In 2017, a friend of mine and I had decided to travel together again. Both of us had yearned to visit Scotland and Ireland for many years. My friend was passionate about visiting Ireland, and I was more interested in Scotland especially with my Scottish heritage. Both of us had traveled together to England two years before on a wonderful 3-week road trip through the Cotswolds and Southwestern England, and had many prior trips together in Europe and throughout the U.S.
So in January we began planning for a mid-May departure for a three-week trip. During the early stages of planning, we quickly realized there was so much to see in Scotland that Ireland would take a back-seat. We agreed our primary focus would be Scotland, and we would include some of northern England since it was right over the border and easily accessible. We also determined we would not rent a car or drive. Our previous 3-week trip to the Cotswolds two years prior, proved treacherous driving with some near misses along the way. So we decided to take short one-day and multi-day tours instead, spending several days each in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I have always found Rick Steve’s travel forum and Trip Advisor Travel Forum helpful for my travel and trip planning. So once again, I turned to the travel forums to find a good tour company. A traveler on one forum had raved about taking excellent tours with Rabbies who offers small group tours out of Scotland. After exploring Rabbie’s many multi-day tours in England, Scotland (and Ireland) we settled on taking two 5-day tours including: Highland Explorer: Skye & Far North – 5 day tour, and the York, the Dales, Lake District & Hadrian’s Wall – 5 day tour of northern England, both departing out of Edinburgh. We also decided to take two one-day tours out of Edinburgh including: St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife – 1-day tour and Rosslyn Chapel and the Scottish Borders 1-day tour. The latter tour also included several hours at the beautiful and ruined Melrose Gothic abbey that supposedly holds the embalmed heart of Robert the Bruce, and lunch in the pretty town of Melrose. The Rabbie’s multi-day tours that included overnights offered the traveler a choice of select B&Bs — from very affordable to higher luxury in price range. We loved each of our B&Bs that were pre-chosen by Rabbie’s and felt very satisfied. Plus, all Rabbie’s tours travel in comfortable 16-passenger Mercedes mini-coaches with large windows; offer extremely knowledgeable tour directors; provide free time and structured time both; and offer excellence in every way—we could not have been more satisfied with our tours.
Apart from our Rabbie’s tours, we spent three full days touring Edinburgh and another two days exploring Glasgow. While very different towns, we loved them both. Edinburgh was very walkable and Glasgow we took the Hop On, Hop Off Bus, which was a god-send in that city. Glasgow is a large city, and many of the key landmarks are spread out miles apart. We bought a two-day pass and used it both days, exploring all the fabulous museums, picturesque parks, art galleries, the beautiful Glasgow University, and seeing it all in from seats perched high up on an open-air bus. We are both excellent long-distance walkers, but Glasgow would have proved too challenging for us, so this was a comfortable way to see all the city had to offer.
My friend flew back to the states from Glasgow, and I flew to Dublin, Ireland where I based myself for five days. I spent two full days touring the sites in Dublin, then took wonderful one-day tours with Viator — a Trip Advisor company. I did the Cliffs of Moher with Galloway one day tour from Dublin; the Kilkenny, Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, Sheep Dog Trials, Day Trip from Dublin and the Northern Ireland Highlights Day Trip. All left early in the morning and returned by 8 pm in the evening for a full day of sightseeing. I was very satisfied! But I realized that I’m just seeing the tip of the iceberg in Ireland and must return – next time will be a driving trip.
