Trip to Ireland and Scotland this week

[collegemom3717]

Time of year? There are lots of big houses available to rent either through AirBnB, VRBO, Hidden Ireland or similar sites. There are a fair number of renovated castles that are not mad money for a large group (for example: Deburgo Castle, County Mayo | Oliver's Travels).

However, assuming that you are looking for summer 2023, I suggest starting with finding the accommodation you like, and then planning outings from there. Ireland is a small enough country, and the number of very large houses for rent by the week is not as big as you might think! (as of today, there are 161 properties in the whole of the Republic that have at least 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms available on AirBnB for the week of July 1-8). Find a couple of places that you like & come back with more specific questions!

ps, no matter where you end up, you will almost certainly want to budget for 2 cars, which will probably be nearly as expensive as your rental!

[Gatormama]

thanks, good advice, will get on this asap!
(we are looking for first 2 weeks of august.

[Onward]

If you are renting a car, get the insurance. Lots of insurance. My husband is a great driver but we still scratched up the car on hedges (narrow road with bus coming at us) and we lost a mirror somewhere. It was well worth the money not to worry about it.

[LeastComplicated]

Hi Everyone. Just wanted to give a summary of our trip.

In Dublin we visited St. Stephen’s Green and the National Gallery of Art during the half day that we had to explore the city. The next day, we visited, by bus tour, the Wicklow National Park, a 6th Century monastery in Glendalough, and Kilkenny. Then finally a sheep farm where we got to see a working border collie.

The third day we visited the cliffs of Moher, the Burrens, and Galway. Our impression of Ireland didn’t exactly live up to our expectations, mostly because it was much hotter than normal, and much of the countryside was yellow rather than Emerald Green. Also, our tours were so ambitious that we only had a short time to visit each stop. It would have been nicer to be able to see more of everything and spend more time in the places we visited. However we all enjoyed Ireland and would definitely go back again.

In Edinburgh we had a full day to explore the city during Fringe Fest. It was rainy in Scotland but not cold, so it was a pleasant day walking about being tourists. That evening, we saw the Royal Tattoo in pouring rain at Edinburgh Castle. We all really loved Edinburgh; it was an amazingly beautiful city.

The second day in Scotland, we went on another bus tour of the Highlands, visiting Loch Ness, and the Glencoe Valley which was just breathtaking. Again, we would have loved to have been able to spend much more time in each place, but the day was 12 hours long already. I will say that all three of our tour guides were wonderful and filled the hours with lots of history of what we saw along the way. There really was never a boring moment. If we had rented a car, we wouldn’t have had that experience.

I think we’d all rate the trip 9/10 with a point off for me not planning the Scotland trip to include an extra day in Edinburgh and in the Highlands.

Some pics attached. My husband took photos with a real camera, which aren’t on my IPad, so these aren’t the best of the best.

[LeastComplicated]

Scotland

Nessie is a decal on the window of the boat, lol.

The last pic is the souvenirs that two twenty-ish young ladies bought on the trip.

[mathmom]

I just love Scotland. I’ve been twice when my husband had conferences in Glasgow. We added another week each time and did different circuits of the Highlands, including Orkney the second time. There’s something about the landscape that just speaks to me in a way no other place I’ve visited has.

[MADad]

Leaving for Scotland next week. 12 day tour, with an extra day tacked onto each end (one in Glasgow, and one in Edinburgh) = 14 days total. If dear wife does not see numerous highland “coos” her heart will be broken! I am looking forward to spending 2 nights in the Orkneys.

[mathmom]

Say hi to the puffins for me and be sure to see the Viking graffiti at Maes Howe.

[sevmom]

@MADad I loved the Orkney Islands. We took a day trip from John o’ Groats . Skara Brae, the Italian Chapel were very interesting. The ferry crossing was very rough. Enjoy your trip!

[showmom858]

I love Ireland and Scotland. H spent 11 years in Scotland at boarding school in the highlands then university at Heriot Watt in Edinburgh. I feel very fortunate that H is super comfortable driving on the small roads in both countries. We have taken many road trips through Scotland and did our first road trip to the west coast of Ireland in March of 2018. I love not having to be part of a tour and being able to see these beautiful countries at our own pace.

