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ireland/scotland trip

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Art M

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Come july my family is heading across the atlantic to ireland and scotland. We are not on any tour trip and our doing are own thing driving about. we fly into dublin, at some point out of shannon to edinburgh, at some point back to shannon, lastly shannon back home. Of the 14 days, the bulk will be in southern and western ireland with the exception of dublin. 4 days will be spent in edinburgh/st. andrews region of scotland. any things or must sees i should consider is welcomed. This is not about golf, i will play some where probably once, more about experience.
Happy New Year
 
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We did a week in Scotland back in September and absolutely can't wait to return.

While we didn't play any, we took the guided tour of the Old Course, and my wife (who doesn't play) really enjoyed it. The guide made it informative, yet really enjoyable. The Cathedral there is cool to walk through.

Edinburgh (make sure to pronounce it: Edin-burra) was a city that we didn't spend too much time in, but liked what we did see. Of course the area around the Castle is must-see (the park just below the castle is an absolutely beautiful area). If you are up for a good hike, look at Arthur's Seat. Amazing views from the summit.

Most of our time was spent between Inverness, Isle of Skye, and west of Edinburgh, so can't help too much with other items. We stayed at a really great B&B near the airport in Edinburgh that is great if you're looking for something that isn't in downtown.

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I should add, we did spend a little time in Ireland (during the cruise) and really liked the Cork / Kinsale areas. If/when we return, we'll head back to the south. Only had one day in Dublin, and aside from the Trinity Library, it seemed like any other major city (but we were only there for 6 hrs).
 
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View from Arthur’s Seat

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The Quiraing on Skye

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Don’t forget about a fluffy Heilan Coo (Highland Cow)

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@tomcat, I hope you didn't butcher the language too much whilst you were over here, the Scots would not appreciate it..... :alien:

Art, enjoy the trip and I hope that you get good weather as there are some spectacular views and scenery across Scotland, and I suspect Ireland as well based on the little I have seen years ago
 
TheDoctor said:
@tomcat, I hope you didn't butcher the language too much whilst you were over here, the Scots would not appreciate it..... :alien:
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While it's impossible to act the part of a local in a place that you're clearly a foreigner, we always try our best to not stick out too much. :)
 
TheDoctor said:
@tomcat, I hope you didn't butcher the language too much whilst you were over here, the Scots would not appreciate it..... :alien:
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Wow this is scary, I'm going to Scotland in May with my in laws who have an even bigger French Canadian accent than I do. It'll be fun
 
MPlefty said:
Wow this is scary, I'm going to Scotland in May with my in laws who have an even bigger French Canadian accent than I do. It'll be fun
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Haha, you will be fine, just don't expect to understand all of what a Scot says at times :D
 
I was in Ireland for a week last summer (2017). Dublin to me was another big city but there are some tourist things that were fun to do (Guiness Brewery) and some pubs that are great. We were in Killarney (SW) most of the trip but made our way north of Shannon airport for golf. You will see some traditionally Irish countryside on your way to Shannon from Dublin. If you have the time, I loved Killarney.
 
Hop the train to Glasgow. A more "Industrial" city, but super fun, and has some great neighborhoods.

I assume you'll drink scotch... Head to The Pot Still, by the train station in Glasgow. Ask the very friendly bartender for a recommendation, and indulge.

Also, the Finnieston neighborhood, is where all the good food is. And the second best whisky bar, The Ben Nevis.

Have fun!
 
Both locations are fantastic vacation destinations. The scenery in Scotland, if the weather cooperates, is jaw dropping. It's a touristy thing but Sterling Castle and the surrounding areas are nice. The west coast of Ireland is great too. Dublin and Edinburgh are beautiful cities but we enjoyed the rural areas more. A small pub, live music, and a pint of Guinness is tough to beat.
 
We'll be taking a guided tour in 2019, either late summer or early fall; in terms of US weather. A Globus tour is what we'll be taking since she has experience with them which means this will be a mindless vacation. With that said, I sure would like some advice as to when the best weather will be for our trip, we're thinking July or August.

https://www.globusjourneys.com/tour/essential-britain-ireland/gb/?nextyear=true
 
so far i know on the drives we will be small town pubbing it for music and drinks. Seeing as one of my boys does not like to drink he will be driving at times, lol. I figure we leave dublin driving south a literally make our way around to galway. Seeing all we can take in. For 10 days, we may anchor in different towns/cities for like 2 or 3 night and use that as a "camp" as opposed to changing dwellings every day.

i am thinking airbnb or vrbo (never done either) instead of hotels because i need to have 2 rooms booked for each night we stay. Hotels add up quickly! Also, flying into and out of ireland instead of scotland (into scotland and out of ireland was the original plan) saves a significant amount of money.

Generally speaking, I'll drink bourbon until i regret it but hate scotch. Maybe being in the home country may change that, lol.
 
Art M said:
so far i know on the drives we will be small town pubbing it for music and drinks. Seeing as one of my boys does not like to drink he will be driving at times, lol. I figure we leave dublin driving south a literally make our way around to galway. Seeing all we can take in. For 10 days, we may anchor in different towns/cities for like 2 or 3 night and use that as a "camp" as opposed to changing dwellings every day.

i am thinking airbnb or vrbo (never done either) instead of hotels because i need to have 2 rooms booked for each night we stay. Hotels add up quickly! Also, flying into and out of ireland instead of scotland (into scotland and out of ireland was the original plan) saves a significant amount of money.

Generally speaking, I'll drink bourbon until i regret it but hate scotch. Maybe being in the home country may change that, lol.
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I would prefer to do the trip the way you're doing it but she prefers the guided trips, which I call mindless trips. A friend of mine did a trip similar to what you're doing and came back with some awesome stories. He also stayed at Airbnb's and vrbo's exclusively.
 
Art M said:
Generally speaking, I'll drink bourbon until i regret it but hate scotch. Maybe being in the home country may change that, lol.
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I'm curious about that, what don't you like about sctoch? is it the peat?
 
MPlefty said:
I'm curious about that, what don't you like about sctoch? is it the peat?
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i would guess so. i have tried many being told "you will like this one". Never
 
From both a visual perspective, and a great golf experience, you wouldn't be disappointed with a visit to Old Head!
 
All of the courses we played in St Andrews are opened to be walked around. Check out the cathedral & cemetery, really interesting. Also the flowers lining the streets there are beautiful.
Go have a pint at Dunvegans & check out all the pictures there.
We had a blast when we were there this past July.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
JimBetts said:
We'll be taking a guided tour in 2019, either late summer or early fall; in terms of US weather. A Globus tour is what we'll be taking since she has experience with them which means this will be a mindless vacation. With that said, I sure would like some advice as to when the best weather will be for our trip, we're thinking July or August.

https://www.globusjourneys.com/tour/essential-britain-ireland/gb/?nextyear=true
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July?

Consider going to the Galway International Arts Festival (15th - 28th).
 
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