Tour vs. On our own - Need opinions!
 

Hi -

My husband and I (early 30's) want to visit Ireland and Scotland, and unfortunatly the only time we have to go is within the next 2 months. Since we have no clue where to start planning, and very little time to do so, we are considering taking the Trafalgar Best of Ireland and Scotland tour, with a few free days tacked onto either end of the trip.

Our big concern with doing the tour thing is that though we'll cover a lot of ground, we'll get the Americanized version of stuff, and only get directed to their preferred vendors/restaurants, and spend most of the time on the bus with people who aren't are age. But we'd get to see the sites, and wouldn't have to mess with driving/navigating and not stress over doing all the planning. We'd prefer to sample local cusine, explore sites a little more than a 30 minute bus stop, stop for photos, and experience more local culture. But we don't have much time to plan a full itenerary (we're thinking 2-3 week trip in late june/july), book hotels, plan our days or even know where to start. We looked at the B&B vocuher programs, but were leary that during summer months, the B&B's in the places we would want to be would be booked.

Is it doable to plan a 2-3 week trip in a few days? Would it be cheaper than a tour? I hate to spend the money on a tour and be unhappy with it, but it would get us to the major sites we want to see and let us relax.

Sorry to dump my worries, I would just like some advise and guidance from those who have planned/travelled more than I. If it's doable and more economical to hunker down with some guide books, do the research and book all my lodgings/flights/cars myself, I may give it a try. We've never been on a trip this big, and don't want to screw it up! Otherwise we'll bite the bullet and do the tour.

Thanks so much!
Kris

I'd rent a car - travel in these two places is so easy - no language barrier and cozy bed and breakfasts are everywhere - no need to advance book in most places as there is literally a raft of them all over.
Driving on the other side of the road scares folks but you get used to it quickly and many parts of these two areas are sparsely population.
You could also easily reserve B&Bs online if you want to security of advance reservations.
In Ireland be sure to motor along the West Coast, where Gaelic is still spoken as a daily tongue and peat smoke still curls up from chimneys - very gorgeous coastal scenes - go from Galway thru the Connemarra, via the Cliffs of Mohar then to the Dingle Peninsula area and the Ring of Kerry and then east via Blarney Castle to Cork and up to Dublin for ferries back to UK. (May be expensive to return car in country other than in which you rented it.)
In Scotland drive from Edinburgh thru the Scottish Highlands and then take a ferry to Northern Ireland

on your own is the only way to go IMO.
Its all about FREEDOM !!!

I haven't taken a Trafalgar tour, but have a couple others so have a few comments on your stereotypes and perceptions as to what will happen to you.

First, you are saying you will get the Americanized version of stuff. I don't know what that means. They should have local guides, any tour company I used did (and some countries require that by law), regardless of whether the tour company was American. They contract locally for guides. Your tour should have a general overall "den mother" type tour guide, and then local experts for site-seeing. If not, I'd find a different tour. That is not to say that an American can't be perfectly qualified and educated in history and whatever you are seeing. So that's why I'm not sure what you mean.

As for being "directed" to preferred vendors/restaurants, etc. That sounds very passive to me. You don't have to go to restaurants that someone else tells you, nor even ask them for opinions. If you are in a city, you can go anywhere you want, and choose restaurants the same way you would if not on a tour -- by walking around or checking guidebooks. Just because you have a tour plan the itinerary and logistics doesn't mean you can't spend a little time looking in a guidebook. Nobody directed me to anything on my tours, but I never asked them as I didn't want their opinions. I'm perfectly capable of walking down a street and stopping in an Indian restaurant that looks good (ie, in London), for example.

Now if you chose a tour that includes meals, that's another issue, but your choice. I didn't do that because I wanted to go where I wanted. I don't shop much nor care about that, so being directed to vendors wasn't really on the horizon, as I never asked. Same thing here, though -- how do you go shopping when you travel on your own? You can do the same thing.

