Ireland, England, Scotland 2013
Jan 30th, 2012, 05:02 PM
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Ireland, England, Scotland 2013
Hello.. First post here so go easy please.
I am in need of advice and help with an itinerary and plan of how to pull this off.
I am one of five adults ( 30-45) who are looking to visit Ireland, England, and Scotland in August 2013. We are looking to go for 2 weeks. I understand August is a very busy time over there but one of the main things we want to see ( Military tattoo ) goes on on in August. Between the 5 of use we have all compiled a list of things we would like to see. This list I feel is too long and we need to figure out how to cut things out or squeeze them in. I have figured out travel times between these locations by rental car and some are going to be too far away.
We would be flying out of Chicago.
List of things to see in Ireland :
Guinness Storehouse
St. Patricks Cathedral
Waterford Crystal factory
Blarney castle
Ring of Kerry
Cliffs of Moher
Galway area
Giants Causeway
List for Scotland:
Edinburgh Military Tattoo (must see)
Stirling Castle
Arrochar area
Balmoral - Queens Distillery
Loch Ness
Isle of Skye
List for England:
St Pauls Cathedral, Windsor Castle, London Eye
Dover Cliffs
Stonehenge
York Cathedral
Yes, quite the list... I assume there is no way to do it all in 2 weeks... Or is it possible??
What's the best way to travel between the 3 countries? Fly?
We would rent cars if necessary.
So I will start with this and any guidance would be helpful. Thanks!
I am in need of advice and help with an itinerary and plan of how to pull this off.
I am one of five adults ( 30-45) who are looking to visit Ireland, England, and Scotland in August 2013. We are looking to go for 2 weeks. I understand August is a very busy time over there but one of the main things we want to see ( Military tattoo ) goes on on in August. Between the 5 of use we have all compiled a list of things we would like to see. This list I feel is too long and we need to figure out how to cut things out or squeeze them in. I have figured out travel times between these locations by rental car and some are going to be too far away.
We would be flying out of Chicago.
List of things to see in Ireland :
Guinness Storehouse
St. Patricks Cathedral
Waterford Crystal factory
Blarney castle
Ring of Kerry
Cliffs of Moher
Galway area
Giants Causeway
List for Scotland:
Edinburgh Military Tattoo (must see)
Stirling Castle
Arrochar area
Balmoral - Queens Distillery
Loch Ness
Isle of Skye
List for England:
St Pauls Cathedral, Windsor Castle, London Eye
Dover Cliffs
Stonehenge
York Cathedral
Yes, quite the list... I assume there is no way to do it all in 2 weeks... Or is it possible??
What's the best way to travel between the 3 countries? Fly?
We would rent cars if necessary.
So I will start with this and any guidance would be helpful. Thanks!
Jan 30th, 2012, 05:20 PM
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No, definitely not possible. Remember, that's three different countries in 2 weeks. The Ireland list is all over the country - that in itself would take the whole 2 weeks. I highly recommend either cutting one country out, or setting your sights much lower.
Flying is definitely best between ireland and the others. If you are in north England, train or car is fine, but if near London, flying will be quicker.
I would choose at most 6 bases. If you must do two for each of the three countries, that's alright, but I think you'll get more out of it by doing three for two of the countries.
From those bases, there will be plenty to do. My personal recommendations (based on what I like to do - historical monuments, landscapes, charming towns) are thus:
Scotland:
Edinburgh
Isle of Skye is a bit out of the way, but worth it. Alternatively, the area around Stirling is fantastic.
Ireland (if flying in and out of Shannon):
Kenmare or Killarney
Galway area
Ireland (if flying in and out of Dublin or Belfast):
Dublin
Belfast (into one and out of the other?)
England:
London
York
If I were to plan this myself, I would land in London, spend a couple days there, train up to York, rent a car there and spend a few more days. Then drive up to Edinburgh (don't really need the car while IN the city, but you want it for the other spot), and then onto Stirling or Skye. Back to Glasgow or Edinburgh to fly over to Belfast or Shannon. If Belfast, then train down to Dublin. If Shannon, rent another car and drive to Galway and/or Kenmare, and then home from Shannon.
