Driving trip - UK
 

My husband and I are flying to London for the first two weeks of July. We would like to visit England, Scotland and Ireland. We plan to rent a car and stay at B&Bs. <BR> <BR>We would like some advice on the best way to visit all three countries. We are flying into London and renting a car at the airport. Is it realistic to drive through England to Scotland and then take a ferry over to Ireland in 14 days time? What would be our best bet for catching our return flight out of London? Can we do it all with the rental car, or should we take a one-way flight back from Dublin to London? <BR> <BR>We would also like some advice on places to stay. <BR> <BR>Thanks - Kimberly

You'll have no difficulty constructing a 14 day driving tour if you limit it to just England and Scotland, assuming you don't need to spend more than a day or 2 in the major centres. <BR> <BR>There are potentially three problems in extending this to include the Irish Republic: <BR> <BR>1. Extra travelling time which will seriously reduce your free time along the way. <BR> <BR>2. Cost. taking a car across on the ferry will be expensive. <BR> <BR>3. Hire car company restrictions. I think you are permitted to take a Uk hire car into Ireland, but not to drop it off there. <BR> <BR>My advice would be to stick to England and Scotland unless you're really stuck on Ireland - in which case take a budget airline flight from the UK to Dublin at the end of the trip when you've already returned the hire car in the UK.

Kimberly- I will be doing the same thing as you are doing in a few months. I just wanted to let you know that there are some really good deals out the that are called "go as you please packages." I don't know if you've heard about them- it includes a car and vouchers to either bed and breakfast or hotel plus a meal (breakfast) all for one price...around50-60 dollars per person a day. Check out CIE tours online, or through a travel agent...it might be helpful...

Several recent posts have discussed the B&B voucher program and you might want to bring those up to review. Maybe Phrazina feels it is a good deal, but you can rent a nice car in Ireland for about $30 a day, and you can stay in very nice B&B's for less than $50 a day (for two), so that makes a total of $80 per day as opposed to the "special" plan that costs $100- 120 per day for two. Also you will not be limited to selections on the voucher plan if you do them independently.

T totally agree with Gordon. You will be selling yourself short if you try to do a bit more than England and Scotland in just two short weeks. There is just so much to see and driving takes so much longer than you can imagine. Save Ireland for later...it is a whole trip in itself. You might be able to squeeze in a day or so in Wales on your way up to Scotland. You might want to spend alot more time on the road and then, at the last minute, fly from Edinburgh to London and home. <BR>

Thanks for the advice. For travel in the first two weeks in July, do you think we will have a problem finding available B&Bs if we travel independently?

You should not have too many problems finding something. If you do, just contact the local Tourist Information office. They have a Book a Bed service that is fantastic. Just tell them what you want, where you want it (if you have a preference), minimum amenities, and price you are willing to spend. They will find you someplace, book it, and even give you a map to the place. It works wonderfully. If you are planning a flexible itinerary, you can even stop in a town and they will find you one for that night--some of the larger ones even have a Book-a-Bed-Ahead, where you can have them book one in the next town. The cost is nominal--2 pounds sterling, I believe. I've used them many times, and NEVER been disappointed in what they found for me.