If you choose a tour that covers a lot of territory and has a lot of time on the bus, well, that is also your choice. But public transportation is that no matter whether it's a tour bus or a public bus/train. You main be amongst people you don't care for. If you plan your own bus/train for the same itinerary, you may well spend more time on the logistics than tour would. I kind of enjoy sitting in some nice buses and viewing the countryside, myself -- Ireland and Scotland are good for that.

I think you have to be a little more pro-active in thinking about what you want to do and what you can contribute, even on a tour, rather than thinking you must relinquish all responsibility for your own experience.

I think it depends on your fondness for planning. I love planning - for me, it's half the fun. I also fear missing something great because I didn't research the area first (missed meeting my favorite author my first trip to Ireland -- corrected that on my second trip!)

If you like planning, dig in. There are HUNDREDS of threads of small itineraries for both Ireland and Scotland on this board -- cannibalize them. Rent a car and pick 2 or 3 places to base yourself, and explore.


If you don't care for planning, then find a tour. It doesn't have to be a 'full-on' tour, though that seems to be what you are describing. Some tours are literally 'here are your hotels and here's a car. Go have fun.' Some are 'We're taking the bus to this restaurant, then this castle, then this ruin, then this hotel. Deal with it.' If I had to take a tour (and with so little time to plan, I might), I'd go with the former.

Remember, you can take ideas from the tours without buying them. If the tour goes to Edinburgh, Fort William and Skye, and you like the look of it, rent a car and go. June/early July shouldn't be too hard to find B&Bs -- tourist information offices will help you find them there, or search the web for recommendations and email/call them.

Check out www.irelandyes.com for suggestions, or my own webpage for my trip reports/suggestions. (http://www.greendragonartist.com/BIhome.htm)

I go both ways (no pun intended!). Each summer I take a group of students on a packaged tour where we always have a fantastic time. I've been to places I previously had no interest in seeing but since the kids expressed an interest, we took them.

On my own, I prefer to travel independently. I actually enjoy researching cheap, cheap hotels, farms, B&B's and restaurants. I happily spend months working and reworking my itinerary. The rest of the family sits back and lets me plan things for them to experience.

My opinion is that throughout Europe independent travel is always the best way to go. Travel at your own pace and experience the joys of getting lost at times. By traveling on your own, no matter what your budget is, you'll save money over a packaged tour plus have the opportunity to experience so much more.

Now if I were going somewhere in Asia, South America or to Russia, I think I'd prefer a packaged tour at least the first time I visited. Having someone else make sure we're eating in sanitary places, staying in clean hotels and dealing with language problems would be worth the money. After I felt comfortable I might be willing to return on my own on a futures trip.

Kris,

Do a driving trip of one or both countries. Don't worry about driving on the left, you will have no problem, especially if you don't trey to start the driving out of downtown London. We have driven all over England, Scotland and Ireland at least five times doing 2-3 week trips. This is a very easy trip to plan and do as there is NO language problem the roads are good, you can move at your own pace and the country side is beautiful.

Look into flying. Maybe flying to London and home from Dublin. After a couple of days in London, you can take the train to Scotland and rent a car for a week. Trains work well in the UK. Get a good map and a guide book. Pick the areas you are interested in and check the internet for lodgings. You can check mappy for driving times between locations and do a big loop. Then drop the car and fly to Dublin spend a day or two. Then pick up a car for another week of touring sites in Ireland. You dcould also look into a ferry crossing.

We did a week's driving tour of the south and west coast of Ireland a couple of years ago with a feww days at the end in Dublin. It was a great trip. Stayed in serval Manor Homes along the way for a couple of days and explore around the area, then moved on. The last day we drove across the island back to Dublin for our flight home.

Actually I look at packaged tours, take the one I like and make my own driving tour from it. Adding and subtracting as I read about each city/area. It gives me a frame work for travel times. I also like to have reservations for most nights as it allows us to enjoy the trip more.

