My husband and I visited France, Switzerland about 5 years ago (with a few day trips - Dacau, Obergammau, Interlaken), and have never stopped dreaming about more European travel. Now retired, we are hoping to visit the U.K. and Ireland in the Spring of 2011. Have started with the tour books (Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door), on-line sites, and must admit, there is so much to take in that it is somewhat overwhelming. Don't want to do the guided tour option, as we enjoy the freedom of doing it on your own, but are feeling somewhat lost as to where to start. Not sure if we're trying to cover too much ground - probably looking at 3 weeks to a month. Love history, countryside, old architecture, meeting the locals. Is it reasonable to try to do England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales all in one trip? Not sure when or if we'd get back ...
Posted by
OP
Canada
70 posts
Thanks very much. Definitely our next purchase!
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
You'll need the Ireland book, too - the Great Britain book doesn't cover that.
Posted by
OP
Canada
70 posts
Yes, thanks. Actually, we've already purchased that one. Cheers.
Posted by
Troy, Oh, USA
2776 posts
I would suggest just traveling around England, Wales and Scotland for the three weeks. There is so much to see and do that you probably won't be able to do everything you want to do in three weeks. Save Ireland for another trip.
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
I suggest you read the Great Britain and Ireland books and see what you'd like to see. The books both have 3 week itineraries so to follow both plans you'd need 6 weeks.
I'm not suggesting you follow the book plans exactly. See what interests you in the books. You man not want to see Waterford in Ireland after seeing what's there. There are certainly places skipped in his books you may want to see. Look through some other guidebooks too.
If you plan a workable schedule, you can "do" both islands in 3 or 4 weeks. However, when you do you planning you may decide you need 4 weeks for Ireland.
Posted by
Downingtown, USA
2367 posts
Can you fly into London/rent car for England/Wales and then Scotland then fly to Ireland and rent a car there and fly home from Ireland., Also, decide what is most important for you to see/churches/countryside etc. You can also look up World Heritage sites and see what is listed in each country and also go to library and rent vacation videos/that is where we found some great finds. Get Ricks videos for each country also as he has some great ideas/because of him we found some great places we were thrilled to see.
Posted by
OP
Canada
70 posts
Thanks for the great responses. We're quickly realizing (as we did when we went to France) that by trying to do too much, we may be shortchanging ourselves in the quality of the trip. The idea of flying home from different destinations is a good one - and we hope to have a certain flexibility by leaving the return flight open-ended. I think that at the end of the day, we have a lot more reading to do. The videos sound like an excellent idea. Thanks to all for the info and insight.