10th Anniversary British Isles Cruise
So the wife and I are going to celebrate our 10th anniversary this yea
r. In the late summer, we’ll be taking a wonderful 12 day cruise around the British Isles and Ireland. I must say that I am really excited about this trip. Not only will we be traveling alone, (no kids), but we’ll be visiting some of my most desired new locations. If I had a list of top places I’d want to visit, many of these locations would make that list.
Here’s the rub; I really want input to help us decide what to do in these cities. Being an avid photographer, I 
yearn for this trip to really produce some great photographs. Not just including the wife and I, but also including a wonderful, fresh look at the cities themselves. We know we’ll save money by planning our excursions on our own, as the packaged excursions, through the cruise-line, can be over priced and under eventful.
I’ll be organizing and participating in one photowalk on this trip, in London. Other than that, we’ll have around one day in each city. I know that is short, but that’s the cost of seeing so many locati
ons. The debate over directly visiting the destinations and doing a cruise, is over for us. We know there are benefits and costs for each. We’ve decided, and now we’ll see many cities. The next time, we’ll know exactly which cities to revisit.
Below is the list of stops on our trip. What I’m looking for is help in planning our time in each city. I hope to have this page build over the past few months, as we narrow down our activities.
- London, England
Guernsey (Channel Island)- Cork, Ireland
- Dublin, Ireland
- Liverpool, England
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Inverness/Loch Ness, Scotland
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Normandy, France
- then back to London.
So, cool trip, huh? What do you suggest we do in these cities? We’ll have just one day each. At the beginning, we’ll be in London for a few days before, to enjoy it a bit more. That’s when I’ll participate in a London Photowalk.
What do you think?
Make sure to write a post, introducing the page…
Popularity: 3% [?]
Comments
Comment from Katie the Scrapbook Lady
Time: February 26, 2008, 12:14 pm
You’ve got to win some sort of “great husband” award for this! 
I went to most of those same places about 19 years ago on a study abroad. I’m sure they’ve all changed since then, but they were all amazing. I especially loved Ireland and Scotland. You will have so many photo opportunities!
An interesting place to go is Herod’s in London. Skip most of the shopping (in my opinion) but go down to the basement and check out the food area. It was amazing when I went and they had cool displays made entirely of fresh foods. Hope it is still like that!
Comment from Chris Nixon
Time: February 26, 2008, 1:39 pm
Wow! That sounds like a brilliant holiday! I have family in Edinburgh, and it’s the city I know best. I think I’ll write you a longer blog post on the many MANY sights to see there. It’s almost worth ditching Glasgow to get a couple of days in Edinburgh. Glasgow is bigger, but Edinburgh has the character. Give me a week or two, and I’ll send you a link.
Comment from Dave
Time: February 26, 2008, 2:17 pm
Uh oh, no stop where I was born, Galway, Ireland. Haven’t been back there in over 15 years but I remember it being beautiful. Have a great time!
Comment from range
Time: February 26, 2008, 3:16 pm
Sounds pretty sweet. My wife has been to the UK, I haven’t. I’ve been to France and Germany. Edinburgh will be fantastic.
Comment from Heidi Cool
Time: February 26, 2008, 6:08 pm
Sounds like a great trip. Too bad you have so little time in each place.
London is great. The food dept at Harrods is fabulous. For photos also Hyde Park (if you are there on a Sunday Speaker’s corner offers great people shots.) Regent’s Park. A walk along the Thames including Big Ben and the Tower Bridge should give you some good building shots and you can always go across the river for newer stuff. I’d love to see the Tate Modern. Also while there you should see a play. Also Covent Garden. I don’t know with only 1 day it’s hard to say what to pick. I’m guessing you don’t want to see Jeremy Bentham in a box at University College London. Kensington is nice it’s also near where a lot of the Embassies are. (Nice architecture)
Cork wasn’t that interesting but it’s not big so if you wander around not far from the river you’ll find shopping, restaurants and such. Will you be putting in at Cobh? That’s the nearby harbor town. It’s a cute little place. Also the last port for the Titanic.
