In early June four or five of us (50ish women) would like to travel these three places for 3 weeks beginning in London for 4-5 days. How would you suggest seeing the most for our buck and covering some ground but not being overwhelmed. Leery of driving in Ireland and maybe even Scotland --- what do you suggest?? Any ideas about trains or hiring a driver. Or possibly a driver to different cities and spending a couple of days. What are your favorite cities to visit??
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
I think 3 weeks is only enough for London, England & Scotland.
Start of by spending a week in London. Head out on a few day excursions to
places like Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Brighton.
Consider a Britrail Pass for the following 2 weeks, and something similar to this routing may be possible.
London >> Salisbury >> Bath >> Cheltenham (for Cotswolds) >> Liverpool/Chester >> Windermere (for Lake District) >> Glasgow >> Stirling>> Pitlochry (for Highlands) >> Edinburgh >> Durham >> York >> London
Posted by
2599 posts
You may wish to read this recent post as it has references to Britrail Pass.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/britrail-pass-and-fees-to-book-a-train
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
If there is 4 or 5 of you and you want to cover alot of ground then I would be looking at organised tours.
To ease logistics, and increase pleasure, I would look at minimal movement perhaps ...
Fly in to Edinburgh - 4nts
Durham - 1 nt
York - 2 nts
London - 10 nts - with alternate days as excursions out to Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Canterbury, Brighton.
Salisbury - 1 nt
Bath - 1 nt
Cotswolds - 2 nts
Getting an apartment in London for half your time will be relaxing and cost effective.
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1266 posts
Mary - You don't say where you are traveling from so i would do this as an open jaw trip. Flying into London and out of Shannon.
London 5-6 nts train to York. You could do a few day trips to Windsor Castle, Cambridge and or Canterbury
York 2-3 nts train to Edinburgh
Edinburgh 4-5 nts flying to Dublin(airfare as cheap as ($45pp)) you could to a day or two.
Dublin 4 nts bus to Galway
Galway 3 nts bus to Shannon. I would recommend Galway Tour Company for tours to Cliffs of Moher & Connemara & Cong
Shannon 1 nt prior to you flight home.