London or Ireland - Solo Female Traveler - 4 days

I would do 3 days in London and save Ireland for a larger trip when you have more time to just concentrate on Ireland. Alternatively, with 3 days, I would just do Dublin

I agree with Sharon. With 3 days in London you can see some of the highlights. Moving around so much in Ireland you will be seeing it through bus windows.

I agree with Sharon and Andrea, lol. As a senior solo traveler I would feel safe in either place so that's not the issue. It would just be such a rushed trip to try and see those 3 disparate locations in 3 days. London has great transportation and you can start to make a dent in all it has to offer.

Three days in Dublin as Sharon mentioned is an idea but on a personal level I really like London better. YMMV.

London is perfect for a short holiday. I'd go tour the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey or St. Pauls, if you like museums, the National Gallery is good for art and the British Museum if you are interested in the history of London. November is not ideal weather but if sunny, a walk through a Royal Park is a must.

Finally, if you want to see a play, I'd go to the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square to see what's available. There is actually so much to do in London at that time.

Adding also: In November you've got more choices in London if the weather is yucky. I did the RS Best of Ireland in June a few years ago and altho they were separated by a number of days, both Cliffs of Moher AND Giant's Causeway were completely fogged in. At Cliffs of Moher you could not even see to the edge the fog was so dense. I could see some of the basalt columns at Giant's Causeway but not a long view if that makes sense.

Save Eire for another trip.

Explore London!

I'll be there in November. My preferred month to travel.

Have been traveling to and enjoying London for over 40 years. Most times as a solo traveler.

London is always changing, always the same. Each trip I find something new and fascinating.

Great city!

4 days is a perfect amount of time for you to get a sense of London.

I agree that if the choice is between London and Ireland in this situation, you should do London. But just to throw a wrench into the works, how about exploring Edinburgh and Glasgow? I just spent four nights in Glasgow and saw many, but not all, of the city's attractions; if you're there for work, you probably won't have time to see things only open during the day. Many of them are free, and the few that aren't are inexpensive. Edinburgh similarly has several days worth of worthwhile sights.

I went to Glasgow, Manchester, and Liverpool in September 2016. If you want to get out of Scotland but don't want to go as far as London, Liverpool would also make a great 4 day visit (side trip to Chester possible) - and yes, there's more to do there than Beatles sights, although these are fun too. My trip report with details is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/uk-trip-report-glasgow-manchester-liverpool-in-september-2016

You should have no special problems as a solo female traveler in any of these places. As in US big cities, single women go where they want, when they want; you won't stick out.

Can you arrange to fly into Glasgow and out of another city? If not, and you have to fly into and out of Glasgow, stick to seeing Edinburgh and/or Glasgow; with such a short time, you don't want to cut your London time short getting back to the airport the night before your flight. If you do want to leave from Liverpool, investigate flights from both Liverpool and Manchester: the latter is a much larger airport with more flight options, including some nonstops to the US.

By the way, don't worry that you won't have variety, whatever you choose. Just as New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and San Francisco are all quite different from each other, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Liverpool are all quite different from each other too.

Thanks everyone! I knew this place would be a ton of help.

I can fly out of wherever I want, so that is no big deal to me. Tickets wont be bought unril September amd I've had a layover in Heathrow before so I'm pretty comfortable with the airport. Hotels in London are rather expensive, but I will see what deals I can get through our booking agent at work.

I went to college in New York City and am comfortable traveling there alone. I figure if I can do NY, I can do anywhere!

I will gladly still take suggestions! I love hearing others opinions.

I would go to Dublin for 3 days. If you catch a fine weather day, take a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher. You could also day-trip or overnight to Belfast by train. If not, relax and enjoy another day in Dublin. There are enough diverse sights to fill 3-4 days. I went to plays at both the Abbey and the Gate, the productions were the same quality as in London, at half the price. Everyone I met in Ireland was friendly and chatty (truly they all have the gift of gab), totally unlike London where everyone's in a hurry, like any major city. There are two cathedrals, some great museums where you can learn a great deal about your Irish heritage (Dublinia, National Archaeology Museum, Kilmainham Gaol, Collins Barracks are just a few that come to mind immediately) and pub-crawl through Temple Bar, having pints and chats with other patrons and enjoy the trad music.

For a first-time solo traveler, I think Dublin will feel a lot less lonely.