England/Scotland or England Ireland

Hello! Can't speak on Ireland, as COVID cancelled my trip, but England and Scotland by train id pretty fabulous. Edinburgh could present challenges in regards to walking as it is very hilly, but some Raby tours from Edinburgh to the Highlands and other day trips would be great. I like slower pace too...

England to Ireland by rail is not as easy as it could be.
There are 4 routes-
1. Fishguard to Rosslare- all ferries connected by rail at the Welsh side, but the ferries have been retimed, and now badly miss their supposed rail connections at Rosslare. No other transport out of Rosslare, so you wait hours for your next train;
2. Holyhead to Dublin- rail connections in Wales are good, but you now have to take a bus from the terminal to the ship at Holyhead and Dublin Port is several miles from the city centre, so you have to take transit into the city centre;
3. Cairnryan to Belfast- a number of years ago the ferry port moved from the rail connected town of Stranraer to Cairnryan. You now take a non low floor coach from Ayr Station. At Belfast the port is miles out of the city, so you take transit from the port- which is low floor. But if you go by train to Stranraer there is a low floor public bus from Port Rodie (adjacent to the station) to the terminal building. I am doing the via Stranraer connection in a few weeks time.
4. Pembroke to Rosslare- better rail connections in Ireland, but the rail connections in Wales are very weak, and need a taxi from station to port.
All in all for travel from the UK to Ireland I think, that in your circumstances, air travel is the better option, there are loads of routes from many English and Scottish airports.

You might not need a lot of cash, but something to consider is that with England and Scotland you'll only be dealing with one currency - the British Pound. Ireland uses the Euro. Might not be a problem, just food for thought.

I'd definitely choose England + Scotland since those two can be done by rail plus a car if/when you really need it. Ireland requires either a flight (I hate those in the middle of a trip--it's guaranteed to chew up more than half a day) or a ferry. I think the ferry ports are generally not towns you'd otherwise include in your itinerary, so the ferry trip is effectively a lot longer than the length of the boat ride suggests.

By comparison, the train from London all the way to Edinburgh takes only about 4-1/2 hours, and most people would give serious consideration to spending at least two nights in York along the way.

For the avoidance of doubt Northern Ireland is part of the UK and therefore uses pounds.
Do you have any particular interests that might make the choice easier? For example a love of whisky might direct you to Scotland. Any family connections?
How long have you got? Two weeks or less and I would be sticking to one country.

I suggest you consider making a Rabbies tour part of your plans. You could do one of the shorter ones so that only part of your trip requires a tight schedule and group pace. I have been on the Rabbies 5 day tour of Wales, Yorkshire etc and it was not as strenuous as the RS tours appear to be.

I've spent a lot of time in all of those places. For the trip you describe, I suggest England and Scotland. Easy to get around between them.

Definitely take a look at Rabbies tours. I have taken a handful of their one day tours and enjoyed them. I especially liked leaving the driving to them so I could enjoy the scenery. They aren't too rushed.

Trying to take a train between England and Ireland also includes a ferry through possible rough seas or even be cancelled due to weather. Flying is the easier option but for your first trip, stick to England and Scotland.

My suggestion is to think about using trains between places and then either renting a car for a day or looking at one day local tours. Keep in mind, they drive on the other side of the road in the UK.

HOW much time do you have for this trip?

We have been to all these countries several times and there is much to see. You could easily spend three months in the British Isles and not see all the major sites.

Our longest trip was four weeks in South Wales and England. We didn't spend any time in London. We rented a car and it was amazing.

We planned our own trip, which involved a lot of planning. If you rent a car, be sure to get an automatic and have a nav system or access to google maps or a GPS. To see the countryside well, you need to rent a car for at least some of your travel.

Don't try to do England and Scotland in just two weeks.

If you partner will not be able to walk much, consider taking a tour that allows wheelchairs. If you rent a car, you will need a vehicle large enough for the chair. Also, your luggage.

I have been on some tours that were large enough to have more than one group and one group was just for the "slow walkers."