Dublin is nice. The Temple Bar area (by the river) is funky and has lots of good eateries. The Book of Kell’s and library at Trinity College is worth seeing. That also puts you within a close walk of Grafton Street (shopping) and some of the museums. The Guiness Storehouse is interesting and offers great views of the city. You can get there by bus. (If you buy a ticket for one of the hop on/hop off tour buses you can get pretty much anywhere you need to go and the ticket lets you get on and off all day. )
Actually most of the big cities have those buses if you are short on time they can be useful.
Edinburgh is also beautiful. You will love the architecture. Princes Street Gardens is nice. For the touristy bits you can go to Edinburgh Castle then trek the Royal Mile to Holyrood House. The place is rather hilly so visit some of the higher elevations to take pictures down below.
Have a great time!
Comment from Dave Roth
Time: February 26, 2008, 6:42 pm
I don’t have any UK advice for you, as I’ve never spent more than an hour there myself, so I just dropped by to say that I’m very envious. The good kind of envy. Have an awesome time.
Comment from Phill Price
Time: March 1, 2008, 3:00 pm
Severe lack of countryside England in there Trevor! Oh well, more than happy to see you in London - let’s hope I’m in London - got any dates yet?
Comment from Adam Mercado
Time: March 6, 2008, 5:10 pm
Man, to get to visit all of those places you will have an awesome trip and pull off some kind of minor miracle. Thats a lot of ground to cover. At least someone else is doing the driving.
Being a Londoner I am biased but there is a ton to see and do in The Smoke, and plenty of good photo opportunities. Central London has the usual tourist landmarks; Big Ben/Parliament Square, Tower of London/St Catherines Wharf, Trafalgar Square. But if you can get off the beaten track a little, Highgate Cemetary is a centuries old Cemetary in North London. I believe Karl Marx is buried there. Camden Locks are pretty cool too. There is a huge market there on the weekends, might be good people watching. But really, a photowalk along the Thames will keep you busy for a long time and give you a ton of shots.
Also, Kew Gardens in South West London, Richmond area, is a great horticultural park with great photography. Did many a school photog assignment there. might be tough with the time you have. And if you are down in that part of town Hampton is nice, Hampton Court is an old stately home worth looking at.
If you can get out of London, get down to the south coast, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall. Its a long drive, maybe a train but it is Gods country for sure. So beatutiful. Corfe Castle is a great destination down there too, very well preserved and photegenic medieval castle. But if you only have one day in England this will not be possible.
Have an awesome trip man, you lucky dude.
Comment from Gareth Timms
Time: April 8, 2008, 2:55 am
Sounds good. Being in Edinburgh and loving this city just to repeat what others have said. As you are on cruise assume that you will be arriving in Leith. Possible depending on the height of your ship I may see it over the top of local buildings. If you do come into Leith I suspect that your best chance to photograph the Forth road and rail bridges will be before coming into harbour and after leaving. You probably will not sail under them. If you are docking at Rosyth in Fife then you will travel over the bridge to come into town. In this case make a stop at South Queensferry for Bridge pictures. Leith is a working harbour with increasing residential and commercial development. The Royal Yacht Britannia is permanently moored here.
If you are here in August then the Edinburgh Festivals will be active. The High Street and the Mound are good for street performance though can be crowded. A link to the Edinburgh festivals site follows http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/festivals.cfm
Long time since I have been to the tattoo but can be quite spectacular. Fringe Sunday with parade and occupation of Holyrood park are also good for on street shots. If you are here 31st August then the Bank of Scotland Fireworks are amazing again crowded If no tickets then Calton Hill probably offers the best vantage point.
Off the beaten track a bit Dean Village, Botanic Gardens and Gallery of Modern Art are worth a visit.
Hope this helps a bit give me a shout if you want more info.
Pingback from TrevorCarpenter.com » 10th Anniversary British Isles Cruise
Time: February 26, 2008, 11:27 am
[...] 10th Anniversary British Isles Cruise [...]