[Jeff Larsen]

[Patrick Kelly]

Congratulations on your anniversary and the trip. My wife and I may be heading to Ireland and Scotland next year with her parents.

[Jeff Larsen]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks. One kid getting out of college and another just about to enter. Whew, need a vacation.

Yeah, it sounds like it will be a 12 day or 2 week vacation over there, London first, Ireland second and maybe back to London. Hadn't thought about Scotland, but definitely a possibility.

Looking forward to it.

Jeff

[Max von Bargen]

Congratulations, Jeff. I would like to put in a word for Scotland here. I've been there three times and I love it. In fact, I almost went to college there . . .

If you want me to give you some recommendations, I can manage a few, although I'm sure there are others that can do more.

[Jeff Larsen]

[Max von Bargen]

Mainly I know the eastern and southeastern parts. If you're looking to see castles and the like, there are a lot of good ones. I'd recommend St. Andrews castle very highly. The castle itself isn't in great condition, but it actually has an authentic mine and counter-mine left over from when it was besieged. If you're interested in siege techniques like I am, that should be really interesting. Stirling and Edinburgh castles are great too, but Edinburgh castle has a lot of tourists there all the time. There are some good battlefields there too, like Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn. Both have monuments to the victorious Scots and they have pretty interesting artifacts and information about the battles too.

As for places to stay, there are a lot of great B&Bs all over. We stayed in one in every city we went to and we were really pleased with all of them. If you'd like me to, I can look up the names of the ones we went to, but there are just a lot of great places, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a good place if you look.

For food, the one place that really needs to be mentioned here is the Peat Inn. It's near St. Andrews, and it has absolutely amazing food. The downside is that it is extremely expensive and you might need to get a reservation there. But if you go anywhere else, I've found the food to be extremely good even at moderately-priced restaurants.

Hope I've been able to help, and I hope you enjoy yourself wherever you end up going.

Max

[Jeff Larsen]

HI Max,

Yes, castles, scenic views, ancient ruins, etc are exactly what we would like to see.

We have been hearing alot about B&Bs. Would it be better to make advance reservations or just walk in and see if rooms are available?

For the food, we will definitely visit Peat Inn. Hoping to have a better digital camera by then and document the entire trip with the end result a movie.

Thanks for your help.

Jeff

[Max von Bargen]

I would definitely recommend that you book B&Bs in advance. There were some that we went to where we were the only ones there, but there were some where they were absolutely full even in off-season.

Looking forward to the pics!

Max

[Colin F.]

It's been a while since I was last in ireland, but one place I do remember vividly are the Cliffs of Moher which are utterly stunning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_Moher

The Aran Islands are also a great place to visit, esp. for the forts there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aran_Islands

[Jeff Larsen]

Hi Max,

Thanks. You confirmed my suspicions. I had heard that there are alot of B&Bs and should just go to them without reservations, contrary to what I do.

It will make my planning alittle easier.

Thanks for your help.

Jeff

[Jeff Larsen]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the help. I'll include these in my plan as possible sites. Thanks for the links.

Jeff

[Edward Hitchens]

[Jeff Larsen]

HI Ed,

Thanks for the help. When we traveled in New England, USA during the fall, we had to bring light jackets for the cool and sometimes rainy weather. Just wanted to make sure that we brought the right attire.

Thanks,

Jeff