England, Scotland & Ireland in 3 weeks&#59; suggestions

Give an idea of what is your budget roughly, what do you want to see, museums, churches, etc. and maybe can help more.

Budget: well, basically I am hoping to have a good time for the least I can pay (I don't mean to sound cheap, just frugal, as I am a musician and don't have a ton to spend); how does $4-5K sound? I truly have no idea... I've never taken a vacation before (yeah, I know, how sad is that?) but I am ready to remedy that! :) As for sights, I'm really not sure(?) I love history and music (of course); so some cathedrals and Evensongs would be great; and I'd like to see some of the beautiful nature areas of the Highlands and Ireland. Better? :) Thanks so much!

There i so much to see in these countries it is impossible to give you a good reply without input from you Get a couple (at least two) guidebooks and read your way through. Come up with a preliminary selection of what sounds good to you and why. Then we can make some more meaningful suggestions. Otherwise I can sell you my last itinerary and you can see the places and things that interest me

RS has two good guide books that can help you gain focus on your travel plans - Great Britain and then Ireland. You should get and read both if you have not done so already as they contain lots of good information that I have used when visiting those countries. Happy travels

With four grand and twenty days for one person, you're in fat city - - as long as that doesn't include getting across the ocean. Minimize your time in London and you'll be super-fat. As long as you're not in the tuba or grand piano business, you might want to tote your whatever and join in. There's a lot of that going around in Ireland, some of Scotland and Wales - - never stumbled on any in England.

At one time - like on my student extreme-budget trip many years ago - Let's Go was the authority on cheap travel in Europe. I've read that may not be the case anymore, but you should still check it out. Lonely Planet is also a good place to explore for hostels, B&B's, and transportation questions.

The $4-5K budget is all inclusive, so the flights to and back are in there as well, but so far flights are looking to be around $1100-1200, so not too terrible :) And I have recently read RS' Great Britain 2011, but not the Ireland guide (but I am buying that one now!) :) I also found the following post on a Google search: 12/14/07 4:55 PM
Toni Charlotte, NC USA Posts: 1999 I'd leave Ireland for another time, though you could include Wales if you want. Here's what I'd suggest- London 3-4 days with day trips to some of these: Bath, Windsor, Stratford-upon-Avon,Cardiff Wales, Canturbury or Dover. Train to York- 1 or 2 nights. Train To Edinburgh- 2 nights. Train to Aviemore- 2 or 3 nights with day trips for Whiskey tasting or castles, etc. Train to Inverness- 5-6 days with day trips to Isle of Skye, Orkney, Loch Ness and Drumnadrochit, Culloden, etc. Train to Sterling-1 night. Train to Stratford-upon-Avon if you didn't do a day trip there-1 night. Train to London- 1 night before flight home. I'd like to figure something like this, except I'd probably trim a day here and there (maybe skip Cardiff, 1 night in York, 2 nights in Aviemore and 4-5 days in Inverness?) to include Ireland (maybe I'd go-ahead and rent a car for a few days there?) I really don't know the must-see things, so I'm open to suggestions; thanks! Terry :)

Terry, do you want to connect with the music of Scotland while you're there? You can hear great traditional music in some of the pubs - Sandy's Bells in Edinburgh, The Music Bar in Dunkeld, Hootenanny in inverness - to name a few. I've also enjoyed some of the music festivals. Aberfeldy has had one that's very traditional. Tarbert in Argyle has had one that is a more contemporary twist on traditional tunes. There are other places as well. Pam

Pam, Thanks a lot for this info! I would love to see live traditional music! I don't think there are any festivals happening during my timeframe, though :-/ but I'll find a way to check out these pubs! :) Terry

Terry- No- BritRail passes are not valid for the Tube or buses on London. That's where you need to research the travel card from National Rail (paper card for London Tube and buses with 2-for 1 deals assocaited) and the Oyster card (a "electronic wallet"/card you load with either pay-as-you-go-"paygo" money and/or travel card(s)- no 2-4-1 deals associated). Lots of threads on TripAdvisor on that topic. BritRail is good if you like flexibility - but you can save LOTS of $ by buying point-to-point tickets in advance if you can commit to a specific destination and time of travel- we just never liked doing that.
As far as Ireland- I can't speak to much as we only went once, a long time ago and that was on a "big bus" trip. Ring of Kerry/Dingle pensulia and Cliffs of Moher are lovely. Dublin needs a day or two. For the rest- do some research. Feel free to private message me- we've been to the UK more than 40 times. You might find this article I wrote a few years ago helpful, too http://www.aaacarolinas.com/Magazine/2008/Jan-Feb/britain.htm?zip=28105&stateprov=nc&city=matthews Happy Travels (and travel planning)!

