Sneech

My 70+ parents, husband, myself and 15 year old son are planning a 3 week trip to the British Isles and Ireland next June. Any suggestions on what we should not miss? We are very interested in Museums, Castles, Celtic Art and artifacts.
Thank you.

schnauzer

Whereabouts in particular are you planning to travel? ARe you going to London? If so the transport museum is excellent, also the Air force museum at Henley if your 15yr old is in to that kind of thing. The cabinet war rooms are terrific as is of course the Tower of London. There are heaps of castles everywhere in UK, can you give more guidelines as to the directions you are headed. Terrific model railway at Beer in Somerset. There is a whole place to do with the Iron age, can't remember exactly where maybe someone will come up with that. IF not I can find out for you. Try and give some more details and you will get more exact responses.

julia_t

Although the British Isles look tiny on a world map, and 3 weeks seems plenty of time to see everything, it really is not possible to do so.

If you come back with a few ideas, then there are lots of us who can offer help and advice, and suggestions.

For example, it seems you might be interested in Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles; if so there are also long barrows and other places of interest in Wiltshire. Bath is nearby, and the Cotswolds (a large area in itself) is not too far north with Oxford on its north-east edge. There are many castles in England alone - do you want ruins or slightly more 'modern' castles still inhabited like Warwick and Berkeley. Do you want to visit Cornwall, or go north to Yorkshire, the Lake District, Northumberland, Scotland? And what about Wales and Ireland (Eire or Ulster) - again you can do justice to neither in just a few days.

So let us know a bit more please....

janis

Even though schnauzer and julia have tried to help you - your quetions are really impossile to answer.

Have you made ANY decisions on the trip yet - such as: Where are you going in the UK (London, some other parts of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)??? How long in the UK and how long in Ireland? How are you getting around - do you plan on driving or relying on public transit? Where are you flying into/out of?

These are just a few of the many things that make a huge difference re what you can see.

Someone could spend a lot of time telling you about some terrific castle only to find out you are really only going to London the Cotswolds and Ireland.

And three weeks is not very long - you are talking about up to 5 countries with a lot to see in each of them. If you have not made any plans yet - then I'd read over some of the hundreds of threads on here, and a guide book or two, and come back with at least a skeleton of a plan.

I'm sounding a preachy here -- but there are MANY folks on here that can help you put together a wonderful itinerary but you need to help us . . . .

Sneech

Thank you all for responding. This is my first time using a message board, so please bear with me, I'm new at this.

We plan on driving in Ireland, Scotland and Wales. And using public transportation in London and other parts of England.

Schnauzer: Thank you for your suggestion of the Air Force Museum in London, I know that my son will love that. We do plan on seeing Tower of London.

Julia_t: Any particular castles in England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales that you would suggest? Ruins to visit and for Lodging. I'm pretty open to anyone's experiences of what they felt was most memorable for them. Stonehenge is a plan for us. What is is there to see in the Cotswolds? We are probably going to spend most of our time in England and Ireland, then Scotland and Wales.

Unfortunately, my parents do not want to visit Northern Ireland. But I would like to visit Western Ireland where mostly Gaelic is spoken.

Again, Thank you all.

janis

OK - I'll keep being the bad guy here. You are only talking about 3 weeks . . . . .

"We are probably going to spend most of our time in England and Ireland, then Scotland and Wales."

I lived in the UK for 5 years and go back at least once a year and could help you put together a nice itinerary including castles, celtic sites, museums and anything else you wanted. And there are many other fodorites w/ as much or even more knowledge of the places you want to go.

But 5 people, 3 weeks, 4 countries, plus some time in London. You really need to all sit down and decide what is most important to you.

A reasonable itinerary could look something like 5 or 6 days in London, 7 days in Scotland, 3-5 days in Wales. When you add in the travel days to/from the UK that fills up your 3 weeks.

Or 6 or 7 days in Ireland, 3 or 4 days in Wales, 1 or 2 days for Bath/Stonehenge and 6 or 7 days in London would be possible.

But trying to fit in Scotalnd, Wales, rural England, London AND Ireland in just 3 weeks - nope

caroline_edinburgh

BTW Ireland is part of the British Isles.

Mucky

Hi Sneech,
I think Janis is right and I may add that I think generally people have a misconception that the UK is small and therefore easy to travel around.
It really isn't the case at all.
The UK is relatively small compared to many countries but is also overcrowded overpopulated and has a less than perfect road and rail infrastructure. That aside if you reduce your demands on your time, you can see plenty of what you want to see in 3 weeks. But you have to be really specific about areas to see and that means being able to minimise the time traveling any long distance.

Personally if I was going to London I would keep my visit southerly and perhaps move west to Wales via Cotswolds bath stonehenge etc and then head to Ireland from Wales.

West Wales is beautiful and Welsh is largely spoken in many parts.
If you visit Cardiff, you will find a fantastic interesting buzzing city with a large castle in the City centre, and the Largest castle in Europe a few miles away at Caerphilly.English is the main language spoken in Cardiff, although many people do speak Welsh.
Ireland can be reached from Swansea or Fishguard by ferry or fly from Cardiff international Airport, I believe there are flights to Dublin.
Good Luck and do post back when you have some specific ideas.
Good Luck
Muck

sheila

I must agree with the others here. Is there any ONE place you know you will definitely go- Western Irelnd (they speak Gaelic in the Western isles of Scotland too, you know. If so, tell us and we'll add to it incrementally for you....