Nearly 1/3 of my ancestry is from the British Isles. My forebears are from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. So it was exciting to head to this part of the world for the first time and get a taste of my heritage.
The best way to cover a lot of ground when traveling is to take a cruise! We found an awesome itinerary on the Norwegian Dawn that visited several ports in this area and we only had to unpack once!
Our cruise left from Southampton, England. We decided to spend the night before in London and took the train into Southampton the morning of the cruise. The train station is not far from the port, so it was pretty easy to navigate.
The first port was Edinburgh. We were so bummed that this was a tender port. Tenders (smaller boats that take passengers from the cruise ship to the port) are not accessible for passengers with limited mobility. We will have to return to Edinburgh on a land tour!
We visited Invergordon and drove out with our private guide to Loch Ness. Sadly, we didn't spot the famous monster there, but the Loch, castle, and surrounding area was very cool to explore. We also visited Dunrobin Castle and watched a falconry show. It was so cool to see how fast these birds really are!
Our next port was Kirkwall, which is the northernmost port in the British Isles. There were so many amazing archaeological sites here. The Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brogdar were our first stop. Older than Stonehenge, these stones were so fascinating to learn about. We also stopped in to learn about Skara Brae, often called the Pompeii of Scotland as archaeologists discovered about a dozen dwellings intact beneath the sand dunes!
Dublin, Ireland, was another tender port, so we stayed onboard and had some quiet time on the ship. We visited Belfast in Northern Ireland. For Game of Thrones fans, most of the show was filmed around Belfast. We explored Giant's Causeway and had a lovely lunch in the coziest Irish hotel.
Our last port was supposed to be Paris, France. Unfortunately, there was a strike the day we were supposed to be in port. Plans had to change! We were rerouted to Cork, Ireland, which might have been my favorite port of the whole trip.
We headed to Blarney Castle. It is so incredible walking around the grounds. Many people tried their hand at kissing the Blarney Stone (including me!). We warmed up with some hot chocolate, then we visited the Woolen Mills and had the most delicious Irish Beef Stew for lunch.
Would I recommend a cruise for visiting Ireland and Scotland? Absolutely! We really felt like we got to see so much of the cities and surrounding area and still went home to our "own bed" each night. There are so many different cruise lines and itineraries that include Ireland and/or Scotland, so you can really create whatever type of trip you would like.