Ireland/Scotland trip- June or August?!

I can't speak for Scotland, but for Ireland I'd vote June. Less crowds, fewer Americans everywhere, better prices, cheaper air fare, more availability. The weather might potentially be nicer in August, but I've seen beautiful days in May, and horrible days in July. (What they call "Irish Summer" - gray and rainy. lol Summer weather can change on a dime).

Seems in my experience, that by August, most of the shopkeepers and workers are a bit burned out on tourists, but when we went in May, they were very happy to see us. "You're the first American's we've seen in months!", etc.

I'm biased, but I think Westport is worth a night, and great place to hit a pub. If you can afford to splurge a little bit, a night in Ashford Castle in Cong is luxuriously fun.

Hope you have a great time!

I agree that June might be better. In August you'd be dealing with all the crowds, higher rates, etc. due to the Edinburgh Festival.

Yes it's true that June is a lovely time to be in Scotland, not only are the crowds fewer, the light is marvelous as you're at the peak of the summer in terms of long days.

But, I'll give you the pro's of traveling in Scotland in August into September. First, we'll deal with the crowds and they are great--in Edinburgh--but, to be honest, don't think that the crowds elsewhere in Scotland at that time are anything to worry about. And, if you do go to Edinburgh in August, you need to embrace the Festival and its energy and crowds and the culture! It's one of the world's best festivals of the arts. On the plus side too, the heather is in bloom in August. ; ) And Scottish children go back to school that first week of September so the locals aren't traveling but are home.

I would recommend looking at the the program for the Festival and the Fringe and seeing if its something you might enjoy. Here are the links. http://www.eif.co.uk/ and http://www.edfringe.com/ You might also want to look at this site. http://www.visitscotland.com/guide/see-and-do/events/ It's the events page of Visit Scotland the Scottish Tourist board. You can search here to see what's on in Scotland during June and in late August / Early September.

Pam

We always travel in June. We enjoy the long days around the Solstice and we really enjoy the fact that the children are still in school!

Thanks for your input everyone! I would actually love to go to the Edinburgh festival, it is not something that I would attempt to avoid if we wind up going in August- I think it would be a great experience! However, we are definitely leaning towards June at this time thanks to everyone's advice. Thanks again!