England, Wales, and Ireland in October

Are you crazy, yes. (Jokingly). Stick to England and part of Wales. Save Ireland for another trip.

I’m not certain why you want to drive east, just to see the Dover cliffs, just to turn around and head west to Castle Combe. That’s a lot of driving time you could use to see any number of other sights that are in that direction. Unless you’re out on the water, ones doesn’t get a great view of the cliffs.
I think you may be underestimating the drive time from Castle Combe to Cardiff, to Conwy and the time you’ll spend at the castle and museum. You seem to have specific places you’d like to see picked out, but are passing up a lot of nice places too, e.g., Canterbury, Salisbury, Wells, Tintern Abbey, Caerphilly or Coch castle, st. Davids, Caernarfon Castle, and the list could go on. Consider narrowing down the area to visit. You’ll be able to see more at a more leisurely pace, while spending less travel time getting to the next location. Less travel time means spending more time enjoying the places you stop at.

jaimeelsabio thanks for the advice! While we are flying into London, we are returning from Dublin, so, cutting Ireland is not an option. I can start re-working the agenda, though, with a more realistic outlook on travel time. I REALLY appreciate the help!

Pidlde in Holyhead did make me chuckle!!
I have bimbled, pottered, pootled, ambled and wandered all through Europe, but never piddled! To me it 'piddles with rain' or you run to the toilet 'to have a piddled'!

Cut out Dover. It’ll take a couple of hours of driving from central London and then you’ll have to retrace your steps for a really unpleasant 3.5 hour drive to Castle Combe, all in one afternoon. The journey would take you on some of the country’s busiest roads (unless you take a complicated route which will take even longer.)

Dover is not much of a town and you can’t see the cliffs properly anyway unless you’re on a boat.

Instead head west and give yourself more time to explore there. If you want to see Bath, make proper time for it. You will need to find somewhere to park (not sure you realise how much time this can take in England) before having a nice look around. Castle Combe is a tiny, tiny village so I don’t really understand why you’ve chosen it as a two-night base.

Getting into Cardiff from Castle Combe could take a couple of hours especially if you’re driving a rush hour, then you’ll need to park. It’s then more than three hours to North Wales.

“Piddle” means to pee. I’m sure Holyhead has public toilets somewhere but it’s a very small place.

Rethink this. Check your drive times for the approximate day part you’ll be doing it in England, add 30% to any Google Maps time to allow for traffic jams, roadworks, getting in & our of cities, parking etc.

Day 3 is about 7 hours driving, depending on where you pick up your car. This is after a few hours touring in London. Dover isn’t a pretty town and maybe clogged up with lorries waiting to enter the port, depending on what happens to Brexit. You see the cliffs much better from the sea. Why drive for 5+ hours to Dover and not see the Castle? Drop Dover, as it’s too far out of the way.

I’m not a Stonehenge fan, but if you want to see it, visit on day 3. If you aren’t that interested in Stonehenge, but feel that you ought to visit, then perhaps you could spend a day in the Cotswolds or Bath.

Day 4 - about 4 hours driving. Bath deserves a full day. Parking there is difficult.

Day 5. About 7 hours of driving plus time getting lost trying to park in Cardiff. The last time I went to Cardiff, I used the park and ride service, which was much easier than trying to park in the city centre. An exhausting day. Cardiff is out of the way, so you may wish to reconsider going here and heading straight to Conwy from Castle Combe.

I think that you need to rethink what you can realistically cover between leaving London and getting to Holyhead.

Sorry, I cannot help with the Irish part, as I have only been to Dublin.

Caro, Jennifer, and This Person Who Writes Stuff (love the name), thank you all very much for the input - and the the much needed English slang lesson. Haha! I will be sure to piddle in private and not talk to anyone about it.

I have already begun to re-work our two-weeks into a more manageable, enjoyable and realistic trip. Thank you so much for keeping us from a potential miserable trip. This is our first time in both the UK and Ireland and we really don't want to ruin it. I really do appreciate you all taking the time to look at our itinerary and help out.