However, that's based on what I would do - and I wouldn't really want to do all that. I've DONE the 2 weeks in England, Scotland and Wales, and drove 2000+ miles in a big circle. One night stays each spot, and was exhausted. If you find my trip report from 2000, it describes the trip... and that was all on one island!
Flying is definitely best between ireland and the others. If you are in north England, train or car is fine, but if near London, flying will be quicker.
I would choose at most 6 bases. If you must do two for each of the three countries, that's alright, but I think you'll get more out of it by doing three for two of the countries.
From those bases, there will be plenty to do. My personal recommendations (based on what I like to do - historical monuments, landscapes, charming towns) are thus:
Scotland:
Edinburgh
Isle of Skye is a bit out of the way, but worth it. Alternatively, the area around Stirling is fantastic.
Ireland (if flying in and out of Shannon):
Kenmare or Killarney
Galway area
Ireland (if flying in and out of Dublin or Belfast):
Dublin
Belfast (into one and out of the other?)
England:
London
York
If I were to plan this myself, I would land in London, spend a couple days there, train up to York, rent a car there and spend a few more days. Then drive up to Edinburgh (don't really need the car while IN the city, but you want it for the other spot), and then onto Stirling or Skye. Back to Glasgow or Edinburgh to fly over to Belfast or Shannon. If Belfast, then train down to Dublin. If Shannon, rent another car and drive to Galway and/or Kenmare, and then home from Shannon.
However, that's based on what I would do - and I wouldn't really want to do all that. I've DONE the 2 weeks in England, Scotland and Wales, and drove 2000+ miles in a big circle. One night stays each spot, and was exhausted. If you find my trip report from 2000, it describes the trip... and that was all on one island!
Jan 30th, 2012, 06:49 PM
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Welcome to Fodors! We (mostly) don't bite. You'll find lots of helpful, well traveled people and good advice here. You're off to a great start by giving us good information with which to work.
We did what you want to do, with Wales thrown in for good measure, but we did it in six weeks, not two. Since Scotland and the military tattoo is your "must see" I would look at those dates and plan around that.
You'll have a much better trip if you can cut way back on places and spend more time in each one. I like the London, York, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye idea above a lot. Would it be possible for your group to cut back to England and Scotland for this trip and plan to do a trip to Ireland another time?
We did what you want to do, with Wales thrown in for good measure, but we did it in six weeks, not two. Since Scotland and the military tattoo is your "must see" I would look at those dates and plan around that.
You'll have a much better trip if you can cut way back on places and spend more time in each one. I like the London, York, Edinburgh, Isle of Skye idea above a lot. Would it be possible for your group to cut back to England and Scotland for this trip and plan to do a trip to Ireland another time?
Jan 31st, 2012, 12:59 PM
#4
This is tough love 
. . . If you only have 2 weeks (and there are 5 of you which slows things down even more) you have two different trips there.
You need to bite the bullet and decide which trip you want to take -- Ireland, or London/Scotland. Either would be a bit rushed in 14 days but doable. (or you could do a couple of days in London and the rest in Ireland)
You need 2+ days for travel to/from the British Isles, at least one day for jetlag, and 9 or 10 days to see everything.
"<i>I have figured out travel times between these locations by rental car</i>"
if you've used an on-line mileage calculator, you need to add 25% to 75% or more to the drive times depending on the specific routes.
. . . If you only have 2 weeks (and there are 5 of you which slows things down even more) you have two different trips there.You need to bite the bullet and decide which trip you want to take -- Ireland, or London/Scotland. Either would be a bit rushed in 14 days but doable. (or you could do a couple of days in London and the rest in Ireland)
You need 2+ days for travel to/from the British Isles, at least one day for jetlag, and 9 or 10 days to see everything.
"<i>I have figured out travel times between these locations by rental car</i>"
if you've used an on-line mileage calculator, you need to add 25% to 75% or more to the drive times depending on the specific routes.
