Who has been to Ireland and/or Scotland?

[movingforward]

I am in the very early stages of planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland next year.  Who has been there?  Did you do a tour or travel on your own?  Any "must experience" things I need to put on my list?  If you did a tour what company did you book through?

When I went to Italy I went as part of a tour group and I had a very good experience.  I met some really nice and fun people.  The tour hit all the great things I wanted to see but also gave ample free time to explore each city on your own.  It was nice that all the "must see" things were set-up in advance and they took care of getting our luggage from one place to the other, etc. so I am leaning toward an Ireland/Scotland tour but wondering what others have experienced. 

[Tennesseer]

What is drawing you to Ireland and Scotland as opposed to say France or Germany? There seems to be something of interest drawing you to those two countries.

[Abby Normal]

My mom just got back. She book through a tour company and her biggest complaint was not enough time in each area.  The tour was so packed that they only had one night in each place.  She would have liked a little more time to enjoy each. But she loved going.

[formerroomate99]

I went to Ireland in the fall.  It rained all the time, so make sure your clothes can handle that.  It's better to have a waterproof coat, pants that dry quickly and shoes that can handle rain than fooling around with an umbrella.  I was on my own and had a grand old time.  I met a lot of friendly people who would warn me if I was doing something dangerous.  Now, I was a little college student at the time, so they might treat a grown up differently. 

[movingforward]

May 24, 2013 10:09:09 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

What is drawing you to Ireland and Scotland as opposed to say France or Germany? There seems to be something of interest drawing you to those two countries.

A lot of the draw is due to my heritage.  I am currently tracking my family history and it has peaked a lot of interest.  Some of it is due to pictures I have seen, etc.  For some reason though (and really I can't put my finger on it), I feel this intense need and/or desire to go there. 

[Plain Old Petunia]

I spent two weeks in Ireland in 2004.   I don't think you need a tour, it is so easy to go around and do the things which interest you.  I really, really enjoyed the dinner at Bunratty castle, where you are a guest of "m'lord", eat dinner with your hands, then throw the bones down into the dungeon for the prisoners to gnaw on.

I stayed one week in a guest cottage in a small village on the west coast.  That week I rented a car and saw the sites in the west.  Then I spent a week in a rented flat in Dublin.  I used the bus and train systems to visit sites in the east.  The public transportation system from Dublin is extensive.

[pinkbow832]

I've been to both, on separate trips.  I did everything on my own, granted I was a poor college student studying abroad when I went.  I found it to be very easy to get from place to place in Scotland, but Ireland seems a little bit trickier since most of the things to see are out in the country or smaller towns.  My mom and grandma went to Ireland for a week and rented a car and did a self-guided driving trip, which they loved.  They said there wasn't much traffic to worry about, so it made the driving portion easier.

If you like tours, it certainly wouldn't be a bad option if you can find one that appeals to you.  Otherwise, they're both English-speaking countries with tons of tourist info online and friendly people to help you out if you need a hand.  You could also plan your trip on your own and take day tours when you arrive that look interesting.  I have used tripadvisor.com to find good local tours and activities and booked them ahead of time so we had a few days of things planned on arrival.

[steph08]

I've been to both, but I was studying abroad in London at the time, so it was quick weekend exercusions for each. Both times I went with a tour group and for me, that was the best for me since I was short on time and I wanted to see a lot of things.  In Ireland, the Cliffs of Moher were to die for, as was Blarney Castle.  Scotland - Loch Ness. Hamish the hairy coo was a high point of our trip (Hamish was a hairy cow at a place we visited, but our tour guide says "coo" for "cow" and we thought it was hilarious. We were 20, so sue us. ). Depending on the time of year, it can be quite cold and rainy/windy, I went to both places in November.

[Tennesseer]

May 24, 2013 10:17:35 GMT -5 movingforward said:

May 24, 2013 10:09:09 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

What is drawing you to Ireland and Scotland as opposed to say France or Germany? There seems to be something of interest drawing you to those two countries.

A lot of the draw is due to my heritage.  I am currently tracking my family history and it has peaked a lot of interest.  Some of it is due to pictures I have seen, etc.  For some reason though (and really I can't put my finger on it), I feel this intense need and/or desire to go there. 

If that is the case, then you don't need to be a tourist but rather a traveller. Tourists spend about 5 minutes at each site (I am exaggerating quite a bit) and then move on to the next site on the tour itinerary. But a traveller focuses on one particular area and learns everything they can about it.

