Calling all my Scottish/Irish brethren, I have a travel Question

[BigBlueDodge]

I am planning on taking my family to a 2 week vacation this year to Ireland and Scotland (1 week in each country). I have some questions for you locals. If you would like to help me out, shoot me a PM and I will take it offline, or just post here that you would like to help.

Let me thank you up front, for helping me on this.

David

[GilesGuthrie]

There's a sizeable Scottish contingent here, and if there's one thing we love, it's banging on about how great this place is. Fire away.

[BigBlueDodge]

Excellent, well here is my scenario.

I am planning on coming over in June/July timeframe. Here are some of my questions

1. I am using some airline miles to pay for the tickets. I am flying American Airlines, and they currently only fly to Dublin, Ireland. That means that my entry, and exit must occur at Dublin. It would be great if I could rent/hire a car in Dublin, and drive it to Scotland, but reading on the subject says that it isn't allowed. So my initial thoughts were to fly into Dublin, catch a bus to Belfast, and take a ferry across to Glasgow. Then I will rent/hire a car in Glasgow, tour Scotland for the next 6 days before returning to Glasgow. I will then return the car, jump on a ferry back to Belfast, take a bus down to Dublin. Once in Dublin, I will rent a car, and tour Ireland, before returning back to Dublin for my flight home. Does this sound reasonable? I've read that the bus system is pretty good, and that I should be able to catch a bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast no problem.

2. What are my options for getting from Belfast to Glasgow? I'm assuming that there are ferry's that travel between the two cities. What is the cost of riding on said ferry?

3. We plan on hiring a car, and driving thru the country and seeing things at our own schedule. Our initial plan is to stay at Bed & Breakfasts. It appears that there are many bed & breakfast available. I see that most bed & breakfast charge per person. There will be 5 people staying. It would be cheaper if I could find some that charge by the room, and not the person. Is this pricing option available, or am I stuck with per person?

4. I plan on taking lots of pictures. I'm so jealous of the beautiful pictures I keep seeing pop up on the travel/landscape forum from Ireland/Scotland. We plan on staying to the south of Ireland (Dublin, Cork, Galway) and to the north of Scotland (Highlands, Inverness). If you have some suggestions for MUST HAVE pictures, then please feel free to suggest.

5. Weather. If you had a choice between June / July / August what would you take? That time of year is pretty hot for Texas (average around 38 degrees Celsius). I know I should expect rain, but which month is better for sun? Also, would you describe the rain as a slow, drissly rain, or more short, drenching bursts?

[lomond]

1. I am using some airline miles to pay for the tickets. I am flying American Airlines, and they currently only fly to Dublin, Ireland. That means that my entry, and exit must occur at Dublin. It would be great if I could rent/hire a car in Dublin, and drive it to Scotland, but reading on the subject says that it isn't allowed. So my initial thoughts were to fly into Dublin, catch a bus to Belfast, and take a ferry across to Glasgow. Then I will rent/hire a car in Glasgow, tour Scotland for the next 6 days before returning to Glasgow. I will then return the car, jump on a ferry back to Belfast, take a bus down to Dublin. Once in Dublin, I will rent a car, and tour Ireland, before returning back to Dublin for my flight home. Does this sound reasonable? I've read that the bus system is pretty good, and that I should be able to catch a bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast no problem.

Hi BigBlue,

AFAIK there are no ferries direct to Glasgow.
The options would be Stranraer, Cairnryan or Troon.
The Troon ferry is from Larne I believe.

BigBlue, have you considered jumping a cheap flight from Dublin to Prestwick (about 30 miles south of Glasgow)
Rent a car at Prestwick and drive north bypassing Belfast,Glasgow etc.
Ryanair do very cheap flights.
http://www.ryanair.com

2. What are my options for getting from Belfast to Glasgow? I'm assuming that there are ferry's that travel between the two cities. What is the cost of riding on said ferry?
See above.
Some links to ferry companies below.
Stenna Line (http://www.stenaline.co.uk/stena_line/stena_line_uk/gb/belfast_-_stranraer.html)
P&O Irish Sea (http://www.poirishsea.com/)

BigBlueDodge3. We plan on hiring a car, and driving thru the country and seeing things at our own schedule. Our initial plan is to stay at Bed & Breakfasts. It appears that there are many bed & breakfast available. I see that most bed & breakfast charge per person. There will be 5 people staying. It would be cheaper if I could find some that charge by the room, and not the person. Is this pricing option available, or am I stuck with per person?
Most are per person although you will find a few that charge per room.
If you are on a budget you could consider Travel Lodge (http://www.travelodge.co.uk/) or Premier Travel Inn (http://www.premiertravelinn.com/pti/home.do).
Cheap and per room but no meals and no frills.
I've found the rooms to be clean and tidy with en suite facilities.

