UK Itinerary

[waterfordgirl]

This is a very rough itinerary, or wish list. I'm still looking into where it would be best to fly into, and traveling between locations. Ideally the majority of the time I will be staying in hostels or B&Bs (hostels preferred).


Ireland: Dublin(2-3), Cork(2), Killarney or Galaway(2), Belfast(2nights)

Scotland: Glasgow(2), Edinburgh(2), Aberdeen or Sterling (2nights)

England: Liverpool(2), Birmingham or London(2)

Wales: Cardiff(2), Brecon,(2)

I have anywhere from 21-30days to work with. The only places which are "must sees" are Dublin, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. Any feed back would be appreciated.

[madamtrashheap]

Welcome to GFE, waterfordgirl.

Just two questions: where are you flying from? and What time of year are you travelling?

In terms of start and end points, you could fly into and out of any points you like, depending on flight availability from your destination and your eventual itinerary. As an example, you could fly in to London and out of Dublin, or you could do a round trip to give yourself more time in London as 2 days will not be enough, even though it's not on your must see list.

Dublin for 2-3 days is good. 2 full days would be fine, depending on how much you want to see, so if you have a lot planned, and it is on your must see list, see if you can make it 3 full days and you can take your time and enjoy the city.

Cork - really only needs 1 day, which will include time to see Blarney Castle.

Killarney vs Galway - If you go with Galway, make it for 2 full days as you can take one day to visit the Connemara and/or the Aran islands. Killarney is a pretty little town (great pubs and chop shop!), and is located in a beautiful national park, so would be good if you plan to travel in Summer. Even 1 full day would be a good start, but if you enjoy hiking, mountain biking, etc, then choose 2 days in Killarney instead.

Belfast - 2 nights, or 1 full day, will only allow time to explore the city, and there is much to see. You won't have time to get out to the Giant's Causeway with only 1 day.

Glasgow - 1 full day is good for Glasgow, you can explore the city ( and hop-on hop-off city tour bus is a good start) and take in a show or comedy night in the city.

Edinburgh - 2 full days would be good here. Stirling for 1 full day will also let you explore, but you could also stay in Edinburgh for an extra night and take a day trip to Stirling and Falkirk instead. Unless you have family links in Aberdeen, I'm not sure you'd enjoy a full day here. I note you haven't listed the Highlands in your itinerary - any reason?

Liverpool - 1 full day is plenty of time, again unless you have a full list of things to explore in Liverpool. It's a fun city, so a full day and a night to visit the Cavern Club would be fine.

Birmingham vs London - to me there's only one choice: London. And as mentioned, I'd make it for at least 3 full days which will allow for sightseeing in the city (no day trips), depending on your interests. Birmingham again is fun, but London should not be missed.

Cardiff - great town, castles, stadium, pubs, Eisteddfods, old meets new architecture. 1-2 full days would be fine.

Brecon - a small Welsh town which is a good access point to the Brecon Beacons if you plan to hike. If so, you'll need to assess your hiking route to work out how much time you need here. Depending on the eventual route you take, you could also travel through Conwy on your way to/from Ireland, which has beautiful landscapes and the odd castle.

Travel methods will depend on your preferences and travel routes - bus and train travel around Ireland are possible, but driving yourself (if you feel confident) is a great way to operate your own timetable and get off the beaten track if you spot something you want to take a closer look at. This is particularly relevant to Ireland.

Train travel in the UK is expensive when buying Point-to-Point tickets, so look into a BritRail pass at www.britrail.com. Alternatively, National Express is the bus system between cities and is significantly cheaper than train travel, but is also slower. You can also look into flying between, say, Glasgow and Belfast or Dublin and even back to London depending on your final route. Ferry travel between Ireland and Scotland or Wales is also possible.

You can book ahead for B&Bs or, depending on the time of year you are travelling, you can simply book at the train station booths (located in most places upon arrival) for budget accommodation. There are also B&B Guides available in good bookstores for Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England which will allow you to plan ahead. Online services are also an option, even just to get an idea of costs, locations, etc. Hostels are available in each location you've listed, again just do an online search for options, but keep in mind that the busy period (May-Sept) means you'll have to book ahead and early if you're travelling at that time.

Once you've had a chance to set your actual order of itinerary, let us know and we'll be able to suggest transport options for each sector.

[crystal]

Hey there
I can't offer much advice on Ireland as it's a tragedy that I've never been there.
Given the choice of Birmingham or London and Aberdeen or Sterling I would plump for London and Stirling.
I think the places you have suggested sound fine. Although 2 days in London is just scratching the surface and you will have to prioritise what you want to see. If you have spare days I would add some onto London. I'm not sure about travel in Ireland but I would suggest starting in the south and working North so
London - Wales - Liverpool - Glasgow - Sterling - Edinburgh then fly out to Ireland.

As suggested the trains are quicker but more expensive however advance tickets can be bought at a fraction of the cost of "on the day" tickets. I would suggest looking at www.megabus.com as this offers just about the cheapest tickets around on the trains and buses. Bus travel is ok but they stop at every garden gate so are slower. Cheap internal flights are available but if you go with the above route your longest journey would be Liverpool to Scotland so I don't know if it would be worth it but even so you could compare prices at ryanair, Jet2 or easyjet. May be handy if you decide to go straight from London to Scotland.

In terms of accomodation your most expensive places will be London and Edinburgh but all your locations are tourist destinations so you should have a wide choice of budget hostels.

If you want suggestions for other places which you could visit I would suggest posting some of your interests (nightlife, culture, outdoorsy stuff) which will help people to suggest places. My personal favorites not on your list would be York, Bath, Lake District, Highlands but it all depends on what your interests are.