Our trip to Europe in 2024 included a couple of big drives. And this page has been extracted from that trip. Click HERE to see it.
- 9 days driving round Ireland
- 4 days driving Scotland to Isle of Skye to London
Some Maps
Driving around Ireland (September 17 to 26)
Driving around Scotland and England
Photo Highlights
(Click HERE to see in Google Photos or just scroll down)
Ireland Big Drive Day by Day
- Tuesday, September 17 – Fly to Amsterdam + Dublin, drive 2 hrs to Belfast (Photos)
- Today started ridiculously early. We woke at 3:30 am, and were out the door, loaded up with our backpacks by 4 am. The walk to the airport was quick, and much easier even in the dark, since we had just done it.
- Getting on our flights (KLM to Amsterdam, then to Dublin) was actually pretty smooth and easy. As was picking up our rental car.
- We took off towards NewGrange. Looks like an awesome set of neolithic passage tombs, but we were only able to see them from a distance. All of the tours were booked solid for the next several days. At least the visitor’s center had an excellent audio/visual presentation.
- Visited Carlingford, and explored the town along with several medieval ruins.
- Arrived at Bloom 19 and discovered that Sandy and Karin has found yet another awesome BnB.
- We decided to eat in again, so Sandy and Karin visited Lidl for groceries. Karin whipped up butter chicken for us!
- Wednesday, September 18 – Drive to Londonderry (Photos)
- Before leaving Belfast, we took in a walking tour. Brian of Yellow Umbrellas was awesome. We really enjoyed the trip, and learned a lot
- Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Cool to see. The bridge itself was okay, but the scenery around it was great.
- Giant’s Causeway. A truly remarkable natural rock formation. The columns themselves tended to be about a foot in diameter, and resembled those from Devil’s Postpile in California. But you can walk on these, as far out as the tide will let you. And they go on for hundreds of yards. Awesome.
- Arrived at Windsor House only to discover that the lockbox code didn’t work. Contacted owner and we figured that text to Sandy’s old phone number went nowhere. Got a new code and all was good. Place was at least 100 years old, with some of the original plumbing. Plenty good for us. Two huge master bedrooms, one on the 2nd floor, one of the 3rd floor. Comfy and warm, once we managed to crack the heating system.
- Dinner was a set of MONSTER donair/gyro wraps from a Turkish place 100 feet from our front door. No-one managed to eat more than half.
- Thursday, September 19 – Drive to Sligo (Photos)
- Again, before leaving we took in a walking tour This time, John took us around the walls of the Walled City. Also very interesting, but the accent and fast talking made this tour less relaxing than our previous one. Also lots of dates and people. Still worth doing. John’s biases were not hidden.
- The boys went disc golfing at a very cute, 9 hole course. Very short, tight and wooded
(LondonDerry St. Columbs). We then walked back to the car via the swoopy Peace Bridge - We then drove to Donagal Castle, which turned out to be a nicely restored castle. The tour included lots of info about why and how the manors in this area were built, and a whole whack more info about the clans which dominated northern Ireland in the early 1600s. The O’Neals figured prominently!
- Had a quick bite in a pub and then drove to our next BnB, the Station Lodge. Found it easily, and had no problems getting access this time!
- Dinner was the 2nd half of our giant donairs from the night before. Still pretty good. Still didn’t manage to finish it.
- Friday, September 20 – Drive to Galway (Photos)
- Quick visit to Tesco and a walk around “downtown” Sligo.
- Strandhill Beach is a huge beach, lots of sand and pebbles at low tide. The surrounding grassy sand dunes are impressive too.
- The Glen in Sligo is advertised as hard to find. We found the trail head easily, but the trail in the woods quickly became confusing and we ended up somewhere else. After we gave in and stumbled back up the trail, we blundered in to the Glen. Pretty cool with the two tall rock faces on either side of a flat chunk of land. Nice to have succeeded.
- Aughris Beach was entered into the Google Maps, and we spent a lot time time driving along smaller and smaller country roads to the ocean. Got squeezed into reverse by a large tractor. Ended up with our front bumper looking out ever a big beach and some rocks. Not worth rock collecting but cool to see.
