Suggestions for Scotland/Ireland Trip

[Phil]

I am always amazed at some of the proposed itineraries. Can I just say that the drive from Edinburgh to Inverness alone will take about 3 hours, non-stop. That is a 6 hour round trip at least. Similarly the trip from Inverness, say, to Skye is about 2 hours and from there to Edinburgh about 4.5 hours. So a long time on the road during which time the driver, unaccustomed to driving here, will see little, having to concentrate on the road.
For a quick overview of Edinburgh the open top bus tours will give you a good grounding and you can hop on and off at various points to view particular places of interest. As for seeing the rest of Scotland in a couple of days, well that is up to you, but you might be best following Jock's advice and concentrating on one or two "must-sees".

[Bluescelt]

I agree Phil. I just spent a 2 weeks in Scotland and had a 4 days in Edinburgh and a lot of driving on the second week in the highlands. If you like cities, Edinburgh's got a lot to see in walking distance on the Royal Mile. You'll enjoy it. If you want to be in the country, you'll spend a lot of time getting to the sites but some of them are amazing. It short, it will be hard to do both and get a good flavor of either. I'd recommend Edinburgh first, there are a bunch of pubs with live music, free fantastic museums and I found folks to be friendly. The highlands for me is best when you can spend some time there and take it in. We rented a cottage on a farm in Laggan and did day trips. We were out by 8 am and home by tea time. It worked well. Saw a lot. Looking forward to the next trip there.

[madmacs]

It would largely depend upon what you want from the trip...

To my mind there's a huge difference in the people, culture and history of Edinburgh and Glasgow. Time in both would perhaps give you a flavour of Scotland

You could easily spend 4 days in either.

I personally would try to avoid the time turning into just driving.

You'd only really be doing a whistlestop tour, with your curremt idea, which is fine if that's what you want.

A suggestion would be to write down everything you want to see in Scotland, prioitise it, and then put a time against each item for how long you want to spend at it. The driving time would then come into play.

I know that when I went to Skye it was a weekend, and finding anywhere to eat was a problem on the Sunday... Hours of operation of sights might curtail some of your enjoyment too.

[Bluescelt]

One image keeps coming to mind. Clark Griswold walking up to the rim of the Grand Canyon, pausing to take it in and then it's off to WallyWorld. Funny, but it's a shame when you can't get enough time to do a place justice.

[cessna152towser]

Well if you want to head north from Edinburgh, Jock Scot's suggestions are probably best.
Its a pity though that you cannot spend more time in Scotland as the west coast with its sea lochs (fiords) and islands is particularly beautiful and much of the colourful history of the border wars is to be found south of the Edinburgh-Glasgow central belt where there are still many castles and medieval towerhouses dotted around the countryside.

[denmcdough]

Thanks to all for the pertinent information. I kind of assumed that I was biting off more than I could chew, and I'm disappointed that I won't get to do more in Scotland, but I can always return.

I think that Jock's assessment will be best for us. My wife agrees! Anyway, I'll get a feel for Scotland, and it will only make me more determined to return, hopefully, next year.

[SeumasA]

Wherever you decide to go, plan on it taking a lot longer than you expect. Scotland does not have anything like our interstate freeway system. A fifty mile trip can take two to three hours, depending on the roads. Personally, with only four days I would stick close to Edinburgh. You could easily take two full days in Edinburgh, then if you want to see historic sites take a day trip to Sterling, Bannockburn and the Wallace Monument, and another day trip south to Melrose Abbey and Roslyn Chapel.
Just my $.02

Edited to add: please don't take my comment about travel time and the roads as a negative. Scotland has great roads, in excellent condition and good repair. They're just different from what you might see here in the States. Don't look at a map, see something fifty miles away and think to yourself, "We could just jump on the freeway and be there in 45 minutes or so". 90% of the time you'll be wrong.
Also, there are a couple other things to keep in mind if you're going to rent a car. First of all, rent the smallest car you can. If it's just you and the wife, something like a Ford Fiesta or VW Polo (the Golf's little brother) would be great. Generally, your auto insurance will not cover a rental car in a foreign country. The insurance offered by the rental agencies is extremely expensive--two or three times the rental fee itself. Talk to your local insurance agent before you leave and see if you can line something up. GPS rentals are also exorbitant. You'd be better off taking your own and downloading a set of UK maps. Even if you plan on using GPS, you'll want a quality set of maps that show the B roads and single tracks.
Finally, you'll be driving on the other side of the road. Always look RIGHT before pulling out.

[John_Carrick]

Sorry I should have picked up that you were asking for advice about Ireland too.

On the Scotland front I would just say that long drives can be very pleasurable in the Highlands on a decent day when you are not in a rush, and you are able to stop and savour views, have a picnic, visit castles (Eilean Donan if you do venture near Skye) and distilleries (Talisker on Skye).

With regard to Ireland you have two days in Dublin which is good. You can get by fairly well on foot and cabs are not too dear. Maybe take the DART to Howth or along the short line along the coast to the South.

You don't say how long you have when you return to Ireland and whether you are flying back to Dublin. The ferry from Troon to Larne is great in the summer.

Outside of Dublin, Wicklow is a pretty county (Glendalough is a good walk), Kilkenny is an interesting place to visit and not bad night life, Cork is a worthy second city, Dingle (as mentioned above) is a tad more enjoyable than the Ring of Kerry, but thats nice too, Co Claire (The Cliffs of Moher), Galway (if travelling North from there, take the long route through Clifden and Conemara) and Donegal (needs a couple of days). I have a personal bias for Sligo, which is between Galway and Donegal. If you have time for the North, Derry/Londonderry is having the UK City of Culture and there is plenty going on there, the North Antrim Coast (the Causeway), Belfast, the Mournes and back to Dublin. Thats about a week to 10 days worth going clockwise around the island.
John