Ireland & Scotland trip for 2022

[mila]

We are looking to go to Ireland & Scotland in 2022... We have never been, and while we can look at other blog's itineraries, I would like for recommendations from this board- specifically cities to start! Potentially going in April/May or early fall 2022.

We are in our 40s, fairly active, and love food & sightseeing.

[Deleted]

Following! We are also planning an Ireland trip for summer 2022.

[Jalapeñomel]

I’ve done both, in separate trips though. We drove for both of them.


Ireland we did an BnB option, where we booked BnBs a night or two before we got there (we had a list of places that we could go to). We didn’t do the big touristy things (in the southern part like Blarney stone or whatever)) except in Dublin and Galway, but our absolute favorite place was Achill Island. We ate and drank at the places our BnB hosts recommended, but I’d have to go look those up.

Scotland we did a couple years ago, but it was less exciting. Partly because we were with my parents, partly because we had my 16 year old nephew and my 5 year old DS.

[dutchgirl678]

I haven't been to Ireland yet, but we went to Scotland for a week a few years ago and had a blast. We flew in and out of Glasgow but didn't stay. Instead, we rented a house on VRBO in the Highlands near Fort Augustus, which is on the south end of Loch Ness. From there we took day trips to all the sights we wanted to see:
- Eilean Donan Castle and Isle of Skye (Fairy Pools hike). If we had more time we would have stayed on the Isle of Skye for a few days, it is really beautiful
- Urquhart Castle and boat trip on Loch Ness
- Inverness and battlefield of Culloden (Have you seen Outlander?)
- Fort William and Oban
- Aviemore and Cairngorm national park

[eb777888]

We did Scotland and Ireland in one trip, two weeks. We stayed in Edinburgh, Dublin, and Belfast. I would definitely do Edinburgh again, all three of us loved that city so much. Ireland was also great, but we would not stay in Dublin again. It was fine, but I wish I stayed somewhere more interesting. The thing I really love about Ireland is the incredibly beautiful countryside. It lives up to everything I've seen in pictures and movies, it's one of the most beautiful countries I've been to. I would have been happier had we stayed out of the city, which is shocking because I am 100% a city person.

[MyName]

I (40) went 2 years ago with my aunt (60) and her friend (80) and had a great time even though I went a little overboard with the itinerary. We skipped Dublin for the most part, mostly stayed in B&B's in triple rooms and I drove in Ireland, didn't need to in Scotland. Below is from an email I sent to my friend before we went - I'll try to add in highlights.

5/19 - get in to DUB at 5am, get car, drive to Galway and stay there (rec: Oscar's Seafood Bistro)
5/20 - staying in Doolin 2 nights - Cliffs of Moher, did Bunratty Castle & Hazel Mtn Chocolate on the way
5/22 - Killarney - Ring of Kerry/Killarney National Park
5/24 - Cork - my grandfather's mother is from Tipperary which a bit north of there so my aunt wants to visit it
5/25 - I have a res at a nice hotel w a spa in Kinsale (close to Cork) which is a cute seaside town
5/26 - returning car to Cork airport, staying at a hotel there

5/27 - 6am ish flight to EDI from Cork - spend the day in Edinburgh (visited the castle, whiskey tasting)
5/28 - train from Edinburgh to Inverness (takes about 3.5 hrs) - boat tour on Loch Ness
5/29 - I booked a tour that takes us to Outlander-related sites bc my aunt is such a huge fan. (this was great!)
5/30 - train back to EDI and flight to DUB (times tbd), big travel day, stay in DUB
5/31 - fly back to US

[mbcdefg]

We went to Ireland in 2010 with my family. We started in Dublin and then rented a car and made our way to Shannon for the flight home.

I don’t think you need more than a couple days in Dublin. The Guinness Storehouse and Trinity College were the highlights for me.

Kinsale was a really nice town. It was closed while we were there, but Fishy Fishy came very highly recommended for seafood.

We went to Doonbeg because my ancestors are from there.

The Cliffs of Moher are beautiful. The Ladies’ View is stunning.

If you’re willing/able to eat dairy, treat yourself to ice cream and other things. It’s so rich and yummy.

[maudefindlay]

We flew into Shannon (holy cow the vivid, lush, green countryside as our flight made the descent). First up was the Cliffs of Mohr (stopped at an Inn for breakfast on the way). We stayed the night at a B&B in Doolin. Maeve Fitzgerald ran the place and told us to take a nap and she'd wake us up when it was time to go to the pubs and she did!

Next was Killarney and the jaw droppingly beautiful Killarney National Park. Hiking etc, plus we toured Muckross House. There were flowering bushes outside as big as semis with blooms bigger than my head. Another B&B stay.