Great advice on England and Wales. Day 9 looks way too much. Most of the places you want to see are not actually on the way - they are “close”. You could definitely fit a nice stop at one, but “driving by and seeing them” is not really practical. Be sure to check closing times, and continue to remember to add time to park, walk, then see.

Day 12 - with an earlier than “check out” start and good weather, you could probably stop at the Cliffs of Moher on your way to Galway and not have to backtrack.

@Travelmom Thank you for the confirmation on Day 9. I am leaning toward just stopping at Glendalough and Rock of Cashel or Blarney. Any suggestions on which of those castles is "better"? I'm sure they're all magnificent.

Great idea for the Cliffs of Moher, as well. Thank you very much for taking the time to help.

"Days 10-11: Chill out. Maybe take in a few sights along the Ring or Dingle Peninsula."

I can't imagine going to this area without prioritizing a plan to drive either the RoK or the Dingle loop. Nice place to relax - yes! - but for one of your days there, rather than two or 2.5 days. The gorgeous scenery and stopping points around the loops are the main attraction for most visitors.

If you have one of Rick's Ireland guidebooks, then you know that he considers Blarney Castle to be "lame," so it would be the first option to get cut.

@Laura Thanks so much for the advice. The more I read and hear about it, Blarney does seem to be a tourist trap and we will probably opt for seeing the Rock of Cashel, instead.

Also, we will definitely take your advice in seeing some of those sights along the Ring of Kerry. We are also considering Valentia Island. Thanks for taking the time to help us out!

Yes, you’re crazy. Cut the day trips and driving in the UK immediately. I can’t speak enough about Ireland outside of Dublin to offer good advice but just reading it makes me exhausted.

Stay in London for the UK portion of the trip. I’m hoping you haven’t booked non refundable hotels already. I get the urge to see it all, but you’ll be in divorce court with your wife trying to follow this intense of a travel schedule.

Since you have to fly out of Dublin, book a plane ticket there and forget the ferry. Post your Irish itinerary on the Ireland forum for feedback.

Day 2 devote strictly to Harry Potter. I highly doubt you’ll get anything else done of significance. Harry Potter isn’t cheap, so enjoy it.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer. Your plans are too ambitious even for an 18 year old.

The Rock of Cashel and the Monastic city at Glendalough were nice stops. There’s also a nice waterfall near the Monastic city you can walk to from it. Kilkenny castle was closed when I was there so I didn’t get to visit. However, near the Rock of Cashel is Cahir Castle. It was a nice stop, and great typical looking castle, and is less touristy than Blarney castle. If you’re familiar with the old UK tv series Balltkissangel, it was filmed in Avoca that you’ll pass on the way from Kilkenny to Glendalough. There’s also a woolen mill there, just outside of town.

I would definitely cut Blarney Castle, but that’s just me. Any of those would be an enjoyable stop if it’s is what YOU prioritize. You just don’t have time for all of it. Pick you favorite and make sure you enjoy it thoroughly, and have a second choice ready if you have time and energy.

I just want to say thank you to EVERYONE! I wish we had more than two weeks and were able to see all we wanted to! Even what I had planned (above) was too much, after hearing all of your helpful advice. I have backed way off on our itinerary: Staying an extra day in London and one less in Castle Combe. Have cut out the Cliffs of Dover and loosened up on our timeline altogether, seeing less and giving more time for driving.
Staying in Cardiff a couple of days instead of stopping by and making Snowdonia just be a day trip.
Flying from Cardiff to Dublin instead of staying up north and taking the ferry.
Extra day in Dublin. Only stopping at Glendalough and Rock of Cashel on the way to Ring of Kerry.
Staying a couple nights in Galway and cutting out Westport.
Even I feel relieved after revamping everything! Thanks again for all of your input! What an amazing travel community you are!