Traveling to England and Ireland

In order to help you we will need more information......the kind of things you would to see...like castle, museums, abbeys, cathedrals....do you want to stay in London and Dublin only....do you want to travel outside of London and Dublin if so how....train, bus or drive....if you go outside of London do you want to go to larger town like York or do you want a combination of larger town and small villages. If you want to travel outside of London do you have any idea what areas of England and Ireland you want to go to

Brigitte: Robin and Tom have both made excellent points. Let me also add that Rick's 2011 books are now out, and you should check out his itineraries for ideas as well as gathering ideas from this site. I have my own preferences, of course, as will everyone who posts in reply to your question, and you have to weigh them against your own interests. A general point of advice is that you should fly "open jaw"...that is, into London or Dublin and back home out of the other. To get from one to the other, fly discount airline (advance purchase will be important here). While I am a big rail fan, the train from London to Dublin is very very long unless your heart is set on seeing some of Wales along the way. If you have never been to the UK, you have never tried to drive on the left side of the road....I wouldn't do that for anything, but many people adjust with ease. If you are nervous about driving on the left, consider an itinerary which will not require a car. (easier in England than in Ireland).
Here is my (England-centric) itinerary: Day 1: fly into Dublin. Days 1, 2, 3 in Dublin. Day 4 fly to Glasgow and train to Edinburgh. Days 5, 6 Edinburgh. Day 7 Train to York and overnight in York. Day 8 Train to London, Days 8 to end of trip in London, with daytrips to Bath and Windsor Castle. If you want to do the Cotswolds, go overnight to Bath and take the Mad Max tour of the Cotswolds which departs from Bath. Have fun planning!

You have started in the right place, this site. As you will see, we all have different opinions/likes/dislikes/preferences. If you haven't already done so, read through more of this portion of the forum, then you could search through the archives. You are not the first to ask the same question. My wife and I have been to Ireland 3 times and England only once (hoping to go again next year). Our first trip to Ireland was pretty much a 2 week whirlwind. Started in Dublin and drove "anticlockwise" (ccw) up through N. Ireland, down the west coast all the way to Kinsale, then meandered back up to Dublin. We had sort of a general itinerary and managed to see most of what we wanted, including Clonmacnoise, which is located near the middle of the island. We did not spend much time in Dublin (we saved it for our 3rd trip). 2nd trip was mostly County Donegal. 3rd trip was a little more detailed tour of the lower half of the Republic. England was concentrated in the middle of the country (London, Bath, Cotswolds and a brief trip to Liverpool & Southport). I could send you a PM if you would like more details. Whatever you decide to do you will not be disappointed.

Brigitte, With a time frame of two weeks, it should be possible to work out a reasonable Itinerary that will allow you to visit both locations. However, it would be advisable not to try and visit too many locations in each country as you won't have time. Be sure to consider the travel times in working out your Itinerary. Keep in mind that you'll "lose" both the first and last days of your trip in flight times and time zone changes (you'll arrive in Europe the day after you departed. With two weeks for travel, it would be a really good idea to use budget flights, inbound to England and outbound from Ireland (or vice versa, depending on the flight options from your area). I assume you'll be departing from SMF? A few possibilities for you to consider: Begin in London, with perhaps a day trip to York. Tour the sights of London and then head to Bath for a few days, where you could take day trips to Stonehenge or the Cotswolds (have a look at Mad Max Tours for examples). Travel to Bristol and take a flight ( RyanAir) to Dublin. Spend a few days touring Dublin and surrounding airport and then head for the Dingle area, perhaps stopping at a few other sights along the way. If possible, try and find a return flight from Shannon. Of course, be sure to try "a pint" while you're in Ireland! There are LOTS of possibilities, so this is only one example of how you could structure the trip. Check your local Library for copies of Rick's England or Ireland Guidebooks, as they have a lot of information. Good luck with your planning!

Thank you everyone for your great responses!