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Ireland, Scotland, England Itinerary

I need help filling in the last few days (day 13, 14) of my itinerary. I have round trip airfare from home to Dublin booked and all attraction and train tickets purchased so far. I appreciate your input, critique and suggestions!
2–DUBLIN

TOUR: 10 AM DUBLIN HIGHLIGHTS AND HIDDEN GEM GUIDED WALKING TOUR—2H.

3– FLY DUBLIN TO EDINBURGH

GET DINNER/CHECK OUT ROYAL MILE. TOURS: NO TOURS. WALK ROYAL MILE. GO TO BED EARLY
4—EDINBURGH
TOUR: 0900 ROYAL CASTLE
LUNCH?

TOUR: ST. ANDREWS: 1600 ST ANDREWS TOUR FOR GOLFER.
5—EDINBURGH
TOUR (BUS): LOCH NESS, GLENCOE AND THE HIGHLANDS—ALL DAY

6—EDINBURGH TO YORK PER TRAIN

TOUR: MAD ALICE’S THE BLOODY TOUR OF YORK. 1700

7 YORK
TOUR: SELF GUIDED—DOWN DAY.
8—YORK TO LONDON BY TRAIN

9-LONDON
10-12—BUCKINGHAM PALACE TO CATCH 11 AM CHANGING OF THE GUARD (45 MIN). WATCH FROM ST. JAMES PALACE.
12-1400—WALK TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE (LUNCH?)
10 DOWNING STREET on the way to war room.
1400-1430—CHURCHILL WAR ROOM TOUR. GOT TICKETS. Note Big Ben, House of Parliament.

DIANA MEMORIAL AND STATUE. KENSINGTON PALACE GARDENS.

10- LONDON

TOUR: 0900 COTSWOLD TOUR. ALL DAY 11-LONDON

1000-TOWER OF LONDON TOUR. TICKETS PURCHASED
1200— TOWER BRIDGE—FROM OUTSIDE

1300—BOROUGH MARKET LUNCH?
12- LONDON
TOUR: 8 AM WINDSOR CASTLE, STONEHENGE & BATH TOUR ALL DAY TOUR.

13-CHECK OUT OF AIRBNB BY 1100 ???
14-???
15-DUBLIN OVERNIGHT
16-- BOARD PLANE AT 1610 IN DUBLIN TO HOME

Posted by
17354 posts

Oh gosh. You’ve got some formatting issues. I’ve done this before but can’t remember the specifics. Do you have a character in front of your days that are in giant type and underlined? Whatever it is look at your Day 13 because that does not have the same character in front of it.

You are allowed to go back in and edit your post on this forum.

As a starter unless youve already purchased the tour I’d reconsider doing Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath on a day tour. It’s very long hours on the bus. Windsor is an easy independent train ride from London for a 3/4 of a day.

Posted by
1993 posts

You have two all day bus tours scheduled and I can’t recommend either. Scotland is full of beautiful lochs but Loch Ness isn’t one of them. In addition it is a long drive from Edinburgh - you will spend all day on a bus and will see some nice scenery but you can do much better with a day trip by not trying to do everything on one day.

Likewise the day trip to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath means that you will mostly see large parts of England’s motorway network and only a brief glimpse of the three sites. Use the day to visit whichever of the 3 interests you most. You could do another on day 14 but I would concentrate on seeing some of London’s world class museums and galleries - British Museum, Tates Britain and Modern, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, V&A etc etc. If museums and galleries are not your thing then maybe a day trip to Greenwich, which has enough treasures to fill more than a day and you can access by a boat trip on the Thames.

Posted by
1321 posts

I'd echo the advice to make the most of your time in Lonson to actually be in London, rather than taking all fhe day trips you're planning. Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge is particularly rushed (to the extent of not really seeing anything much behind traffic). Windsor is a day trip in itself, ditto Bath, and bith cna easily be reached by train. And the Cotswolds are a big area, beautiful to be sure, but with a limited time, you could do a day trip somewhere like Rye, again by train.

PS
Post changing of the guard, there are several nice pubs in St James that will be better for lunch thsn picking something up in Trafalgar Square

Posted by
772 posts

How soon is your trip? With everything booked, I'm guessing the trip is soon.

Some good suggestions here, but it sounds as if your tours are all booked. Perhaps the company has one you could switch to for a single location (i.e., Bath or Windsor, rather than a blur through all 3). If not, enjoy a taste of each.

I would stay put in London for day 13 and 14. Perhaps leave them unscheduled so you can decide when you are there. You may have energy for a museum or other site, but strolls through parks, a matinee or evening show, or peeking into the Food Floor at Harrod's could be enjoyable. Maybe save Trafalgar Square and catch the National Gallery that day since it's right there.

There are lots of gems and hidden gems in London. Take time to savor.

Posted by
946 posts

Never been to Ireland or Scotland and only one of my five visits to London was long and recent enough to fairly comment. Still …

Days 9 and 12 look awfully crowded and exhausting. As others have said, be there. Don’t just tick off boxes.

If you are not spending Day 14 in or near Dublin, then I don’t know why Dublin is on your itinerary at all, except for the lower cost Aer Lingus flights that you are probably taking. At the front end of your trip, you have just one full day in Ireland/Dublin.

Have you already arranged your London to Dublin travel?

Posted by
10259 posts

I say, cut down on all that travel. You are only doing Dublin in Ireland, cut that and do more in Scotland or England.

Posted by
1590 posts

I feel like a lot of this trip will just be spent in transit. I would drop the highlands bus tour and try to just visit one place on your own outside of Edinburgh. There are a lot of nice places nearby in day trip distance (e.g. Stirling, St Andrews, Borders area) and you'll have a lot more time to enjoy them. Likewise, I'm not sure how a bus trip can fit Windsor, Stonehenge, and Bath all into one day. I would select one of those and just visit that. You can combine a visit to Stonehenge with Salisbury, which is a very nice town with a beautiful cathedral. I also think visiting the Cotswolds by bus in a day will mean most of the day on the bus. If you want, you can get a train to Moreton-in-Marsh and then a bus to Stowe-on-the-Wold and be back in the evening. I think that would be a nicer way to spend the day.

In London itself, I think Churchill War Rooms will take you a lot more than half an hour to see (it's a very big site). I hope that is helpful!

Posted by
23 posts

For Day 11, do take a Yeoman Warder tour of the Tower. There's usually a long line to enter the Jewel House for the Crown Jewels.

FWIW, Borough Market is likely to very, very crowded for lunch.