3 weeks in Great Britain, can we fit Ireland in too?

You've listed eight destinations in England and Scotland already. If you try to visit them all in two weeks, that's two days for most of them and one for a couple of them. Including London. I guess you could manage that by just driving through areas like the Cotswolds, Wales, Lake District, and Highlands with maybe a lunch stop in each. But if I were you I'd save Ireland for another trip and focus on Britain for the three weeks. The RS 21-day itinerary is his best effort to maximize the number of places you see in GB in that time, It's not something he "recommends" if you have other choices. You're young, assume you'll return.

If you go for such an ambitious itinerary, drive instead of taking trains or buses. You can't afford to spend any time waiting for departures. Of course you don't want a car in London. And, if you include Ireland, fly there from London or Edinburgh instead of spending a day on a ferry. Also, you can save time by flying "open jaw" (multi-city), e.g. from your home to London and back from Edinburgh or Glasgow or Dublin, which saves you backtracking.

Hope that helps.

I'd skip Ireland and go another time. And I would definitely figure out what you really want to see because you will be doing a LOT of driving to go from London to Bath to Wales to the Highlands and down to York. Why don't you concentrate either on the England destinations that are sort of not too super far apart (London, Bath Cotswolds and maybe into southern Wales) or Edinburgh and the Highlands?

Ireland definitely would require a car. You could do a week there, then cut your GB itinerary and only do London, Cardiff and Edinburgh, but that doesn't sound like what you'd want to do. So I'd suggest saving Ireland and giving it more time on another trip.

I'd look at the places you listed above, then figure out specific destinations (Wales is not a destination- Cardiff or Betws-y-Coed are... same with Highlands, Lake District, Cotswolds- though you could just drive through them as a day trip from Bath). Then check both driving routes and times and rail/bus routes and timetables. See what works- for some you might want to take a train then rent a car for a day or two and do day trips.

Hi ilisa - My boyfriend and I spent 3 weeks in England, Scotland and N. Wales in July and felt like we only had a sampler of Great Britain. We went to all the places you mentioned and travelled by train and car, finishing with a mere 3 days in London. We spent 2 nights everywhere else. I have to agree with the others who've replied and suggest saving Ireland for another trip. Our 3 weeks gave us a good idea of the places we will return to see more of and the places we really don't need to see again. We didn't get a chance to see Cornwall, most of Wales (spent most of our time in N. Wales/Anglesey doing some sea kayaking) or the Western Isles of Scotland, except Skye which was fantastic. I have 2 friends who spent 3 and 4 weeks in Ireland alone and say they could have easily spent more time there. Whatever you decide, have a great time!

Stick with your plans and save Ireland/N Ireland for a separate journey. They deserve time and effort for maximum enjoyment.

Thank you for the replies! We are going to do as you all suggest and save Ireland for another trip! (something else to look forward to!) Now to nail down our specific itinerary! We will pretty much be following RS 3 week tour of GB. I looked into rental car prices last night. We will not need a car the whole time, so for the times we do need it, I think it will work out. Depending solely on train/bus would limit us too much or require that we give up some of our itinerary. I'm enjoying the planning and think we will have a great trip!

I also support that decision. Britain has plenty to keep you enthralled for three weeks, without the hassle of crossing to Ireland and picking up a different rental car.

In 2002, we had a month and planned to visit Ireland/Scotland/Wales and England. By the time I planned out our Ireland portion, we were 17 days into the trip and I knew Scotland and parts of England and Wales would have to be cut. We ended up to doing Ireland, Northern Wales, The Cotswolds, Bath and London. We did not have time for more than that. This last trip, we had 18 days to spend in Great Britain. On that trip, We finally made it to the Lakes area and Scotland....12 years after we originally thought we would. We visited most of the places on your list except Wales and York (we did spend a day at Hadrian's wall). But you have a little more time that we did. We travel more rapidly than many on this forum, but even at our pace it is my opinion that Ireland is too much in 3 weeks. I would advise you to start planning out where you are going on what day and what you want to see. You will be surprised how fast the time goes. In Scotland, we spent one full day in Edinburgh and 4 days traveling through the Highlands. By budgeting our time wisely, we were able to see Culloden in Inverness, Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness, St Augustus, (day one) we had a full day on the Isle of Skye (day two), Fort William, Glencoe, and even drove over to Aviemore to watch a sheep herding demonstration. (Day 3 & 4). In order to get everything in on day one, we left Edinburgh at 5 AM so that we were at Culloden when it opened. (actually we were early so we visited the nearby rock tombs ). In that time, we not only saw these sights, but did a couple of nice hikes, visited a distillery and found time to shop and enjoy some pubs. That gives you an idea on our speed of travel.