Losing Sleep Trying to Plan my UK/Ireland Trip - Please Help!

You've got a little more than 3 weeks. The trouble is, you're wanting to cover more ground than you really can (comfortably) in that time. You're also losing (at least) several days to jumping around - flying from York to Dublin, flying from Belfast to Edinburgh, flying from Edinburgh to London. And you are adding little extensions out from both mainlands: out from the Irish mainland to the Aran Islands, out from Scotland to Orkney (are you doing that by air, or by ferry?). That is a LOT of hopping around. And yet, you're skipping all of the southwest of Ireland (arguably the most scenic part of Ireland), and you feel you need yet more time to do the highlands justice...

You can't have it all - at least not in the ~23 days (by my count) that it appears you have.

You know your options, and they're limited: reduce the number of places, or add more days to your trip (or both).

It looks to me like, if you had to pick one land mass or the other, your trip is primarily focused on the UK, and your slice of Ireland on the side is secondary. You know what that means, I think...

A few things.....

You can't fly from York to Dublin. The closest airports are Leeds and Manchester.

Trying to do a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands in one day is ridiculous. You're also not leaving any time in Edinburgh.

I would suggest changing your routing.....London--Bath-Dublin (fly from Bristol)--Belfast--Scotland--York--London. There is no backtracking nor going in and out of places.

I would suggest flying from Belfast to Glasgow and start your Highland adventure from there.

Not leaving this to the last minute, are you?

Hope you have not booked tickets yet because I agree with David. Fly into London for a week then perhaps train to Edinburgh and home from there and leave Ireland for another time. You could even divide the time in half between the two countries. Once you decide on the basics then come back here for plenty of very sound advice and you won't lose any more sleep and will be able to enjoy not dread your trip.

You are greviously short changing York it's very very easy to enjoy two full days as a minimum wandering the place.

Do you actually want to see anything in London or Bath on this trip? You said you feel like you should, but not that you want to. If not, skip it for another time and go straight to York and continue from there.

Hello everyone,

What if I did something like this:

Ireland:
- Fly into Dublin, spend 2 nights in Dublin
- Head to Killarney, spend 2 nights there
- Head to Galway, spend 2 nights there
- Head to Londonderry, spend 1 night there
- Head to Belfast, spend 2 nights there, fly to London from Belfast
- Ireland total: 9 nights, 10 days

England:
- Arrive in London, spend 3 nights there
- Head to York, spend 2 nights there
- England total: 5 nights, 6 days

Scotland:
- Arrive in Edinburgh, spend 2 nights there
- Head to Inverness, spend 1 night there
- From Inverness head out to highlands, 7 nights in highlands (probably NC500 route, likely without Orkney)
- Fly out of Edinburgh
- Scotland total: 10 nights, 11 days

Is that still a mess, or is that more manageable?

That itinerary would be a nightmare for me, but it may work well for you. It's what I think of as a 'hit and run' itinerary, with a lot of time on the road (or train or bus) between places. I think you might get helpful feedback on the Ireland and Scotland forums here, for those parts of the proposed itinerary.

Why would you go to London at all? You didn't mention anything there that you really want to see, in your original post. It seems better to just fly from Belfast to Edinburgh. If you want to visit York, it's a direct train ride from Edinburgh. More than a day trip, but you could carve out a few days from Scotland for York.

From your original post, I thought you were already booked to fly into and out of Heathrow. If you aren't, I think that flying into Dublin and home from Edinburgh makes more sense, because you really want to see Scotland and Ireland.

Nothing has been booked yet, since I am struggling on really honing in on what I want to do/where I want to go. Also, my time off work only got approved last Wednesday, so it has been a bit of a dash since then!

I actually do not want to do a dash and pass, but I do want to see as much as I can in the time I am there. I feel like I keep getting mixed reports on what is worthwhile, and what is not. So I am trying to get more information on what is worth my time, but it seems to just keep me spinning in this hole of uncertainty and indecision! This is the first time I have had to travel in a tight window like this, since before I would wait between contracts to go anywhere. I am clearly struggling with this fact.

The stress of planning this has taken the joy out of it, and I am considering just not going honestly, My Grandma recently passed from COVID, and it was her dream with me to do a trip like this together. That is also why I am really struggling to fit it all in there, since I want to do her honor and see all countries she wanted to see. I feel super stuck, and I have never had so much baggage or struggle planning a trip before.

The reason you are seeing differing opinions is because everyone has their own tastes and preferences. That's a good thing (much of what makes travel unsatisfying these days is because too many people are just going to the exact same places, resulting in crowds and crass commercialization).

