Ireland and Scotland advice
 

My fiance and I are traveling to Scotland and Ireland this July and we need travel advice! We want to rent a car and drive, stay in romantic areas..not too expensive. WE will have a total of two weeks. We also need advice on the best way to get from Ireland to Scotland, and if we need to book hotels before we leave or if we will be safe "winging" it when we get there. Tanks so much for any advice!!

Book now - July is peak holiday time both in Ireland and Scotland and rooms at this stage will be hard to get in the most popular places. You can sail Larne/Stranraer or fly - Ryannair do no frills cheap flight but again book early to get good prices. Aer Lingus also fly these routes. Try www.aerlingus.com and ryannair.com and enjoy your trip! I love Scotland! You have chosen well!

Since you're planning on going on to Scotland and will need to catch ferry from Larne, I suggest you spend your Ireland week in the north and northwest. Lots to see here, and it will likely be less crowded than the popular south/southwest.

As noted by dublincailin, it's important to book as soon as possible as July is the height of the tourist season. I wouldn't want to wing it.

You don't say where you'll be arriving or departing, so its dificult to give much itinerary advise.

Many (maybe all, I'm not sure) rental agencies do not allow their cars taken from Ireland to the UK or vice versa. You need to make sure. If so, you'll need to book two different cars.

Also, is your two weeks really "total" -- including your travel time to/from the British Isles? Then you will really only have 5+ days in each country.

Which part(s) if Ireland and Scotland were you hoping to visit? That makes a BIG difference on the best way to get from one to the other. For instance if you were in say Dublin, Cork or Galway - then flying to Edinburgh makes a lot more sense than driving up to Belfast to catch a ferry.

You could fly direct from Ireland to the Highlands of Scotland.

Easyjet www.easyjet.com fly from Belfast to Inverness and Aer Arann www.aerarann are about to start a service from Dublin to Inverness. From there you have access to a wealth of romantic areas.
Have a look at www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk and click on West Highlands, North Central and Aberdeenshire and you will get some idea of the places you might like to visit.