Jan 31st, 2012, 02:01 PM
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Welcome and kudos to you for planning early and doing some thinking/planning before posting questions here.
Another factor is that with 5 you may find it hard to rent a vehcicle big enough that you would still feel comfortable driving on the different side of the road on unfamiliar routes. We had a car that was as big as hubby would have wanted to drive along those many narrow lanes and the 3 of us with luggage were generally comfortable; no way we could have added 2 more. This is just a factor, though, not a knock-out. You could rent 2 cars.
I haven't been to Ireland and won't get to Scotland until June 2013, but based on my 4 9-14 day trips to England, I concur with the above--you might be able to "do" this but it's probably wiser to limit to 2 countries. We planned a couple jam-packed trips, one basing in London with day trips and one going on a loop with 9 one-night-stops after a few days in London and my planning was done in part DESPITE what Fodorites said, and we had great times. But they were really packed trips and that isn't how all want to travel or that even I want to everytime.
Your England list isn't long at all, but I'd still suggest something like this: Fly into London, stay about a week, take a couple day trips (Stonehenge with Bath or with Salisbury maybe and then Dover) via train. No car. 4-5 days will fly by in London--or if you even just have 2-3 you can fill them up quickly. Then train up to York for a night or two. No car. Then train up to Edinburgh and do stuff for whatever time you have left and fly from there. Save Ireland for another trip (and maybe save some relationships!).
And when I calculated times for car travel using googlemaps, I almost doubled the times suggested when planning our itineraries. In reality, it took an average of 1.5 or so times and that was with the blessing of no major wreck, construction, tieups, or bad weather, all of which are extremely likely to occur to slow you more. Our car trip fit us exactly for our needs and desires in 2010, and I'd go on a car trip with DH in the UK again at the drop of a hat, but it does have its particular issues to consider.
Expect to see you back with plans and questions as you go along!
(and this does not apply to any of the responses you've gotten so far--but just read the responses as if a computer were reading it to you, no emotion involved, and glean the wisdom "I'm sorry tywest I'm afraid you can't do that"--ha)
Another factor is that with 5 you may find it hard to rent a vehcicle big enough that you would still feel comfortable driving on the different side of the road on unfamiliar routes. We had a car that was as big as hubby would have wanted to drive along those many narrow lanes and the 3 of us with luggage were generally comfortable; no way we could have added 2 more. This is just a factor, though, not a knock-out. You could rent 2 cars.
I haven't been to Ireland and won't get to Scotland until June 2013, but based on my 4 9-14 day trips to England, I concur with the above--you might be able to "do" this but it's probably wiser to limit to 2 countries. We planned a couple jam-packed trips, one basing in London with day trips and one going on a loop with 9 one-night-stops after a few days in London and my planning was done in part DESPITE what Fodorites said, and we had great times. But they were really packed trips and that isn't how all want to travel or that even I want to everytime.
Your England list isn't long at all, but I'd still suggest something like this: Fly into London, stay about a week, take a couple day trips (Stonehenge with Bath or with Salisbury maybe and then Dover) via train. No car. 4-5 days will fly by in London--or if you even just have 2-3 you can fill them up quickly. Then train up to York for a night or two. No car. Then train up to Edinburgh and do stuff for whatever time you have left and fly from there. Save Ireland for another trip (and maybe save some relationships!).
And when I calculated times for car travel using googlemaps, I almost doubled the times suggested when planning our itineraries. In reality, it took an average of 1.5 or so times and that was with the blessing of no major wreck, construction, tieups, or bad weather, all of which are extremely likely to occur to slow you more. Our car trip fit us exactly for our needs and desires in 2010, and I'd go on a car trip with DH in the UK again at the drop of a hat, but it does have its particular issues to consider.
Expect to see you back with plans and questions as you go along!
