Help First Time Visitors

First, STOP. Do not book your flights yet (assuming you have not).

Second, 12 days is mighty short for any 3 countries, those especially. You will have a much better trip if you limit yourself to fewer "places".

Third, be careful how you are counting days. When someone who has not traveled much (or at all) says they are going to X days, they usually are counting the days they fly across the world (and back) in that, and thus begins a willful act of self-deception that then generates an unrealistic itinerary.

Fourth, please post your specific travel dates (the date you will arrive in Europe and the date you will fly home); if you have not yet booked flights (which I hope) give proposed dates, also the location of your arrival and departure cities in Europe. I assume you're coming from far away (North America or someplace else far away).

You should also start thinking about your priorities...lets say that you decided that you didn't really have enough time for all three countries and you had to cut down your itinerary (highly likely)...start thinking about what would be your highest priorities for this trip.

You can get plenty of good advice here, but you have some "homework" to do. July (as you say, definitely peak season) is coming up fast and you are late to the game, which limits your options and tends to make things more expensive. Giddyup.

Go to you local library and check out a copy of Europe Through the Back Door -- could be your bible.

Assuming you are flying from North America on the 4th and departing on the 15th, you really only have 10 nights. Your flight across the Atlantic will most likely be an overnight flight. So even if you count your travel days you have 11 days, not 12. Depending on when you actually land and when you actually leave, you may really only have 10. So you may want to rethink how you spend you time. With that in mind and considering your desire to backpack and possibly cycle, I would limit my visit to England. Much easier to get around by train and you can bring your bike on the train when moving longer distances.

Well, I tend to agree with David; you’d really be short-changing yourselves if you tried to backpack or cycle all three places in one trip. Honestly, you could backpack or cycle around Ireland for a month or more and not see it all, and trying to do it in six days means you’re going to really limit yourselves as to what you can see. But, if you insist on doing more than one country, I think I’d at least limit it to two, and I’d pick areas where you can see quite a bit in a relatively short distance. For instance, in Ireland the Antrim Coast would be a good choice. The places to see are all pretty close to one another….Kinbane Castle, Carrick-a-rede, Dunseverick Castle/Falls, Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, etc. As far as places to stay, perhaps Coleraine, Portrush, Ballycastle or Bushmills would work. Keep in mind that the bus from Dublin to, say, Bushmills takes about 6 hours…which means two of your six days would be mostly travel days, which cuts into your time for seeing things even more. Cycles can be rented in the area from: http://www.bushmillscyclehire.co.uk/index.html .

This is just one suggestion...there are no doubt other options.

David gives you a good starting point. I would certainly fly into Ireland, preferably Shannon and out of London so you don't have to lose time to back tracking.

Here's a couple recommendations that won't require transportation:

From either Shannon or Dublin take public transport to Galway. From Galway book a ferry out of Rossaveel ferry terminal to Inis Mor in the Aran Islands. They provide a bus from Galway to the ferry terminal. I've heard the ferry can sell out in high season, booking ahead is probably a good idea. Once on the island, rent bikes and see some amazing sights, most notably Dun Aengus a circular stone fort from the Iron Age.

From Dublin, you can get a full day bus tour to Newgrange (and other sights north of Dublin) and/or Glendalough (and other sights south of Dublin). Book it and catch the bus at the Busarus station in downtown Dublin. I've taken the Newgrange tour and it was the highlight of my first visit to Ireland.

You will find the Tourist Information offices helpful. Go there to learn options for entertainment and touring without a car. For food ideas just ask any local.

The best activity in Ireland, bar none, is an evening in a small town pub, especially if there will be a traditional music session (ask for trad session or just session) that evening. People in small towns are incredible. It's like going to a family reunion because everyone is thrilled to meet you. If you've never had a Guinness in Ireland, it's the best beer I've tasted in the world - but it travels horribly and doesn't taste the same anywhere else. There are pubs in Dublin but the Temple Bar area has giant bars you could find anywhere, skip them.

I recommend that you focus in on one country too. Given your dates, I would suggest England too. Make use of the public transportation be it bus, train or subway, forget the bike.

I would also advise against trying to do three countries in just 10 or 11 days. You will spend far too much time just getting from one to the other. Pick one and try to fly open jaw to avoid backtracking. I flew into Dublin and out of Belfast. For public transportation Shannon is not a good option to fly in or out of as it takes too long to get there by public transport. If you are back-packing you can get a bus/train pass that allows you a certain number of travel days within a time frame. For my three week trip I got a pass that allowed 8 days of travel in a month. To make maximum use of your pass, and your time, you have to plan carefully to avoid spending a lot of time waiting for a train or bus. If you were to go to just Ireland for your ten days you could fly into Dublin, spend two or three days, train to Galway and do the same, and then train to Belfast and fly out of there. You will not get down to the southern part of Ireland, but this will be the most efficient use of your time, and all of these places have good hostels. Hostels will fill up fast, though, and you should be looking at reservations now. If you want to do England/Scotland then I would start in either London or Edinburgh and pick a spot in between to spend a couple nights (possibly York) that is easy by train. But I feel this would be a rushed trip. To do just Scotland then fly into Edinburgh and out of Glasgow (or vice versa). But, for ease of getting around by public transport I would pick just Ireland for such a short stay.