Ireland and Scotland

You will be very limited if you want to try to see both countries in just two weeks. That only gives you a week for each country, but probably not a week on the ground due to the time spent in airports coming and going, and the time spent picking up a rental car (and returning it) in each country. It is probably doable, but the question is do you want to travel that way? If you really want to do it you might want to check into flights out of Galway to Edinburgh instead of Dublin. That would save you some time. If you want to keep your focus in Ireland really small then just stay in the south and look into flights out of Cork. With less than a week on the ground in Scotland then I would also keep a narrow focus and not try to get all the way up to the Isle of Skye or Inverness, just stay in the southern half. Personally, I would be tempted to just spend one week in Dublin and one in Edinburgh, and make use of the many companies that do guided day trips. But, my best suggestion would be to pick one or the other, as you will only get a small taste of each country with only a week in each.

Thank you for your input, Anita. You bring up a great point. I'm wondering if we should visit Scotland and England, saving Ireland for its own trip. I know that's a lot to see in two weeks, as well, but a separate flight won't be involved.

We plan to rent a car.

More thoughts here, Anita, after thinking about your suggestions.

What about having one rental car the entire time and ferrying to Scotland and back?

Also, regarding your suggestion to stay in Dublin and Edinburgh, honestly I'd rather do a quick day trip to each of those cities and spend most of the time in Southwest Ireland and Northern Scotland (Inverness is a must, though probably wouldn't try to fit in Skye). We definitely like having our homebase in smaller towns.

Also, we prefer not to do group trips, as we like to be on our own schedule and spend more time somewhere that strikes our fancy, even if it means we have to cut something else out.

I did not rent a car in Ireland, I chose to use the bus/train system, but I have heard that many rental companies will not allow you to take the car on a ferry. If your interest is truly the south west of Ireland then you should stay in that area and check in to flights out of Cork (or maybe even Shannon) into Inverness. The drive from Edinburgh to Inverness is a long one, and I did it with a couple of overnight stops along the way. If you were to do England and Scotland over two weeks that would be easier, but I would still only do the north of England in order to avoid spending too much time in the car. You might want to take a look at the Secret Scotland web site for some possible driving routes.

Shandean,

You may know this, but..... there are wonderful flights from Scotland to smaller airports in Ireland. You can fly Ryan Air; Aer Lingus; from Edinburgh to Kerry Airport (near Killarney in the Southwest).... Ryan Air doesn't fly daily but the flights are a bargain! I use the Europcar in Kerry Airport, often, and the Budget in Killarney town..... So it's certainly easy to do both countries! Especially if the Southwest interests you.

I've lived here 4 years and haven't begun to see Ireland! So don't let people scare you off to a week in each country. Short of moving here you'll ALWAYS be cramming alot into a vacation!! That said, do try to stay over night 2 nights in the same place a couple of times.... it's a better way to see the less touristy things, as locals will point out places/events/experiences that don't make the websites!

Susan
Expat living in Waterville/Ring of Kerry