OT: Scotland - Ireland Travel Help Needed

Where are you starting from?

If it's North America you might be best looking for flights to Prestwick, as that's the main airport for transatlantic flights near Glasgow (it's about 40 minutes away by train, and the station's in the airport). There are flights to several major hubs - Toronto, Dallas, Atlanta, etc - and charter flights to tourist destinations like Orlando that might be cheaper if you rummage a bit. Prestwick is one of the least hassle airports in the UK (ok, that's a bit like being asked to name your most lovable Nazi).

Manchester might be a possibility, but it's several hours travel from Glasgow by public transport, much more difficult than the distance suggests.

If you're starting in France or elsewhere in mainland Europe there are lots of budget airline options to Glasgow or Edinburgh, but I couldn't suggest any one alternative as uniquely the best to look for.

Don't bother looking at flights to Ireland, it'll just add delay, expense and complication. Also avoid going via Heathrow if possible, it's a nightmare experience and adds to the price since there are no cheap flights from there to Scotland. Amsterdam, on the other hand, might be worth thinking about if the sums add up.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 Twitter: JackCampin

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:

DH's company will be paying for his airfare to/from Atlanta & Glasgow -- or whichever airport is closest. We will be going to Ireland immediately, not staying in Scotland. We will then return to Scotland on 13 July in time for the conference and return home to Atlanta from there. We must pay for travel between Scotland & Ireland. For the company to pay his air fare, we must travel between Scotland and Atlanta which is home for us. I don't do at all well on eastward bound flights as I have the devil of a time getting my circadian rhythms back in some sort of order. This means that, while I would dearly LOVE to take the ferry between Scotland & Ireland, I'm not at all sure that I could physically manage the time needed to do so. It's probably best if we find a flight to Ireland from our arrival airport so that I can just sit in one place and nap while waiting :-). Where we fly to in Ireland doesn't matter. We plan to spend our time driving all over and can start anyplace. We will likely arrive in Scotland about 3:30 PM and have found an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin that departs a bit after 7:00 PM. Considering we will likely have to go through customs, etc. that seems to be a fairly optimal time. We don't leave Atlanta until sometime about 10:00 PM that day before so I will absolutely "wiped out" by the time we actually get to our hotel in Ireland! I'm not looking forward to the actual travel! CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

IIRC US Airways fly to Glasgow direct from Philadelphia. Their food is basic, but the in-flight entertainment has a reasonable choice. We use them a lot as they also fly in & out of Manchester. They were also really good to me last year when I couldn't continue with my flight due to some nasty gut bug - I was OK as we left Tampa, but it hit just as we were landing in Philly, no way could I have coped with a transatlantic flight, so they paid for me to stop in a hotel and re-booked me on the flight the next evening without even blinking an eyelid.

Eastbound is always harder. Don't forget to get as much daylight as possible to help reset your body clock - shouldn't be too hard in Scotland and Ireland in June, also I find eating at the correct time for where I actually am (rather than where I have left) helps too.

I have found that I MUST lay down and have a nap as soon as possible after a transatlantic flight. I have tried staying up and not sleeping until local "bed time" but I just get ill from that. I usually have a decent meal appropriate for local time and then have a long hour -- usually about 4 hours if I arrive mid-day. Once a bit rested, I will get up and DH and I will take a walk and have some sort of outdoor physical activity, even if it's just shopping. Then I am able to be relatively alert, have dinner, do a bit of something in the evening and go to sleep at a "regular" evening bed time of 10:00 PM. If I can manage to do this, then by internal clock is on local time. I am usually a bit tired for the next day or two but that's all. I have always had flights that arrive at my European destination in the morning so I'm not sure how I will do with an afternoon arrival! Perhaps leaving Atlanta at 10:00 PM will mean I can actually get some sleep on the plane -- who knows?? Thanks for the info about US Airways. It's nice to know they actually cared. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at