[HoneyBBQ]

I spent a week in ireland. I didn't do the classic circle because we had to stay near Dublin but it was very fun. Did most on my own (even rented a car!) but did do one day trip on a bus that was fun to get out and see the sights south of Dublin.

Some things to see and do:

Newgrange - the oldest man made structure in the world - about an hour north of Dublin. Absolutely a must-see.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange



Guinness brewery in Dublin

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness_Brewery



kilmainhamgaol in Dublin. The old prison. Very cool.

www.heritageireland.ie/en/dublin/kilmainhamgaol/


st patrick's cathedral



Glendalough monestary

www.collinsdaytours.com/glendalough.asp



wicklow gap & mountains

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

I have planned a 3 week trip to Ireland starting in Dublin, working South, then West along the southern coast, and then up the Western coast hitting all of the major sights and then doing some unique activities (surfing off the Western coast, skiing on manmade snow south of Dublin, finding an Irish lacrosse and an Irish soccer game to attend, etc.).  I plan to rent a car, and have chosen the hotels and inns we will stay at along the way.  I did all of my planning from various internet sights (TripAdvisor, Irish tourism site, etc.).  <br><br>I didn't want to be chained to a tour.  I want the freedom to take an interesting detour, or to linger somewhere, to simply sleep in because the constant traveling is wearing us down a little, or even to move on because a sight or village just wasn't as intriguing as we'd hoped.  <br><br>I also have roots in Ireland, and want to be sure to see the home my father was born in and the cemetery my great-grandparents are buried in.  These sights fit into the route I planned so that my kids have both a sense of family history and cultural context while we tour. <br><br>Now I just need to save the $15-20,000 it will cost the 4 of us to go.   <img text="" alt=" " src="http://images.proboards.com/new/grin.png">

[thyme4change]

My parents took my sisters there when I was young, and left me home.  The pictures are lovely.  And I'm almost over it.  

[tskeeter]

Almost 40, I'm a veteran of three trips to Ireland.  Would be glad to provide some input on a trip.  Since there are forum members who grew up in Ireland, you're sure to get some great suggestions from them.

DW and I have planned our trips on our own.  To avoid what others have talked about, lack of adequate time to really see things.  We want to really take time at places that interest us, rather than checking the maximum number of sights off a list each day.  Our planning strategy has several elements.  The first is to stay in each location for a few days and drive to the sights we want to see.  Ireland is small, only about 125 miles by 250 miles, so this hub and spoke approach works well.  It also allows you to see a good bit of the countryside.  And avoids the hassles of packing luggage and loading and unloading a car twice a day.  Another element is to stay primarily in B&B's.  They cost quite a bit less than hotels, hosts and hostesses are very personable and helpful, and you find out local sites that are a bit off the main tourist paths.  (When I commented on the collection of Nicholas Mosse platters our hostess had displayed in her kitchen, she directed us three miles down the road to visit the factory and shop at the factory store.)  In Ireland, B&B's are really small, family run hotels.  It doesn't feel like you are invading someone's home, as I have felt with some B&B's in the US.  We have a list of favorite B&B's in different parts of Ireland we can provide.  Note that the breakfast that comes with your room is usually very hearty.  DW and I find we often eat breakfast, then have an early afternoon snack, rather than lunch, because we're not hungry yet.  The snack is really just an excuse to sit and chill out for a while. The third element is to kind of develop a theme for the trip.  Do you want to see the highlights of the Emerald Isle?  Do you want to see castle and monastic ruins?  Take a prehistoric Ireland tour.  Take an Irish shopping tour (and bring home some souvenier crystal, lace, sweaters, tweed, wollens, pottery, jewelry, or the like).  An Irish golfing tour?  A natural sciences tour?  A history of Ireland tour?  An Irish geneology tour?  A meet the Irish relatives tour?  An Irish literary tour?  A grand homes tour?  An Irish gardens tour?  An Irish music tour?  An Irish pubs tour?  An Irish immigration tour?  A political Ireland tour?  Ireland is far beyond being a one trick pony.  Lots of things to see and do.  Did you know that Ireland has artifacts from the Spanish Armada?  (Some of the ships wrecked on the Irish coast during storms.)  And, the most important planning element, wing it.  A missed turn led to a wonderful drive along the Antrim coast on a narrow little road about a horse cart wide and the discovery of the abandon Tor Head lifeboat station.  A sign for the Blasket Island Center turned into a three plus hour study of Irish island life in the early 1900's.  A wander down a country lane revealed houses set so close to the road that you think you can just reach out the window and touch them.  And an hours drive through the countryside may reveal so many fortified house and castle ruins that you conclude that every weathy Irishman must have fancied himself a king.