Sorry to hear about your loss, but your Grandma will be there "with you" no matter if you do all these places in one trip or two or three. You will get more out of the trip(s) if you slow down and savor these places.

Finding the right pace (what's right for you) and striking that balance between checking off a long list of places, or stopping in fewer places that you get to actually enjoy....everyone has to make those choices and tradeoffs, no matter how experienced a traveler you are. Many people make the mistake of trying to cram in a long list of "places" but never have a chance to experience them. That's not how I like to travel.

I think you do not have enough usable days to do everything on your list. Welcome to the club, that's what everyone has to confront. You will have a better, more meaningful trip if you slow down and pace yourself. There's no reason you can't honor your Grandma across multiple trips, where you get to slow down enough to appreciate the places (and think about her). Better that than just rushing from place to place. Just my 2 pence.

Oh, I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother, and I'm sorry that you're having all this stress with the trip planning. I wrote out a longer reply, but as I was writing, David posted his reply. I agree with his comments, and he said it better, so I'll leave it at that.

Jessie,

You have left this very late, especially to try to get accommodation in so many places. I do see and appreciate why.
I heartily agree with David. Take a deep breath and assess what are your greater priorities for this trip. You can and will return for the rest.
I don't think it will help you in your grieving to rush around in such a manner. You need to grant yourself time and space.
Is there somewhere that your Grandma particularly liked in this itinerary? Bring pictures and mementoes of your Grandma to have in hand at such places.
In the Highlands/NC500 you are very early season for finding visitor attractions open, but that has the benefit of less traffic. But and it's a big but there could still be quite a bit of snow on the ground, potentially even fresh snow.
Are you driving or using transit or using tours? Are you traveling alone or with a companion. If alone I think I would suggest under these circumstances taking a tour company, for companionship. Does RS have availability at that time on a tour at that time.
From all I see your companions on a RS trip would be a great strength to you and take the planning out of it.
If driving and you don't want to take a tour for the NC500 it would make it far easier so early in the year to rent a camper van from Inverness and stock up on food in Inverness, Ullapool and Thurso as you go around.

I would be travelling alone, as I wanted some time to myself in the highlands/nature. However I do have some reservations about driving, since I have not driven those kinds of roads on the left before.

A tour would be nice, but then I would miss that alone time. Also I may not be able to see the spots I want to. I am a bit torn on it honestly.

The NC500 can only be done driving or on tour. Even in high summer the bus services simply don't exist, or not in any useable manner.
The Inverness to Ullapool bus runs for ferry times to the Outer Hebrides.
There are a succession of once a day one day a week, book ahead services between Ullapool and Thurso which are just stress.
If you do decide to drive, do so first on highways, to be confident with the vehicle. The NC500 north of Ullapool is mainly single track with many passing places, keeps switching from double to single track.
So you take it slowly and carefully. Aside from the sights that is why they say 500 miles should take 5 to 7 days. You ideally want a co-driver so that one is watching the road looking well ahead for oncoming traffic and wildlife on the road, and the other is watching the scenery, and can holler out, stop here to see this or that.
This isn't to put you off the route which is wonderful, just being realistic.
I've looked and RS is not up in Scotland that early in the year.

Hi again Jessie,

Have you thought about walking the West Highland Way from Glasgow to Fort William? Would it interest you?

There are companies who will organise the overnights and baggage transfers.

That way you get me time, nature in its finest, Scottish scenery in all its glory.
Then different companionship every night as and if you need it to switch in or out of.
Chance to try local hospitality and food.
If the weather's too bad one day to walk just hop on train or bus instead to your next destination.
There are some fantastic unique affordable places you can stay at on the way.
No driving.
If the ideas too daft, not you and off the wall that's just fine.

The good news is that at the end of March, the clocks go forward an hour so there will be substantially more daylight in the evenings in the last part of your visit.

For Ireland, I really only want to see the Bog Bodies, the Boyne Valley, and the Aran Islands

If these are your real interests, and a priority to fit in as part of this overall trip, then fly in to Ireland at Shannon airport in the west (there’s a flight from Manchester), head to Galway from there. Next day, get to the Connemara airport, and fly to Inishmore, the biggest Aran Island. The small planes are much, much faster, and more reliable than the ferry boats, which often can’t sail because of rough seas. Fly back to the mainland after the day on Inishmore (hopefully it wasn’t pouring rain the whole time) and and head by bus from Galway to Dublin. You can view some countryside enroute. Then, bog bodies at the National Museum of Ireland, and Boyne Valley sights - 2-3 nights in Dublin before heading back to the UK. Ireland, done in 4-5 days, don’t need 10. That leaves you more time for Scotland.