Many helped me with my initial inquiries on this trip, through this thread, and I’ve come to give my very detailed review of what turned out to be an absolutely spectacular 12-day trip with my daughter. I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with you all, in case it may help anywhere along the line with someone else traveling to either country. (As Tom Hill might say, this promises to be long/boring)
First Leg of the Trip: Ireland
I booked us on Aer Lingus (direct LAX-DUB), upgraded to business class with Avios points so we could have lay-flat beds, increasing the chance of getting some sleep. This was Ella’s first experience with international business/first class flying, so she was quite delighted, to be sure. Champagne was offered and gladly accepted:
While Aer Lingus is not particularly known for their luxurious travel (they don’t even have a First Class option/cabin) I was quite pleasantly surprised overall, having flown a number of airlines First and Business Class over the years. The seats were comfortable, the lay-flat function was TRUE lay-flat (unlike some others I’ve been on) and the little ‘glove compartment’ box immediately under the large screen was incredibly convenient, given the seat areas themselves didn’t have a lot of storage - everything fit easily in that compartment. Another nice little touch was the angled footrest storage compartment, into which your shoes were placed - a nice touch others should follow. Food was decent, alcohol offerings as well.
The timing of the flight seemed ideal, in that we left at 10pm local time, had opportunity to tap into the natural sleep patterns and grab a short sleep before landing mid/late afternoon in Dublin. We both managed about 4-5 hours of sleep, and our jetlag was minimized as a result - just a couple days where we’d get tired mid-afternoon and sometimes grab a quick nap. Jetlag can ruin a trip, so I was quite happy we didn’t have to deal with it in any significant way.
Arrived in Dublin, stayed at Anantara The Marker, which is a nice hotel, walked around the South side of Dublin to find a pub. Ella ordered Irish Stew and I ordered fish and chips (when in Rome!) and we had a couple pints of beer, kept it light and easy the first night, ending up on the rooftop bar of the hotel for a couple cocktails and to take in some of the city from above.
First full day in Dublin we headed out to the Temple Bar area to catch a bus out to Glendalough/Wicklow Mountains, as the train tour we booked had so few reservations they cancelled it - worked out well as we had a bit of extra time in the morning to cruise the city.
Glendalough is gorgeous, truly, and Ella quickly commented ‘is this even REAL?’ 
The Emerald Isle truly is that, and early June is a great time to go - it’s so beautifully green and lush. We enjoyed hiking up the Wicklow Mountains, with trails that were quite clearly marked, and also enjoyed the Glendalough Monastic City (10th-12th century!) which is remarkably well preserved, and very conveniently located just outside the Glendalough Visitors’ Centre.
The trails on the mountain itself were numerous, filled with your typical waterfalls and gorgeous views. We ‘broke in’ our hiking skills with 7 miles that first day (hiked/walked over 70 miles that I have recorded on this trip, so probably more…)
We returned to Dublin, had dinner at the hotel restaurant, and, thanks to the recommendation of the concierge, we walked to the Arlington Hotel for a showing of Celtic Nights - a show aimed at tourists, no doubt, but with proper Irish dancers and musicians nonetheless. We crept down the tiny stairs, careful not to bump our heads, and asked to be seated for cocktails only, as we already had dinner. After some urging (again thanks to the concierge’s guidance) they allowed it, and to our great fortune there were two incredible seats at the end of a table stage left - fantastic views!
That’s when the trip really started to get even more magical…
The musicians were quite fun, and the music was very enjoyable. They were getting audience participation with some local tunes, many were joining in, it was great fun. The Irish dancers were introduced, and I smiled from ear to ear in anticipation. Seconds into the dancing, I started bawling, as apparently the thought of being in Dublin, in a basement performance of music and Irish dance, recollecting the memories of when Ella was little and obsessed with Irish dance (she danced in an Irish dance studio for many years before ‘converting’ to lyrical, ballet, etc in her early teens) and we used to attend all the Feis’ and the like. It was a huge part of our lives, and the minor jetlag combined with the unique experience before me just moved me to (happy) tears. But wait…there’s more!
Unbeknownst to us there was a bit in the show with audience participation - the dancers came out and selected partners for the dance on stage…Ella was immediately selected and went up to dance with them! How is this possible? What are the chances? Oh yeah…then they had another one, different male dancer came out and he ALSO selected Ella to dance! I captured that video and included it below - a truly magical start to our trip.
From Dublin I hired a car (from Hertz) to drive to Doolin - I quickly became comfortable with the right-side driving position and left-side lane usage, though the super narrow roads took a bit longer to get accustomed to. Gorgeous drive full of rolling hills and beautiful, varied Irish countryside. Doolin itself is picturesque and welcoming, we highly recommend staying a couple days. We stayed at Fiddle + Bow and recommend it highly - quaint but clean, the attached restaurant Russell’s is quite good as well, thought I thought the live music could have been a bit better 
Because we didn’t know how much sun we’d get during our entire trip (we’re in Ireland and Scotland, after all!) we made sure to hit the hills a bit for pics, just in case the next day was cloudy, as that day was quite sunny and beautiful, though windy.
