England, Ireland and Scotland

Our first big trip with the girls out of the country was to England, Ireland and Scotland. Look how little they were!! We purchased our plane tickets and booked a rental car. I then went to work on an itinerary. Andy and I had been to England and Scotland, but Ireland was new to us. We determined that you could take a rental car on a ferry to Ireland, so all systems were a go. I researched campgrounds and planned out where we would stay. For the girls first trip, it was important to me that I knew what days we would be were and where we would set up camp each night. The girls were young but they still talk about this trip. Tip: Camping is a great way to see a new place on a budget. The campgrounds in Europe are amazing! They are clean and some even have restaurants!

We flew into London and picked up our rental car. London is NO JOKE to drive in (even back then). Perhaps it was worse then with a paper map and roads changing names every block, but obviously we made it out alive. Our first day was no joke as we drove from London to Holyhead to catch a ferry to Ireland. Luckily we landed early (like 7am) as we had a 3 pm ferry booked. I do not usually book something this tight (where we could miss out on something prepaid), but this was our first 2 week trip and I had a packed schedule for us. Tip: it is a good idea to build buffer in your trips for plane delays, etc.

In Ireland, we started in Dublin and traveled down to Waterford and visited the crystal museum. From there we went to Cork to the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone. I had no idea that my children would be head upside down 3 stories up to do this (or that the locals use it as a bathroom at night)! In Dingle we ate in a great pub and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We went on to Limerick to King John’s Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. We went on to Donegal and Belfast before returning to Dublin to take the ferry back to Wales. Highly recommend a sweater purchase while in Donegal. Still have this amazing sweater to this day. Travel tip: if there is a souvenir that you know you want, make sure you budget for it. Then do not let that money be ear marked for anything else. That sweater was not cheap (even then) but it was the only thing that I wanted.

When we landed back in Holyhead we drove to Liverpool. Obviously we had to go to The Cavern Club. We did not get to see live music (we went during the day) but we were able to go in a look around. From there we headed to Scotland and Loch Lomond. Tip: When you are camping you sometimes end up far out of town (especially if they are big cities like Glasgow). That is ok and probably quieter. When we were in Dublin we camped right by a highway. It was loud all night! We camped our way up to Inverness and the famous Loch Ness. The girls had fun trying to find Nessie and dipping their feet in the water (it was freezing!). After Inverness we worked our way to Edinburgh to see the castle.

We went back to England the famous Chillingham Castle home to reportedly over 100 spirits. They also have cows that have lived feral for over 700 years! We camped our way down to Sherwood Forest. There we saw the Major Oak. Besides, what kid doesn’t want to camp where Robin Hood lived! Then it was on to London. We rode the London Eye, saw Big Ben, Parliament, the London Bridge, the London Tower. The girls got tiaras from Buckingham Palace and were curtsied to a Hampton Court (because they were wearing the tiaras). All in all, a great trip!