I think you win. Hull is always number one in the “Crap Towns” list.
I like this idea best, and that’s what I’d do.
If you’re the adventurous type, by all means grab a guide book and a train ticket. Me, I prefer someone local to show me the ins and outs (and the inns and pubs!) of a place. I’m the kind of tourist that likes to get to know the *people *of a place more than I’m interested in the churches and the museums, so I’d rather sit up front and chat with the driver about the local school teacher strike and where to get a really good pint at a place with local musicians playing good music.
You, of course, are you, not me, and should arrange the sort of thing you like. But it’s not like boat or rental car are your only options.
(But you should definitely go see Newgrange!)
Unfortunately, I can tell you right now the “by-the-seat-of-your-pants” approach to foreign travel would be nice, but isn’t going to happen. It’s going to be our first time in Europe for either of us (I’m going with my mother), and we’ve heard horror stories about driving on the left side of the road, roundabouts, and renting a manual on accident and having the shifter on the left side instead of the right. 
You guys are right, though, there aren’t many of them, but these are the ones that we’ve been looking at. The first cruise itinerary… …
Greenwich, London, England ON
1 Greenwich, London, England 11:00 AM
2 At Sea
3 Newcastle upon Tyne, England 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
4 S Queensferry (Edinburgh), UK TR 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
5 Scrabster, Scotland, UK 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
6 Dunvegan, Scotland TR 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
7 Belfast, Northern Ireland 08:00 AM 11:00 PM
8 Dublin, Ireland 08:00 AM 11:00 PM
9 Dunmore East, Waterford, Ire TR 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
10 Cardiff, Wales, UK TR 07:00 AM 05:00 PM
11 Falmouth, Great Britain 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
12 Portland, England, UK 08:00 AM 06:00 PM
13 Guernsey, Channel Islands TR 07:00 AM 03:00 PM
14 Dover (London) England 07:00 AM
The other one…
0 Amsterdam, Netherlands 05:00 PM
1 At Sea
2 Newcastle upon Tyne, England 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
3 Rosyth (Edinburgh), Scotland, 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
4 Invergordon, Scotland 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
5 At Sea
6 Douglas, Isle of Man 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
7 Belfast, Northern Ireland 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
8 LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, UK 08:00 AM 11:00 PM
9 Dublin, Ireland 08:00 AM 11:00 PM
10 Dunmore East, Waterford, Ire 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
11 MILFORD HAVEN, WALES, UK 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
12 At Sea
13 Guernsey, Channel Islands 08:00 AM 05:00 PM
14 Dover (London) England 07:00 AM
So even if they arrive an hour late into a port, and we have an hour drive inland, that still gives us at least seven hours. I realize we’re not going to be seeing the whole country in this manner, but I also realize that going alone probably isn’t going to be in the cards. I’ll look into it though.
FWIW, this would be close to a likely tour itinerary.
We also intend to add another 2-3 nights in London before heading back.
Thanks guys. Any other UK/Ireland travel tips would be appreciated.
I know we haven’t been enormously helpful, but those schedules you posted look pretty damn good.
As for general advice: make sure that your ATM card works with a four digit PIN, and let your card issuers know that you will be using them abroad.
Cyberhwk, three things about what you’re saying - negative, I’m afraid, but you did ask.
- Your itinerary is weird, and will give you a bizarro “view” of the country.
- You’re exaggerating how difficult it’s going to be. It’s not like you’re in Germany or France with a language problem. We all speak the same language, and people here are generally very helpful and friendly. Hotels can be booked on the internet, same as home. How hard would it be to self-plan a 12-day tour in the US? It’ll be about the same.
- The car adaptation - you can always get an automatic if you want one. And it takes about an hour to get used to driving on the “wrong” side of the sroad. I swap between left/right-hand drive all the time. It’s a cinch.
I think a cruise will be a mistake. You’re going to have less of a good time if you pursue the cruise route, and get a really skewed view of the country. It’s easy to get around here. (The roundabout thing we can teach you on the boards.)
Anyway, just my opinion.
I dont think the idea of a cruise as a way to see places is a good one, even though you have about eight hours off the ship each day your not going to be able to get very far. For example, Dunmore East in Waterford is about 40 minutes from the city centre and if you were planning to travel to Cork or Kilkenny from there you would have to add another hour/ two hours of travelling going and coming. Not a lot of time left to explore.
