I am planning a driving trip of Scotland and Ireland for 2 weeks in mid September. We are an active couple in our mid 50’s – we do not want to only see the inside of our windshield. I would love any comments/suggestions:

NYC – Edinburgh
2 night Edinburgh
1 night - rent a car and drive to the Inverness/Fort William ( where is the best
B & B /town to stay)
2 nights Stirling ( is the best place to stay) and tour Stirling/St. Andrews

Fly from Edinburgh to Shannon pick up a car
2 nights Galoway –when leaving Galoway – drive to Doolin sightsee – then continue drive to Dingle ( is this to much for one day)
1 night Dingle - Do the Slea Head drive and continue to Kenmare
2 nights Kenmare ( Ring of Kerry Drive one day)
2 nights Kinsal
2 nights Killikanny
1 night Wicklow and then drive to Dublin for flight back.
Thanks for all your input.

Just a comment about the Scotland bits. I think you should go back to the drawing board/guidebook/maps.

Dashing up to the Inverness area only to turn around the next day and drive almost all the way back to Edinburgh to stay in Stirling?? Plus Stirling as a base for St Andrews just adds more driving.

You only have 3 nights to play w/, which doesn't equal 3 full days. And you will only have 1.5 days in Edinburgh, w/your arrival day may be quite jet lagged.

Stirling is less than an hour from central Edinburgh and less than 45 minutes from EDI where you would collect your car.

If you want to see Stirling Castle and St Andrews . . . of course you can rent a car, but both are very easy day trips from Edinburgh by train. Maybe stay the full time in Edinburgh and do the 2 days trips.

You're possibly confusing Galloway (in Scotland) with Galway (in Ireland).

I agree with janis, your itinerary is a bit rushed and all over the place. Get a map (even if it's only google maps) and see where your locations are and the driving times between them. If using google, add an extra 25-50% onto the estimated time.

Ok.. I will stay in Edinburgh and do day trips...
Are you also saying that I have scheduled to much for Ireland? I have been trying to follow what others are doing for 10 nights.. Should I leave off Galway ?? What about Doolin - I had really wanted to see the cliffs? I had put Killikanny in for a couple of days to see between Cork area and Wicklow??

For your Edinburgh stay, have a look at the driving tours in this website:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...urs/index.html

The Stirling and Dunfermline or Falkland and St Andrews are both good. Alternatively the drive south for the great Border Abbeys takes you into an area ignored by many foreign visitors.

Don't miss out on Galway and if you have time do try and see something of Connemara which is beautiful and less visited than further south. From Galway drive west along the coast to Roundstone and up to Clifden. On a clear day the Sky Drive around the small peninsula to the west of Clifden is one of the best short drives in the world. Continue past Kylemore Lough and Abbey and head for Leenane. You can do a boat cruise along Killarey Harbour from here. The cut back through the centre to Maam Cross and pick up the road back to Galway. This is a glorious day out.


Galway to Doolin, Cliffs of Moher and Dingle can be done in a day. Use the vehicle ferry crossing from Killimer to Tarbert to avoid putting on a lot of mileage via Limerick.

Have you thought about taking a night out of either Kinsale or Kilkenny and spending an extra night in Kenmare. This would let you drive the Ring of Beara which scenically is as good as Ring of Kerry and Slea Head but is much less busy. Sheep's Head Peninsula to the south of Bantry is even better. I'm not sure what you are planning for both Kinsale as in some ways there isn't a lot to do unless you are planning on driving into Cork.

Don't miss Cahir Castle and Rock of Cashel on the way to Kilkenny.

If you have time do try and visit Glendalough and possible Powerscourt on the way back to Dublin, depending on what time your flight is.

Ok.. I have revised the above but still have a few questions... again thanks for your input. Still working out Edinburgh - but I think I will spend 3 nights in Edinburgh and then figure out the other 2.....
Fly from Edinburgh to Shannon pick up a car (will arrive shannon around 2 30) hope to see the cliffs before checking into the B&B
2 nights Ballyvaughn - will go into Galway for a day)
2 night Dingle - Do the Slea Head drive and continue to Kenmare
Now for below..
3 nights Kenmare ( Ring of Kerry Drive one day or Beara I have read that this much less travelled would I be missing alot by not doing the ROK)
Skip Kinsal
1 nights Killikanny
1 night Wicklow
1 night near airport in Dublin

We did three nights in Edinburgh in the fall and spent one day taking a tour to Sterling but if I were to do again would not. There is so much to see in Edinburgh. Sterling castle was like Disney. Edinburgh castle much better.

You could stay in Dublin for your last night in Ireland instead of near the airport. This way, you could do some sightseeing in Dublin itself. We took a taxi from the airport to downtown and it was pretty expensive, but there is a bus that connects the two. http://www.dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey...port-Services/

If you’re flying from Edinburgh to Shannon, you won’t be jetlagged when driving. If you stay in Ballyvaughn, there are three pubs in Doolin where you can hear traditional music (“trad”) in the evening. You could also spend your first two nights in Galway. You would be able to see Galway and Connemara or even do a daytrip to the Aran Islands. It is a short ferry trip to Inis Mor. http://www.aranislandferries.com/ You could still see the Cliffs of Moher on your way from the airport to Ballyvaughn or Galway.

I second the Killimer-Tarbert ferry. It took a chunk of time off the distance/time driving and was a nice break. http://www.shannonferries.com/

My husband and I left Dublin and drove to Powerscourt then Glendalough before going to Kilkenny for the night. It wasn’t a bad drive, but we were only able to see a small amount of Kilkenny the next day, but we did get to see the castle. The gardens at Powerscourt are beautiful and Glendalough is magical. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

just an FYI: Sterling is the money; Stirling is the city/castle

If you do the ferry from Doolin to Inisheer you can see the cliffs from the water. It was my favorite view of the cliffs. It is a hit or miss because it is a smaller ferry than the one from Rossaveal, north of Galway. The Rossaveal ferry is a fast ferry and much larger if you have a problem with sea sickness. The cliffs at Inishmore are more beautiful imo than the Cliffs of Moher and less touristy now. If there are time constraints The cliffs of Moher are easy to do on your way to Galway and Doolin has some great pubs for lunch stops. I have been four times and still have not seen everything on my to do list. You just have to go back. I love Dublin and try to squeeze some of it into your trip. The hotel airports are cheap and great for early morning departures. Give yourself enough time if flying back to the states, like 3 hours!

"Galway to Doolin, Cliffs of Moher and Dingle can be done in a day. Use the vehicle ferry crossing from Killimer to Tarbert to avoid putting on a lot of mileage via Limerick."

That is what I did and it worked out well! Take the "Connor Pass" over into Dingle for a spectacular mountain road.

-john