- The Aughris Coastal Walk was nearby and we drove along a bunch more tiny roads to get there. We started on the walk, meandered along the top of some cliffs. Then found the perfect rock collecting spot, a small bay, full of rounded pebbles and boulders driven up and down the beach by the waves.
- Finally found St. Bridgets Apts. Check in was in the lobby of the Western Hotel, which wasn’t described anywhere
- Galway was a zoo, and lots of fun. Wandered downtown into the party, looked for dinner in a pub, failed all because they were ALL shutdown for food. We found a very nice Moroccan restaurant up a narrow staircase.
- Saturday, September 21 – Drive to Castle View House on Carrig Island (Photos)
- First, Sandy had to climb out the window of our apartment because she got locked inside due to some checkout confusion.
- Dunguaire Castle was cool to walk around. I didn’t realize swans were happy in salt water. We also got a chance to see some thatched-roofed houses.
- Drove up into the mountains to see the Corcomroe Abbey, founded in 1194. The monks wanted a remote and isolated location. Mission accomplished.
- Cliffs of Moher is an impressive geological formation. Tourism is in full force here, and safety is paramount. It was also very crowded. Still impressive.
- We had a quick coffee and lunch at Foodie Korner in Ennistymon. Nice little spot and good food too.
- The Flying Boat Museum in Foynes was closed, but the giant Boeing B134 replica was easily visible over the fence.
- We drove past the castle and crossed the causeway to Carrig Island at 5:30. Castle View House is a very cute BNB and we liked the rooms. The early arrival gave us time to check in, and go for an exploratory walk before dinner.
- Sad to say, Carrigafoyle Castle closed before we got there and we only got to walk around it. This was partially compensated for by visiting a nearby abbey, which was totally overgown with ivy.
- Dinner was an excellent home cooked meal, roasted chicken and lots of vegies. And apple pie and coffee.
- Sunday, September 22 – Drive the Dingle Ring (Photos)
- Garnet served us a wonderful breakfast
- Stumbled across what looked like a working windmill. Very impressive.
- We started the drive in drizzle, and by the time we summited Connor Pass, the fog and cloud was so dense, Couldn’t see anything, road included.
- The “Sheep Dog Farmer” was probably the highlight of the day. Feeding the sheep, goats, donkeys and horses was a lot of fun. The two dogs, Captain and Rose, were friendly, enthusiastic and clever. The farmer was awesome, fun to listen to and full of information.
- Cashel Murphy, a tightly knit group of beehive dwellings about 5000 years old was really cool. Even had a small basement cave to store food in. And we were allowed to climb down into it.
- Teac Couminole Café, Coumeenoole Beach, Dunquin Pier, Connor Pass (fail again)
- The Dingle Marina Lodge turned out to be perfect, and we even had a parking spot across the street. And it included breakfast!
- Walked around town, and then visited the Dingle Pub for pub grub and live music.
- Monday, September 23 – Drive the Kerry Ring (Photos)
- Wonderful breakfast at the lodge. We had a choice of salmon, potato and bacon pancakes, or waffles, all with some very healthy options. Excellent.
- Stopped at Rossbeigh. Tide was high so rock collecting was delayed. Warren hiked into the dunes.
- Leaving Rossbeigh the road was closed, so we had to turn back and take a bigger road. The new road wasn’t much bigger.
- The Glenbeigh bridge was historic
- Coffee stop of Goldens of Kells included a vintage Vietnam Huey helicopter on display
- Portmagee and step onto Valentia Island, Cliffs of Kerry, Sneem bridge over rocky waterfall, Killarney National Park, Torc Waterfall
- Found Park Place Apts in Killarney, and a parking spot in an inside garage was included. Luxury. Apartment was huge and nice.
- Dinner was home cooked Polish food, which was found in a Polish-only grocery store next door. Perogies and sausages, cooked with onions. And sour cream.
- Tuesday, September 24 – Drive to Dublin through Cork (Photos)
- Toast and instant coffee for breakfast.