Thank you so much, everyone! You all have given me food for thought. You all have been so generous with sharing your experience and suggestions. We are very excited about this journey. I was asked how long are we planning to visit. Our first time will be 2 weeks. I know that we will not be able to see everything but as someone suggested to choose what you must see and plan around that. I will continue to come on here and read everyone's continued suggestions. Thank you again! Much love and light to all!

Debbie O

You said "Our first time will be 2 weeks."
I encourage you to do only England for this trip.
Your 2 weeks will be full of interesting towns, villages, historic sights, museums and more.
There's enough to keep you busy in England for 3 months, in my opinion.

Since you are new to traveling, I think you will have your plate full just to do England this time and leave Scotland and Ireland for future trips.

You said you want this to be the trip of a lifetime, and I think it will be.
Lovely places for you to enjoy include the Cotswolds (countryside with small villages and cottages), Bath, Salisbury (with its lovely cathedral and Stonehenge nearby), Stratford-Upon-Avon (with its Shakespeare houses and theatre), Windsor (the town) & Windsor Castle, York (with its medieval streets) and London with its many museums. No car needed in London.

My husband and I had a trip planned (for 4 weeks) that we've had to cancel because he has a medical issue. We were going to be in England for all of that time except for 3 days in Edinburgh.
We are in our late 60's and early 70's, so we take it slowly, too.

Have a great trip.
To get some ideas about the towns I've mentioned, watch some Rick Steves videos from YouTube to see if you like what you see.

Reading Rick's England guidebook will give you some great ideas for planning your trip.
You can order these here:
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/england-guidebook
Pocket London is great to take along with you:
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/pocket-london

You will need an adapter, also offered in Rick's store:
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/uk-power-adapter

Have a great trip!

We recently returned to Scotland and northern England. The trip was 24 days and we had a rental car. Depending on what you want to see you may want to limit the trip to one country, or limit the trip to an area of perhaps Stirling down to the Lake District and coast to coast. Like others, we’ve made multiple trips to the U.K. and still have plenty to see.

Hi Debbie and welcome to the forum!

Nothing to add to the destination discussion BUT if you are in the CdA area we have a fun travel meet up once a month for those of us in the CdA/Spokane/Inland Northwest area. We generally meet the 1st Saturday of the month in downtown CdA. There is sometimes a Saturday in the summer that we change dates due to downtown events. Jean is the organizer and posts a notification thread each month. You’d be very welcome to join us!

Here’s the next one:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/coeur-d-alene-spokane-travel-group-may-6

PS: I agree about choosing England and Scotland. Also RS tours are pretty fast paced and unfortunately not appropriate for someone with mobility issues.

We did England/Scotland. Train from London to Edinburgh. Absolutely loved Scotland--totally exceeded my expectations and want to go back. From Edinburgh we then rented a car and took the West Highland Way though the Highlands out to Isle of Skye and then back through Inverness to return to Edinburgh. Then train back to London for a couple more days. Ireland was a separate trip--Dublin and then train up to Northern Ireland--Belfast and Derry. Rented car in Derry and went over to County Donegal. Not sure what part of Ireland you wanted to focus on for your own trip.

I endorse all the recommendations above to visit England and Scotland rather than including Ireland. It makes the travel logistics so much simpler.

I will add a warning that driving on the left is not easy for first-timers, and can be quite stressful, both for the driver and the navigator/passenger. Roundabouts (there are lots of them) seem to be particularly troublesome for those of us accustomed to driving on the right.

Most rental cars will have manual transmission, so you would be shifting gears with the left hand rather than the right, an added complication. You may be able to reserve an automatic, but in many cases it is not “guaranteed”, and in all cases it will cost more.

And parking may be difficult, including in the small towns. We got a parking ticket years ago in one of the small towns in the Cotswolds ( Upper or Lower Slaughter) because we did not understand the signage. £30 for that mistake.

So while the idea of tootling around the countryside and stopping in small villages sounds appealing, the reality may be quite different. We swore off driving on the left after a trip to New Zealand in our 60’s, and have never regretted our decision. We have been to the UK a number of times and traveled successfully by train through England, Scotland and Wales, sometimes with a short taxi ride when needed to reach a small village.

When are you thinking of going? Do you have any particular hobbies or interests you would like to pursue there, such as music, photography, literature/theatre, crafts, folklore, country fairs?