northern europe

I'm just curious: If you don't know what cities you want to see in either country, how did you determine the 10 & 14 day breakdown? I would recommend at least three full days in Edinburgh, or 4 if you can spare the time. Great city, full of things to see and do. Alas, that's all I can recommend as I haven't seen the rest of Scotland or any of Ireland yet.

Ron:My husband and I drove all over Scotland except for the far North and the Islands...so I would say that Scotland is really about the countryside and the out of the way places as much as the cities. Pick a theme and follow it. Bobbie Burns and John Paul Jones in the Southwest. Walter Scott and Mary Stuart in the Borders. All the Clan Campbell Castles. The Whisky Trail. Nessie. MacBeth. Bonnie Prince Charlie. This will lead you to a lot of fun surprises. I liked the Necropolis in Glasgow.
The Castle in Edinburgh and all the Clan Castles. You need a car.

We have been to Scotland many times and only used the rail system and the occassional bus. This is one of my favorite iteneraries: Edinburgh- 1-2 days (3 max) train to Aviemore Aviemore- 3 -4 days (tour some distilleries (Dahwhinnie is excellent), see Blair Atholl, Go up Mt. Caringorm on the funicular, ride the restored steam train, tour the microbrewery, possibly some time on the Rothmurchie estate for horseback riding, canoeing, hiking, etc) train to Inverness Inverness- 3-7 days Lots of excellent day trips with tour companies (or rent a car if you want- we don't) Eliean Donan castle on the way to Isle of Skye, Isle of Skye itself, Great Glen, Glencoe, distillereis, Black Isle, boat trip on firth, boat trip up river Ness to Loch Ness- see Urquart Castle and village of Drumnadrochit (and all things Nessie), Ft. Agustus, LONG day trip to Orkney (well worth it) train to Glasgow Glasgow- 1-3 days - good museums, restored Clipper ship, good jewelery shopping (not my favortie Scottish city) Personally, I'd spend more time in Aviemore and Inverness with a short bit in Edinburgh. We haven't yet seen Oban and other islands, so can't speak to that.
In Edinburgh we stay at the Royal British Hotel (across Princes St. from Waverly train staiton). In Aviemore we LOVE the Caringorm Hotel (small, and looks like a castle outside, hunting lodge inside and serves THE BEST food)- across the street from the train station. In Inverenss we like the Royal Highland Hotel- attached to the train station.

Do you have RS guide books for those two places yet? If so, good. If not, I would recommend you get both and really read them as they were very helpful when we visited those two countries.