We are trying to figure out a way to see just parts of these countries. We would prefer not to have a big-bus trip or a trip that changes locations every night. We do not want to drive ourselves. We are fine with just seeing highlights and not immersing ourselves. Cruise would be fine, but haven’t found either a land option or cruise option. We have done extensive London, but no other locations. Would love suggestions of places and how to do this in 2027.
We spent two weeks in Edinburgh for our honeymoon decades ago. We spent half the time doing easy day trips in small buses and the other half exploring the area. There was so much to see and do! We took day trips to the Boarders, Loch Lomond, Inverness and the Highlands, St. Andrews, and a bunch of castles. We loved not having to drive or pack/unpack.
Our second trip to Scotland and our trip to Ireland, we did rent a car and moved every few days.
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We went to Ireland in 2018. Spent 2 days in Dublin then stayed the rest of the time in Dingle. We stayed in an Airbnb, had a car and did day trips from there. We went walking in the Killarney national park, went to a sheep farm, did a day trip by boat to Blasket island and wandered Dingle and the Dingle peninsula. It was beautiful, like a fairytale land.
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I think it is possible to center yourself in a big city and take day trip train rides to see other places.
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I’m not an expert, but we spent a week in Scotland in 2019 visiting older S, who was studying abroad at St Andrews that semester. We flew into Glasgow (cheaper) and made Edinburgh as our home base. We relied almost exclusively on trains. Once I figured out how to read the app/timetables, it was pretty straightforward. I was also impressed back in 2019 how readily available Wifi was on the trains. This was before we did the $10-12/day international plan.
We also went the end of March, so lots of the castles were closed, but the main ones were open and very cheap, maybe even free for some of the smaller ones. We spent a few days in Edinburgh, then took a train to St Andrews and then on to Dunnottar castle. This is not a traditional “Scotland highlight,” and we did have to hike from the train station to the castle. It was not a short walk, but the day was beautiful, the route was along the cliffs, and nobody else was out. It felt like the world belonged to just us. It remains one of my favorite days in my life. We also toured Stirling Castle via train. To get to Loch Ness/Highlands, we did a bus tour. If I recall, it was more like a large van vs bus. I wish we could have gone to the Isle of Skye, but doing that by train without an overnight trip is not possible. We just didn’t have much time during H’s/younger S’ spring break.. On the way back, we spent the night in a castle near Glasgow, but last time I looked, it had closed.
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We went to Edinburgh during Fringe Fest (maybe Sept?) which was not planned, but we had a great time. Did a day trip to the highlands and it was a long trip, but worth it.
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Just spent 10 days in Scotland. 3 days Edinburgh, 2 Aberdeen, 4 Inverness and final night in Doune (near Stirling). We drove after Edinburgh but you could do much by train. One highlight was a day trip to Skye from
Inverness on a small van tour. Breathtaking.
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I’ve been to all 3 countries, but I think you have to start by asking yourself why you are going. What is it about these 3 places that appeals to you?
We went to Scotland last summer, for example, and I knew that I just had to get to the Orkney Islands, so our planning had to include a way to get to that remote spot. In Ireland, I had to get to Ballyshannon because that’s where my grandmother was born anbd raised. All 3 countries have beautiful places. You can’t run out of things to see and do in the big cities, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. But where in the countryside depends on your interests.
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Last year we had a five day hike planned in the Lake District - it’s wonderful. Beautiful walking, you can visit Wordworth houses, Beatrice Potter’s farm and see Arthur Ransome’s (Swallows and Amazons) inspirations. We took the train from Manchester. We spent time in Manchester - it’s fascinating, took a bus trip to one of the mills, took the train to Liverpool for a daytrip. Took the train to York and Durham as well.
I love Scotland, it’s one of my favorite places, but have only done it in a car. Agree that Orkney is magical.
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I recently returned from a trip to the UK (London (including 2 days at Wimbledon), Ireland and Scotland). In Scotland we rented a car and did a road trip (Edinburgh>Inverness>Isle of Skye>Oban>Edinburgh). Highlights included the Nevis Range Mountain Gondola near Port Washington, Isle of Skye Fairy Pools, Highland Cows in Duirinish, distillery tour in Oban and many, many castles! Our last night we stayed at a castle in Melville Castle close to Edinburgh. We absolutely loved Scotland and our favorite part was the Isle of Skye. London and Ireland were also great. Especially our two days at Wimbledon.
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I am currently planning 10 days in southern England. There is not bad public transport and day tours to many places. In southern England alone, I have considered basing myself in Oxford Canterbury, Royal Tubridge Well and a few other spots, to take taxis or day trips to interesting sites. In general I am more interested in the life of common people than royalty and appreciate gardens more than castles, though also appreciate achitectural styles and history, as well as some art and music. As noted above, what is your specific area of interest? looking up the planned day to day activities of Rick Steves tours or Road Scholar gives me ideas and sometimes reading lists.
Oops, meant a general reply to the thread…
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Appreciate all the answers so much! It does seem possible to do what we are thinking based on these answers and quite a bit of planning. I think we really just want a few highlights of England, Ireland, Scotland - a mix of castles, scenic areas, gardens. Not a lot of museums or pubs. Edinburgh for sure. Have done two separate trips to London, so would plan only a little to none there. I think choosing 4 home bases for 3 or so nights each may get us near what we are looking for - since I am hearing here that there are daytrip and transportation options
Depending on your budget you might like a BritRail pass for train travel in England, Wales and Scotland. The website is BritRail.com. It is more expensive than buying tickets for the specific time and day, but it offers you more spontaneity. A friend got one when they went several years ago when they were in the UK and they really enjoyed the freedom to just decide to hop on the train whenever they wanted.
I, being way too cheap, did not do that but immersed myself in the the website for The Man In Seat 61 (seat61.com) and learned the cheapest way to travel by rail. There are many bargains to be had if you plan it out and get rail cards and buy at the right time.
You can very very easily do most of the UK by rail. Super easy actually.
For the Republic of Ireland we went in fall 2022 and just used buses (aka coaches) to get around. We did one bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher, but walked a lot in Dublin and Galway and did use a ride share app called “Free Now” which was recommended on the TripAdvisor Ireland forums to get to the airport for an early flight. In Ireland they have a pretty robust bus/coach service. We used CityLink from the Dublin airport to get to Galway. These are just very nice fairly cushy big buses – not tour buses. We did not go to Northern Ireland although I would like to sometime.
A few years ago when I was planning the UK and Ireland TripAdvisor forums were very good.
On our UK trip we did rent a car for Scotland, but that’s because we also wanted to go to Orkney (family connection there) and then just traveled all around.
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