Ireland & Scotland in 2 weeks

Look carefully at renting a car in Ireland and dropping it off in Scotland. I suspect that there is a big drop off fee. I would rent two cars. You may not need one in Scotland depending on the sights you are interested in seeing. Are you golfers? Do you like history? Do you want whisky tours? Do you want to see the castles? Do you like to hike? There are so many options.

You should plan on a couple of days in Edinburgh. My favorite place is the highlands where I like to go to walk. But you can also see a lot of history and castles from Inverness. Whisky is nearby as well. I like the little town of Pitlochry on the train/road north to Inverness. It has a nice distillery and the Festival Theater. You can check their website to see what's playing during your visit. It can be a lot of fun.

Pam

When you say 2 weeks- realize that you really only get 12 days- you loose 1 going and 1 coming home. That leaves max 6 days in each country- with at least 1 of those "traveling" between. That said- Scotland is my love. I'd suggest something like this- Edinburgh- 1 or 2 days. Aviemore, 2 days. Inverness (with day trips) at least 3 or more days. IMO you could spend the whole 2 weeks and only see part of Scotland! As Pam said- what are your interests? History, gardens, whisky, hiking, golfing, shopping, nature, etc? Scotland is easy to do by train. We have never driven there (and we've been almost 40 times!). Pam, on the other hand, loves to drive the 'wee roads'. The more info you can give us the better our advice. Feel free to private message me.

I'm planning the exact same trip for this summer. Planning to fly into Dublin, stay a couple of nights, rent a car and drive toward Dingle, stopping at Cashel for one night. Staying in Tralee for 2 nights (Dingle Peninsula, etc), and either Ennis or Galway (via Cliffs of Moher/Burren) for two nights. Then back to Dublin to fly to Edinburgh. (Ryan air has cheap flights, though I've heard stories of bad service, but we're going to risk it). From what I understand, the ferries take a long time and cost almost as much as a flight, and you can't take your rental from Ireland to Scotland.

Not sure about our route in Scotland, but we hope to tour Edinburgh, St. Andrews, some island (Arran? Mull? Skye?), and some highlands around Loch Ness (we have a 10 and 7 year old, what can you do?).

Of course, I haven't done any of these things yet, but maybe we could swap ideas if you get any good tips!

I can't comment on Ireland, but wow- Scotland is hard to narrow down to one week for me! I would agree with another poster who suggested fly to Edinburgh, and would consider that a must see. You could easily spend your whole week there. Beyond that, it kind of depends what you're interests are. If you like golf and scenery, I'd head to St. Andrews after Edinburgh then into the highlands.

If you are really into history, I'd say Edinburgh, Sterling, Bannockburn, and absolutely Culloden if you can get up there. Oban is a nice town with quick day trips out to the Isles.

Most will tell you to try to see the highlands, and I would absolutely agree except that you are from Idaho and depending on where you live in Idaho gorgeous mountain scenery may not be something that you really care about on vacation since you see it every day!

I did the Rick Steves Tour of Scotland last summer, and when we were in the Great Glen, the folks on our tour from the Seattle area were like, ok, we came all this way and it's just like home?? Tongue in cheek of course- but if you are defining priorities....

You might want to check out the RS Tours of Scotland and see what his "must sees" are.

Hello Michelle,
We have been to both Ireland and Scotland three times. My advice for what it's worth: in Ireland, visit the west and southwest coastal areas for the best scenery. Starting north and working south: Connemara is beautiful, especially Lake Nafooey--we stayed in Clifden, drove up to Delphi (gorgeous up that way) ,went to the Aran Islands for a day trip, Galway for shopping. County Clare for the Burren, Ennis is supposed to be a good sleepover spot but we never tried it, Bunratty Castle's medieval banquet is fun, enjoy a full day (two nights) on the Dingle peninsula, drive to Killarney (skip the touristy town) and do the Gap of Dunloe-boat trip. Have an overnight in Kenmare and drive the Ring of Beara. We enjoyed staying at Tahila Cove (small inn). If you must fly out of Dublin, you could see either Glendalough (south) or Newgrange (north) on your return to the east coast.(I would skip Dublin, saving city time for Edinburgh). Don't be afraid to change hotels often to maximize your sight-seeing opportunities with less back-tracking. While Irish roads are slow , do keep in mind that the entire country is about the same size as Ohio. I will write about Scotland in my next post.

Hello Michelle, We are going to Scotland this summer for two weeks, so I will list the itinerary that I have been researching for a year. Looking at a good orange Michelin map (amazon sells them), you can decide which bits might please you and which to skip: Melrose for l night to see the Border Abbeys, 2 nights Glencoe/Fort William area seeing Roslin Chapel on the way, 2 nights Skye via Mallaig ferry, 2 nights Lewis to see Callanish (Uig-Tarbert ferry both ways), 2 nights Wester Ross, 2 nights Inverness (you can take a very long one-day coach trip from Inverness to the Orkneys if you want to see Skara Brae), 2 nights Edinburgh. If you would like more details or the names of the mid-range accomodations we picked, send me a PM. Have a wonderful trip.