British Isles and Ireland

[Gregrat]

Have always wanted to visit Ireland and the British Isles.

Would an Oceania cruise be a good way to do it?

[pinotlover]

27 minutes ago, Gregrat said:

Have always wanted to visit Ireland and the British Isles.

Would an Oceania cruise be a good way to do it?

Both easily done via a land tour. Multiple companies offer them and I can make recommendations. Many of the great visits are not practical from ship shorex. 

[WESTEAST]

We have toured by cruise and land and enjoyed both.  If you want a first taste of both a cruise may work. A more in depth tour would be with an escorted tour bus company which stops at all key tourist sights; it is more thorough though be prepared to be up early each morning and often overnights are one night at a hotel. Another option would be to spend a week in London (fabulous city) and then cruise around the Isles - many O itineraries stop in Ireland. Depends upon your preferred style of travelling and what is on your list of top sights to see. Some may be within easy commute from port and others not possible.

Edited August 6, 2022 by WESTEAST

[Flatbush Flyer]

There’s all the obvious pros and cons to land vs sea trips to Ireland and the UK. 
We’ve done both as combos with an Oceania cruise sandwiched between two land stays.

I suggest you look at one of the several annual Oceania UK/Ireland focused cruises with start/end ports of London(Southampton) and Dublin. Then add at least a week at each end.

[LHT28]

I guess the same can be said for any  Countries you want to visit

 If going via a cruise ship you get  a small taste of that port/area  

If you really want to "SEE" the Country  go by land

 

That said  we enjoy  the cruise stops   then we can decide  if we want to go back & see more  via land trip

Personal choice  IMO

[the mice]

We've done plenty of independent land travel, have been to London for 5 - 6 day stays several times, Edinburgh for a week and Dublin for 4 days.  But we also did an Oceania British Isles cruise in June 2019 and overall we really enjoyed it.  We added a couple of days pre-cruise in Southampton.   But if you have never been to London, I recommend adding a week there.   If you end in Dublin, add several days there as well.

 

We never took any of the ship's excursions.  We had an active roll call where private excursions were arranged.  Some were better (IMHO) than others.   And I personally did a lot of planning for days where my husband and I did our own walking tours - we crammed in a lot and walked all over on those days.   Even so,  we didn't do all that I had hoped.  One example, it poured buckets in Edinburgh and our ship could not dock in Leith (close in to the main part of the city), so the shuttle took about an hour to get into the city and the drop off point was several blocks from the closest museums.  Luckily we had spent a week there on an independent trip some years earlier, had mostly good weather, and saw the city top to bottom plus 2 day trips out.   I felt badly for those who only had this 1 port day in the city.   

 

A lot of it will come down to the type of traveler you are.   Are satisfied with an overview?  willing to only see a few highlights?  like the convenience of unpacking once?  prefer not dealing with the logistics of moving daily?  not wondering about finding a restaurant for dinner?   How much are you willing to invest in research and planning for your port days?  These are all things you need to consider when you look at itineraries.

 

Good luck deciding!  

[SombraDeLuna]

This summer we spent 1 week on land and 3 weeks on Sirena all around the British Isles.  It was a nice combination.  Just keep in mind you may miss ports due to a variety of reasons.  We missed 4 ports -- we had previously been to 2 of them, but the other 2 were in Ireland and obviously a disappointment.  While with a Tours By Locals driver/guide in County Donegal, we had a chat about how they arrange and price extended land tours.  We would definitely consider that option in the future to guarantee seeing certain sites!  

[Noxequifans]

I believe both land and ship tours of Ireland have merit. When I was still driving, we saw much by car. Also could change our itinerary at any point. Enjoy your trip anyway you decided to go. 

[Jancruz]

I have done the land tours up at 7 and out by 8,  luggage packing and unpacking.. and never again..I would do it on my own and stay in each city a few day or cruise only.

Jancruz1

[TERRIER1]

I think it depends on the land tour you pick. There are tour companies that stay in one place for several days so the packing/unpacking is lessened. Personally, I think the best way to go is to arrange a tour yourself so you set you own timing. We would do this with a cruise in the middle of the the two land stays. Best of both worlds.

 

[Cliff-FLL]

To a certain extent, it depends on how much you want to see specific cities/places.  If you choose the land-based tour, you'll likely spend a couple of days here, a few days there.  It allows for a certain amount of wiggle room in the event of unforeseen events - e.g., bad weather, unexpectedly-closed venues, etc.  On the other hand, if you're just looking for a taste of each location, a ship's itinerary may suit your needs best and eliminate the need to pack/unpack, get your bearings straight in a new locale, etc.  We were on a Great Britain & Ireland sailing a few years ago and the weather created all sorts of issues, including a cancelled port and a few that were barely tolerable.  Had we been on a land-based trip w/a few days at each location, it's conceivable that the following day might have had better conditions, or arranging a visit to a different site might have been feasible.

[Kate-AHF]

4 hours ago, Cliff-FLL said:

...  Had we been on a land-based trip w/a few days at each location, it's conceivable that the following day might have had better conditions, or arranging a visit to a different site might have been feasible.

