British Isles Cruise!!! Any advice or must see excursions?

My top tip: pack a waterproof jacket, and treat any sunshine as an unexpected bonus!

Edinburgh is a beautiful city. You can get wonderful views from the castle, Calton Hill, and if it's a nice day, grab some picnic foods from Marks and Spencer, take a walk into Holyrood Park, and climb Arthur's Seat (an extinct volcano). I went to the University of Edinburgh, and adored living in the city.

Glasgow is less photogenic, but has a great buzz around the city centre. It's fairly compact, and unusually for British cities, is built in a grid system, so easy to find your way around. If you're a fan of the artist and architect, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, you will find many examples of his work around the city. The West End is lovely for a wander, and the main building of Glasgow University is gorgeous - very Hogwarts!

Invergordon is a strange port to visit: its most notable sight used to be an aluminium smelter, and oil rig building! However, it is in the Highlands, so if there are any tours to Inverness and Loch Ness, you should take them. I lived in Inverness for a few years, and it's a wonderful gateway to some beautiful parts of Scotland.

If any of your party enjoy beer, a tour of the Guiness facility is supposed to be awesome!

I've never been on a cruise so excuse this question, have you a choice of excursions or can/will you travel about the cities on your own?

Dublin - am going to assume they will offer you a trip into Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room. It is the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising so the National Museum of Ireland has an exhibition to cover the events

www.museum.ie/Decorative-Arts-History/Exhibitions/Current-Exhibitions/Proclaiming-a-Republic-The-1916-Rising

You may also get a chance to see Newgrange which is outside Dublin but worth a visit.

You are probably well aware of many Irish authors from James Joyce through to Maeve Binchey and Roddy Doyle. One that might have escaped your attention is James Plunkett who wrote Strumpet City, set in Dublin around the lockout of 1913, it affected 20,000 workers and lasted from August 1913 to Jan 1914.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dublin_Lock-out

Belfast - Giants Causeway, The Titanic Museum (I've not yet seen it but I've heard good things about it.)

titanicbelfast.com/

lesley has covered Scotland and in London you are spoilt for choice

Normandy, I really hope you get to visit Mont Saint-Michel. It's amazing. If you have the option, visit the D-Day beaches and a WWII cememtry.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel

You will have so much to see and do you'll need another holiday to recover. Have a wonderful time.

I'd read a Hamish MacBeth book (mystery series by M C Beaton) and traipse through the Scottish Highlands. Or an Agatha Raisin (also mystery series by M C Beaton) and visit the Cotswolds, if you're in the area.

Have fun!

The cruises I've been on have offered several options at each port. They have ranged from bus tours into the countryside, beach drops and city walks. Many places also had an option for a shuttle bus to/from the city when the port was a bit out, so you could wander on your own.
You can also book private tours, not through the cruise line, but - while you can get better prices - it can be risky if anything goes wrong, as the cruise ship won't wait if you are late back. If there is a problem on a tour arranged through the ship, they will wait.

I'm leaving in 3 days on Celebrity for a very similar itinerary! For a second I thought you were going to be on my cruise! Anyways, I picked up the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but I'm saving that one for the plane ride over. I love the Outlander series if you haven't read it yet, I think a lot of the second book takes place in Edinburgh. I read there wasn't much to do in Cobh/Cork so we booked an excursion through Ecoach to go to Blarney that day. I hope you love your vacation! I am also planning to hit the Guinness Museum, it has excellent reviews.

You ladies that are going, you MUST report back to us how it was! I've never thought of doing a cruise like that, but it sounds like fun!

So glad you asked. I want to do this. I didn't know it was possible. I hope you tell us all about it when you get back.

.

Yes! Flying to Amsterdam tonight!

Not sure how accessible it os from Glasgow, but we loved the Carnegie museum and park he donated to the city next to it, in Dunfermline ( the ancient capital of Scotland.)

What a coincidence!!