Rail sail vs fly

So confused! It's really hard to give you good advice when you haven't given us any idea how long this trip is, how much time you will have for Ireland, what you want to do in Scotland (do you really need a car?), or anything else. A few thoughts:
Rental car is the best option for Ireland. Rail service is limited in the west and every place you have listed, except Dublin, is in the west. If you don't want to spend a long time traveling between places, you don't want ferry service. Before I decided on what order to do things, I would check to see what flights I could find between Shannon and Edinburgh (or wherever you plan to fly into - you don't say). You might find better flights going out of Dublin instead, so you would then want to fly into Shannon and out of Dublin. No matter which one you fly into or out of, I would get your car at the airport (and drop it at the other airport). If you wanted to spend a few days in Dublin first, head back out to the airport to get it.

Thanks Nancy, don't mean to be confusing. 3 days in London, 5 or 6 days in Ireland, and 5 days in Scotland, then another day and a half back in London, plus 1 travel on either side of our trip to travel to London and home again. 16 days total. We have loosely come up with the areas I mentioned in ireland to visit. In Scotland, nothing has really been decided upon, the men want to visit distilleries and isle of sky is one place so far they are interested in, so little time and so many options it's just a little overwhelming to narrow it all down. I don't know if a car is needed in Scotland but likely it would depend on where we want to visit? Hope this helps. Also have you driven in Ireland before? Thanks

Connie, If the Isle of Skye is one of your key places to visit then I would recommend a car. There just isn't much public transit on the island. I know that there area easy flights from Dublin to Edinburgh. You can easily rent a car at the airport and drive up to Skye. It's a good six hour drive without stops so you might want to plan on taking a couple of days to make the trip. If distilleries are the main interest, you might want to think about going to Isla. Talisker on Skye is wonderful of course. Also, try to get a copy of Raw Spirit by Iain Banks. Pam

Yes, I have driven in Ireland on four separate trips, two of them solo trips. I think it is easier to get used to driving on the other side of the road when you fly into Shannon. It is a small airport out in the middle of nowhere, and you will not encounter any traffic while you are adjusting to driving. Since Pam says there are easy flights from Dublin, I would suggest you fly into Shannon, do your West trip, drop your car at Dublin airport and take public transport into the city, then fly out from there. One other thing I would suggest is to have a Plan B for any day where good weather is required. If you plan a day for driving the Ring of Kerry and it rains, or is foggy, there will be nothing to see. Have an alternative, like spending the day in Kenmare. You could easily see the Cliffs of Moher when you arrive in Shannon - they are only an hour or so away. Doolin is also close by, for dinner and music. Then head south the next day and take the Killimer-Tarbert ferry across the River Shannon. (It will cut drive time by avoiding Limerick.)

Don't know about van rental that time of year but I would assume most agencies do not have too many available so you might look into that shortly. Agree it is easier to start driving from Shannon and then go to Cliffs, down to Dingle and further south towards Kinsale and eventually up to Dublin and drop car there. I think with only five or six days there is no need to see Ring of Kerry and Dingle peninsula. I prefer Dingle but that is just my opinion. Enjoy.

Because it might be difficult to get a van (and, with luggage, very crowded even if you do), I would suggest getting at least two cars instead. Smaller vehicles are easier to deal with on the sometimes narrow roads that you find in the west, and having more than one vehicle can give you some flexibility if some want to do one thing and others want to do something else.

Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. I have bee concerned about car space as well, two cars may be smart, even if we are traveling with just our Rick Steve carry ons, we are still 6 adults in a vehicle and unless the vehicle is of reasonable size we won't be comfortable.

Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. I have bee concerned about car space as well, two cars may be smart, even if we are traveling with just our Rick Steve carry ons, we are still 6 adults in a vehicle and unless the vehicle is of reasonable size we won't be comfortable.