Myself and some friends are in the early stages of planning a potential trip to Ireland or Scotland this fall.

One friend has been overseas (spent about 2 months visiting Germany and surrounding areas). The rest of us not so much (I've been to Cancun and Jamaica).

Looking for suggestion on travel , areas to visit, and things to do.

aggie4231 said:

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Myself and some friends are in the early stages of planning a potential trip to Ireland or Scotland this fall.

One friend has been overseas (spent about 2 months visiting Germany and surrounding areas). The rest of us not so much (I've been to Cancun and Jamaica).

Looking for suggestion on travel , areas to visit, and things to do.

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Go see the castle in Edinburgh. If you play golf you should also go to St. Andrews. Both are amazing.

If you are interested in Ireland let me know. I went at the end of September early October two years ago. The weather was great!

Going to Scotland in October, using Edinburgh as a base and doing private tours from there.

We did this trip + London in October of this past year. It's a great time for it.

I liked Scotland more so than Ireland personally but I'm a scotch drinker so I'm a bit biased. Edinburgh, St Andrews, and the highlands are must do's. Our favorite part of the whole trip was renting a car and driving the scenic route from Aberdeen to Dufftown(scotch Mecca). The country side was changing colors and was BEAUTIFUL and we timed it to where we could hit up a Glenlivet distillery tour at the end.

I'd like to go back and see(drink through)some of the other parts of the country though.

Ireland was fine, just not as captivating as Scotland in my opinion. Dublin is very much a modern city but it has historical touristy stuff to do/see. We saw a lot of homeless/loitering which turned us off. I will say that they have something like 30k bars and they are busy every night if he week if you're into that sort of thing. Cliffs of Moher was pretty but it's a bit of a hike.

One recommendation, book a hop on/off bus tour if you go to Dublin or Edinburgh. The ticket is good for 1-2 days and we used it as a taxi during the day. Saved some cash and you go to parts of the cities you might miss if you're on your own.

Been to both. Really liked Ireland but it just doesnt compare to Scotland.

Been to both. I like Ireland better but they are different.

There are NOT 35K pubs in Dublin...lol

Went to Scotland this past September/October and was one of the greatest 2 weeks of my life

Went to Ireland for new Years. Dublin is...OK.

We enjoyed the south-east (Kerry/Dingle Peninsula) the most. Being there in December/January, we had the luxury of being basically by ourselves. I honestly can't imagine what driving the Kerry Peninsula would be like during high season. Sure, a few places were closed, but most of the time we were able to explore just about anywhere without a crowd.

Been to both in September and preferred Ireland. We stayed at B&Bs and loved the traditional music in pubs. One part of Ireland that is stunning and traveled less is The Donegal coast.

Anyone who judges Ireland based on only being in Dublin didn't really go to Ireland. The first thing you do when you go to Ireland is gtfo of Dublin.

If you go up to the Highlands, the scenery in Scotland is more dramatic than in Ireland. I also think Edinburgh beats Dublin, but you really can't go wrong with either. One thing I will say--don't try to do both, because you won't do either justice that way.

The only good way to really see the rural ares of both is to drive, which requires you to drive on the wrong side of the road--takes a little planning and preparation, but it's doable, particularly if you stick to the rural areas (cities are where you run into trouble). The single track roads in Scotland are something you need to read up on and prepare yourself for, if you opt to go that route.

Yeah, I exaggerated by about 34k but it feels like that's the case. They're literally everywhere.

BoilerAg,
Had a cab driver tell me exactly how many pubs there are in Dublin. He said he knows that 5 that dont have good cell service and when his wife tries to get a hold of him and he doesnt want to talk to her he tells her later that he was in one of the 5. Pretty funny guy.

Thanks everyone.

Looks like we are going to plan for about 10 days plus travel days to/from US.

Buddy wants Ireland (he is part Irish). I would prefer Scotland (I am part Scottish).

I personally would think Scotland would provide more to see, and afford the ability to possibly tact on Stonehenge.

Any other insights? Also, for October timeframe, what would y'all suggest for clothing?

Rain jacket with a hood, some kind of pants that are either water proof or quick dry. Other than that pack what you can wear in layers. Long sleeve shirts, a light jacket, heavy jacket, etc. we were there this past October and it was anywhere from 40-60 degrees every day, and rained about half the days. Gloves and warm socks help too. Jeans are good for going out to dinners and stuff but you never know when it'll open up on you and soak them.

Someone above mentioned Dufftown....we did a walking whisky tour of Dufftown on a whim when we were there. Found a flyer for it at a pub we were having lunch at after our Macallan tour and called and booked for that night.

http://www.speysidetours.co.uk/dufftown-distilleries-walk.php

Awesome tour, one of the highlights of our trip.

We went to Ireland on our honeymoon in 2014. We enjoyed the west coast so much, when we go back we will fly into Shannon. The Connemara area was our favorite, we stayed in Clifden and Cong. The pub nightlife was awesome, singalongs most nights, locals are a blast to be around. The scenery around Killarney is fantastic, the ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula are must sees. The Cliffs of moher are worth the stop as well. You can walk right up to the edge, which is crazy. We rented a car, it takes about 20 minutes to get used to the other side. Make sure you have a GPS, the roads are not marked well.

If you do Ireland then I would suggest the following


Fly into Shannon
Dingle Peninsula
Cliffs of Moher
Galway
Sligo (Strandhill, Knocknarea, Benbulbin, Mullaghmore,
Dongegal (Ardara, Glenveagh, Buncrana)
North (Portrush)
Dublin to fly out


If you really want something different you can rent a cabin boat and cruise on the Shannon river for a couple days.

Scotland at that time of year, would definitely depend on what you are wanting to see. However, I'd say if you ever have a chance to see the the Isle of Skye over a 3-5 day period where you have pretty clear weather and no rain, there is really nothing like it. Edinburgh is a great city, but to me the gym of Scotland is in the small towns in the Highlands.