Many of the pics are in the grid command, simply click them for full resolution, as many of the landscape shots are taken in RAW and show great detail from the iPhone
Around this time I caught a very rare cold (can’t remember the last cold I had) but that was not to stop me - the next day we were headed out to hike the trails out to the Cliffs of Moher. Blessed with another beautiful day, the varying sunshine really made all the colors around us pop and it proved to be a beautiful hike, one to remember.
The town was rather quiet at night, but only because most of the few people in the area were at one of the several pubs in town. We visited a few of them, didn’t hang too long at each, but wanted to take it in nonetheless. No surprise, Gus O’Connor’s was packed each night.
After a side trip to watch the Caherconnell sheepdog demonstration show, we headed to Adare village (in the heart of Limerick), where we stayed one night in town, so that we could have Afternoon Tea at Adare Manor. I couldn’t quite swing the $1400+ for one night at Adare Manor, so we stayed across the street at Dunraven Arms. Afternoon tea was proper, fancy, as expected, though our eating habits still all over the place, and we quickly filled up before the much- anticipated dessert course arrived, so we were unable to experience it fully.
Adare Manor is absolutely extraordinary, inside and out, and so perfectly maintained throughout. Very impressive. The town itself definitely caters to the horse racing crowd, and, um, a particular age group
Second Leg of the Trip: Scotland
It was time to say goodbye to the Emerald Isle and it’s rolling green hills, so we drove from Adare to Dublin, returned the car, flew to Glasgow and hired a car to drive immediately to Glencoe, near Fort William. We stayed at another bed and breakfast there, Loch Leven Hotel, which proved to be the least luxurious spot stayed, by quite a bit. Fortunately it was just one night, but also recognizing there are not many options in Glencoe, so I’m sure it was suitable given the supply/demand.
We stayed in Glencoe (on the way to the Isle of Skye) as it broke up the trip to Skye, and because it has a very famous hike/area in the Three Sisters in the Glenfinnan Viaduct. Truly, truly stunning geological formations. We hiked to Lost Valley, at this point both sick with the cold (Ella just started with it, me toward the end), but were not to be dissuaded from fulfilling our trip’s goals.
Onward to Skye! Once we completed our hike in Glencoe, we drove the iconic route to Skye - more uniquely gorgeous landscape, windy roads, loads of water everywhere (lochs, rivers, etc), and arrived at our adorable B&B in Dunvegan - Roskhill House - and we could not recommend it more highly. The proprietors - Martin and Charles - are an absolute delight, and it’s no surprise they are fully booked through end of September, so we were fortunate I planned this trip so early (started in January) and booked two nights here. The rooms are modern, clean, well-appointed, and have brand new furnishings and bathrooms. The breakfast (with eggs from their ‘happy hens’) was perhaps the best meal of the trip thus far, truly. Baked goods better than we’ve ever tasted, as well, including a shockingly delicious gluten-free muffin. The B&B had an ‘honesty bar’ which I found delightful and was happy to utilize, marking my drinks down as directed while sitting in the common room. Truly if you plan to stay in Skye, book Roskhill House, even though it’s 20-25 minutes from most of the commonly visited sites in Skye - it’s so worth it.
Ella was busy mapping out our schedule (which was later amended slightly by the Roskhill House proprietors for greater experience and efficiency) during the long drives, and our first day was essentially what is known as the Trotterish Loop - Fairy Glen, (not typical in the loop, added) Duntulm Castle ruins, The Quiraing, Kilt Rock, Brothers Point, Old Man of Storr. Details below on many of these…
Fairy Glen proved to be up to the hype, and the enchanting landscape that was formed by unusual combinations of landslides and erosion was fascinating to me. We climbed up Castle Rock as well for pics and a unique view of the area. At this point we were met with typical Skye weather, which persisted throughout - mostly cloudy, misty or rainy, but still uniquely beautiful.
A quick stop at the Duntulm Castle ruins (and what must have been a VERY small castle back in the day, based on the ruins)
The Quiraing also lived up to expectations, and we collectively decided not to do an extensive hike here, rather save it for the next stop - Brothers Point - as we didn’t have time for two extensive hikes during the loop. A short walk proved to provide much of the view at Quiraing anyway, so we don’t feel we missed out - first two pics are Quiraing, waterfall is Kilt Rock, which is SO easy to get to - huge parking lot, just walk to the edge of the fencing, grab the shot, move on!