Since our trips have always included new visitors to Ireland, we tend to follow a pattern.  About three days in Dublin, and then out into the countryside.  The length of your visit and your interests can help determine what to see and what parts of the country would interest you most. 

We don't get a car at the airport.  No point in paying to park a car you are not using for several days.  Dublin is very walkable.  And the hop-on, hop-off bus tours can be an economical and convenient way to get around town if you don't want to walk.  We pick up a car when we are ready to leave Dublin.  Driving on the left isn't really all that hard.  Just follow the car in front of you.  Something with an automatic transmission rents for about twice as much as a standard transmission.  So, if you can handle a stick, save yourself a few hundred a week on the car rental.  Getting the hang of shifting left handed takes a little concentration at first, but in a couple of days it gets pretty comfortable. 


ETA: I see that you have some family connections to Ireland.  PRONI, the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, in Belfast, is a fun place to spend an afternoon searching for your family in Northern Ireland.  The National Archives of Ireland, in Dublin, houses records for southern Ireland as well as records that have been transfered from Northern Ireland.  I believe that both facilities are open to family genealogists.  When we've been at PRONI, the staff has been very helpful to novice genealogists.  Worth the time, if only to see you family name in old records and to maybe find a black sheep (every Irish family has some scoundrels and horse thieves in it). 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I spent almost 2 weeks in Scotland about 15 years ago.  I had a research meeting in Glasgow, so met up with some friends and we decided to do a B&B tour.  One of the women I traveled with found a book that was put out yearly of B&Bs in the UK, with phone numbers.  There was some sort of vetting process to get into this book, and most of the owners, if they were booked, could give you the number of another equally good B&B.

While in Glasgow (6 days), during the meeting we tried to see whatever we could in the vicinity.  Glasgow was the only hotel we stayed in. When the meeting was over, we rented a car and drove up to Inverness and stayed about 3-4 nights there.  It was a working sheep farm and near a bunch of castles that we toured.  We also went on the hunt for the Loch Ness monster and checked out a couple Scotch distilleries.  After that, we drove down to Edinburgh and spent another 3 days there, checking out things in the area.  I would have liked to go up to the islands, but we just didn't have the time.

Then we went into England and went to the 5 pottery towns.  This is where 5 of the fine china makers have their factories, and toured Wedgwood and Royal Dalton.  We drove to Cambridge for a couple days, then London where we dumped the car.   We spent about 3 weeks in Scotland and England.

Looking at doing the whisky trail in Scotland in a year or so and as some of the distilleries are on the islands, might be able to catch them this time.  Will probably do it in a similar manner and maybe add Ireland onto this trip as neither TD nor I have been there. 

I think that we picked up a day tour of London as it was the most expedient way of seeing the typical tourist destinations we wanted to see. Then spent a couple more days just wandering London.

[chiver78]

lots of great advice, tskeeter!

almost40, I spent a few months (on/off) working in both Waterford City and in a small town in County Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. I don't have much to add to tskeeter's post at the moment, but if you have any specific questions about those two places once you get your planning going, please reach out

oh, and I will say that you will be best served by planning more time in each "stop" than you think you will need. there is so much to do and see, and nowhere near enough time for all of it!

[movingforward]

Thanks everyone!  I will probably PM quite a few of you when I get farther along in the planning stages.

[Gardening Grandma]

Who has been there? 

DH and I went to both in 2007


Did you do a tour or travel on your own?
We went on our own.  It was easy to plan and book.  They speak English (sorta.. ) You can read the signs.  Do be aware that if you rent a car, driving can be very stressful.  Other side of the road, narrow streets & roads, the roundabouts can be challenging.  We did it, but I will admit that driving was not enjoyable.



Any "must experience" things I need to put on my list?

Cliffs of Mohr (that is a no-brainer)
The Dingle peninsula
In Dublin - Kilmainhem Gaol (prison).  I read "Trinity" before going, so it was very meaningful.  Highly recommend reading the book and visiting the prison.
We stayed in Howth (just outside Dublin) and rode the bus or train in instead of trying to drive.  I loved Howth.  Our last day there, they had a parade and then we spent the afternoon in a tavern listening to folk music.  Howth is right on the water - the seafood was wonderful.   (We stayed at Ann's of Howth and I'd definitely recommend it)
I relied heavily on the Rick Steves guides for places to go, see, and stay.  I also asked our hosts at the B&B's for recommendations on places to go and where to eat.
About the Guiness brewery in Dublin - it is not the actual brewery.  You stand in line for a long time to get in.  Then you walk through a kind of history of the brewery (signs & such)... The food & beer are very expensive.  And it is very crowded.  Over-rated, imo.   I only did it because DH wanted to.  I could easily have spent the time elsewhere.



