We are planning on flying into London and stay for 3 days then head out to Scotland and Ireland for a bit. The 18 days do NOT include travel times. How would you divide your time? Would you spend most of the time in Ireland and then dip your toes in Scotland for a bit? or not even attempt to see a bit of Scotland? Just starting to plan our May 2020 trip so nothing set in stone yet.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6970 posts
Do you mean London or the City of London? However, if you have 15 days outside London you could without a doubt see both Scotland and Ireland if you wanted to.
Posted by
Portland
3643 posts
I would add at least one more day to London. Assuming you are coming from N. America, your first day will be impacted by jet-lag. We lived there for a year. In addition, we have visited several other times; and we haven’t seen everything it has to offer.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Consider flying out of either Edinburgh or Dublin so u do not backtrack.
5 days min if this is your first trip to London train to Edinburgh , see Scotland for 5 days fly to dublin for remaining days. Or skip Dublin if u wish to see Irish countryside and highlights and take a guided tour another trip.
Posted by
Costa Mesa, CA, USA
503 posts
Tough one to answer because it really depends upon your interests and travel style. I'd recommend getting a travel guide for London, Scotland and Ireland and go through them. Make a list of everything that interests you and then prioritize that list. Once you've got that, you can post it and get feedback on whether your itinerary is workable and suggestions for improvements if needed!
Posted by
Colorado Mountains, USA
7937 posts
Are you planning on driving - on The Left, in Ireland and/or Scotland? Public transportation is available, by train and/or bus, but gave by a car (or a bicycle, on one trip) allowed us to visit places in the countryside of both Ireland and Scotland on our own schedule.
And besides the mainland of Ireland. Northern Ireland, and Scotland, each has many islands, reachable by boat or plane, and a visit to at least one island really has added to our trips.
I might take a train from London to Edinburgh, stay there at least 2 nights, then head north and/or west to see some of Scotland, then fly to Ireland. If you’re not planning on more time in England that your stay in London, then maybe 3 days London, 6 days Scotland, 9 days Ireland, with your travel days on top of those.
Posted by
New York, NY
4071 posts
I would spend my 18 days traveling in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.