I am in the early stages of planning a trip for late summer 2014. My husband and I want to hit Dublin, London, and Edinburgh. I think we are going to allot 2 weeks. We will get open jaw tickets. I know we want to take the ferry between Dublin and the UK. Question is, should I fly into Dublin then sail/rail to London then rail to Edinburgh? Or should I sail rail to Edinburgh and then finish in London? Or reverse either of these? Should also note that we will be traveling with a 1 year old. We are somewhat savy European travelers but this will be the first trip to the UK and the first trip with a baby. Are we crazy?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
My only feedback is that I think you are trying to cover an awful lot of ground in just 2 weeks (and I say that as a crazed, blitzkreig-style traveler who is generally quite happy to move much faster than many seasoned travelers here). With 2 weeks you can dip into the three cities that you mention and scratch the surface, but you are not going to see much of what's in between them. FWIW, I'm starting the v-e-r-y early planning for a trip to the UK, and I also expect to have about 2 weeks. We've decided that's just not enough time to squeeze in any of Ireland - we'll have to save that for another trip. 2 weeks in England & Scotland will be fast enough for us - a couple with no kids along. There's too much to see and do.
Posted by
2081 posts
hi, your ininerary will depend on WHAT you want to do and see. The devil is in the details! in my experience (ime) you could do it as you say. heres what i do. You already did some, but you have to keep going. > plan on what you want to do and where.
> then from that figure out how many days it will take. > then figure out what types of transportation is avaibable to/from. > from this you should get an idea on how long you will need/require. also, in all this i try not to backtrack on my path. I also try to travel in a path, like a circular or linear. you may want to look at flighs in/out of those towns. Some maybe less expensive than others. Also, the day of the week you fly in/out can make a difference. Ferrys are nice and SLOW, so do want to see the water or whats on land? also, an express train from Edinburgh to London is about 4 hours. happy trails.
Posted by
washington
837 posts
You state that you want to "hit" Dublin, London, and Edinburgh. If your travels will be limited to the three cities, no problem. Oh, you could spend months in London, and I don't know about Dublin, but I suspect that a week in London and a week split between Dublin and Edinburgh would work fine. As to the order, it takes 3.5 to 4.25 hours Liverpool to Edinburgh and a bit over two to London. The fare is far cheaper to London. So, if you have no flight fare difference and you have no preference as to where you end, it is cheaper and less costly in terms of time to go to London and then Edinburgh. Another potential consideration, I suspect that flight check-in is quicker in Edinburgh than Heathrow.