Can someone here help me?

[thewishfire]

I posted this to the CB as well, but figured that this would be a good place to repost it. Thank you all in advance!


There's a good chance that I'll be going to Europe next year with some family! I'm very excited; this will be my first time out of the country.. as well as the first time for most people going. I have a few questions for the travel experts here though.

Alright, we'll be going for about 15 days. We'd like to see England, Ireland and Scotland. Is that doable? I know 5 days in a country is not enough to see much, but we can't make it longer. Should we try all three, or only go for two.. one week in each? What are the 'can't miss' places in these countries? We're interested in just about everything, so all suggestions are welcome.

 

[Goofyish]

Hi Amanda

It's certainly possible to do all three countries in 15 days. There are low cost airlines in the UK that fly between various UK cities and to other European cities.

Have a look at the following airlines:

Ryanair

BMIBaby

Easyjet

Aer Arran

Hope you have a great trip

 

[lostinwonderland]

Awww, what about Wales? Poor wales...

I think it depends what your after really... If you want fun and theme parks then you're gonna wanna go Alton Towers or Thorpe Park...
There's all the obvious touristy things like the eye, stone henge, london open bus tour... There's loads of museums, manor estates, castles, if you go to nottingham ( =S ) there's the robbin hood stuff... Cadbury's world near Birmingham..

There's loads to do but I can't think of much (or anything in Ireland and Scotland) at the moment because I just woke up, lol..

 

[thewishfire]

Awww, what about Wales? Poor wales...

Well, I'd love to see Wales, but I guess everyone decided that these were the three we most wanted to see. I doubt we could squeeze in Wales in that amount of time.

 

[carolfoy]

have you considered taking a coach tour while you're here?, it would certainly be a reasonably priced way to get a lot of the sights in.

 

[maya_]

I used to live in the States and advised people on touring the U.K., but they never listened

Here is what I would do:

• Don't split your time into 3 equal chunks - 5 days in each. I would treat England, Wales and Scotland as more of a continuous experience. Ireland is obviously a bit more problematic as it's, well, an island.
• Don't be tempted to spent all your 'England' time in London. There's so much more than that!

Where are you arriving in the British Isles from? If you're flying into London, I'd start there. I'd spend two-three days seeing the typical touristy stuff and getting a feel of the city. My advice: ride the Tube as much as possible. If you're "from out of town", it's brilliant. (Days 1-3)

I'd then head west and slightly north, stopping somewhere in the south west so you can take in Stonehenge. I've only met one person who didn't enjoy going there, especially if they've just come from London - it's a nice change. (Days 3-4)

I'd then keep heading north up the west side of the country. You can take in Alton Towers in Staffordshire if you're a theme park person; if not spend a day or two in Manchester or Liverpool for a different type of city experience. They offer different things; I honestly couldn't choose between them for you. (Days 4-6)

Keep going north up the west coast, and make sure you stop in the Lake District. The weather will almost certainly be bad, but it's so beautiful. Stay in one of the tourist traps at Bowness or Ambleside, and get away from it into the beautiful countryside during the day. In my opinion, it offers the best scenery in England. (Days 6-7)

From there, keep going until you hit the Scottish border. Then, if I were you, I'd head up to Loch Lomond, as it's really beautiful but not too far away. If you had longer, I'd tell you to go further, into the Highlands, but time's an issue. (Days 7-9)

Then, cross over until you get to Edinburgh. It's my very favourite UK city (I'm not really a city person). There's an awful lot to see there, and it has a lot of atmosphere. (Days 9-11)

From Edinburgh, get a flight to Dublin. Spend a couple of days in Dublin and then move on to Belfast, or maybe into the Irish countryside if that's more your thing. Someone else will be able to advise you better on Ireland; I've not spend much time there.

Obviously that's a very whistle-stop tour and doesn't include a lot of my favourite places, but it should give you a good sample of experiences in case you ever want to return. I usually do the exact same thing when I travel in the States, as I will be doing next summer: 8 states and three time zones in two weeks!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Hey don't forget us in Stratford Upon Avon!!

 

[scottishsue]

I live in Scotland so can give you the definite "not to be missed" things to see or do here.

Edinburgh Castle
Loch Ness
Balmoral Castle (Queens summer home)
Whisky distilleries (near Balmoral) and lots of them
Glasgow (a definite for shopping)

 

[thewishfire]

Obviously that's a very whistle-stop tour and doesn't include a lot of my favourite places, but it should give you a good sample of experiences in case you ever want to return. I usually do the exact same thing when I travel in the States, as I will be doing next summer: 8 states and three time zones in two weeks!

Thank you! That's a very good plan, I will have to definately consider everything you wrote! What states will you be going to next year?

Now, I have a question that's proabably rather dumb, but how would we be getting to these places?! I know we should rent a car, but if we rented one in London, for example, how would we get it back? Would we rent it there, use for the London part, and then take a train or bus to the next place we go to? I'm really clueless as far as travel in other countries goes!

 

[wicket2005]

A lot of car companies allow you to drop off in other towns (I believe). The train is a good way to travel if you are stopping off at places on the same line, if you have to change it can become time consuming.

York is another lovely place to visit and steeped in history if you like that sort of thing. York is up in North England and accessible directly by train from London Kings Cross, it is the same line that runs up to Edinburgh. You could always travel along the east train line up to Edinburgh across to Glasgow (Loch Lomond is about an hours drive away I think) then down the west coast train line taking in any cities you fancy on this route.

There is absolutely stacks of things to see and do. Perhaps it may be an idea to just list the essential sights you want to see and work out a route from there.

 

[maya_]

York, Stratford and all those places in Scotland are also excellent. As is Durham, which I personally would drive 100 miles out of my way to see. But time is of the essence.

As far as travel goes ... you could rent a car. I would wait until you are ready to leave London, driving in the City is not recommended by many! Also, driving in the UK can be disconcerting for Americans. The roads here are generally much narrower - and much, much busier - than roads in America (except in Boston, which is insane - if you can drive in Boston you can drive anywhere). Also, your car would likely not have an automatic transmission unless you specifically request it (and pay extra, usually). Parking in cities can also be a problem.

However, I personally would rent a car, to save me from having to deal with the public transport network. I know everyone raves about it, and it is generally far superior to that of other western countries, but ... that doesn't say it can't all go wonky. The trains are frequent and generally reliable, and the journey up the west coast I mentioned would involve the west coast mainline, which is a huge operation and therefore quite reliable. However, delays, diversions and a distinct lack of sufficient seating have always featured heavily in my rail journeys in the UK. I particularly resent paying full fare for a three hour journey and having to stand all the way, as happened many, many times while I was at university.

So, I would drive. But the trains are there and generally reliable if you really don't fancy it.

When I was in the States I lived near Boston, but spent quite a lot of time in all the New England states, as well as New York and the D.C. area. Last year I was in Illinois, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Next year I will be in Illinois, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and possibly Virginia.

 

[mssocks]

Hey don't forget Galway Ireland! My favorite place in the world - along with Edinburgh, Maui, St. Thomas and Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Ok - so I have lots. But I loved Galway. We got all the rail passes here first ( check out www.britrail.com ) and took the train from London to Edinburgh, rented a car from there. Did the big circle, Stirling, Braemar, Inverness, Oban, Ft William etc. Sorry, got carried away rethinking my good times. For Galway we took the train from Dublin, stayed in Galway several days at a B&B, went to the Arran Islands on a day trip, then bus to Donegal and train back to Dublin. Oooohh I miss it!

I leave for Birmingham/London shortly ( see sig ). Just got back from picking up my British pounds from AAA. PM me if you want to anticipate together!