 

That's a great point. 

 

I can also attest that even those plans can go awry.  We did a 10 day driving tour in (mostly) Co. Donegal in 2018.  Three times we tried to see Slieve League, and three times we were fogged out.  But, that's Ireland for you.  Land trips are also great for being able to duck into a tearoom or pub and relax if it's coming down buckets.  That Neolithic monument will still be there when the rain stops.  Can't do that with a shorex.

 

We are doing a circumnavigation of the British Isles next year on Riviera, and I will be utterly amazed and thrilled if we get to all the ports and can get off (particularly Scotland).  Not counting on it.  But that's okay - we can go with the (ahem) flow.

 

We really (really!) love our land trip to cruise ship habit.  Best of everything as far as we are concerned.

[hollyberry1]

About 5 years ago, four of us hired a driver for 8 days, starting in Dublin and working our way clock-wise around Ireland. Between our desires to see certain towns and highlights with our own research, our driver (ex-police officer from Ireland who was WONDERFUL) made suggestions plus or minus places and we trusted him to make sure we saw all the best spots in Ireland. What a trip!! We stayed local and loved every minute of it. My husband and I now would like to revisit Ireland by ship, just so we can enjoy that beautiful country but from a cruise ship.  We won't feel like we HAVE to come back....we have already been throughout. 

Holly

[pinotlover]

I love staying in the smaller Irish villages, hitting the pubs at night, eating a fun meal, drinking a fresh Guinness, and listening to the music in the pubs. So many charming places to stay and visit.

 

I believe that cruises provide an excellent model to visit some regions. I just believe that Ireland and southern England are much better done by land tours. In that both speak English, that makes it even easier. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

Several years ago we drove Ireland, renting a car at Dublin airport, added an Ireland GPS map to an older device, and circumnavigated the country clockwise.  Planned the route carefully with each hotel stop for two nights enabling a local day excursion in between.  This enabled us to route to places one would never see on a tour and especially on a ship's excursion, ate in local pubs (best Sheppard's pie in Waterford and Galway), watched a rally for hurling in Kilkenny, visited the many castle ruins, stopped when we wanted, etc.  Last three days in Dublin after returning the car to the airport.  Fabulous trip.  Beautiful clear weather except for the last day in Dublin (early September).  It was easy to drive the right-hand car along highways (well marked) and roads only as wide as the car itself.  Watch out for the sheep!

[avalong]

6 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Several years ago we drove Ireland, renting a car at Dublin airport, added an Ireland GPS map to an older device, and circumnavigated the country clockwise.  Planned the route carefully with each hotel stop for two nights enabling a local day excursion in between.  This enabled us to route to places one would never see on a tour and especially on a ship's excursion, ate in local pubs (best Sheppard's pie in Waterford and Galway), watched a rally for hurling in Kilkenny, visited the many castle ruins, stopped when we wanted, etc.  Last three days in Dublin after returning the car to the airport.  Fabulous trip.  Beautiful clear weather except for the last day in Dublin (early September).  It was easy to drive the right-hand car along highways (well marked) and roads only as wide as the car itself.  Watch out for the sheep!

This sounds wonderful.  Did you book the hotels ahead of time or just take your chances that there would be availability in September? How many days was the trip in total?  

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:44 PM, avalong said:

This sounds wonderful.  Did you book the hotels ahead of time or just take your chances that there would be availability in September? How many days was the trip in total?  

Booked in advance.  Studied tours of Ireland offered by tour agencies, added in places we wanted to visit, booked the car and flights, and headed off to adventure.  The total trip was 13 days with stops in Kilkenny, Waterford, Killarney (from where we drove the Dingle Peninsula) and Galway (stayed in a castle) stopping at the Cliffs of Moher.  Three nights in Dublin.  It was easy to do, the people were friendly and looking to help, wonderful taverns.  Flew Aer Lingus.  

[avalong]

10 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Booked in advance.  Studied tours of Ireland offered by tour agencies, added in places we wanted to visit, booked the car and flights, and headed off to adventure.  The total trip was 13 days with stops in Kilkenny, Waterford, Killarney (from where we drove the Dingle Peninsula) and Galway (stayed in a castle) stopping at the Cliffs of Moher.  Three nights in Dublin.  It was easy to do, the people were friendly and looking to help, wonderful taverns.  Flew Aer Lingus.  

I would love to do this! We did a 3 week driving trip of, primarily, the south island of New Zealand about 10 years ago and loved it. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road was not much of a problem because there were so few other cars and the towns were small and uncomplicated (the most dangerous places were parking lots where we tended to revert to US driving habits). Your trip sounds similar (with the possible exception of navigating out of Dublin...). Thanks for the inspiration!

[Mrs f.]

We booked the new Vista British Isles tour in August.  Clearedcwaitlist in about a month

[Noxequifans]

We found driving in Ireland permitted us to visit a number of places that were not very feasible on a cruise. But, as we are older, what works for us is a big city (Dublin) stay and a cruise around Ireland.