- Drove back in Killarney NP to visit Muckross House and Muckross Abbey. The friary was the best yet. And the “Jaunty Cars” were fun to have around.
- Visit Cork and the Cork City Gaol
- Long drive to Dublin, traffic jams made it even longer
- Blundered our way into our new home, the Parnell Apts. Pretty close to the downtown, also right in the center of a massive city bus and tram interchange
- Sandy made awesome tacos. Warren drank Irn Bru
- Wednesday, September 25 – Explore Dublin (Photos)
- We walked to our walking tour. Ciarán was excellent and provided a great summary of Irish and Dublin history. We wandered around town in the drizzle, which turned to rain about halfway through the walk. Great tour.
- What was meant to be a quick bite at the Copper Alley Bistro turned into a big meal.
- The Guiness tour was okay… Too much multi-media and too little actual brewing for my taste, but glad to have done it once. The sky view pub on the 7th floor with a pint of Guiness was memorable, even for the Pepsi drinkers.
- The rain got harder and we got soaked walking back home. Warren snuck out to KFC (nothing else open) for a quick bite, because he hadn’t eaten vast quantities of mussels at lunch.
- Packed up and got ready to leave the next morning.
- Thursday, September 26 – Fly to Edinborough, bus and train to Falkirk (Photos)
- Left at 8:15 and immediately got stuck in multiple traffic jams. Dropped off rental car close to expected time, hung around airport, and flew with Aer Lingus to Edinburgh.
Isle of Skye Big Drive Day by Day
- Friday, October 4 – Drive to the Isle of Skye (Photos)
- Bill and Warren picked up the rental cars and returned to the wheel to pick everyone up. We then went our separate ways.
- Our rental car died after an hour on the road. Luckily, Perth was only 15 minutes away, even in limp-mode. Unluckily, they didn’t have an equivalent vehicle, But after an hour, they found us a slightly smaller Vauxhall Corsa. The bright orange colour was a plus. We managed to jam our luggage into it, and proceeded on our way, only losing an hour or so.
- Rain and fog continued for most of the drive. We grabbed a rather poor bite to eat in Kyle of Lockalsh.
- The drive across the Isle of Skye and was slow and gloomy in the darkness and rain and fog. We pulled into Loch Eyre Oasis. Turned out to be a marvelous place.
- Saturday, October 5 – Explore the Skye East loop (Photos)
- Mostly driving along small, single lane roads, stopping every few minutes.
- Fairy Glen, Coffee in Portree at Relish, hillside waterfall, Old Man of Storr hike, Lealt Falls, Kilt Rock Waterfall, An Corran Dinosaur Footprints, Quiraing Overlook
- Dinner at the Tongadale Hotel in Portree
- Sunday, October 6 – Explore the Skye West loop, drive to Taigh Sealladh Fèidh (Photos)
- Dunvegan Castle, Coral Beach, Talisker Distillery (no tour), Café Cùil, Fairy Pools
- Drove hard to get to Taigh Sealladh Fèidh B&B in time for our evening meal. Awesome roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, and apple strudel with custard. Enjoyed our hosts, Dan and Lucy. And their dogs, Skye and Talisker.
- Monday, October 7 – Drive to Nottingham (Photos)
- Another great meal by Dan and Lucy. Highlight was the Scottish Cranachan
- Lots of construction along our route
- Glencoe, Doune, Highland Coo, Falkirk Kelpies, Seaham Hall Beach, York Shambles
- Drive hard to get to Tudor Lodge Hotel. Closed freeway on-ramps delayed us even more, but we still made it by 10 pm. 13 hours of road travel.
- Tuesday, October 8 – Drive to Heathrow, fly to Saskatoon (Photos)
- Included English Breakfast was nice, and we were on the road by 9
- Much highway construction
- Rain during most of the drive, some of it quite heavy
- Dropped car off, Jack of Enterprise was very helpful, shuttle was quick
Photo Highlights
Use the arrows to view the carrousel, or click on a photo to open the album.