If your interested in seeing the cities and towns the cruise stops off at then go for the cruise, otherwise do it yourself.
I’m definitely with jjimm on this one. Those cruise schedules will leave you with the vaguest familiarity with the big cities, either that or you’ll have the option of being packed off on pre-arranged trips which may or may not be of interest to you. For somewhere like Edinbrgh, you’ll just about have time to get your bearings, all the while clock-watching for a mid-afternoon rendezvous.
Much better to pick four, three, even two places to focus on, book hotels, travel between them by train or plane…and yes, maybe take the plunge and rent a car for a few days!! We could so easily give you suggestions for several days’ worth of activities in any of the big cities, and give you suggestions of what’s in the surrounding countryside as well. It means that if you get engrossed in a museum or bookshop, or just want to take it easy on a warm afternoon, you’ve got the freedom to do so. Also, this way the evenings become part of exploring the place, too, whether it’s a decent out-of-the-way restaurant recommendation, going to a show/play/concert, or whatever.
I traveled by myself at the age of 21 around the UK, and I was fine. It wasn’t difficult at all. They speak English, you know, even if they do talk funny. 
I agree with jjimm - your itinerary is odd. You can’t go to the UK and not visit Edinburgh or York but stop by Liverpool of all places. And you really should visit western Ireland if you can; it’s absolutely breathtaking.
I would suggest traveling by train or coach, mixed in with local small-scale day-tours. I’ve been on boats around the British Isles, and really, there’s not much to see. Plus it’s COLD. Traveling by train or coach is not a hassle at all, if you plan everything right. I will say that 12 days is a rather short time to see both the UK and Ireland - I spent two weeks in Ireland and wanted to stay longer.
ETA: I see your second itinerary does include Edinburgh. Still, you’ll want to spend at least two days in the city - it’s my favorite city in the UK, hands down.
To give you another perspective, I went to Ireland last year. It was my first trip to Europe, and I was going to Dublin for work reasons. Afterwards, I rented a car, yes, manual, and spent the next twelve days travelling around Ireland. I picked up my car at the Dublin airport to avoid having to drive through Dublin proper.
Other than having to adjust and acclimate the first day, I have to say that I think I made exactly the right choice for me for seeing the country. The reason why it was right for me is that I did not want to just see something of the country and the countryside. I did research on what I wanted to see, and where I wanted to stay. Because of this, I went to many places that tours do not go, and deliberately stayed in a wide variety of places that tours would not take you to, and ate in places that interested me. This included, for example, an estate house that had the ruins of a Tudor house and Knights Templar castle along with hundreds of sheep, a castle, a spa hotel, a bed and breakfast in Kinsale. In the south, I went to a stone circle and spent quite some time enjoying it as the only person there. In the north, I went to see the island of Innisfree.
On driving, I did drive up/down a few roads that were a single car wide, but they were definitely roads less travelled. Personally, I didn’t mind the roundabouts at all. The exits were clearly marked, the traffic kept moving, and they didn’t take up much space. I also found people incredibly friendly and welcoming, and also happy to both give and write out directions. At a shop near the hill of Tara for example, I got some amazing directions to Newgrange on some backroads that I think got me there in half the time than if I had taken the major roadways.
About tours, when I did cross paths with them, I really noticed it. They tended to arrive and depart en masse. It seemed to me that they got very little opportunity to actually enjoy and savor the sight they were seeing.
The first one does too, but South Queensferry isn’t noted as a port these days! You’d have to be ferried ashore in boats…
S.Queensferry Pier (Rosyth is across the bridge and 2 or 3 miles upstream to the left, Edinburgh is on this side and 10 or 11 miles off to the right)
There are cruise terminals at Rosyth (wrong side of the Firth of Forth for Edinburgh; it’s probably a 40 minute coach journey, assuming they lay one on) and Leith (Edinburgh docks, which is part of Edinburgh and has reasonably good public transport to the rest of the city)
If you’re dead set on an organized tour, then why not consider a coach tour? You get to see a lot more of the country you’re visiting, plus you get to sleep in real beds every night.
For a 12 day trip, I found this
Wrong game. Though there is a canal (the Grand Union Canal) near Mornington Crescent, and one way to tour England is by renting a canal boat and seeing the country from the water that way. I’ve never done it myself, but one of these days I might.
Even though I’ve contributed to this thread, I keep reading the title as:
Visiting Ireland and the UK: Tom Cruise?