Drove to Blarney Castle and kissed the stone. I did not know it was up on the roof. I laid down and grabbed these bars up behind my head and this 90 year old man grabbed my belt loops and swung me back to kiss it (there are some thin metal rods under you, but you can see clear to the ground). Then on to Waterford and an Inn on a golf course. We toured The Waterford Crystal Factory and bought some Christmas ornaments. Hard to watch them smash anything with an imperfection. They make The Times Square NYE ball that gets dropped and we saw one there up close.

Next stop Kilkea Castle where we spent the night. There was a wedding going on and I felt like I was in Four Weddings and Funeral. The fascinaters, men in kilts, bagpipes etc it was so fun.

Last was Dublin and we stayed at a boutique type hotel. Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick's Cathedral. I can't remember the pub we went to that night, but it was packed (those were the days) and so much dancing.

[Saudade]

A friend and I went to Ireland a few years ago. When we booked the trip neither of us realized we were going to be there over St Paddy's Day, the days we booked were the only ones that worked with both our schedules 😝🤦‍♀️

Prior to that, I had zero desire to see Ireland at St. Paddy's Day. But it truly was SO MUCH FUN. Yeah, it's full of tourists and the prices were jacked up. But we had a ton of fun. We had a car and spent several days in Dublin and several days in Galway. When we went to Cliffs of Moher, it was too foggy to see anything but due to that we could reuse the ticket the next day.

I'd go back in a heartbeat. Driving all over the countryside in search of random castles and hiking areas was so peaceful and beautiful.

[erbear]

I’ve done both, separate trips. Loved them both.

In Ireland, we flew into Shannon and out of Dublin. Easy and beautiful drive. I loved the Dingle Peninsula and Galway, and Dublin was such a fun city. We had gone for a wedding, which was in Doolin, so it was really fun to see the west little towns.

In Scotland, we went to Edinburgh - rented an Airbnb right on the Royal Mile. It was awesome. We hiked Arthur’s Seat, which was a highlight. Then we drove up to the Highlands (stopped in Stirling, and we stayed in a cool inn in Glencoe). Then ended up in Glasgow.

[erbear]

Feb 26, 2021 20:14:20 GMT -5 maudefindlay said:

We flew into Shannon (holy cow the vivid, lush, green countryside as our flight made the descent). First up was the Cliffs of Mohr (stopped at an Inn for breakfast on the way). We stayed the night at a B&B in Doolin. Maeve Fitzgerald ran the place and told us to take a nap and she'd wake us up when it was time to go to the pubs and she did!

Next was Killarney and the jaw droppingly beautiful Killarney National Park. Hiking etc, plus we toured Muckross House. There were flowering bushes outside as big as semis with blooms bigger than my head. Another B&B stay.

Drove to Blarney Castle and kissed the stone. I did not know it was up on the roof. I laid down and grabbed these bars up behind my head and this 90 year old man grabbed my belt loops and swung me back to kiss it (there are some thin metal rods under you, but you can see clear to the ground). Then on to Waterford and an Inn on a golf course. We toured The Waterford Crystal Factory and bought some Christmas ornaments. Hard to watch them smash anything with an imperfection. They make The Times Square NYE ball that gets dropped and we saw one there up close.

Next stop Kilkea Castle where we spent the night. There was a wedding going on and I felt like I was in Four Weddings and Funeral. The fascinaters, men in kilts, bagpipes etc it was so fun.

Last was Dublin and we stayed at a boutique type hotel. Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse, St. Patrick's Cathedral. I can't remember the pub we went to that night, but it was packed (those were the days) and so much dancing.

You may have stayed in my friend’s aunt’s B and B! Her name is Maeve and they own one in doolin . They also own the pub (Gus O’Connors). And I have the most beautiful photo of those flowers at the Muckross House!

[maudefindlay]

erbear Churchfield was the name of the B&B. Maeve was a sweet character. Yes, I have a close up of one of those bright pink blooms framed in my bedroom. I've never seen a more gorgeous bloom in real life.

[laurack]

I was going to suggest pretty much similar to a previous poster did - fly into Shannon and out of Dublin and travel the coast. I am from Cork so biased toward it but it’s a wonderful city. Killarney, Dingle basically all of Kerry is so beautiful. You could consider a trip to Skellig Micheal by boat- I have not done it myself but I hope to on one of my visits (we go there often as my family all lives there still)

No matter when you go, pack a raincoat! Lol.

[tacocat]

We didn't spend nearly enough time in Scotland (only a few days) and just went to Edinburgh. We now want to go back and see more. I was just going to add if you golf at all it was so amazing to golf at St. Andrews and surprisingly affordable.

