Planning vacation in UK next August

[Deleted]

DH & I are saving up for a 2-week-ish trip to England, Scotland, and Ireland. We plan to mostly backpack through, aside from some transport needed for longer hauls between countries/cities.

If anyone has any recs for the following, I'll take them:
- airlines & airports
- hostels or affordable lodging to look at
- whiskey tours? (mostly for DH)
- must-sees?
- tips for backpacking travel in the UK?

DH & I have both been to England (at different times), but neither of us have been to Scotland or Ireland. Please share your valuable insights so we can get more savvy. We plan to travel in August 2015 before the kids start school. TIA!

[marina007]

Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Inverness is a great Scotland itinerary in my opinion - not too far from each other, all beautiful (but different?). Lots to see in England, and I love London and Brighton.

If I were you, I'd just be careful about trying to cram in too many places in not enough time. It's fun to see a lot, but getting from place to place is a bit stressful and it's great to be able to explore and experience each place properly.

[Deleted]

We did 9 days in Ireland last September - here is the link to my trip report. With the exception of our hotel in Dublin, all of the inns that we stayed at were reasonably priced (I'd say 120/night or less). I'd prioritize the Dingle Peninsula and Cliffs of Moher.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/227120/ireland-trip-report

[jennybee1018]

We're leaving on Friday to go to Edinburgh, so I have a few more tips once we're back!

However, we've been to Scotland before, and we stayed in the Highlands. We were about 90 minutes outside of Abederdeen in an adorable little town called Craigellachie.

It was right on the whiskey & castles trail so we hit a ton of distilleries - Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Aberlour, Glenfarclas, etc. you'll have to check and see what distilleries will be in the vicinity once you plan your trip. It's a lot of fun and there are usually tastings after the tour. My favorite one was Balvenie, but it's not close to Edinburgh!

While we are in Edinbrgh, we plan to go see the castle, hike Arthur's seat & possibly do a day trip to Stirling to see another castle. Otherwise, we just plan to eat and drink good food!

We realized after booking that the Fringe festival will be going on, so we're not sure what the crowds will look like.

We're staying in a house we rented on Housetrip relatively close to the Royal Mile.

I'll update once I get back!

[osumelissa]

I just got back last month from three weeks in the UK (Scotland and England). I have a post that I did that has a lot of info in it.

Not sure where you are flying from, but I really like Virgin Atlantic for flying to the UK. Most likely if you start in another part of the UK outside of London, you will have to transfer at Heathrow - there are a lot of steps at Heathrow for passengers on connecting flights, but it was actually a smooth process. Took me just about an hour from landing until I was sitting at my gate for my flight to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is a fantastic city, and St Andrews was a really nice day trip from there. On the west coast, I absolutely fell in love with Oban. I did a day trip to three of the islands near Oban with West Coast Tours which I would highly recommend. In England, I cannot recommend York enough. There are lots of easy day trips from there that you can do - if I had longer, I would have stayed in York a few more days and dont a few day trips for breweries and hiking.

[osumelissa]

Oh also, depending on how long you are planning to be in each city, I would recommend looking at AirBNB - you can either just rent a room from someone or you can rent a whole flat. It can really be cheaper than a hotel...if you are renting a room it's possible it could be cheaper than a hostel and a bit more "homey".

[sporky]

We've been to all three countries, but didn't backpack so I can't help you there. But we did hit up 6 different distilleries in Scotland while there: Edradour, Glefiddich, Glenlivet, Dalwhinnie, Blair Atholl, and Glen Grant.

[mrsukyankee]

I would also look at B&Bs as they can sometimes be less expensive than hotels but nicer than hostels. Where in England are you planning on visiting? I may be able to give some suggestions for both B&Bs and hostels.

[Deleted]

So, an update: DH's projection for our trip is to fly into Heathrow, stay in London for maybe a day or two, then train to Edinburgh, tour around, then fly to Dublin, tour around, fly home from there.

Thanks for all the tips thus far - keep 'em coming if you desire. It's a whole year away and I'm already excited!

[pittpurple]

Hiya,
I live in Edinburgh so hopefully can help. I really think you're trying to cram in too much. I'd do Scotland OR Ireland, it really will be too frenetic otherwise. Both countries are similar in a lot of ways and offer similar options (hiking and castles and yummy food). Personally, I'd vote for Scotland (easier from London and Edinburgh is - IMO - prettier than Dublin) but you can easily spend the time in any place.

