any advice if i'm to spend two weeks in ireland & scotland in early July?

There's water between them, so you'll need a flight, ferry or waterwings

yes thanks. are these two countries sufficiently different as perceived by travellers?

watakeet:

You need to give us a LOT more info before anyone can possibly provide useful advice. Two weeks is not a very long time to divide between two countries. It can be done but you won't see much in either country.

What research have you done so far - what part(s) of Ireland and Scotland do you think you want to see? Where are you flying in to and home from? Are you driving in either country or do you want to use public transport?

&quot;<i>are these two countries sufficiently different as perceived by travellers?</i>&quot; They are two entirely different countries. Some similarities and some distinct differences. Not quite sure what you want to know.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but, my understanding is that it is difficult to take a rental car from one to the other (most rental companies don't allow it, IIRC, and the ferry is expensive even if you can). That being the case, there is no real reason to combine Scotland and Ireland from a proximity standpoint. It could just as well be Scotland and Spain or Ireland and France.

I'd pick one and do two weeks in that country, and personally, I'd pick Scotland (although I'm a little biased because I've seen more of Scotland than I have of Ireland).

We didn't find it particularily expensive to take a rental from England to Ireland and back. It is allowed,however the ferry ride will be expensive especially if not sharing the cost.

Two countries in two weeks does mean a bit of a rush about.

You can see a substantial amount of both countries if you have a car, a good map and a good guide book. Lots of B&amp;B about and you'll beat the school crowd (late July). You will need to plan what you want to see though. How much you see in 2 weeks will depend on how much you put into it.

Actually school holidays in Scotland begin last week in June.

&quot;<i>You can see a substantial amount of both countries if you have a car</i>&quot; I don't agree at all - one can see SOME of each country, but not a substantial amount of either.

Say someone flies into Dublin, stays 2 nights and then has 5 days for Ireland. Barely enough time to drive acroos to the west coast and back.

Plus there is no ferry from Ireland to Scotland -- there is a ferry from near Belfast Northern Ireland to SW Scotland. So first one has to drive up to Belfast. Then assuming one wants to see Edinburgh and a bit of the Highlands that would mean essentially driving the full length of the country and back. A week is not long enough.

If one is driving and has that short a time - it makes more sense to drop one car in Ireland, fly to Scotland and rent a different car there.

But w/o more info from the OP, we are all in the dark re what sorts of info he wants.

thanks for all the replies. i haven't stated much because i was at a very preliminary stage of picking which country to go for 2 weeks in early july. i've only been to england and thought i should explore more out of it. i will be flying from asia and for many of us here, 2-wk is a long holiday, and it's a long way to go from here to europe....

driving leisurely is no problem. we want to see picturesque scenery and experience the culture.