Scotland & Ireland 2 women, 14 days on the ground
Jun 13th, 2016, 03:26 PM
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Scotland & Ireland 2 women, 14 days on the ground
My friemd and I are planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland late august through early September. We are in the very early stages of planning and thus do not yet have places to go, local travel, or events lined up. We will be seeing an agent at AAA tomorrow, and may hire a travel agent friend to help us fill in the details of travel if we need the assistance. We are interested in learning places to go based on our interests and y'all's experience.
Our trip interests:
- local spots, less tourism
- beautiful scenery
- we don't care about alcohol or beer tours
- relaxed travel
- stars
- water
- an adventerous activity (whitewater rafting, spelunking, canyoning, bat caves, etc.?)
- Nature
- Places to go based on O'Brien and Lockhart lineage
Miscellaneous Interests:
- European thrift stores
- Open fields for public frolicking
- Delicious foods
- Maybe a nice, clean male strip club in Scotland
What are your thoughts based on these rough criteria? Lastly, please share any packing tips for late august through early september you may have. Thank you for your travel tips!
Our trip interests:
- local spots, less tourism
- beautiful scenery
- we don't care about alcohol or beer tours
- relaxed travel
- stars
- water
- an adventerous activity (whitewater rafting, spelunking, canyoning, bat caves, etc.?)
- Nature
- Places to go based on O'Brien and Lockhart lineage
Miscellaneous Interests:
- European thrift stores
- Open fields for public frolicking
- Delicious foods
- Maybe a nice, clean male strip club in Scotland
What are your thoughts based on these rough criteria? Lastly, please share any packing tips for late august through early september you may have. Thank you for your travel tips!
Jun 14th, 2016, 11:39 AM
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Alright, let's see if we can have a crack at this:
- local spots, less tourism --> this is vague and lacks explanation. Go to residential areas and eat in residential pubs or restaurants and putter around local parks. Otherwise, you're trespassing - I wouldn't want people walking around my farm just because it's not touristy.
- beautiful scenery --> there's plenty of that, even on the few days it doesn't rain; Scotland > Ireland.
- we don't care about alcohol or Beer tours --> and they may not care about you either.
- relaxed travel --> Um, that's on you. The less you plan on a minute-by-minute itinerary, the fewer deadlines you'll have. That said, driving in Ireland won't be relaxed due to the roads, drivers, weather . . .
- stars --> rumor has it that the sky is visible in both countries. Observatories may exist in each country that are open to public visitors - google.
- water --> rumor has it that both countries are on island formations.
- an adventerous [sic] activity (whitewater rafting, spelunking, canyoning, bat caves, etc.?) - Scotland's probably better than Ireland for this. There's also mountain climbing in Scotland for the UK equivalent of mountains.
- Nature --> uh, yeah, there's that but specificity helps - beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, coasts, islands? Birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, fish? There are a ton of islands within Scotland that could be good trips for you: Islay, Skye, the Orkneys, Mull, Arran, etc.
- Places to go based on O'Brien and Lockhart lineage --> two words: go googling.
Miscellaneous Interests:
- European thrift stores --> what? Like consignment stores or straight-up Macklemore $20 in my pocket stuff? There may be a cultural gap here but the Europeans on the board may be better able to address.
- Open fields for public frolicking --> Sounds vaguely prurient. Most cities have parks; outside the cities there are plenty of open fields in each.
- Delicious foods --> well, no one likes to eat crap; specificity helps. That said, timeout.com should have info for whatever major city you end up in.
- Maybe a nice, clean male strip club in Scotland --> I never have and never will look into this.
Note that Edinburgh is probably sold out for the August part of your trip because it's festival season.
- local spots, less tourism --> this is vague and lacks explanation. Go to residential areas and eat in residential pubs or restaurants and putter around local parks. Otherwise, you're trespassing - I wouldn't want people walking around my farm just because it's not touristy.
- beautiful scenery --> there's plenty of that, even on the few days it doesn't rain; Scotland > Ireland.
- we don't care about alcohol or Beer tours --> and they may not care about you either.
- relaxed travel --> Um, that's on you. The less you plan on a minute-by-minute itinerary, the fewer deadlines you'll have. That said, driving in Ireland won't be relaxed due to the roads, drivers, weather . . .
- stars --> rumor has it that the sky is visible in both countries. Observatories may exist in each country that are open to public visitors - google.
- water --> rumor has it that both countries are on island formations.
- an adventerous [sic] activity (whitewater rafting, spelunking, canyoning, bat caves, etc.?) - Scotland's probably better than Ireland for this. There's also mountain climbing in Scotland for the UK equivalent of mountains.
- Nature --> uh, yeah, there's that but specificity helps - beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, coasts, islands? Birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, fish? There are a ton of islands within Scotland that could be good trips for you: Islay, Skye, the Orkneys, Mull, Arran, etc.
- Places to go based on O'Brien and Lockhart lineage --> two words: go googling.
Miscellaneous Interests:
- European thrift stores --> what? Like consignment stores or straight-up Macklemore $20 in my pocket stuff? There may be a cultural gap here but the Europeans on the board may be better able to address.
- Open fields for public frolicking --> Sounds vaguely prurient. Most cities have parks; outside the cities there are plenty of open fields in each.
- Delicious foods --> well, no one likes to eat crap; specificity helps. That said, timeout.com should have info for whatever major city you end up in.
- Maybe a nice, clean male strip club in Scotland --> I never have and never will look into this.
Note that Edinburgh is probably sold out for the August part of your trip because it's festival season.
Jun 14th, 2016, 03:07 PM
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Big Russ...I won't even attempt to match your input on this one...good going! Clever and spot on. Take heed ladies!
As usual I'll dump in here some pix covering both Ireland and Scotland...gives the ladies a frolickin' idea or two, I hope. (How does one strip off his kilt!! OR his heavy woolen socks!?)
Ladies, see pix below:
stu
As usual I'll dump in here some pix covering both Ireland and Scotland...gives the ladies a frolickin' idea or two, I hope. (How does one strip off his kilt!! OR his heavy woolen socks!?)
Ladies, see pix below:
stu
Jun 14th, 2016, 03:24 PM
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Jun 14th, 2016, 04:01 PM
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For the O'Brien part, take a look at this itinerary created by a charitable org somewhat related to the O'Brien clan (I personally cannot attest to its accuracy):
http://www.obrienclan.com/annual-pilgrimage.html
Irish counties to narrow search: County Clare, County Kerry, County Tipperary, County Limerick.
Scotland Lockharts = Lanarkshire. Not sure how much clan history is still visible/tangible (the ancestral seat of Clan Lockhart is now privately owned by an American, not open to public as far as I can tell). Lanarkshire areas are within reach of Edinburgh for a day trip or overnight stay. Don't think this area will offer the jaw dropping scenery of Scotland (i.e. Skye and the Highlands).
How this aligns with the myriad other interests I'm not sure, more specifics would help.
Good luck and happy traveling!
http://www.obrienclan.com/annual-pilgrimage.html
Irish counties to narrow search: County Clare, County Kerry, County Tipperary, County Limerick.
Scotland Lockharts = Lanarkshire. Not sure how much clan history is still visible/tangible (the ancestral seat of Clan Lockhart is now privately owned by an American, not open to public as far as I can tell). Lanarkshire areas are within reach of Edinburgh for a day trip or overnight stay. Don't think this area will offer the jaw dropping scenery of Scotland (i.e. Skye and the Highlands).
How this aligns with the myriad other interests I'm not sure, more specifics would help.
Good luck and happy traveling!
