I'm planning a family trip from the west coast to Ireland and Scotland and have 12 days. Is it better to start with Scotland and then finish in Ireland or vice versa? Our group size is 6-9 people, plan to rent a car/van and do not want to sign up with a formal tour group. I'm a bit overwhelmed with how/where to start this research so any tips you have are appreciated.
Posted by
Sidney, BC, Canada
981 posts
Lots of logistics to sort out first before getting down to specifics.
12 days…does this include travel days to and from Europe? Better to figure out the number of nights on the ground first.
Car rental. You will need at least two cars for the number of people plus luggage. So at least two people for driving, preferably 4 drivers so the primaries can have a break. You will need to rent a car in each country as drop off fees in foreign countries can be exorbitant.
You will lose at least half a day if not more transferring from one country to the other, I assume you will be flying?
Do you have any idea of what you want to see in country, cities or country. Have you looked to see if public transport can meet your needs.
You need good road maps of each country so you can see where everything is. Do not rely on Google maps at this point, you need to see where everything is visually. Remember roads outside towns in both countries can be single lane, curvy and slower than what you are used to. With 6-9 people you will probably have 6-9 ideas of where to go, someone is going to have to take the lead of deciding the final itinerary.
Good luck!
Posted by
1588 posts
Exact number of days and nights on the ground will help determine a reasonable itinerary. Since you are flying from the west coast you will probably arrive in either Ireland or Scotland mid-day. You will be jet lagged so don't be too ambitious that first day. Also, whatever you do, don't try to drive far that first day if you have never driven on the left. Make sure whatever rental car you reserve is an automatic. Even if you are experienced with a manual transmission it will be tough to shift with your left hand. If you depart for home from Ireland you will pre-clear US immigration in Ireland. That means you really need to be at the airport 3 hours before departure. When you arrive in the US it will be like a domestic flight. If you haven't already done so get guidebooks for Ireland and Scotland and get input from your travelling companions on what they want/like to do.
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
422 posts
There are almost certainly more direct flights into/out of Dublin than Glasgow or Edinburgh, but I guess it depends on which city you're flying from in US. Traveling between Ireland and Scotland can be done by ferry or plane or a combo. I would book this separately.
Start by gathering "must sees/dos" from all who care to contribute them. With so many people, this might well fill up the whole trip. Put these things into a spreadsheet that is based on location. If any are date dependent (e.g., Highland Games in a particular city), start there and work outwards geographically.
The columns on my spreadsheet are Date/City/mode of transport for arrival/accommodation/activities/links. The last two will generally have several rows and include restaurants. Use colored or bold type to distinguish between booked and not booked so you can easily see what needs doing.
You can share this via Google Docs or another platform so that others can contribute. Maybe assign each person a color for what they are in charge of booking if you aren't booking it all yourself and getting reimbursed.
Put it all in and cut out what can't be made to work.