[aspentosh]

We went in August 2019 and it was an amazing trip. I originally wanted to do Ireland and Scotland but glad we devoted more time to Ireland. For sure do Dingle, it was our favorite. And the Aran Islands. Devote an entire day to do. So cool to bike around. We also really loved doing Falconry.

Here's my post on it if you want to read more:

pandce.proboards.com/thread/606104/update-loose-ireland-itinerary-scotland

[lemons]

We’d like to visit Ireland in the next few years to visit fiancé’s extended family and I’ve never been.

[msmerymac]

I've done Scotland. We actually did London for 4 days then Scotland for 5, so no Ireland that trip.

Depending on how long you'll be there, I really recommend basing yourself out of Edinburgh. Unless you have a week+ and want to travel around the highlands specifically. Which would be cool and I plan to do that someday, but Edinburgh+ day trips was perfect.

We went in August, during Festival Fringe, which was awesome. The weather is probably as good as it's going to get in Scotland then, lol. Only a few days of rain. We did a comedy show, a Robert Burns impersonator breakfast, some classical music, a pub crawl, a ghost tour, a cocktail tasting at the Balmoral hotel, etc, etc. Most of those were part of the festival, although they do the ghost tours and cocktail tastings all year. We also toured Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish Whiskey Experience, which is very close to the castle on the royal mile. You can also see the military tattoo, or hike up to Arthur's seat, or visit Holyrood Palace at the other end of the royal mile.

We also did a bus day trip to Stirling Castle, which went by the Wallace Monument, and Loch Lomond, where we did a short boat trip. The drive was spectacular, and we were gone for about 8 hours total. (They also had Loch Ness trips which were 12+ hour days, but something to consider if you'd like.)

[mila]

Feb 28, 2021 18:31:21 GMT -5 aspentosh said:

We went in August 2019 and it was an amazing trip. I originally wanted to do Ireland and Scotland but glad we devoted more time to Ireland. For sure do Dingle, it was our favorite. And the Aran Islands. Devote an entire day to do. So cool to bike around. We also really loved doing Falconry.

Here's my post on it if you want to read more:

pandce.proboards.com/thread/606104/update-loose-ireland-itinerary-scotland

Thank you!

[rubytue]

We did Ireland for my 40th birthday. We flew into Shannon and rented a car. Real wake up call to Ireland when you land at 6:30am, grab your rental, and then you hit a traffic circle on the way out of the airport. At 7am. Where everyone is on their way to work and going THE WRONH DIRECTION! LOL this was my #1 memory of Shannon. We did not go the b&b route, because we prefer the anominity of crowd in hotels. We said Killarney & Galway mainly. Drove ring of Kerry, stayed in Derrynane before heading up to Killarney. Walked to soooooo many castles and ruins. Very cool trip!

[Pibs]

How fun! We did a UK & Northern Ireland trip just about 3 years ago and it was amazing. So, looking back at our itinerary here's what we did and would highly recommend.

Scotland:
Edinburgh - stayed at The Witchery, went to The Elephant House because my SIL is a huge Harry Potter fan which was toursity but not overly packed and had good food, toured the National Museum of Scotland, hiked Arthur's Seat, toured Edinburgh castle, and finally had great beer at a place called The Hanging Bat, enjoyed pizza at Brew Dog

Glencoe - for the Glenfinnan Viaduct (Hogwarts Express train route). You can take the train and go over the viaduct, or just hike to it for pictures (you can time it so you can get a picture of the train going over)

Isle of Skye - really enjoyed our stay at the Skeabost hotel; hiked the Fairy Pools and Old Man of Storr (maiden name is Storr so there really wasn't much choice in the matter), should have stopped at Talisker's distillery since we're huge fans but didn't realize it was there until it was too late, and delighted in the Feral Goats warning signs on the way

Loch Ness - people here told me it's not that pretty. And maybe it's not the prettiest place in Scotland, but I still thought it was gorgeous and who can resist looking for Nessie?

We were supposed to do 2-3 scotch tastings but ended up doing a ton more on a whim. The absolute best one was at Balvenie - if you only do one, do this one! They have the entire process start to finish on site so you can see it all. We also really enjoyed Tullibardine because they did a tasting with scotch and chocolate pairings.

Northern Ireland:
Belfast - stayed at Titanic Hotel which was fun and enjoyed a tour that involved parts of the hotel through the Titanic Museum. I highly recommend taking a Black Taxi tour - the drivers show you around areas associated with The Troubles and you'll get a different perspective depending on if you get a Catholic or Protestant driver. Definitely find a pub to wander in to and listen to local musicians while drinking a pint.

