Traveling to the British Isles

Tora, I think you are starting in the right place -- put together a wish list. Next, get a good guidebook and figure out very roughly how much time you need for each place. For example, if the Faroe Islands are a top priority, what are you going to do there? How long will it take? How will get there? It will take some effort to get to the Faroe Islands, so make sure you have enough time there.

Buy a good guidebook to get you started. I think the RS guidebooks have a lot of practical advice that is helpful, esp to first-timers.

Once you know what you want to see, you can start piecing together your trip and see how it will work.

My last advice is to you is to slow down. Four weeks seems like a long time, but you can't possibly see the British Isles in such a short time! You will have to pick and choose. Don't try to do England, Scotland and Ireland in 4 weeks! Good luck!

Since you've got some fairly remote places on your list, I'd start by researching their transportation connections. The Faroe Islands, for example, are part of Denmark, not the UK, so it's easier to get there from Copenhagen than from anywhere in England or Scotland. There's a direct flight from Edinburgh, but it's only twice a week, so if you're flying there, you're probably looking at staying for at least three days.

Stonehenge, too, is geographically separated from everything else on your list. Many people go there as part of an organized day tour from London or Bath - but if you're not planning on spending any time in either of those places, how would you want to get there?

For general information about getting around the UK and Ireland by train (and taking the ferry in between), http://seat61.com/ is a good resource. To look up the schedules and prices for specific trips, there's http://nationalrail.co.uk.

A word of advice - avoid using the term 'British isles' when in the Republic of Ireland as some take it as a political statement.

I suggest you buy yourself a large scale map covering the great Britain and Ireland and then mark your interests with post-it notes. That will give you a good overview of the distances and a sense of the most sensible order.

BTW. We have a world map on one of our walls with all the places we have been marked with pins and our interest/bucket list marked with larger pins with notes on them. We look at it every day and remember where we have been and think of where we want to go :-)

"A word of advice - avoid using the term 'British isles' when in the Republic of Ireland as some take it as a political statement."

But factually it is correct, Ireland is in the British Isles, not in Great Britain.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/whats-the-difference-between-uk-britain-and-british-isles/

Referring to the residual use of the term in the UK in a British source is no guide to its legitimacy or acceptability in the Republic of Ireland.

The term 'British Isles' is also avoided these days by Her Majesty's Government, even though there isn't any political aspect with it outside of Northern Ireland. Agreements between HMG and the Irish Government usually refer to 'these Islands'.

Start in Ireland. Fly in to Dublin.
Fly to Manchester/Liverpool then head to the Lake District.
North to Glasgow, and flights to the Shetland Islands.
Across to Edinburgh, and flights to the Faroe Island.
South to Newcastle for Hylton Castle.
On to York, before finally hitting London, and include a day trip to Stonehenge.

Four weeks is a tight time frame to include all this. You may need to forego something from your list.