My wife and I have booked a 13-day "Classic England and Scotland" tour package which begins in London and ends in Glasgow. We will then be on our own for 19 days with thoughts of incorporating Wales and some of Ireland (have been to the Southwestern part) but making it over to Amsterdam at hopefully peak time to tour tulip fields.
Will appreciate suggestions, tips and advice to consider; we will be traveling by train.
Flying back out of London on May 11.
Here are a few tips for Ireland based on our trip there in May. Since you've already been in Southwestern Ireland, you have probably already been in Dublin, and that's a place that's worth a few days to visit old haunts or try something new. We stayed at the Ariel House in Ballsbridge, which is a block from the Landsdown Road DART station. The Ariel has a four-star breakfast and is relatively inexpensive. Highly rated on TripAdvisor. You can walk to town or take the DART from Landsdown place.
We saw a magnificent play at the Gaiety, had a good tour at Trinity College, tea and cakes at Bewleys, and on and on. We walked everywhere and had a magnificent time. May will be just fine, but bring an umbrella whenever you go out.
There's a very fast, very cheap train to Galway. We reserved in advance. Galway is worth a night or two, and doesn't have quite the size and variety of Dublin. You can also head to the southeast on the DART to Greystones and then transfer to other train lines if you'd like to go to Wexford, for example.
Have a great trip.
Where are they taking you on the Classic England and Scotland tour?
If you want to get to Amsterdam, I would suggest a flight and that you not mess with ferries. It's an easy train ride in from the airport.
Pam
Travelling from London to Amsterdam by ferry requires either an overnight trip or a very early departure from central London. Another option if you don't want to fly is to travel by Eurostar train from London to Brussels and then take a Thalys or a slower Inter-City train from there to Amsterdam.
If you are intending to travel to Amsterdam from anywhere that takes more than an hour to get to London by train, I strongly recommend flying from the nearest regional airport.
I'd look into taking a ferry or flying from Wales to Ireland. Since you have already completed the SW portion of Ireland, maybe consider visiting Northern Ireland for a few days during this trip (Belfast, Antrim Coast/Giant's Causeway, Derry). If you haven't seen Dublin before, you could train from Belfast to Dublin. If you have been there, consider taking Bus Eireann if you are not up for renting a car, and heading over to Galway. You can base out of Galway for a few nights and easily find day tours to Connemara, the Burren, fly or ferry over to the Aran Islands, etc. Fly from Shannon to get to the Netherlands.
Since you wanted to get there in time to see the tulips, you may also want to consider using some of your 19 days to explore more of the Netherlands and some of the surrounding countries, such as Belgium.
Does the Classic Tour include everything in England/Scotland you wanted to see? If you're already in Glasgow and there's one or two more (non-classic?) Scottish things or places that the Tour didn't cover, you're close enough to maybe use 1 or 2 days out of your extra 19 to complete that part of your trip.
Hi Ron, have you already booked your return flight from London? If not, you might consider flying "open jaw" and home from Amsterdam. There is alot to see in Amsterdam. I enjoyed the Riks, Van Gogh, and Resistance Museums. Also enjoyed Bruges and Ghent. Sounds like a wonderful vacation, hope you have a great time!
Ron,
this is how i would do it.
Since you will be on a tour, i would contact the tour company and get an itinerary with stops and things you will do/see.
then i would go to places that weren't on the tour.
happy trails.
You could go by train from Glasgow to Chester (1 change required). Spend a night in Chester & have a look around. Then, take the train to Conwy or Llandudno for 2 or 3 nights. (A car would be useful for exploring the Snowdonia National Park or travelling around the scenic parts of Wales). Even with our a car, Bodnant Gardens can be easily reached by local bus and always looks good in May.
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodnant-garden/
You could take the train (direct service every other hour from north Wales*) to Cardiff - the Welsh capital for a stay of 2 to 3 nights. From Cardiff, KLM have flights to Amsterdam. Alternatively, skip Cardiff & fly to Amsterdam from Manchester.
* Shrewsbury is worth a look/ lunch break en route and then travel on a later train south. (You may need to buy split tickets).
Read posts in the Wales forum for more info.
Train schedules at www.nationalrail.co.uk (It is cheaper to book ahead longer journeys).
Find flights at www.skyscanner.net (click monthly view to find cheapest days).
www.visitwales.co.uk
