mrsmolly

Hello.

We are attending a wedding in Edinburough next June. We are planning on using mileage for air so we have to book tickets way in advance to make sure we get seats, etc.

My husband & I (30s) both really want to go to Ireland. We are probably going to be limited to about 8 days total for the trip. Is hopping between Dublin and Edinburough a bad plan? Say 5 days in Ireland and 3 days in Scotland? or are we better off just sticking to Scotland and adding in Glasgow?

I am thinking that if we split it we are limiting ourselves to the city centers and not much time for anything else. However since we have little ones at home I do not know when we will get a chance to visit Ireland again! Probably retirement or never.

Any opinions or ideas. I am getting ready to dive into my travel books but I am searching for a starting point to start planning.

TIA!
Molly

mrsmolly

Pardon my horrible spelling! I am going to have to type Edinburgh a trillion times before I get I finally get it right.

mr_go

Scotland is wonderful, and deserves your full 8 days. The Highlands are particularly scenic. Edinburgh is a great, great city and the Scottish people are the friendliest I've ever met.

Ireland is wonderful too, but I'd save it for a separate trip someday.

janis

For one thing - don't assume you will not get to travel until the kids are grown and gone and you are retired. Just look at some of the posts on here - MANY people travel on very small budgets, w/ kids, w/o kids, what ever.

So don't make this decision based on never getting back to the British Isles again.

second - you do not give us any idea why you want to add Ireland or what sorts of things you like.

Scotland is a BIG place. Even 8 days will merely (barely) scratch the surface.

And Ireland is approx the same size as Scotland - again, 8 days is nothing. Remember - travel - especially in the scenic west and SW parts of Ireland is very slow. you would be lucky to average 35 mph touring by car.

And every time you move from one major base to another - say Edinburgh to Dublin - will eat up most of a day.

So when you count the 2 travel days from/to the States you will only have about 5 full days for touring. Pick ONE - and since you have to be in Scotland anyway that is the practical choice.

mrsmolly

Thank you for your replies. I think we will just stick to Scotland. I figured that was a bad idea to try and do both. We just knew more about Ireland and what it had to offer. I also thought it would be easier to get a frequent flyer ticket to Dublin. Plus I am Irish and after years of nuns making me irish dance in catholic school and green beer I wanted to see the real deal!

I think the more we read about Scotland we will find lots of things that we would like to see and do.

And Janis you are right about the travel. We will find a way to go abroad again one day - perhaps with kids in tow when they can enjoy it.

Thanks!
Molly

Kayb95

Scotland is fabulous! You'll love it. We've been there twice (for a week each time) and we've barely scratched the surface.

One thing you might want to check on - see if there will be any Highland Games going on while you're there. They're a lot of fun! <b>http://www.albagames.co.uk/Highland_games2000.htm</b>

hopingtotravel

Having spent a week in Scotland in 1998, we still want to go back to see part of the other 3/4 which we missed!
Don't split your trip. We've seen Ireland too (3 years later). You will only make yourselves miserable realizing what you've missed. Then you would have to go back to both countries later. When you go back to Ireland you can see it pretty thoroughly in two weeks. As someone said, Scotland is big. Once you see part of it, then you want to see the islands too!