Ireland & Scotland

[stimpy]

I'm looking at taking a solo trip to Ireland & Scotland later this year. Has anyone been? I'm looking for some beginner information to start the research...

Best time of the year to go - would August be okay?
Where should I fly into?
How long should I look at staying - 2 weeks? 3 weeks?
Any must see places?

[007MCoupe]

I've only been to Dublin and Edinburg in my travels.

The Guiness Storehouse is a MUST if you get to Dublin. Edinburg was cool. Lots of interesting stuff to do and see. Just go get lost and find your way back = good expereinces with locals and finding stuff you wouldn't normally see.

[ellipsis212]

Never been to Ireland, but I loved Scotland. Went in May of '08 and I can very highly recommend you go to Edinburgh and also to Pitlochry/Moulin up in the central highlands. you can get from place to place pretty easily via train if you don't feel like driving on the wrong side of the fookin' road. also, i was drinking a bit on my trip so driving was quite out of the question.

i like to hike and you can even do a hike just a few feet from the edge of Edinburgh's tourist area called King Arthur's seat. it's short but completely beautiful. my wife and i also hiked a nice hill outside of Moulin called Ben-y-Vrackie which was an unforgettable experience in all of the best ways.

all in all Scotland was the shit and i can't wait to return. England too but it sounds like you wont be there.

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by stimpy

I'm looking at taking a solo trip to Ireland & Scotland later this year. Has anyone been? I'm looking for some beginner information to start the research...

Best time of the year to go - would August be okay?
Where should I fly into?
How long should I look at staying - 2 weeks? 3 weeks?
Any must see places?

I was in Ireland in late September 09, 4 days before Guiness 250th anniversary party. I can give you some details of things, and Ill start with this. Ireland is one of the 2 places I want to go back to. AWESOME time there.

I was in Dublin, I would suggets flying into there if you plan on starting in the north, or into Cork, if you plan to fly into the south and go that route. Dublin airport is big, like you would expect. Cork airport is super small, but SUPER SUPER nice, and brand new.

Dublin, I would recommend staying in the Temple Bar district or close to it. Anywhere near Grafton street would be good, thats where most of the action is, great bar scene and nightlife and central for everything in the city. I was unable to venture outside of the city because we were only there for 2 days then we went off to Cork for 2 days.

GUINESS = A MUST. Its just something you gotta do. Take your student ID should you have one, saves you money on alot of things over there. We checked out alot of the old churches and parks in Dublin and just kind of enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. Certainly there is more then that but thats really all we did. Still, it was great to experience the cutlure of Irish.

We were warned by our taxi driver on the way from the airport that the southern Irish people are little "off", and he wasnt right but its defineitly different down there in Cork. We took a train to Cork, about 2-3hours ride. Cork is the 2nd largest city in Ireland. It seemed to be more of a IRISH city then Dublin, which was more of a WORLD city if you know what I mean. Still, very nice place.

From Cork, we took a 20 min bus ride to Blarney, and went to the Blarney Castle where the Blarney stone is. That same day we also went to Cobh, a seaport where the Titanic had set sail from. Its about a 30 minute train ride from Cork.

The Irish people were the most friendly people though. We got dropped off on the wrong street corner/street in Dublin to get to our hotel and this guy was like "Oh are you lads lost?" (insert Irish accent). He gladly went out of his way to call the hotel to confirm its location and then guided us there a couple of blocks. The lady at the bed and breakfast in Cork folded and did our laundry for us since the laundromat down the street was closed, and everyone we met was just always happy. Except for the hooligan guy that was mad at us for his girl hitting on us because she liked OUR accents

Note though, if you plan on renting a car, the roads there are all EXTREMLY narrow. I would be driving my E92 there, anywhere. Put it that way.

Also, since your going to Europe, look into going all over the place. My trip was as follows...

Fly into London (Heathrow), stayed for 3 nights. Took flight to Dublin, 2 nights, train to cork, 2 nights, flew to Paris, 1 night (we didnt want to spend much time in Paris and all the things we wanted to see we could do in the 30 hours we were there, all walking distance), took an overnight train to Berlin (saved on hotel), 2 nights in Berlin (wish Id have never left and stayed forever, my favorite place), 2 nights in Prague and 2 nights in Munich (The Welt and Oktoberfest). Id rather have spent an extra day or 2 in each place but it can get expensive, especially with the exchange rate. Ireland is on the Euro. Scotland, not sure, but if they are on the British pound, then that will suck.

[stimpy]

Man I really appreciate your info...

Dackz,

I'm looking at a 3-4 week vacation. Do you think all of it could be spent in Ireland or would there be enough time to spend some in Scotland?

I've wanted to go for about 10 years now but life has kept me down and this is the year where I'm telling everything/everyone 'fuck you' and I'm going.

[lopealle]

I have only been to the airports of both and stayed in some hotels. I was on my way to Iraq though....

[007MCoupe]

Originally Posted by Dackz

Dublin, I would recommend staying in the Temple Bar district or close to it. Anywhere near Grafton street would be good, thats where most of the action is, great bar scene and nightlife and central for everything in the city. I was unable to venture outside of the city because we were only there for 2 days then we went off to Cork for 2 days.

GUINESS = A MUST. Its just something you gotta do. Take your student ID should you have one, saves you money on alot of things over there. We checked out alot of the old churches and parks in Dublin and just kind of enjoyed the friendly atmosphere. Certainly there is more then that but thats really all we did. Still, it was great to experience the cutlure of Irish.

Temple Bar...I couldn't remember the name of it, but yes. My wife and I stayed at a Holiday Inn about a 1/2 mile away (we didn't mind walking to save money on a hotel). Great night life. Almost every bar had some local(s) playing Irish music on their guitar. Go in, order a pint, sit back and enjoy the culture.

Originally Posted by lopealle

I have only been to the airports of both and stayed in some hotels. I was on my way to Iraq though....

haha, yeah I stayed in Shannon airport once. They've got good beer too. well...BEER. which is good. so...

[Dackz]

Originally Posted by stimpy

Man I really appreciate your info...

Dackz,

I'm looking at a 3-4 week vacation. Do you think all of it could be spent in Ireland or would there be enough time to spend some in Scotland?

I've wanted to go for about 10 years now but life has kept me down and this is the year where I'm telling everything/everyone 'fuck you' and I'm going.

Oh yea, you could easily do that. 2 weeks in Ireland would be more then enough IMO. If you plan it right anyway. I dont know much about the smaller towns and touristy areas, and castles along the way and such. But I think you could easily do like 10-12 days in Ireland, then move on to Scotland. It just depends on how immersed into the culture you want to get. IMO, hit up England for a week since your there if you have extra time. London is awesome as well. It just gets expensive traveling out of the city. You just have to plan accordingly to maximize your dollar spent.

Just plan ahead. My friends and I werent working when we went so we booked our stuff about 1 month out, in terms of the flight, hotel and such (got lucky, great deals when we went), and spent that entire month just researching things to do. It worked out well, we knew where we wanted to go and how to do it and maximized our time and money.

Originally Posted by 007MCoupe

Temple Bar...I couldn't remember the name of it, but yes. My wife and I stayed at a Holiday Inn about a 1/2 mile away (we didn't mind walking to save money on a hotel). Great night life. Almost every bar had some local(s) playing Irish music on their guitar. Go in, order a pint, sit back and enjoy the culture.
...

THIS!