A couple of years back I had a friend visit me while I was living in London for grad school. When I found out where she wanted to go, I quickly put together a rough itinerary for our trip.
These were the places she really wanted to see and as I’d already been to both Scotland and Ireland at that time, so I felt confident that I could come up with a good list of things to show her / experience with her.
So this is the 10 day Itinerary for Ireland, England & Scotland!
This is flexible — so if you don’t want to do some of the activities, just find some replacement ones.
It’s essentially a ten day itinerary but feel free to shorten it or make it as long & extensive as you’d like. Obviously if we had more time we would go to Northern Ireland and more of Scotland, but for the sake of only ten days – this is what we came up with.
Day 1 // Dublin, Ireland
8:00 – Find roundtrip flights from your state (use the Skyscanner search widget below — I’m biased, but Skyscanner has the BEST flight deals) to Dublin. Fly in & head to Dublin City Center
9:00 – Grab breakfast somewhere & drop off bags @ Hostel (we are staying at Abbey Court Hostel)
10:00 – Trinity College & Book of Kells Library
11:00 – Wander around & Find a lunch spot
12- 1:00 – Lunch
- See + save my Dublin Google Map for recommendations
1:00 – Temple Bar Area – Explore!
2:00 – Guinness Storehouse (On a Monday it’s more laid back & less rushed*)
3:00 – St. Patrick’s Cathedral
4:00 – Coffee/Tea Break
5:00 – Wander around & maybe freshen up for dinner
6:00 – Find a dinner spot
7-10:00 – Temple Bar area
11:00 – Sleep!
Day 2 // Limerick, Cliffs of Moher & Galway
8:00 – Head to Limerick via a tour bus or a local bus
10:15 – Explore Limerick & grab lunch
1:00 – Head to Cliffs of Moher
3-6:00 – Explore cliffs of Moher, Shops & snack break
6:15-8:30 – Bus to Galway
9:00 – Check into accommodation (hotel, hostel, airbnb)
10:00 – Pub
12:00 – Sleep!
Day 3 // Kylemore Abbey, Galway, Ireland
8:00 – Grab breakfast @ hostel
9:00 – Head to Kylemore Abbey
11:45 -4:00 – Explore Kylemore Abbey & Gardens (Lunch & Afternoon tea there as well)
4:15 – Head back to Galway
6:25 – Train to Dublin
9:00 – Check into Hostel (Stayed @ Abbey Court again!)
10:00 – Pub and/or sleep time – depending if you have energy!
*Update* We ended up taking a tour guided bus to Kylemore Abbey and through the Wild Atlantic Way. It was around €20 per person (with a student discount) and it was an eight hour tour. I normally don’t do these types of things, but my friend that was with me wanted to so I gave in! It ended up being really lovely and a great day. However, if you’re an independent traveler, I’d stick to my schedule and explore a bit for yourself! Being on a bus all day isn’t exactly ideal!
Day 4 // Glasgow, Fort William, Scotland
5:45 – Head to Dublin Airport. (Find a one-way flight Dublin > Glasglow) from *take the citylink bus to/from airport into Dublin City Centre/airport*
7:40 – Flight to Glasgow
10:00 – Bus to Fort William
1:15 – Check into Hostel & Drop Bags off (We stayed @ Fort William Backpackers Hostel)
2:00 – Explore Fort William & Take a Break
4:00 – Coffee/Tea Break
6:00 – Dinner!
10:00 – Pub and/or sleep!
Day 5 // Jacobite Train, Glencoe, and Loch Ness
9:00 – Grab breakfast in Fort William
- Also check out my recommendation for afternoon tea in Inverlochy!
10:15 – 2 :00 – Jacobite Train tour through Scotland to Mallaig
- Also, if you have time to stop in Glenfinnan, which is where the viaduct is, check out the three things I recommend doing during your time there (and I DO recommend stopping if you can).
3:00 – Head to Glencoe
3:45 – Glencoe + Explore!!
5:00 – Head to Loch Ness
6:30 – Check into Hostel (We stayed @ Loch Ness backpackers hostel)
7:30 – Find a place for dinner!
10:00 – Go to sleep so we can see the sunrise!
Day 6 // Loch Ness, Inverness, Edinburgh
4:45 – SUNRISE on Loch Ness Lake!
6:00 – Grab breakfast
7-11:00 – Explore Loch Ness
12:00 – Grab Lunch
2:00 – Head to Inverness
3:00 – Explore Inverness
4:00 – Grab Coffee or Tea
5:00 – Head to Edinburgh
8:30 – Arrive in Edinburgh by train from Inverness
9:00 – Check into Hostel
10:00 – Pub/dinner/sleep
Day 7 // Edinburgh, Scotland
9:00 – Breakfast in Edinburgh
10:00 – ‘Royal Mile’ walk Start with Edinburgh Castle
11:00 – 1:00 Camera Obscura’s Outlook Tower, Gladstone’s Land, St Giles Cathedral,
Scottish Parliament, and Palace of Holyroodhouse,
1:00 – LUNCH
2:00 – Princes Street Gardens
2:30 – Scott Monument
2:45 – Scottish Whiskey Experience
4:00 – Tea/Coffee Break
5:00 – Old Town area
6:00 – Dinner/pub
10:00 – Head back to London via Megabus (we waited too long to get cheap plane tickets!*) Or find one way tickets from Edinburgh > London via Skyscanner.
Day 8 // London, England
7:40 – Arrive back in London
9:30 – Head to your location (hostel, home, hotel, etc) freshen up & take nap if needed
10:30 – Grab brunch
11:30 – Head back into London
12:00 – Big Ben/London Eye
1:00 – Lunch @ Wahaca Taco on SouthBank (past the London Eye) (trust me, it’s amazing)
2:00 – Head down Southbank towards Tower Bridge (See St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millennium Bridge & Tate Modern on the way)
3:30 – Leadenhall Market, Shoreditch *maybe*
4:30 – Trafalgar Square & Covent Garden
5:00 – Dinner
6:00 – Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, etc
7:00 – Pub in China Town, Food? O’Neill’s is great ! *
8:00 – Back to your home base!
Day 9 // London, England
9:00 – Buckingham Palace
10:00 – Hyde Park
10:30 – Kensington Palace
11:00 – Notting Hill
11:30 – Portobello Market
12:00 – Lunch @ Portobello
1:00 – Wander Around
2:00 – Camden Town
3:30 – Coffee/Tea Break
4:00 – Head back to Central
5:00 – Sky Garden!!
- FREE admission — just register online
7:00 – Find Dinner & back home!
10:00 – SLEEP!!
Also, be sure to check out my looking like a local in London guide. -I lived there for over a year — this will help you not stand out so much as a tourist 😉
Day 10 // F R E E D A Y
*Do what you wish today! Explore your surrounding areas, get lost & ditch the itinerary! Live adventurously.
