This will be my families second trip the UK. Family of 5 with three daughters age 17,21,24. On our last trip we traveled in December and loved it. We visited London, York, Durham (Lumley Castle), Inverness and Endinburgh. Best trip ever. Now we are headed back the first week of July. I booked airfare which has us landing in Edinburgh and flying out of Dublin. My original thought was that we would spend a day in Edinburgh (we spent a lot of time there on our last trip and enjoyed it), a day in Glasgow as my daughter is interested in the University there. After those two days my plan is completely open but what I was thinking we would do is train to Wales and spend some time there, then take a ferry to Ireland (preferably the one that goes to Rosslare) and spend 3 or so days on the Dingle peninsula then up to Dublin for a couple of nights before heading home. On our first trip we all seemed to agree that the smaller towns appealed to us. Was hoping not to rent a car but have not ruled it out in Ireland. Here is what I can't decide. I stumbled across the Cotswolds area and of course fell in love with the gorgeous villages. From what I can tell the train from Edinburgh to that area would take an entire day of travel which I can't decide if it would be worth it prior to going to Wales. Are there any villages similar to some of those iconic Cotswolds villages in either Wales or somewhere near Wales? On another travel forum I've also been discouraged to take the ferry across to Ireland but it seems like a logical way to travel and more timely than waiting at an airport? Thoughts on that? I'd like to start booking lodging so I'm trying to make my itinerary at this time. By the way, we purchased train passes on our last visit and it served us well so will look at doing that again if it works out with the itinerary. Thank you for any help you can offer!
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Cotswolds are beautiful and i have never experienced such a wonderful cluster of villages in all my Uk travels. Each is unique and ever so british and historic. July is peak season so u will find lodging limited.
If u do decide book very soon and do not rush that portion of the trip. Wales is interesting with quaint villages , some very nice beach towns. A varied area with some minor castles, nice nature areas to walk and hiking on some mtns. Again u would need to plan your routing soon to get lodging asap. I rented a car and found it more convenient for seeing the areas.
You could train to Manchester or chester then rent a car.
Also train it from Edinburg to Glasgow.
I also used a car in Dingle area, however not needed or advantageous in Dublin.
Have u thought of flying in to shannon ireland see Dingle, Dublin ferry to wales from Dun laoghaire port just 20 min from Dublin, see wales then train up to scotland? Oops i just read u already have your air set.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
How many days actually on the ground is your trip? It sounds very rushed and the Cotswolds (over-rated IMO) are in the wrong direction for Ireland if travelling from Scotland.
Rutland has villages like the Cotswolds, but it too is in the wrong direction. A possibility would be Herefordshire/ Shropshire, which is less out of the way - see blackandwhitetrail.org, but you would need a car for this trail. With 5 of you plus luggage, you are going to need a larger car.
The Lake District would be another option or the Yorkshire Dales.
Depending on where you are based, it maybe quicker to fly than take the ferry.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
We will have a full 14 days not including travel days. I had originally thought we'd spend more time in Ireland but after looking at places to visit it seems like ALOT of beautiful scenery which is lovely for a day or so but we enjoy other things as well. We are fortunate to come from a beautiful area in Washington state where beautiful scenery is in abundance so we are looking for something different. We won't be spending too much time in Scotland because we spent the majority of our time there on the last trip but we have a Glasgow stop that we needed to take with the University which is why we flew in to that area. That is not to say I wouldn't mind staying longer but the areas of Scotland I wanted to go to are best left for the cooler months with no midgies! I am going to look at the other areas you mentioned and see if they pique my interest the way the Cotswolds area did.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
I have made my wish list (so to speak) and I can't seem to let go my idea of visiting the Cotswolds area before heading over to Northern Wales. I would like to spend 3 days in the Cotswold area and would like to have a home base then venture out. I read on another forum the idea of taking a train from Edinburgh (where we will be prior) to Birmingham, then renting a car and driving to the Cotswolds area (haven't picked a town yet). This would work fine for me but was curious if there is a better way to go? Is the drive from Birmingham difficult? Would it be smart to then train over to Wales after our Cotswold visit or keep the car and drive there? I loved taking the train on our last trip but direct routes (not too much changing of trains) is more to my liking. I don't see an easy way to train all the way to a city in the Cotswolds without changing trains 3-4 times.
Posted by
1 posts
Oxford is a very lovely city and an amazing base from which to explore the Cotswold area. I flew from Inverness to London (Luton) and then took the coach to Oxford. It was reasonably inexpensive and mostly convenient. Once in Oxford, bus and rail travel make it easy to branch out and explore. My children and I took the ferry from Belfast to Stranraer (Scotland) and two weeks later (after exploring Scotland and England) from Holyhead, Wales to Dublin. It was an awesome experience and one my children remember to this day (they were 9 and 10 then and are 23 and 24 now). If you stop at Oxford, I highly recommend taking the local bus to Woodstock and visiting Blenheim Castle. Both the castle and grounds are quite lovely and Woodstock is a quiet, quaint, and quintessential village. Hope your trip is awesome! Cheers! Deb
Posted by
OP
9 posts
I had not thought about staying in Oxford but will look at that option! Thank you!
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
You could go down the west side of UK (Lake District, Liverpool, Chester, Castles in northern Wales, Cardiff, etc.) then take a ferry to Ireland and work your way back up to Dublin.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
So many great ideas! I believe I've got my work cut out for me! I took a couple days break but am back at it today. I believe we are going to spend the first two days in Scotland then train over to somewhere near the upper part of the Cotswolds for three days, then Wales for 2-3 days after which we will take the Holyhead ferry across to Dublin and spend our last 7 days in Ireland. In Ireland I think I will hold to just visiting Killarney or Kenmare and doing some day tours from there and spend our last two days near Dublin. I will not get to see everything on this trip but it should be fun!