobite doesn't really make sense from either Glasgow or Edinburgh. From Glasgow it would be a very long day, from Edinburgh it would be an insanely long day.

I think a lot of first time travellers underestimate the size of European countries and how long travel takes. You have chosen your bases so instead of looking at things that interest you in Scotland, look at what is available around and from your bases.

spend all three days in Edinburgh or do an easy nearby day trip like to Stirling or St Andrews or yes take o day tour to Highlands - many good ones available.

So, while in Edinburgh we're going to take a day tour to Glen Coe and Loch Ness to see the scenery, along with the Military Tattoo, but the rest of it will be figured out when we get there. We also plan to do the Edinburgh Castle – Royal Mile – Holyrood Palace path. We were told that would probably take the better part of a day, do you agree? We were thinking of using the Hop on Hop off buses to get around the town. Would that be worth while? Next we need to start figuring out the days we have in Ireland. We plan on a day trip to the Cliffs of Mohr's and attractions in that area, but are wondering f there is anything that is can'r miss in the Dublin area. I am also curious if a trip to Belfast is worth the trip? It's not far from Dublin, so it looks doable as there are tours the go there from Dublin. Again, thanks all for your input, we have put a lot of it to use.

Regarding the HOHO bus, if it's for the 3 places you mention, I walked to all 3. Don't bother with the bus, central Edinburgh isn't very big.

The only time I've taken the H-o-H-o in Edinburgh was several years ago when we were staying quite a bit north in New town and used the tour bus to get us to Princes Street then up the hill to the Castle in the morning and hear a bit of commentary along the way . . . and late in the afternoon caught it again at the bottom near Holyrood to ride the end of the route. So basically just expensive transport that got us up that gawdawful hill :) We didn't do a full loop and you could do the same thing with local city buses or even taxis for less ££

Good to know. Thanks for the input on the H-O-H buses. Now we're working on Dublin. We do plan a day trip to the Cliffs of Mohr and that side of Ireland. We're also trying to figure out if a day trip to Belfast would be worthwhile, given our time in Dublin. Any thoughts?

Sorry -- but a day trip to the Cliffs of Mohr is totally unrealistic. From central Dublin it is nearly a 4 hour drive each way. I think it was mentioned up thread that Dublin is not a good base for things on the west coast.

If you are thinking of doing Glen Coe and Loch Ness then back to Edinburgh in a single day that's a hell of a long time in a car or coach. Just stick to Glen Coe - which is stunning btw - so you can have a decent few hours there.

if you're planning on being in Edinburgh around Fringe time there will be a ton to see and do so you may not wish to venture much beyond the city most of your time.

>>If you are thinking of doing Glen Coe and Loch Ness then back to Edinburgh in a single day that's a hell of a long time in a car or coach. Just stick to Glen Coe - which is stunning btw - so you can have a decent few hours there.<<

Not optimal of course -- but Rabbies actually does a decent day tour . . . https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-...lands-day-tour

Yes, to janisj's mention of Rabbies. Though I haven't done that specific tour, I can say that it's much easier doing a long trip like that when someone else is in charge, doing the driving and knowing exactly what they're doing rather than trying to do it oneself, especially if it's your first time driving in Scotland. Rabbies also make frequent enough stops so that one isn't seat stuck for hours.

The trip we booked was through Rabbies, so glad to hear they're known. It was rated pretty good too. Thanks.