No tour. Get Karen Brown's book Inns and Itineraries for Ireland. Not sure if she has a Scotland one. She lists various travel routes through a country and places to stay along the way. Once you've read her suggestions, get a Fodor's or Frommer's, start booking, and post you're questions here. I've plan a 15 day trip to Scandinavia this week. You can do it.

If you are going to be in a different hotel each night, I would recommend a tour. If you are going to be staying two or more nights at the same location, I would do my own thing.

Also is the affordability. Four people on a tour can be much more expensive than 1 person on a tour versus renting a car and petrol.

BTW, the trip I just planned this week is in early June.

Have a great trip.

Yes it can be done. I often plan a trip in this time although further in advance.
First and soon, find a flight- ideally into Edinburgh or elsewhere in Scotland and out from Ireland- Dublin or Shannon. There is no reason at all to fly to London unless you want to go there. If an open-jaw as above is too expensive then check the cheap airlines from e.g. Edinburgh to Dublin BEFORE you put your transatlantic leg in place.
Then whilst you are sorting this out read a guide book on Scotland and another on Ireland. Read each in one night and jot down where you really want to go. Also note any accomodation that appeals to you. Send off emails to the accomodation asking for availability for the whole week you are in one country(even though you may only stay one night). You can make it clear if you want to that your dates are fluid at this stage - otherwise they may start quoting you discounts because you are staying so long.
Don't aim to go too far first day.
Send emails to car hire firms asking about automatic cars if this is what you want and also approach multinational companies and ask if there is a discount if you hire from them both in Scotland and Ireland.
That will take you several days.
Then you can fine tune your itinerary here.

I vote for "on your own". Both countries are easy to travel in. Many many towns have tourist information offices that offer booking services fo local accomodation of all types.

I know that there are some wonderful tours out there, but I still prefer the freedom to take someone up on an invitation or follow a recommendation from another guest at the B & B!

Good luck,
Alison

kriskate,

Why don't you let the folks here help. For starters, your trip is very close and airfares for June/July are higher now than if you had purchased a few months (or more) ago. What dates are you considering for departures/arrivals? Which airport are you departing from in the US? Fodorites can get you started by suggesting the best open-jaw flights and will also have ideas about when/where you need hotel reservations, etc.

Or you could compromise -- do a tour for one country, on your own in the other :)

Tours are useful because everything is organized for you--but that means you have very little freedom to explore what interests you on your own. I find travelling in a bus with lots of other people for over an hour extremly tiring and would much prefer to have a car and go as I please.

I was in a similar situation. I felt like our July/August trip was too 'last minute' and I was getting frazzled. I usually do all the planning, but I contacted Michele at the irelandyes website (see above posting). We took a short survey, then she came up with an itinerary and suggested the B&Bs within our price range. I got on the phone and called these places one morning. No problems at all. We got all that we wanted. I used the Costco calling card (MCI). Cost per minute was only 4 or 6 cents, so it's the way to book. She also gave us a list of suggested activities for each destination (based on our interests). We were also interested in Scotland, but decided to do Ireland only. Cost for Michele's service was aroun $75, but she also offers a much more detailed layout.
I highly recommend contacting her soon.
Caroline

I have two of Michele's(IrelandYes) books and have found them very useful, along with other books. Sounds like a great idea to talk to her and it would save you time and worry.

Yes, I second the suggestion to contact Michele -- a very good solution! She has a very comprehensive guidebook, and is VERY helpful!

If you're relatively experienced travellers, it is possible to plan a good trip in a couple days. You won't be able to create an incredibly detailed itinerary like some people make, but you can make hotel reservations, rent a car/look up train schedules, and get information on what to do wherever you're going, so that you can kind of decide from day to day. If you haven't really travelled all that much before, with such a short amount of time to plan, it might not be a terrible idea to get a tour. Just depends on you, but it is by no means impossible.

I took a six day tour of Switzerland last year with Cosmos. The first night, dinner was included. We got a frankfurter, and fries. I was glad the meals were not included the other nights.