[Twoin18]

@TatinG

The most beautiful site in Scotland is Glencoe and the Rannoch moor

Perhaps the most beautiful natural site that most tourists go to. But Torridon in the NW Highlands and the Cuillins on Skye are more spectacular.

[mathmom]

My vote goes to the Cuillins on Skye. Especially the Giant’s Table. Not just it, but the whole hike there and back were breathtakingly gorgeous.

[Sweetgum]

I don’t really think there needs to be one most beautiful spot in Scotland or anywhere really. It’s not a competition. Scotland is full of so many beautiful places. We loved Skye, but also loved Torridon and Glencoe and Orkney and Edinburgh and I’m sure there are many many more beautiful places we didn’t get to.

Planning a trip to Ireland now and I’m sure we will only touch the surface, but hopefully we can go back and see more another time.

[mathmom]

There’s also something to be said for getting off the beaten path if you have the time or energy!

[Sweetgum]

Yes, we rented (hired in Br/Sc English) a car and I drove all over Scotland from Edinburgh to Inverness to Orkney (ferry from John O’ Groats to St Margaret’s Hope) to Torridon to Skye to Fort William to Glasgow. It was a lot of driving, but we did get to see a lot.

For Ireland it’s a much shorter trip we are contemplating (1 week instead of 3) and I’m considering doing it just by public transport.

[collegemom3717]

@Sweetgum

I’m considering doing it just by public transport.

I’ve done that, and it really depends on what you want to see- and your willingness to either hike or use a bus tour company. A possible routing: fly into Dublin, do a day in Dublin (any of the hop-on/hop-off buses), then a day tour up to Newgrange. If you are there in the summer, take the train to Galway (it will still be light as you cross the country). Stay in Galway for a couple of days, and do a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and another up into Connemara / Donegal. Finally, take the train down to Limerick, spend a couple of hours at the Bunratty Folk Park and then have your last dinner at the Bunratty Castle (cross my heart, it is so much better than you think it will be), and fly out of Shannon in the morning.

Fwiw, on the east coast we like the Paddywagon (esp their Newgrange tour), and on the west coast Wild Atlantic Way tours.

[Juno16]

We did a very similar trip just using public transport - flew into Dublin and spent a couple days there with bus tours to newgrange one day and Wicklow/Kilkenny the second. Train to Galway where we spent a few nights - day trips to cliffs of Moher and to one of the Aran Islands (one of the less visited - we did this in our own and it was one of the best days). Bus to Connemara, spent a night in Clifden. Bus back to Galway, train to Dublin and flew home the following morning. I do regret not having had a car to explore the north part of the country - wish we had made it to Belfast and the Giants Causeway. There was simply no way to make the trains/buses work the way I wanted them to so we missed some stuff I wanted to see and did a lot of backtracking (I really wanted to go Kilkenny to Galway but there was simply no way without going back to Dublin). I just wasn’t comfortable driving though usually I’m fine wherever but the combo of small roads, populated areas and the wrong side of the road seemed too much (though the roads were less intimidating than I imagined once I was there). So it’s definitely doable but you’ll be limited and need to do a lot more planning. Ireland is definitely set up for those with a car, with the exception of trains between major cities which were great.

[bgbg4us]

have never been there - but sitting here talking to my kid about this all who is going this fall. this has been helpful! i just googled the scotland tattoo. that’s on my bucket list now!

[Sweetgum]

Thanks for the suggestions on getting around Ireland. We will have friends there so this will be a different kind of trip. I don’t know how much sight seeing we will do vs hanging out and visiting with friends and exploring the area. We have a friend in Dublin who is an expat there also good friends who will be on sabbatical in Galway. I usually pack our road trips full and move every couple of days but I’m thinking this might be a different sort of trip for us and more about exploring around the area where we are staying.

[momofboiler1]

We rented a car and drove all around Ireland. The roads were NARROW and it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. That said, we got to a lot off the beaten path type places where buses couldn’t fit. The Skellig Ring at the end of the Ring of Kerry was amazing as was driving through the Ballaghbeama Gap.

I’m jealous of those of you who have done Torridon, Orkney Islands, and driven the North Coast 500 in Scotland. That was supposed to be my 50th birthday trip but it was derailed by Covid. Hopefully we’ll get there in 2024 (doing Spain and Portugal next year for D’s graduation).