(and this does not apply to any of the responses you've gotten so far--but just read the responses as if a computer were reading it to you, no emotion involved, and glean the wisdom "I'm sorry tywest I'm afraid you can't do that"--ha)
Jan 31st, 2012, 02:43 PM
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Hi there, congratulations on being so organised and planning well ahead. My advice would be to pick two countries as it will be very very rushed otherwise and in my opinion will not give you much of a chance to really enjoy all three. While its a bit sad to opt to leave one place else, i genuinely think your trip will be better and far more enjoyable if you just have two. As your flight time is so long you will be very tired day 1 and have to spend another near enough full two days travelling between the three countries, which will make it quite tiring and rushed.
From what you have said you are interested in I would go with Ireland and Scotland (am assuming you can get open jaw ticket), although travel in Ireland will be a bit more restricted then England.
Hope you have a great time planning and a fantastic trip
From what you have said you are interested in I would go with Ireland and Scotland (am assuming you can get open jaw ticket), although travel in Ireland will be a bit more restricted then England.
Hope you have a great time planning and a fantastic trip
Jan 31st, 2012, 02:54 PM
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Well, I dunno what the others are chittering about, I bite. ;-).
If your trip to Scotland for the Military Tattoo is the cornerstone of the trip, proceed from that as a start point. Next, what do you really like? Edinburgh is great - WAY better than Dublin.
As for Ireland - you're really going for the off-the-beaten path stuff, aren't you? Some notes:
(1) The Waterford Crystal factory is somewhere in the Czech Republic - the old factory shut in '09 and the visitor center attached to it closed in '10. The visitor center in Waterford today is just a museum type exhibition.
(2) Travel times in Ireland are difficult to chart because the roads curve and twist around like a toddler chasing butterflies.
(3) Dunno if you can still do this, but a couple of friends scammed their way to lots of free Guinness by getting people to give them their unused drink coupons.
(4) Blarney Castle is pretty uninteresting as a castle - people like to go kiss the Stone, which has seen more action than the movie studios in San Fernando Valley.
Look: you can spend the two weeks in Scotland without a whole lot of trouble. The best way to go and do more than one country may be to do 8 nights in Scotland (3-4 Edinburgh on arrival, 2-3 traveling about, 1-2 in Glasgow before catching a train to London) and then 6 in London with a day trip to Dover to look over the cliffs and go to Dover Castle and a day trip to Windsor. That said, if all you want to see in London is a church (I kid) and a ferris wheel (I don't kid), you may want to concentrate on other areas of the country.
Finally, don't go overboard on Balmoral. The castle is closed in August because HRM is there (and given her genetics, she'll be there next August too). Nothing to see except the shop. As for the "Queen's Distillery" - does that mean Royal Lochnagar? It's not really the Queen's, it's not on the Castle grounds and it's just a distillery. The name may derive from the Royal Warrant it received from Queen Victoria. Like many others, the distillery and brand are owned by liquor giant Diageo; Royal Lochnagar is a main ingredient of the various Johnnie Walker blends (older Royal Lochnagar is the prime ingredient of Johnnie Blue, and Diageo owns Johnnie Walker too). Going to Balmoral to drive by the Castle that you cannot enter and visiting a distillery of no tremendous note isn't a good way to spend your time.
Janisj has a full list of distilleries that give good tours and information. If you go to Isle of Skye, you can try to visit Talisker.
If your trip to Scotland for the Military Tattoo is the cornerstone of the trip, proceed from that as a start point. Next, what do you really like? Edinburgh is great - WAY better than Dublin.
As for Ireland - you're really going for the off-the-beaten path stuff, aren't you? Some notes:
(1) The Waterford Crystal factory is somewhere in the Czech Republic - the old factory shut in '09 and the visitor center attached to it closed in '10. The visitor center in Waterford today is just a museum type exhibition.
(2) Travel times in Ireland are difficult to chart because the roads curve and twist around like a toddler chasing butterflies.
(3) Dunno if you can still do this, but a couple of friends scammed their way to lots of free Guinness by getting people to give them their unused drink coupons.
