Ireland & Scotland- Need help...
 

My husband and I are looking to plan a trip in May to Ireland and are considering a trip to Scotland. We will be there for two weeks. We enjoy sightseeing, eating, drinking, relaxing--so a mix of activity and some R&R/beautiful scenery. We have a place to stay in Edinburgh so we were thinking of flying into Ireland...spending a week or so there (need suggestions on what to see), flying to Edinburgh, spend the rest of the time exploring Scotland and fly home from there.
What are some must sees? Is it too much to do both Ireland and Edinburgh in this time frame?

Thank you!

No, you can do that. You won't see all of either country, but if you restrict yourselves to whatever in Ireland, and maybe Edinburgh plus the Borders or the Central Highlands in Scotland you'll be fine.

My own view is that the trick is not to try to do too much.

What do you like sight seeing? castles? museums? rivers? wildlife? Give us a wee bit more guidance and we'll try to fill in for you.

I did a longer Ireland/Scotland combo trip this past March and it was a great mixture of town & country in Ireland and city & country in Scotland.

I flew from Denver via Newark into Shannon. But coming back, I wish I'd have done it differently. I flew from Glasgow to Dublin then back the way I came.

It was just too much for me, anyhow). I recommend making the return as easy as possible and not doing four airports and three security screenings in one day like I did!

Thanks! @Sheila- We are definitely interested in castles, museums, distilleries :)...and beautiful landscapes. We have started to talk about just sticking to Ireland so we are very flexible and open to any suggestions. We did Italy where we jumped all over the place and Barcelona where we stayed in one hotel and did day trips, so I think we want a combination. A bit of moving around, but possibly a few nights in each location at minimum.

Never been to Scotland, but recently returned from Ireland Sept,2010. This is what we did in 2 weeks and loved every moment. We will return and do Dublin & the southeast next year. By just doing the west of Ireland, it was a nice pace.

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripw...3-15f8-d09e?lb

If the slideshow looks like a possible itinerary for you,click on my name above in blue (TPAYT) and scroll down to my trip reports for an in depth of our Ireland trip.

There are also many other trip reports from Fodorites that may help you narrow down the locations you would like to see.

I have to add that www.greenmount-house.com in Dingle and www.shelburnelodge.com were our favorite places to stay (3 nights each).

Let me know if you want the Scotland stuff.

Do not miss Scotland. Amazingly beautiful and the nicest people in Europe. BTW, I do not have a drop of Scottish blood in me, so this is an unbiased opinion as you could possibly get :-D