We are planning a UK trip and would like to include a few days in Edinburgh and Dublin. I was thinking of flying into London and out of Dublin (or vice versa) to minimize land travel time. But if we end the trip in Dublin, we will run into the August 1 Bank Holiday, and the same thing happens with starting in Dublin and trying to fit Edinburgh into the schedule. Could someone tell me the impact of a bank holiday? Are a lot of places closed? Do tours run? If we start out in London, I had been planning to arrive in Dublin on a Sunday so we could get a reservation without splitting the weekend but now wonder if arriving on a Sunday on a bank holiday weekend would cause a similar problem. Would it be better to plan a travel day (London to Dublin) on the bank holiday Monday, even though it would mean one less day in Dublin? Any and all information about bank holidays would be greatly appreciated - thanks!
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New York City, NY, USA
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My experience with Bank Holidays in Scotland has been that it means that locals are also visiting some of the tourist spots. ; ) I double checked and places like Edinburgh and Stirling Castles are open. What you'll want to do is book your hotel early if you are traveling on a Bank Holiday weekend. Think Labor Day or Memorial Day weekends in the US. It may be that some of the smaller hotels and B&B's won't want to split the weekend, but larger hotels should likely be fine. If you have a place in mind now that you want to stay at in Dublin, ask them. They'll let you know their policy. I did run into this in Edinburgh in August during the festival. Pam