(4) Blarney Castle is pretty uninteresting as a castle - people like to go kiss the Stone, which has seen more action than the movie studios in San Fernando Valley.
Look: you can spend the two weeks in Scotland without a whole lot of trouble. The best way to go and do more than one country may be to do 8 nights in Scotland (3-4 Edinburgh on arrival, 2-3 traveling about, 1-2 in Glasgow before catching a train to London) and then 6 in London with a day trip to Dover to look over the cliffs and go to Dover Castle and a day trip to Windsor. That said, if all you want to see in London is a church (I kid) and a ferris wheel (I don't kid), you may want to concentrate on other areas of the country.
Finally, don't go overboard on Balmoral. The castle is closed in August because HRM is there (and given her genetics, she'll be there next August too). Nothing to see except the shop. As for the "Queen's Distillery" - does that mean Royal Lochnagar? It's not really the Queen's, it's not on the Castle grounds and it's just a distillery. The name may derive from the Royal Warrant it received from Queen Victoria. Like many others, the distillery and brand are owned by liquor giant Diageo; Royal Lochnagar is a main ingredient of the various Johnnie Walker blends (older Royal Lochnagar is the prime ingredient of Johnnie Blue, and Diageo owns Johnnie Walker too). Going to Balmoral to drive by the Castle that you cannot enter and visiting a distillery of no tremendous note isn't a good way to spend your time.
Janisj has a full list of distilleries that give good tours and information. If you go to Isle of Skye, you can try to visit Talisker.
Jan 31st, 2012, 03:29 PM
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Interestingly, Royal Lochnagar was our favorite distillery tour last September! This is based TOTALLY on our guide, Gordon Muir. We really only stopped there to break up the drive from Pitlockry to Dufftown, where we took a tour of the Glenfiddich Distillery. We found that one only OK, mostly because the guide was only so-so.
~liz
~liz
Jan 31st, 2012, 03:43 PM
#9
"<i>Your England list isn't long at all,</i>"
True enough -- but the list covers hundreds of miles from Dover to Salisbury to London to York and that is easily a week's worth w/o even scratching the surface.
Another issue is Edinburgh in August. A special case. The Tattoo is fabulous. The festivals are fabulous. But they do just about double the population of Edinburgh so it takes longer to see/do things.
Your Scotland list (though it does need a bit of tweaking) could easily fill your two weeks w/ or w/o visiting London.
True enough -- but the list covers hundreds of miles from Dover to Salisbury to London to York and that is easily a week's worth w/o even scratching the surface.
Another issue is Edinburgh in August. A special case. The Tattoo is fabulous. The festivals are fabulous. But they do just about double the population of Edinburgh so it takes longer to see/do things.
Your Scotland list (though it does need a bit of tweaking) could easily fill your two weeks w/ or w/o visiting London.
Jan 31st, 2012, 11:29 PM
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I am not a great one for saying "you can't". And you can do this. But you will be utterly exhausted. Drop a country (or two). Think of the amount of time you will "lose" in transit. We can do a fabulous trip for you without killing you, if you will let us help.
Feb 1st, 2012, 04:48 AM
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I think we pretty much have a consensus here... we want you to ENJOY the time!
My last trip to Scotland was 3 weeks (23 days, actually) and had 6 people, and we STILL felt rushed at times. But we did a nice big circle around the country - 3 days each in Edinburgh, Grantown-on-Spey, Orkney, Isle of Lewis, Isle of Skye (4 nights), Isle of Mull and Killin. We had two cars (one was a minivan) and with the luggage and people were adequate... just. The most important aspect of that was that not everyone had to do the same thing - we could split into two groups and do different things, saving our sanity.
My last trip to Scotland was 3 weeks (23 days, actually) and had 6 people, and we STILL felt rushed at times. But we did a nice big circle around the country - 3 days each in Edinburgh, Grantown-on-Spey, Orkney, Isle of Lewis, Isle of Skye (4 nights), Isle of Mull and Killin. We had two cars (one was a minivan) and with the luggage and people were adequate... just. The most important aspect of that was that not everyone had to do the same thing - we could split into two groups and do different things, saving our sanity.
