Planning trip to England, Wales,Scotland,Ireland

You mean you're gong to see England, Scotland, and Wales in a week? You could spend almost that much time in either London or Wales and just be getting started. A couple weeks isn't really enough for the RoI. Study up.

Are you only going to England, Wales & Scotland because you have the time before ending up in Ireland? If you have no ideas, as you say, about "these parts" I suggest reading a couple of good guide books, especially about London, one of the world's great cities, where you could easily spend a week and still not see everything.

you are right I have 8 days before I need to get into Ireland. I was hoping someone else had already had done this and can give me an itinerary for this trip. I know I don't have much time.

Yep, you're going to want to narrow this down. :) The countries look small, but they aren't.

If you've not been before, you won't go wrong spending several days in London. You could also do some nice day trips on top of the London touring--Cambridge, Windsor, Hampton Court, Canterbury are just a few that come to my mind. Then you travel west to Wales for a couple of days before taking a ferry to Dublin. But, you need to ask a Wales expert about that idea.

Alternatively, if you're interested in Scotland, you could still do the several days in London and then head up to York for a day and on to Edinburgh. Spend some time in Edinburgh, and do a day trip or two from the city and then either fly to Dublin from Edinburgh or Glasgow, or take the ferry from Troon or Cairnryan. You can take a train with bus/taxi connections to these two ports which will take you by ferry to Belfast.

Pam

A number of years ago (after quite a few trips to the UK), we flew into Heathrow, got a rental car and headed west toward Hay-on-Wye. Spent a couple days there and then drove into Wales, down to Cardiff where we also spent a few days. Took a circle trip back to Heathrow and caught a British Midlands flight to Dublin. I think we spent 9 days seeing various sites before flying to Ireland. These were areas of interest to us - perhaps not the best for you?

I agree you do not really have time to see Wngland, Scotland, and Wales in 8 days. If you try you will be spending all your time on trains and seeing places frommthe train window. You do have time to visit 3 or 4 places within these areas. But it is hard to suggest even those until you say where you are starting ( city in the USor Canada). That will determine how much jet lag you will have to deal,with on arrival.

Start by deciding how younwant to go from Britain to Ireland---plane or ferry.

There are ferries to places in Ireland from Wales, and ferries to Northern Ireland from Scotland.

If you want to fly, there are lots of options. But if you plan to use low-cost carriers like Ryanair you need to pay attention to their baggage rules and fees.

Assuming you are flying oprn jaw from xxxx into London and out of Dublin, and choose to ferry to Ireland, you could spend a few days on London, then visit Windsor, Oxford, Stonehenge, Cotswolds, and/or Bath, and a town in Wales, then take the ferry.

If flying, you could spend a few days in London, then train north to York then Edinburgh and maybe on to Inverness, then to an airport with connections to Dublin ( might mean a return to Edinburgh but I did not check).

What are your plans for Ireland? Are they fixed? We don't know how much time you have when you get there but, if you've not been there before, you might want to stay longer. It's that sort of country. Spend a few days in London at either end of your journey and more time in Ireland. Always assume you'll go back.