If you intend to start in Ireland and do this trip using trains and buses, you may want to look into flights that land in Shannon over Dublin. Base yourself in Galway and take day trips out to explore places like The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara. You could even do an overnight on the Aran Islands (weather permitting). Contact the Tourist Information office in Galway and see if they can recommend a small group tour, or rent a car for a day if you want to get someplace that doesn't have frequent public transit. The car rental would probably cost you more than joining up with a day tour, but you will have more freedom to stop wherever you want along the route. Galway has great nightlife and plenty of places to check out live music after you are done touring for the day. I'd recommend 4 days in Galway area (1 to get over jet lag & see Galway which is smaller and more manageable to do when jet lagged vs. Dublin), 1 for The Burren/Cliffs, 1 for Connemara and 1 for Aran Islands. Train (or bus) over to Dublin and spend 2 days seeing Dublin (3 if you want to take a day trip someplace like Bru na Boinne). Fly or take ferry from Dublin to the UK. Other option would be train (or bus) from Dublin to Belfast, Northern Ireland and spend a few days there, and if weather is good, try to squeeze in a day along the Antrim Coast. From Belfast you could also either fly or take a ferry to the UK.

Terry- thanks for the complement on my previous post. Here are some thoughts- consider flying from Vegas to Charlotte- there are direct flights from here to Dublin and London and you can get some good flight deals if you watch for them. I'd suggesst starting in Ireland- 5-7 days would give you a bit of a taste. Plan your route right and you could then take the ferry to either Scotland or Wales. Or get a cheap flight to Glasgow, or Inverness. Inverness makes a great base to see a good bit of Scotland (see previous threads). Then train to Edinburgh- 1 or 2 days. Train to York- 1 or 2 days. Then London with lots of day trips. We found the BritRail pass to be worth it for us- but that was a few years ago. We liked the flexibility especailly. If you know for certain your days of travel and places you will go, you should check out advance purchase point-to-point tickets and see if the pass or p2p is the better deal. I'd also check out staying in college/university or other apartment type places. That can be a big savingings if you can stay in a place 3 or more days. You can also save by fixing some of you meals and you often get access to laundry facilities. Also educate yourself about the travel card (paper ones from National Rail stations) with 2-for-1 deals (if you are not alone) and Oyster card options.

Toni, Thanks so much for the suggestions; I hadn't considered starting in Ireland, but I'll definitely look into it! :) Questions regarding Ireland: what kind of itinerary would you recommend for me if I were to spend six days? And is it doable by trains/ buses or will I need to rent a car? Thanks! And any itinerary suggestions in general would be greatly appreciated! Some places I'd like to visit are: Warwick Castle, Bath, Tintern Abbey, Westminster, Glastonbury, the Cotswolds, York and Stonehenge/ Salisbury (and of course Inverness, the Highlands, Edinburgh, etc)
I also have questions about the least pricey transportation options: the BritRail Pass seems a must (does it work for the Tubes and buses as well?), and I know about easyJet and Ryanair for getting from Ireland to either Scotland or England; but Vegas-UK-CVG flights... there are some really good deals from Vegas to London, but I haven't checked flying into Dublin or Shannon. Thanks again for the help; I am going through this forum and taking notes... I am sooo excited! Terry

Ceidleh (how is this pronounced? Gaelic, yes?), Thank you so much for the great info! Starting in Ireland looks good financially, so I will probably do that. Keep the suggestions coming everyone! Thanks! Terry :))

Oh Toni! I was reading these on my phone and your post blended with Ceidleh's; thanks to you also! :) Terry

Terry, Do you know about this site? I would think that you might.... ; ) http://www.gig-guide.co.uk/ Pam

Terry: One other thing, I know Toni mentioned flying from Vegas to Charlotte and sometimes being able to pick up a cheap flight, but you may also want to look at flight prices to Ireland on Aer Lingus departing from Chicago, New York City or Boston as they often run special web deals from those 3 cities (like right now they have airfare at $289 each way for summer travel). Your air fare from Vegas to one of those US cities might be cheaper than Vegas to Charlotte.

Thank you all for the suggestions! I will check the airfares to Chicago soon :) and Rebecca, the tough things for me are money and time; I am on tour most of the year or playing summer theater when I'm not on the road; I'm leaving a show early just to do this! :) Please keep any and all itinerary or any suggestions coming! Thanks :) Terry

There is a fairly new hostel in Edinburgh within walking distance from bus and center of town. Check it out.