We drove along the Antrim Coast and stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (both terrifying and amazing) and the Giant's Causeway. Spend the night at The Bushmills Inn and had the best butterscotch fudge sundae (which is still on their menu). We saw several Game of Thrones locations in N.Ireland but our favorite was Ballymoney or the King's Road at sunrise.

Ireland:
Dublin - we loved Trinity College/Book of Kells/library. Guinness Storehouse Ambassador's Experience was really fun because we got to go to a private room with a few other people and do a small tasting of various Guinness beers while learning more about the history of Guinness. Temple Bar was fun - touristy but so lively and cheerful. We loved our Literary Pub Tour and Irish story telling dinner at The Brazen Head.

Ashford Castle - the whole dang castle was booked when we were there for some fancy wedding, so we stayed at the Ashford Lodge which was fantastic. If you go here, you should absolutely positively do a falconry tour/hawk walk. It was one of our favorite things about our entire trip.

Aran Islands - we went to Inishmore and it was gorgeous. However, there are limited methods of getting around the island (biking, in horse drawn carriage with really sad looking horses, and mini bus). We did the minibus route but ended up going off on our own for part of the tour to see the Worm Hole which was crazy. I'm not sure the rest of the island was worth the visit and we had to sweet talk our driver into letting us take off on our own to hike to the worm hole.

Cliffs of Moher - we walked the cliffs and did a boat tour on a whim, and it was really cool to see the cliffs from different perspectives

Ring of Kerry - we took two half days to drive this and the Dingle peninsula. If you can manage it, I cannot recommend a landing trip to Skellig Michael enough. The number of visitors is super limited because it's a UNESCO site and bird sanctuary with PUFFINS everywhere (at least in May/June when we were there). They're as adorable as they look in the pictures but they only have the orange on their beak during breeding season, if I remember correctly. If you've seen Star Wars The Force Awakens you've seen some of the island - they filmed Luke Skywalker's remote island there with the beehive huts that monks used to live in. Everything we read about the boat ride over and back, getting on and off the boat/island, and the stairs sounded super sketchy and made me really nervous but it was fine.

Killarney - we stayed at the Sheen Falls Lodge which was super relaxing. Another highlight of our trip was kayaking at night to see bioluminescent plankton.

[mila]

Mar 1, 2021 23:47:54 GMT -5 Pibs said:

How fun! We did a UK & Northern Ireland trip just about 3 years ago and it was amazing. So, looking back at our itinerary here's what we did and would highly recommend.

Scotland:
Edinburgh - stayed at The Witchery, went to The Elephant House because my SIL is a huge Harry Potter fan which was toursity but not overly packed and had good food, toured the National Museum of Scotland, hiked Arthur's Seat, toured Edinburgh castle, and finally had great beer at a place called The Hanging Bat, enjoyed pizza at Brew Dog

Glencoe - for the Glenfinnan Viaduct (Hogwarts Express train route). You can take the train and go over the viaduct, or just hike to it for pictures (you can time it so you can get a picture of the train going over)

Isle of Skye - really enjoyed our stay at the Skeabost hotel; hiked the Fairy Pools and Old Man of Storr (maiden name is Storr so there really wasn't much choice in the matter), should have stopped at Talisker's distillery since we're huge fans but didn't realize it was there until it was too late, and delighted in the Feral Goats warning signs on the way

Loch Ness - people here told me it's not that pretty. And maybe it's not the prettiest place in Scotland, but I still thought it was gorgeous and who can resist looking for Nessie?

We were supposed to do 2-3 scotch tastings but ended up doing a ton more on a whim. The absolute best one was at Balvenie - if you only do one, do this one! They have the entire process start to finish on site so you can see it all. We also really enjoyed Tullibardine because they did a tasting with scotch and chocolate pairings.

Northern Ireland:
Belfast - stayed at Titanic Hotel which was fun and enjoyed a tour that involved parts of the hotel through the Titanic Museum. I highly recommend taking a Black Taxi tour - the drivers show you around areas associated with The Troubles and you'll get a different perspective depending on if you get a Catholic or Protestant driver. Definitely find a pub to wander in to and listen to local musicians while drinking a pint.

We drove along the Antrim Coast and stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (both terrifying and amazing) and the Giant's Causeway. Spend the night at The Bushmills Inn and had the best butterscotch fudge sundae (which is still on their menu). We saw several Game of Thrones locations in N.Ireland but our favorite was Ballymoney or the King's Road at sunrise.

