Help with Scotland/Ireland 1 week itinerary
 

We leave the end of June for our 3 week family vacation. 2 adults with our 16 year old son. We are staying in London for two weeks. We have an additional week unplanned. Our son would like to see "anything" in Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland. We are thinking train to Edinburgh for a couple of days then on to Ireland making our way back to London by train and ferry for our flight home. Any suggestions?

My suggestion is to do one or the other but not both Scotland and Ireland. There's a lot more to Scotland than just Edinburgh, and Ireland is too fabulous to give it just a couple straggly days! I say this very lovingly. I know I get the urge to pack in as much as I can, too. Having done that before, though, I won't do it again.

What sorts of things do you like? History, scenery, activities?

I agree. One week is NOT long enough for EITHER Scotland OR Irland, unless all you care to see is Edinburgh and Dublin.

Bob

I agree with the above. And the easiest way would be to fly to whichever you pick. If you want something more scenic, take the train to Edinburgh :)

Thanks so much for your replies. We all like history and scenery. We'll have our fill of activities in London. We will take the train to Edinburgh. If we use the week for Scotland what do you suggest?

Well, Edinburgh can certainly take up several days, especially if you are enamored of history. Definitely do the hop-on/hop-off tour, see the castle, wander around and climb Arthur's Seat if you feel up to it... incredible views. See Calton Hill.

Then, if you feel adventurous, rent a car and drive out into the countryside. If you have a full week, with, say, 2 days in Edinburgh, then you could easily make it to the highlands, or the Isle of Skye, or the Loch Lomond area. There is a 'castle trail' area northeast of Edinburgh, and the Isle of Skye is simply my favorite place in Scotland - filled with history and scenery.

I did three weeks in the highlands and islands of Scotland - perhaps my trip report might offer some suggestions?

Agree with Green Dragon, a couple days in Edinburgh and then rent a car for the countryside. I'll put in a plug for for Mull and Iona. Spent three days there with nephews. A couple castles, some hiking, great scenery and a trip to Iona (five minutes by ferry from Fionphort-sp?) Also took a trip to Staffa from Fionphort. We saw puffins up close. It was a wonderful trip!

Also the Fort Augustus area was a lot of fun. We went to some highland games in Fort Augustus. We learned a lot and had great fun watching the various events. There was even a chance for kids to participate without having to sign up ahead. The boys (11 and 14) both loved it. We took a cruise on Loch Ness, visited Urquart Castle ruins. We went over to Culloden and a couple more castles. Cawdor was one. We visited the Highland Game Park where we saw lots of native species. They are breeding some species to try to reintroduce into Scotland. But there are lots of others as well. We did one of the scheduled walks with a warden who explained their purpose and told us a bit about each of the species we saw. He was very knowledgeable and funny as well. Then we walked around a bit on our own. Nice cafe and picnic area there. (We had packed a picnic, but bought icecream at the cafe.)

We took the train from London to Edinburgh last May and stayed 3 nights. Then rented a car and drive to Callendar for several nights, and we stopped along the way to see Stirling Castle. Nice place to stay to tour the area and national park. We stopped at Inchmahome Priory (where Mary, Queen of Scot hid when she was little). You take a ferry over the island, highly recommend. I am very much interested in castle, palaces etc. where Mary, Queen of Scots lived, such as the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburg. There is a web site:
www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Scotland.htm
where you can find out more information. Since were were only staying a week, we didn't want to drive too much around the country because we then drove to York and and stayed there several nights and took the train back to London from there.
We stayed 3 weeks in UK also, but only 1 week in London.

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Oh, yes, Inchmahome is a lovely, serene place. I highly recommend it as well :) I don't know if I'd recommend the road on Mull to Fionnphort for the faint of heart, though... we drove it after a long day driving from Skye, in the rain and the gloom, and it wasn't fun :(

How to say this without deflating you? You can't scratch the surface of Scotland in a week. Choose two places at most and come back another time.

