London and Dublin
 

Just booked a cheap flight that gets me to London in early September and then flies me back home from Dublin two and a half weeks later. I don't like to move around too much so I was thinking of doing a week in London, going somewhere else and then spending another week in Dublin. Any suggestions on what to do-see? I have been to London before but that was 12 years ago.

Thanks!

IMO/IME a week in Dublin is at least 3 days too much. A week in London will fly by, even if you've been there before.

I'd consider a week in London, 5 or 6 days in some other part of England or maybe Edinburgh, and a few days in Dublin. But actually your options are limitless. If it was my trip (which it isn't) I'd consider doing London for a week, then train to York for 1 or 2 nights, train to Edinburgh for 4 or 5 nights - using one of those days for a small group tour day trip with Rabbies, then fly to Dublin for the 2 or 3 days you have remaining.

https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-...from-edinburgh

Or you could arrange things any number of ways like: London, fly to Cork or Shannon and tour western Ireland for a week, then Dublin and home..

Perhaps, given that you are averse to moving about too much, you could base yourself in London for ten days, taking day trips by train to places like Oxford, Bath, Cambridge, Brighton to break up the big city experience. Edinburgh is a great destination but would need to visited with a view to flying onward directly to Dublin (or Cork), rather than returning back to London.
If you arrive first in Dublin, after a few days, you might consider basing yourself in Galway for the remaining days before returning for your flight home. Connemara, Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands are almost on your doorstep - and you have the Clarenbridge Oyster Festival in early September.
Flying into Cork opens up the option to explore West Cork in all its glory, plus of course what the neighbouring county of Kerry has to offer. Cork city itself is sometimes excluded from people's plans but it's a lively and interesting place to spend a night or two before catching the train to Dublin. West Cork/Kerry requires a car for touring about, btw.

Or another variation — but it means reconsidering your "don't move around too much" preference.

Ireland is such a gorgeous country, and everything they say about the "40 shades of green" is true. I'd spend a week in London, then fly to Shannon on the west coast of Ireland. Then visit two or three of the following: County Clare, County Kerry, Cork. Spend your last 3-4 days in Dublin.

Edinburgh is actually a great idea as I have some Scottish ancestry.

Take trains between London and Scotland then whatever - there is also an overnight sleeper train London-Edinburgh and several other Scottish towns - National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables for info on all British trains - https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your...donian-sleeper for info on the sleeper trains and booking. General train info - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

I'd say a week in London, then a few nights in Edinburgh (4-6) with time in that city plus time for 1-3 day trips (Rabbies or Timberbush are good choices), then head to Dublin. Dublin can be enjoyed in a couple days (of course not completely, but you could do a lot) and if you actually have any time, there are plenty of day trips to take from there. Last June my daughter spent 9 nights in London (helping me lead a group of students and parents) and then spent 6 nights solo in Dublin from which she took 3 day trips.

(So you could just do London and Dubin--longer than a week in London, rest of time in Dublin but with lots of day trips--But adding Edinburgh would give you a nice taste of 3 distinct cities and countries.)

Cities are not equal.

London is one of the great cities of the world.

Edinburgh is one of the great cities of Europe.

Dublin is the capital of Ireland.

While I agree that three days can be sufficient for Dublin, Ireland is more than Dublin, so you could add a few other cities: Killarney, something on the west coast, etc. We rented a car for five days and had a blast.

I have no disagreement with substituting Edinburg, either...good idea.

ssander

I love Dublin and Edinburgh. London is not my favourite at all. We are different thankfully. I just told my husband maybe we should try flying into Shannon next trip and he would have nothing to do with it. He also loves Dublin. You have nightlife and you have a dart train that can take you to see other places during the day but at night there is something to do but not overwhelming.

Yeah kind of weird so many diss Dublin as boring here (on other posts) - always thought it was as interesting as any largish city and world capital. But many seem to think differently.

Pal, they don't explore pass the normal tourist stuff. I am a history buff and love all the free museums, the sports venues, the nightlife and people. I have been going for over 20 years and still love Dublin. We found the best pub last trip and it is my secret.

Managed to snag a cheap first class train ticket from London to Edinburgh. So far, I have 7 nights confirmed in London then off to Edinburgh. Have 9 nights left to split between Scotland and Ireland before flying back home. I'm a big city kinda person but I do enjoy day trips to see some countryside.

I'd probably do 5 nights in Edinburgh and 4 in Dublin and do one or two day tours out of Edinburgh and one out of Dublin. (or 6 and 3 if you see more than a couple of Rabbies tours you want to do)

St Andrews and Stirling are both very easy and sweet day trips from Edinburgh by train and or bus. And day tours to remoter areas are great.