If you did a tour what company did you book through?
If I were going to use a tour company, it would be Rick Steves.  The only reason I'd consider using a tour would be to avoid driving.

If I were to do it again, instead of a week in Scotland and a week in Ireland (which is what we did), I'd plan on 3 weeks in Ireland.  I'd have loved to rent a cottage on the beach for a week.... but we hadn't allowed enough time.

[tskeeter]

Great recommendations, GG.  When we go back to Ireland next time, I've been considering Howth, too.  Done Dublin three times, so if it's just us, I'd rather be outside the city and closer to the sights in the Boyne Valley.

For anyone planning a tour, I think Rick Steves guides are a great tool.  Rick is the only guide writer I have seen who breaks sights down into must see, worth the time, and if you've got lots of time categories.  Once I've got a basic tour route layed out, I also check some other guides for sights along our route that Rick doesn't cover.  I've used the detail rich Cadogans Guides.  It looks like Cadogans Ireland is limited to only the southwest of Ireland these days.  But a wide variety of guides are available.  Including guides to archeological sites, golf courses, country homes (estates), whiskey distilleries, etc.  

[Tennesseer]

The Dingle peninsula

Is that where Dingleberries are found?

[Apple]

I went 6 years ago, and we did a tour since it was my first time really going anywhere, and I was dragging my 9-year-old son with me.  We spent two weeks between England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

We went in March, and we did not get rained on while we were there.  For us, it rained at night when we were already back to our rooms, and it rained for a little bit while we were in the coach.  So, even during the rainy season we had gorgeous weather.

If you do a tour group, I'd select one with plenty of "free time" where you're left to explore the cities on your own.  You get help from the guide to figure some things out, but then you can go do your own thing. 

We went to St Patrick's Cathedral, Blarney Castle (gorgeous sweaters at the Woolen Mills, although spendy), The National Museum of Ireland (it has three bog bodies, pretty interesting), Waterford Crystal Factory.  In Dublin, we had lunch at The Duke one day.  I later learned it is the beginning of a famous literary pub crawl.  In Scotland we went to Gretna Green (and saw a "wedding"), Edinburgh (where we met a hot monk outside the castle <swoon>, and wandered around the streets for a long time).  We did one of the ghost tours there, that was fun.  We were out walking around at midnight and felt completely safe.  DS was reading the Harry Potter books so we had a snack at the Elephant Cafe (bonus was that I LOVE elephants, bought a bamboo shopping type bag there that I still use). 

In my experience, everyone we ran into was very friendly.  One of my coworkers went with his family to Ireland a few months after I did, but they drove around and stayed in different places.  He said that the people in the cities were friendly, but as they got further in the country the women did not treat him very well, but were good to his wife.  He said the feeling he got was that men were thought of poorly.

I took a ton of photos, but this is my favorite (that doesn't have my son in it)...

Blarney Castle

[Deleted]

Tskeeter gave some really wonderful info.

I went on a two week cycling tour of the West Coast of Ireland in August 2004 with my mom. I was 42 and she was 66. We had a blast. Landed at Shannon and our first night was a B&B in Ennis. Cycled to the Coast on a beautiful sunny day  where we saw folks surfin' the Irish waves...whoda thunk that far north that folks would be surfing. And then it rained. Then it poured and then it rained some more! We had fun anyway. Agree with with Cliffs of Mohr and that's where you'll read about the Spanish (and where the "black" Irish descend from). We did take a coach to Galway because that's a pretty busy road. Do visit the Aran Islands and even though it's the touristy thing to do buy an Irish Fisherman's sweater. You'll find out that the unique stitching was so that if someone was found in the water they could at least identify the family. Most of them didn't know how to swim.

One of my most pleasant memories was cycling through Connemara and smelling the peat fires. I was tempted to buy a bag of briquets (looks almost like BBQ briquets). And you do have to have a taste of the local single malt whiskey, Connemara. I bought some on a chance (and with a back up bottle of Jameson's) for DH. Came home and a month later it won the world whiskey tasting competition in San Francisco.  I picked a winnah! It's peaty like a single malt whiskey.