If you're based in Edinburgh, Mull is almost a full day's travel and most of the other islands are the same. Do you want to spend two of your seven days on the road? Roads in Scotland usually need 100% concentration so the driver will see little or nothing of the scnerey and you will average 45 to 50 miles per hour at most.

There are loads of day trips from Edinburgh that will show you a good variety of what Scotland has to offer without spending too long on the road. South and south east - the sea cliffs and seabird colonies at St Abb's Head, possibly stopping at the seabird centre at North Berwick on the way. South west - the border country, mountainous landscape that is often overlooked by those who are too obsessed with altitude league tables, links with writers such as Walter Scott and James Hogg if that's your thing. West - Glasgow is about an hour away by bus or train and a fascinating contrast to Edinburgh. North west - Stirling (William Wallace, Braveheart, Robert the Bruce etc) by car, bus or train - or take an organised tour that will probably include the Trossachs. North, again by car, bus or train - to the Kingdom of Fife where a day will never be long enough - St Andrews, the East Neuk, Falkland (playground of the Stuart monarchs), Dunfermline (St Margaret, Andrew Carnegie and the tomb of Robert the Bruce), and some exquisite coastal scenery. Oh, and you could easily spend a day or two or ten in Edinburgh without getting bored.

Oh dear, I've just filled in about three weeks of your holiday. Now you'll have to come back another time ;-)

Consider the Borders. Very accessible from Edinburgh, absolutely lovely (if perhaps a bit less breathtaking than the Highlands) and chock full of history. We spent a week there a few years ago and just loved it. You could split a week between Edinburgh and the Borders quite easily.

I like the idea of Edinburgh and the Borders. Alternative is to take a trip north for a night to St. Andrews or to a stop in the Highlands. We did enjoy Edinburgh more than Glasgow in terms of history, mood, scenery but the contrast was intriguing.

I've traveled by train (and what an adventure taking the Night Scotsman from London to Edinburgh, if not the best night's sleep ever--but you'd miss scenery)--and by car; really depends on your planned stops. With the car trips, we usually had more time to spend. With less time, I personally like train travel and have covered a lot of ground enjoyably that way, though opinions differ greatly on this matter. To see the Highlands and loch country I'm not sure how to carry it off without a car, or in this time frame.

Our lads were a bit younger when we went with them but they enjoyed staying on the Royal Mile in university housing. They also enjoyed the pomp of the Highland regiments and their marching, and of course the Castle was a block or two away, and hiking up "Arthur's Seat" was a wonderful afternoon.

Forget about "seeing Scotland" in a week. Plan on two or at very most 3 tiny bits. Edinburgh, the Borders and the Trossachs would fill a week nicely. That wouldn't get you to the wild and remote west coast, highlands or any islands, but you could see the Border Abbeys, St Abbs Head, Abbotsford, Stirling castle, Inchmahome and lots of good scenery. 2 days/3nights in Edinburgh and 2 nights in the other two areas (near Melrose and near Callander would be good bases)

OR - If you wanted the wild and woolly west coast -- then it could be Edinburgh - but for only 2 nights since you'd have to travel a lot farther during the remainder. Then near Glencoe for a night, on Skye or Mull for 2 nights and south of Oban for a night or two.

OR -If you wanted to see the highlands and the north - 2 nights Edinburgh, 1 night in Perthshire, a couple of nights near Inverness (not IN Inverness) for culloden, Ft George, Cawdor castle, etc, and a couple of nights in Aberdeenshire for the 'Castle Trail' and Crathes/Dunnottar.

These are just a few options -- but each one will let you see a couple of interesting/scenic areas + Edinburgh w/o driving for hours and hours every day.

Just wrapped up my Ireland/Scotland trip, and I ended up basing myself in Perth at a lovely B&B, the Pitcullen Guest House, and from there I was easy driving distance to everything from Glamis to Stirling.

I also wonder after spending two weeks in London that you'd want to spend a LOT of time in Edinburgh.

Tempted to suggest that you take the sleeper to Inverness, hire a car and meander south over 4 days going as the will takes you. Pitch up in Edinburgh, and get the train back again. Maybe the best of both worlds?