Feb 3rd, 2012, 04:38 PM
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London Olympics end August 12th, plan to go after so you can get a hotel.
Dublin flights are cheaper than London flights. We just flew into Dublin for several days and took aer lingus to Edinburgh from Dublin. Ryan air is cheaper but....
Dublin should be your base and you can take a day trip from there to Galway, 2 hours on the new road. Don't try driving in Dublin. Clonmcnoise or Newgrange are great and on your way to Galway, cliffs. Skip doing the south, Waterford is scaled way back and they only make trophy's etc there now. Giant's causeway is in Northern Ireland and that is to far to travel this trip.
You can get an early morning or late afternoon flight into Edi, stay in the city, do the castle and Military tattoo but get your reservations soon as possible. Premier travel inns are reasonable. I would skip Sterling Castle and just enjoy the area. It has been redone and looks more like Disney now.
You can take the train into London and enjoy the scenery along the way. Take the train to see the Cliffs if you must but I think London will keep you busy. Fly out of Gatwick, stay at the Hilton your last night, connects to the airport and the train.
See, I think you can do all three. I would tell everyone there are rules.
#1. You pack it you carry it...
#2. No suitcase over 22 inches and one small backpack.
Five people to make happy will be your biggest problem but it is doable.
Dublin flights are cheaper than London flights. We just flew into Dublin for several days and took aer lingus to Edinburgh from Dublin. Ryan air is cheaper but....
Dublin should be your base and you can take a day trip from there to Galway, 2 hours on the new road. Don't try driving in Dublin. Clonmcnoise or Newgrange are great and on your way to Galway, cliffs. Skip doing the south, Waterford is scaled way back and they only make trophy's etc there now. Giant's causeway is in Northern Ireland and that is to far to travel this trip.
You can get an early morning or late afternoon flight into Edi, stay in the city, do the castle and Military tattoo but get your reservations soon as possible. Premier travel inns are reasonable. I would skip Sterling Castle and just enjoy the area. It has been redone and looks more like Disney now.
You can take the train into London and enjoy the scenery along the way. Take the train to see the Cliffs if you must but I think London will keep you busy. Fly out of Gatwick, stay at the Hilton your last night, connects to the airport and the train.
See, I think you can do all three. I would tell everyone there are rules.
#1. You pack it you carry it...
#2. No suitcase over 22 inches and one small backpack.
Five people to make happy will be your biggest problem but it is doable.
Apr 16th, 2012, 09:30 AM
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You could cover that list if you had a month. In two weeks the most you can do is parts of 2 countries - so you will need to drop one and take a good long look at what you will be able to do in the 2 that are left.
(Your plan is like trying to do all f Ne England, then New York and DC and finally several of the western national parks in two weeks - it just won;t fit.)
(Your plan is like trying to do all f Ne England, then New York and DC and finally several of the western national parks in two weeks - it just won;t fit.)
Apr 22nd, 2012, 05:56 PM
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Great idea but like we all do a wee bit much.
Funny how no-one has suggested doing Ireland & Scotland only.Your England portion is quite minimal.
Doing Ireland from South to North you can take the 1 hour ferry to Scotland or fly from Derry or Belfast.
It makes a continous journey and very doable and I'm sure your enjoy meeting with the many variations of the Celts!
Funny how no-one has suggested doing Ireland & Scotland only.Your England portion is quite minimal.
Doing Ireland from South to North you can take the 1 hour ferry to Scotland or fly from Derry or Belfast.
It makes a continous journey and very doable and I'm sure your enjoy meeting with the many variations of the Celts!
Jan 12th, 2013, 11:51 PM
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I agree with fapb sorry if I got the name wrong :/ but I'm going to Scotland with 2 pipe bands and they usually go to. Watch the tattoo so you will need to make sure you get in early for tickets I've been to Scotland twice 3 years ago when I was 5 and again when I was 8 one very mem
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