Hi there!

I'd love your itinerary advice, wise Fodors travelers.

My in-laws, husband and I are headed to Europe for 20 days, May 25th-June 15th this year. We are flying into Dublin, and we're renting a car there. We don't have any plans for places to stay--we've decided to wander, and let serendipity guide our accommodation decisions. We're planning our itinerary now, and we'd love to visit the following fairly broad regions:

+ We want to tour coastal Ireland. My husband and I spent 10 days traveling Ireland by car in October 2012, and we loved every minute of it. We'd love to take his parents south to the coast, through the Ring of Kerry, and then head up through central Northern Ireland to Giant's Causeway and down to Belfast.

+We'd also love to travel from there to Scotland and tool around there for a bit, and perhaps take in a bit of Wales.

+We fly out of Dublin, and we can be flexible with our internal modes of travel, within reason. We are not on a wildly liberal budget, but independence is a priority for us.

QUESTIONS:

+Is there a reasonable itinerary that will allow us to visit these places in roughly three weeks?
+How should we get to Scotland from Ireland or Northern Ireland?
+What are some things we just can't miss in Scotland or Wales? Places to stay that we shouldn't skip?

Thanks so much for your gracious help! I'll post a final itinerary when we're ready, if anyone's interested!

Warmly,
Amanda

10 days in Ireland heading from Dublin to Belfast, North coast and Donegal, bit of the wild Atlantic way down to Shannon or Cork (at a push or making it 12 days) of course you could make a loop back to Dublin if you wanted?

Fly to Glasgow 2 days, over to Edinburgh for 2 days and follow roughly the route of a Rabbies tour into the highlands giving a 3 day tour of theirs 5 days of your time.

That's 21 days out of the 30.leaving 4 or 5 days to drop down through the lake district and get to Liverpool or Manchester airport for the hop back to Dublin airport and a flight back home.

That doesn't include Wales so if you want to include Wales you might have to be a bit conservative elsewhere?

As to winging it? Always book the first night and any pre flight close to the airport nights. The trend now tends to be for folk to pre book 5 rooms for a night and cancel 4 the day before because many booking sites let them without penalty. Hence its becoming more and more difficult to book on the run as it were, especially as you need more than one room in the same building.

Car hire. Renting in Dublin Ireland means dropping in Ireland not the North (UK) unless you want to pay a repatriation fee. Renting in Scotland and dropping at an English airport can reduce the options slightly so watch that point.

If considering Ennis either before a flight from Shannon or mid trip then be aware that the Fledh Nua is on in town the end of May. great time for atmosphere and tradition but not for getting accommodation. also keep an eye on other festivals you might hit along your proposed route?

>>Renting in Scotland and dropping at an English airport can reduce the options slightly so watch that point.<<

Not really - its easy to collect a car in Scotland and drop it anywhere in England -- as long as one uses a major chain like Hertz, Avis, Europcar, etc. And there usually isn't a drop off fee. Use autoeurope.com to find a car in the UK.

But your time is quite limited for all that. Especially if your entire trip is May 25-June 15 - including travel days. If so, you will 19.5 days on the ground. And having to return to Dublin eats up another day so basically 18 days to play with. Not enough for 3 countries. 10 days to 2 weeks in Ireland and the rest in Scotland, or two weeks in Ireland and 6 days in Wales.

Thank you very much, tony2phones and janisj; I was thinking we might be too ambitious to enjoy anything! It sounds like it might be easier to fly from Dublin or Belfast to Scotland, and save Wales for another time. Flying is easier/less expensive than the ferry, I gather.

We are considering stopping for Fledh Nua, so that's quite useful--oddly, it hadn't occurred to me that we are now seeking two rooms! We'll make those initial and final reservations.

I so appreciate your insights, both of you. If anything we shouldn't miss comes up, I'd love to hear it!

With thanks,
Amanda

Jannis I always used Arnold Clark for car hire in Scotland. no matter I always book through the guy's giving me the keys.

You can fly from almost any island of Ireland Airport to airports in Scotland. You can Bus and sail from Dublin or Belfast to Glasgow.
The decisions might come down to Baggage.. remember "regional" flights typically have far smaller baggage allowance than international carriers.. also the cost of baggage.

I generally make a note of 3 Guest Houses(B&B with 5 or more letting bedrooms) and 1 hotel in towns that I consider stepping stones along potential routes have the phone numbers, call ahead at breakfast or lunch for the next night.

Arnold Clark is a good for in-country hires . . . but foreign visitors can very often get much better rates using autoeurope.com because they deal with all the majors so can fit the best option to one's specific requirements.

This is really helpful--thank you! It sounds like flying is the way to go between countries, although I do think sailing sounds fun.

>>, although I do think sailing sounds fun.<<

That crossing is often very rough -- not that much fun really.