rack him

Considering a +/- two week summer visit to UK & Ireland, which will need to start in London and end in Dublin, and have developed the itineraray shown below. Please let me know if it seems reasonable and/or if you have suggestions as alternatives. General focus is on cities (site-seeing/culture/literature/sports) and nature that is easy to reach/view:

(1) London - 7 days
(2) Travel to Scotland via BritRail - 4 days total, including:
a. Stratford-upon-Avon - 1 day
b. Liverpool / Blackpool - 1 day
c. Glasgow - 1 day
d. Edinburgh - 1 day
(4) Dublin - 2 days

Thanks for your input!

koshka

Sounds like a nice mix of places although I'm intrigued by Blackpool. Never been there and nothing against it but it does stand out a bit from the other destinations.

Are you planning on having days that involve lots of sightseeing and lots of travelling? My first thought is that I would drop 1-2 days in London so that the rest isn't too rushed.

What sports are you thinking of? Seeing something in Edinburgh or Glasgow for example would reduce the time to look at things like museums and architecture which are well worth seeing in both cities.

alanR

BritRail is an agency, it doesn't run trains. Generally passes are poor value unless you want flexibility.

Check nationalrail.co.uk for the REAL prices of trains bearing in mind that cheap tickets become available a maximum of 12 weeks before date of travel. Book as soon as you know your dates and times to get the best prices.

Glasgow-Edinburgh is fixed price so there's no need to book in advance though you may find that Megabus is a better option on that route. Bear in mind that they are only about an hour apart so it could be done as a day trip thus removing the need to change hotels once again. If you fly to Dublin from Glasgow bear in mind that there are two airports - Glasgow and Prestwick.

rack him

Thanks for all of the feedback. This would be my first trip to UK/Ireland (or Europe), so all input is appreciated.

I figured a full week in London given how big the city is and likely how many attractions there are. I was also thinking I could do day-trips outside of the city. That said, if the non-London portions of the intinerary are too rushed, I may need to consider adding in extra days.

I expected that any sporting events I took in would be in London only, but it looks like I should also be looking out for these types of events in other places as well.

Blackpool is in the mix because it is relatively close to Liverpool and seemed like a good place along the coast to stay overnight.

Glad to have the redirect on train travel website!

Wally Bird

Staying at Blackpool would certainly be a unique experience - I'll say no more - assuming you really want to visit Liverpool (Beatles stuff?).
Personally I'd skip both and use that day to go to the Lake District en route Glasgow.

7 days for London seems excessive but I'm probably jaded, and it would allow for leisurely sightseeing. You'll be tired the first day anyway.

User Name

I'm assuming from the way you have written your intinerary that the times in each place that state "1 day" also include the amount of time it takes to travel to that place from the previous night's stay. If this is correct then you are attempting to travel by train from Stratford to Liverpool, do some sightseeing, and then move onto Blackpool all in one day? This sounds like a very bad idea to me, as it will at best give you just a few hours in Liverpool and also you won't have much time in Glasgow either.

Is there any particular reason you chose the Stratford/Liverpool/Blackpool combo? If it was simply a case of chucking darts at a map then I'd recommend a re-work something like:

London - 6 days
York - 2 days
Edinburgh - 3 days
Glasgow - treat as a day trip from Edinburgh (very quick to get to)
Dublin - 2 days

Much less time overall spent on trains and a better balance of time spent in respective places. I threw York in as a popular tourist spot to break the journey to Scotland...

Julian

Very good advice. Why Blackpool??? Liverpool only if you are really into the Beatles. Glasgow also a bit surprising - a couple of good museums. Stratford will take all day if you want to do all the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sites.

big_mac

Liverpool and Glasgow are both amongst the top 5 visited cities for overseas tourists, so I don't think they are that surprising.
Liverpool does have quite a few decent museums and galleries, and it's all within easy walking distance. I don't know if nightlife is relevant, but it is quite lively.

Personally, I think that a visit to Blackpool is quite interesting, if you have never seen an English seaside town, you don't really see quite the same thing anywhere else. One night should be enough, though!

Stratford is probably the biggest addition to travelling time - it's almost worth just making it a day trip and returning to London rather than continuing to the North West.

A Britrail pass is overkill for this itinerary, most of it could probably be done with a single ticket.

Julian

Don't see how this is possible.

big_mac

Buy a return from Edinburgh to London, throw away the outward part.

Use the return to Stratford, then Crewe. Buy a single to Liverpool then a return to Blackpool. Then use the rest of the Edinburgh ticket from Preston to Glasgow to Edinburgh.

PICA

I would use one of your London days to visit Oxford, its close by and has a fair few things to see.

Blackpool is truly awful and should be avoided at all costs!

Also Edinburgh is a stunning city, you might want to spend more than one day there

rack him

Great input, thanks for all of your comments. Itinerary has been revised as follows:

(1) London - 7 days (including day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon)
(2) Edinburgh - 4 days (including day trip to Glasgow)
(3) Dublin - 2 days

Swanhunter

Do try to fit in either Cambridge or Oxford as a day trip from London. If you want a bit of seaside action then Brighton is also very do-able.

Jenbel

if you are here in summer, and want easy viewing for nature, go out to either South Queensferry and do the Maid of the Forth boat trip, or down to North Berwick and visit the Scottish Seabird Centre, and take a boat trip around the Bass Rock - home of one of the largest gannetries.

abcx

Try to go to the Wicklow mountains outside of Dublin if you can. Only an hour away but beautiful.