We also stayed in a lot of B&Bs other than in Galway where we stayed at a terrific old hotel. Breakfast was included at every hotel. Yes, it's big!

2004 was during the Celtic Tiger years. It was kind of funny because you couldn't find any Irish people in any of the shops until you got to the Islands. But Irish or not, you will never feel so loved as an American until you visit Ireland. Still so grateful for taking them in during the Famines.

And pick up a local book like a Year in Connemara or some such title. Basically an Irish take off on a Year in Provence about the trials and tribulations of an Irish American trying restore one of the cute thatched historical cottages. It will put fear (or laughter) in your heart about taking on a fixer upper.

I want to go back and I think DH will love it being the beer fan that he is. BTW do not, not, not order a "Black and Tan". As my guide said it's an insult to both the Irish and the beer. Black and Tans are another name for the English soliders who kept the Irish in line.

[Deleted]

Scotland-We did a week last year in late April just before we left Germany. Two days in Edinburgh (where it POURED) a day's drive up to the Orkney Islands where we spent 4 days and a day's drive back to Edinburgh. Don't bother to rent a car in Edinburgh. Most of it is very walkable and there's good transport if you need it.

There is also train service to Orkney but the guys wanted to drive and we made a stop at a distillery and Loch Ness. So cheesy it's fun.  Driving through the Highlands is beautiful.

Amazingly enough, Orkney had GEORGEOUS weather. It was like September in the SF Bay Area. No one could believe it.

Orkney is an amazing place and so differerent than the Scotland mainland because of it's Norweigen heritage. "Orkneian' is actually a Norweigen dilect. I could read some of it because of its Germanic roots but I couldn't understand a spoken word, lol!

Orkney has some amazing Neolithic sites and the people were lovely.

[Sammy]

There's been so much great info on the country I won't go into our trip in detail.   We toured the Waterford Glass factory only to find out several years later that one of the master crystal cutters is my husbands cousin..... also the owner of the largest mens haberdashery in Waterford City is a cousin.   Unfortunately Waterford happen to be the one place we ran into trouble when a young guy drunk as a skunk started lambasting us about being Americans.   This was just a few weeks after 911 and the memory still makes me wish I smacked the little bastard.   Other than those few minutes of discomfort the trip was a great deal of fun and interesting.   The guys loved the visit to the Jameson brewery where they did a lot of sampling.    Oh, and don't kiss the Blarney stone.   Apparently you never know when the local sports teams climb the tower and pee on the stone after winning a game.  

[Deleted]

@sammy said:

Unfortunately Waterford happen to be the one place we ran into trouble when a young guy drunk as a skunk started lambasting us about being Americans. This was just a few weeks after 911 and the memory still makes me wish I smacked the little bastard.

I'm sorry you had that experience and I can assure you that was the exception. Our Department secretary was actually in Ireland during 9/ll and her return home was delayed by several days. She said it was the most amazing experience. Whenever people heard her speak or recognized that she was American they all asked her if she had a place to stay  and that she was welcome to stay at their house. These were total strangers in shops or restaurants whom she had never met.

[Queen of Interesting Nuts]

I am half Irish and I think it would be easy to rent a car and do your own thing on your own time.

[tskeeter]

2004 was during the Celtic Tiger years. It was kind of funny because you couldn't find any Irish people in any of the shops until you got to the Islands. But Irish or not, you will never feel so loved as an American until you visit Ireland. Still so grateful for taking them in during the Famines.




I've found this to be pretty universally true in Ireland.  That the natives really welcome the 70 million people of Irish heritage that live around the world.  This extends to the point that a light burns in the front window of the Taoiseach's residence (pronounced tee-shock, the Irish Prime Minister) 24 hours a day to welcome home visiting Irishmen.  (A candle in the window is an ancient Irish custom.  To help those away from home after dark to find their way home.) 

[Deleted]

DH and I have been to Scotland 4 times- mostly Edinburgh, but with a few days in the Orkney Islands once.  I'd recommend independent travel with no car in Edinburgh and the vicinity.  We even got to see Rosslyn Chapel and the former royal yacht Britannia (in Leith) using public transportation. 

If you're into whisky and feeling rich, go to Cadenhead's on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.  They buy casks of whisky from the major distilleries and just them into a bottle.  No blending even from the same malting, no dilution, no filtration.   You can't buy it that way in the US so it's wonderful bragging rights as well as extraordinary drinking.