Brothers Point almost deserves its own post, as it was quite the adventure for us. In one of the guides we referenced, Brothers Point was described as a ‘hidden gem’ in the area, and it was, indeed. No signage, only those who researched it knew where to park and how to find the trail - this was quite the departure from the other, very popular and highly populated touristy spots like Quiraing, Fairy Glen, etc. We parked and started our walk, which was very much off the beaten path.
I tried to get my Hover X1 to follow us, but the wind was whipping - still, grabbed a bit of footage early in the trek:
This is where we quickly discovered we were not properly equipped for this hike, and the guides that pointed us to this hike could perhaps have covered the importance of proper equipment a bit better. You’ll see lush grass everywhere, but much of it was swamp - spongy, wet ground that our hiking shoes were not equipped for - waterproof hiking boots would have been very welcome.
It’s so difficult to describe just how remote this area was - we didn’t see a soul other than at the very beginning - and the 5+ miles of hiking included climbing on what can be described as cliff edges, in whipping wind, dodging literally billions of sheep turds in the process. Leaping over brooks, climbing rocks, traversing any number of varying ground cover, all to arrive at Brothers Point, and it was so worth the adventure.
Next was the Old Man of Storr, which was quite disappointing, and not worth posting - how this is among the most popular spots in Skye is beyond us - 100% leave this part out if you plan to travel there, it’s grossly overrated and filled with tourists.
The final day in Skye was spent at the Fairy Pools and Dunvegan Castle, which is still in operation by the current clan members. A quick 4 mile roundtrip hike at Fairy Pools was the last of our experiences in Skye prior to driving (the long 5+ hour trek) to Edinburgh.
To nobody’s surprise (who has been there) Edinburgh is a beautiful site when you first lay eyes upon it - so charming. We arrived late (at W Edinburgh - HIGHLY recommended, particularly if you have status and have the opportunity to be upgraded, as we were) so we settled in for the evening. First day’s plans were the typical touristy spots, all of which were easily accessible by walking. Not particularly impressed with the ‘touristy standard spots’, really, but Edinburgh was still charming, particularly the configuration of the city, and the random entrances to staircases that take you to a completely new part of the city. We ate that night at a recommended spot - Cafe Royal - and noticed the pub side was absolutely packed, very popular, and fortunately we made reservations for the smaller dining room, which also quickly filled. Ella tapped into what limited adventurous spirit she has and tried mussels for the first time, proclaiming them ‘not bad’.
Day 2, however, proved to be utterly delightful, again ‘off the beaten path’ a bit, we ventured out to Stockbridge (known as ‘Stockery’ by the locals) - surrounded by locals rather than tourists, I quickly fell in love with this neighborhood - the shops and cafes, the layout, it just felt ‘at home’. Circus Lane stole our hearts - I’d happily live there if it would work with family life (eventual grandchildren preclude this!). We had the chance to visit museums both days, this day was the National Gallery - a very small and enjoyable selection of paintings I quickly made my way through, visited Dean Village via a forest path, spent some time in Princess Street Gardens capturing some beautiful photos, ended the evening taking Ella to her first-ever Michelin-starred restaurant, The Timberyard. Below are some of my favorite photos taken on the trip - amazing what the iPhone can do…
Flight home was even more ‘efficient’ than the way there - left late afternoon local time, grabbed a solid 6 hours of sleep, arrived early evening at home, was able to stay up a couple hours and jump right back into the normal schedule, both of us without any jetlag, fortunately.
I feel fortunate to have taken this trip with my daughter - memories for a lifetime - and know she was best-suited for the trip in our family, given what we saw, what we did, and the fact that my wife would definitely NOT be well-suited for the windy roads. Such special time spending every waking and sleeping moment with my daughter, creating even stronger bonds - an absolute honor for me.
What I brought and am happy I did:
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this little iPhone tripod/remote control for our photos together, allowing Ella to perfectly stage the photo with just me in it, then join me in the shot and I press the remote for the perfect photo!
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REI Flash 22 daypack - incredibly handy and roomy, very comfortable, perfect for our hikes
What I brought and wish I hadn’t:
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Too much ‘fancy’ clothing…only used one sportcoat the whole trip, and even the nice restaurants in Doolin and Skye had rather casual dresscodes, which is understandable. Should have gone a bit more casual in packing.
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My Hover X1 drone - this is a ‘sort of’ regret, only because I had little opportunity to use it, many of the places visited had strong restrictions with drones, even tiny ones like this. That, and the weather issues made it difficult to grab much footage, but it was so small it didn’t matter much.
What I wish I brought:
- Proper hiking boots!! UGH! I didn’t bring my Merrell hiking boots, thinking it wouldn’t be that difficult in our hiking, but it sure was…and now I seem to have a minor sprain in my left ankle because I was unsupported in that regard. Tried to save space and bring hiking/trail shoes instead, regret that greatly.
!