4. I plan on taking lots of pictures. I'm so jealous of the beautiful pictures I keep seeing pop up on the travel/landscape forum from Ireland/Scotland. We plan on staying to the south of Ireland (Dublin, Cork, Galway) and to the north of Scotland (Highlands, Inverness). If you have some suggestions for MUST HAVE pictures, then please feel free to suggest.

You'll get loads of suggestions but I'll start the ball rolling.
The Isle of Skye.
Easy access by bridge from Kyle of Lochalsh.

5. Weather. If you had a choice between June / July / August what would you take? That time of year is pretty hot for Texas (average around 38 degrees Celsius). I know I should expect rain, but which month is better for sun? Also, would you describe the rain as a slow, drissly rain, or more short, drenching bursts?

I'd go for June or July.
I would describe the rain as all of the above ...... and more. :)

[lomond]

Also have a look at this thread, especially page 2.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=186220&highlight=scotland
Some great images.

[BigBlueDodge]

This is great stuff ! You guys never let me down.

David

[Robuk]

If you are going to take the option and fly from Dublin, beware of the baggage allowance con as Ryanair only give 15 kilos per passenger and will sting you big time if you're over that (approx $14 per kilo). It may be different as you are coming over from the States, and you may be able to carry over your allowance from airline to airline, but you need to check before booking...............

Rob

[calgaryphotographer]

@ BigBlueDodge -

Your flying with AA frequent flyer points? As with most airlines, these are able to be redeemed on any airline in their partnership (in your case AA,British Airways and Aer Lingus).

Try booking off the oneworld.com website.

[GilesGuthrie]

OK, here is what I would have as my Scotland-in-a-week road trip:

Day 1: Glasgow City Centre; The Burrell Collection (south of Glasgow)

Day 2: Glasgow to Oban (oh-bun), via Loch Lomond and Crianlarich (cree-an-laa-richh).

Day 3: Oban to Stirling, travelling through Callander. Look out for the disused railway bridge cut into the side of the hill between Killin and Callander. Stirling Castle/Centre, then arrive in Edinburgh (edd-'n-bruh) for the evening.

Day 4: Edinburgh City Centre. Start at Holyrood House, visit the Parliament, then up the Royal Mile to the Castle. Best shopping is on George Street, although pricey. "The Living Room" and "Centotre" (chen-tow-tre) are good eating on George Street.

Day 5: Edinburgh to Inverness. Head from Edinburgh across the Forth Road Bridge and up to Perth. Up the A9 through Blairgowrie. Take the turning to Spean Bridge, stop at the distillery on the way. Turn right at Spean Bridge and drive around Loch Ness on your way into Inverness. If you have time, head north from Inverness towards Dingwall. Overnight in Inverness.

Day 6. Inverness to Aberdeen, then Aberdeen to Braemar, down to Dunkeld. This will take you across the northern countryside, through Speyside (distillery heaven), Elgin and then into Aberdeen. Contrary to popular belief, there isn't much to see in Aberdeen. Head out on the Banchory road to Braemar, then down towards Perth. This will take you through the ski resort of Glenshee, and is magical. It's God's own driveway too. Turn right at the top of Perth to head to Dunkeld and preserve the driving and scenery fun. This is a lot of driving, and there are many things to stop and see on the way. It'll be a long day.

Day 7: Quick detour our of Dunkeld to Pitlochry. Turn right past The Scotland Hotel and head out for around 4 miles, where you will find Scotland's smallest distillery, The Edradour. Buy their Unchillfiltered bottle - it rules. Head to Perth then right-and-down for Glasgow airport in the early evening.

If you're five adults, hire a people carrier (minivan), as there are few British cars big enough for five adults in long-distance comfort. The itinerary isn't suitable for young children: they'll be bored. Tell us if you need child hints.

[Pronunciations, timings/distances and what you're interested in are all best-guess estimates]