Two Weeks?!

As I posted earlier this weekend - I was considering getting some pricing information on a two week trip since I was feeling very rushed with our one week trip. Also, I wanted to move it later in the year. So I talked to the woman I was working with at myguideBritain and she created us a new itinerary with prices based on end of April beginning of May. So the cities we're thinking about visiting now are:

Arriving in Edinburgh
1st two nights in Glasgow
1 night in Fort William
2 nights on the Isle of Skye in the town on Portee
3 nights in Inverness
2 nights in Aberdeen
1 night in Stirling
3 nights Edinburgh
Leaving from Edinburgh

The trip costs has doubled - but considering we've moved slightly into the "high season" I don't think that's too bad. I'm thinking that Paul and I are still going to do it and just be very, very budget conscious for the next six months. We're only going to do this once! We need to make it count.

To save some money we are going to fly with Aer Lingus and we're going to take advantage of this Great British Heritage Pass where you buy a pass for a number of days and it'll get you in free to a lot of attractions. It's going to be $15 a day for Paul and I (combined!) so that's pretty good considering that a few places are 11GBP per person. I'd like to do all that stuff off of the beaten path - but I also want to be able to say I've seen those places everyone talks about when they talk about Scotland. Plus we pay ONE time and know where our budget is after that instead of getting to the 8th day and realizing we can't see anything else.

One question for anyone who lives in the UK: I've priced out everything but petrol and food. Can someone tell me the average cost of a meal when eating out and also the average cost of petrol? I know that the petrol prices will likely change by next year - but I'd still like to get a rough estimate now...

Aer Lingus & other questions answered

After much investigation (their website kept "redirecting" me) I've found that Aer Lingus will be a perfect way to save some money - though I'm going to have to change our plans a bit. First off, during the season we're going - they only fly three days out of the week. Second, we will have a stop off in Dublin - but I've made sure it's only a stop off - we'll be flying into Scotland the same day in a matter of a couple of hours (kind of excited about flying into Dublin!). Third, I still haven't priced out the difference between flying in and out of the same location (such as Glasgow) but I was a bit excited about seeing two airports so I had planned it that way for a reason.

I've never flown - have I mentioned that yet? I suppose a part of me is simply excited and anxious to see as many airports as I possibly can in one trip :)

As for the driver's license - I haven't confirmed it yet - though from the sounds of everyone comments it seems as though because I'll only be there for a week I wont need to get a license. That'll make it all the easier and cheaper though I'll certainly have my head buried in the Highway Code that Lithian was kind enough to link for me. I'm actually a big "driver" here - and I love to know the rules of the road and shout at people who don't follow them :) Though no worries! I won't be brave enough to shout at the Scots - even if they shout at me.

Sadly, as both Lithian and Princesskasren have pointed out, out 8 days wont be nearly enough time to see everything. We're making a circle but at the same time we're planning on going inside and outside of the circle as well. I wish we could stay longer but on top of my work allowing me only so much time for vacation (We haven't even fathomed Paul's work as they haven't offered him any kind of "paid vacation" and he's been there for six months) there is also the cost! We're bursting our budget as it is - I can tell you that much. Though, if we save as much as it looks like we'll be saving on the airfare, we may be able to stay a day or two more.

On another note, I'm slightly considering bumping our trip forward a month. Most of the books we're looking at say the weather turns at April and we're planning March. My only concern is the price. The reason I chose March was because they said that the prices begin to turn at April. I'm so conflicted! This may be my one and only chance to A) see any place that's not in the US and B) see Scotland - a place I've dreamt about going for quite some time. I've already promised Paul that this trip wouldn't bankrupt us - but all I want to do if stay for as long as I can in some weather that allows me to see all that beauty I've dreamt about.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

While We're Young, Scotland 2008

I think this is it! I found this site called myguideBritain where you tell them where you want to go and they plan it for you - and as far as I can tell - for free! So, I emailed them and told them Paul & I were going to Scotland and that we wanted to go see the castles & stuff (meaning, no golfing and more than just whiskey tours) and then someone sent me a plan and told me how much it would cost! I went onto Yahoo! Maps and mapped our suggested hotels/B&B locations and the above is what you get. We'll basically be circling the island. I know that some of you out there might think it's silly that I needed someone to say, "make a circle" - but it was very daunting and now I feel like I have a starting point. The plan/cost they gave us was just for hotels/B&B and a car for the trip - but that kind of makes me happy because now Paul & I can just see what is around each area and plan that way.

If anyone is interested or maybe want to make some suggestions or anything - I've opened a "Trip Planner" from Yahoo! - here's the link to our trip so far: While We're Young, Scotland 2008. It shows where and what days we'll be there and also what places we're planning on staying. Most of the hotels/B&B we are thinking about weren't registered with Yahoo! so I have yet to put in addresses for them.

Some questions I'm going to throw out there though, anyone who can answer please do so!

1. Has anyone heard of a airline called Aer Lingus? Airfare was not included in the quote that the travel planners gave us, so I was price hunting for one way tickets (because we're starting in Glasgow & ending in Edinburgh - I thought to just use two separate airports) and they quoted me less than half of every other airline! I don't know what to think because apparently they ONLY fly to and from Ireland/UK so I think that's maybe why they're so cheap but then I'm still concerned.
2. Is it hard to drive on the left side of the road? Do they park on the left side too or do they cross the street to park? 'Cause I'm a bit scared and we'll be driving for the whole trip. The plus side is that they've quoted us for a VW Golf which I'm actually pretty familiar with. They've also included insurance in the price of the rental - thank the good Lord.
3. I know I can find out this kind of stuff from a tourist book (which Paul & I will likely be picking up tonight!) but - do they have different electrical plugs in Scotland? Will I know how to pump gas? Do I need a special license to drive? Is everything I want to see going to be closed because its close to the off season? Will they get angry at me for being so happy with their accents?