There's also TONS to see in England so you could even make it a 2 week trip just to England, but I definitely think it's really, really rushed the way you're thinking it.

Open jaw tickets are a great idea - flying into/out of Heathrow/Edinburgh/Dublin and not backtracking is great. Check out skyscanner to see what cheap airlines fly the routes you're looking at

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2014 15:44:13 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I would also look at B&Bs as they can sometimes be less expensive than hotels but nicer than hostels. Where in England are you planning on visiting? I may be able to give some suggestions for both B&Bs and hostels.

Hey, I'm at the point where we're looking to book our England stay (just 1-3 nights). DH keeps saying he wants to stay in the "west end" but I'm clueless. Do you have recs for good hotels, hostels, or B&Bs? We tend to like the good quality but not shwanky places - more character is better.

TIA!

[mrsukyankee]

Sept 8, 2014 23:49:15 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

Jul 28, 2014 15:44:13 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I would also look at B&Bs as they can sometimes be less expensive than hotels but nicer than hostels. Where in England are you planning on visiting? I may be able to give some suggestions for both B&Bs and hostels.

Hey, I'm at the point where we're looking to book our England stay (just 1-3 nights). DH keeps saying he wants to stay in the "west end" but I'm clueless. Do you have recs for good hotels, hostels, or B&Bs? We tend to like the good quality but not shwanky places - more character is better.

TIA!

The Soho Hotel & Dean Street Townhouse are the two in that area that I'd be able to suggest.  Not inexpensive but 'cool'.  Just outside of Soho in the Marylebone area (near Baker St tube station which is VERY convenient) is an interesting hotel called Ten Manchester Street.  And also The Grazing Goat, which is near Marble Arch tube (so also just around the corner from Soho area) and not quite as expensive as the others.

For something different, I have used the London B&B company - you stay in a private home, which can be very cool.  I did that for a week when I first moved here and it was great - sometimes unusual place, and less expensive.

[Deleted]

Hi all - first off, I want to say thanks so much for all of your help as we were exploring how to structure our trip.

We just got back last Wednesday from our two-weeks: 2 nights in London, 6 nights Edinburgh, 5 nights Dublin, 1 night London.

Edinburgh was, hands down, my FAVORITE place of all. We didn't even get out of the city; each day we tried new directions and a different type of tour, and it was all completely beautiful and fascinating. We were there just before Fringe and the Military Tattoo started, but it worked out because we had ample time to roam and experience some different sites in Old Town and New Town.

Dublin was a totally different feel than Edinburgh and London. We got out to Cork and Blarney on a day trip which was our favorite part of that excursion, and really made me realize we need to get back to Edinburgh to roam out to the countryside there, too.

London... still my I-wish-I-could-live-there city. We had the least time there, but I love it with all my heart. We stayed in South Kensington and roamed the surrounding streets there (including a bike ride through Hyde and Kensington Parks).

I still have to fill in a ton of my reviews, but some are already on my TripAdvisor profile. We didn't stay in any hostels as originally planned, which wound up to be a boon since DH strained his Achilles tendon in Edinburgh and carrying around his backpack would have aggravated it even further. 

[anna7602]

Sept 9, 2014 1:42:17 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

Sept 8, 2014 23:49:15 GMT -5 @ladydisdain said:

Just outside of Soho in the Marylebone area (near Baker St tube station which is VERY convenient) is an interesting hotel called Ten - Street.  

Marylebone is a fabulous area to stay with kids. Several lines converge at the Baker Street tube stop and you can get almost anywhere without changing lines from there, including Big Ben, the Aquarium, the London Eye, and Kings' Cross Station (if your kids want to see Platform 9 & 3/4!). Plus you are in walking distance of Regents' Park and there are tons of cute restaurants and grocery stores to stock up around there. 

I stayed in an AirBnB in that area last month with my two kids and it was perfect. 

Re: Scotland, I am linking to an old blog post from when we went in 2013 (DD was just about to turn 5 at the time): malangababy.blogspot.com/2013/05/scotland-for-under-five-set.html

I absolutely loved Oban and the Isle of Skye and the whiskey in both places was top-notch. Do a tour of Tallisker or Oban. 

We stayed at a lot of family-run B & B's in Scotland and had a great experience.