Scotland or Ireland??

[kstew88]

I will only have a couple of days to travel to either Scotland or Ireland. I would appreciate any information on what there is to see or do in both places and any advice. I know virtually nothing about these two countries. Also, I will be coming from London, so any traveling tips would be great as well. Thanks!

[herrbert]

How many days is a couple???

I would say do a search on both countries. (adjust the number of days, as it is set to 7 days). There are a number of threads on Ireland the last couple of months.

I think Scotland is easier to reach when coming from London. There are a couple of budgetflights to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Galway revolutionmusic.eu/flightassistent/countries/uk/londonall.html. But there are also trains and busses going north.

For Ireland, there are also a lot of flights. But for the other options, you need to cross the Irish Sea.

[pointofnoreturn]

Definitely Scotland.

[crystal]

Ooo tough question.

In terms of travel from London you are probably looking at similar journey times via budget airlines but by going to Scotland you have the advantage of looking at other methods of travel as well (bus, train, walk, bike ) no Irish Sea to cross.

If you only have a couple of days (I'm assuming less than a week) you will have to decide if you are looking for a city break or a more rural trip. A city break would probably be a toss up between Edinburgh and Dublin. I love Edinburgh and could easily fill a few days. I have never been to Dublin but have only heard positive things about it. In terms of countryside/rural trips, Scotland is probably easier to get around than Ireland. From what I've read (on this site) Ireland public transport is a bit of an 'adventure!' and hiring a car is 'life changing'. I think in terms of history and attractions you are looking at very similar landscape.

Just one thing to note if you are going to travel to the Irish Republic you will need to change your money. They have the Euro. Not a major issue but could that sway the tight vote?

I'm gonna totally sit on the fence with this one.
Personally I would go for Ireland but if it was my first time in either country I would go for Scotland.

Sorry if that sounds a bit rambling :-)

[Eagle]

kstew88, judging by the Posts so far, it appears that everyone has their favourites when choosing between Scotland and Ireland. Your decision on which place to visit will probably be based primarily on two factors:

a.) Which place is easiest and most cost effective to visit in the time you have available?

b.) Which place interests you the most in terms of culture or whatever?

Although Scotland will be a bit easier in terms of transportation if you use trains, if you decide to use budget flights it doesn't really matter as the flight times and costs will probably be close.

As you only have a few days in whichever location you choose, it would probably be prudent to concentrate on one city rather than rushing about trying to see many different places. For Scotland my choice would be Edinburgh and for Ireland it would be Dublin.

Let us know which one you choose.

Cheers!!!