Ireland:
Dublin - we loved Trinity College/Book of Kells/library. Guinness Storehouse Ambassador's Experience was really fun because we got to go to a private room with a few other people and do a small tasting of various Guinness beers while learning more about the history of Guinness. Temple Bar was fun - touristy but so lively and cheerful. We loved our Literary Pub Tour and Irish story telling dinner at The Brazen Head.

Ashford Castle - the whole dang castle was booked when we were there for some fancy wedding, so we stayed at the Ashford Lodge which was fantastic. If you go here, you should absolutely positively do a falconry tour/hawk walk. It was one of our favorite things about our entire trip.

Aran Islands - we went to Inishmore and it was gorgeous. However, there are limited methods of getting around the island (biking, in horse drawn carriage with really sad looking horses, and mini bus). We did the minibus route but ended up going off on our own for part of the tour to see the Worm Hole which was crazy. I'm not sure the rest of the island was worth the visit and we had to sweet talk our driver into letting us take off on our own to hike to the worm hole.

Cliffs of Moher - we walked the cliffs and did a boat tour on a whim, and it was really cool to see the cliffs from different perspectives

Ring of Kerry - we took two half days to drive this and the Dingle peninsula. If you can manage it, I cannot recommend a landing trip to Skellig Michael enough. The number of visitors is super limited because it's a UNESCO site and bird sanctuary with PUFFINS everywhere (at least in May/June when we were there). They're as adorable as they look in the pictures but they only have the orange on their beak during breeding season, if I remember correctly. If you've seen Star Wars The Force Awakens you've seen some of the island - they filmed Luke Skywalker's remote island there with the beehive huts that monks used to live in. Everything we read about the boat ride over and back, getting on and off the boat/island, and the stairs sounded super sketchy and made me really nervous but it was fine.

Killarney - we stayed at the Sheen Falls Lodge which was super relaxing. Another highlight of our trip was kayaking at night to see bioluminescent plankton.

Thank you so much for the details. This was so helpful!!

[ellipses84]

I’ve been to Ireland, but mostly stayed around Dublin as we were visiting friends there. There’s enough to do for 3 days in the city without feeling rushed and I second
Pibs recs for the city. My favorite day was going to the Guinness factory, then having dinner at The Brazen Head nearby (the oldest pub in Ireland).

We also took a day trip to Newgrange (prehistoric monument).

At some point we visited the Irish Sea and various castles/churches/towns but I feel like I’ve seen so many in Europe that none of them stood out in my mind, plus I had an Irish friend as a tour guide and didn’t plan much out.

I’m following this post because the next overseas trip I take with DH will be Scotland. I hope that can happen in 2022. We always use London as a home base because I have relatives there.

[jigsy]

I haven't been to Ireland, but I loved Scotland so much that I moved here, so I definetly recommend, lol.
Some highlights from my trips prior to moving:
Visited the Orkney Islands on a bus tour - I am not usually a fan of the organized tours, but I thin it was the right move for this - its not really a place you need to spend multiple days and taking a car over on the ferry seems like a hassle. There were several things I really loved about the Orkneys, but the highlight was looking at the Skara Brae prehistoric village. Its older than stonehenge and the pyramids, and it was just really amazing to see.

Did a farm buggy tour in Thurso - It was my birthday trip, and all I wanted was to hang out some highland coos and this did not disappoint, even though the weather was absolute shite. The journey was also quite an adventure.

Isle of Skye - Both the fairy pools and the Quiraing are breathtaking. Would recommend staying at least one night in Skye so that you can see both.

I live in Edinburgh, and it is an amazing city - there is so much history, food, drinks, and hiking - all in one. If you visit, a hike up Arthurs Seat is required. I would also recommend the Waters of Dean walk which is really easy and beautiful. One of the best meals I've ever had was at Timberyard which I feel like is kind of a hidden gem so far as I don't see it recommended very often. We just happened to book the private room and it was amazing. It was so great that I ended up bookingthe room again for when my courses end as a celebration (I really hope we are back to being able to go to resturants by May, lol).

I could go on and on, but suffice to say, I love Scotland and I don't think you'd be disappointed here.

[bittybomb]

We are planning an Ireland trip for 2022 as well! We were scheduled to go in Summer of 2020, so I'm hoping 2022 is our year.

We have family in Ireland, and are also going with extended family. We are flying into Galway and keeping to the west coast this time since we've been to the south and Dublin side. . We wanted to stay at least one night in a castle but weren't able to in 2020. I'm hoping we will be able to make that happen in 2022. We are planning 10 days and renting a car to do our own driving tour. We also plan to take a ferry to the Aran Islands and do a hawk watch.

Have never been to Scotland, but I've heard it's gorgeous!