Thursday, May 27, 2010

Ireland & Scotland: 3 travel tips

irish sea coast ©kerry dexter
Perhaps a trip to Ireland or Scotland is in your plans, or in your dreams ?
Three travel tips:

In Ireland, take a look to the north and to the midlands. Favored destinations for trips are in the south and west, and in Dublin, all very fine places. The quiet of the midland counties and the stark beauty of the coasts of Northern Ireland, as well as its vibrant cities, are more than worth you time, too.

In Scotland, take a moment to consider looking north, as well. Savor the ancient mountains, the quiet glens, and the rugged seacoast of Sutherland, the Black Isle, and though they are a bit of trip, consider a visit Orkney or Shetland.

Listen. As a musician and one who writes about music, you know I am going to tell you to listen to music, and you should. Even if you do not care for music, it’s part of the story of traveling in Ireland and Scotland -- and it may not be at all what you expect. So listen. Listen also to the cadence of speech, which varies all across these lands, and sometimes, from one town to the next. Listen as well to the landscape, and the waters. Listen, and learn.

Listening to music is a great way to prepare for a trip, as well.


This post is part of a project which the people at Tripbase

are putting together. They are gathering best tips from travel writers, and they have collected enough to make seven ebooks already. For each time you download an e book -- they are free to you, and organized by such things as family travel, food travel, and the like-- Tripbase will make a donation of one dollar to help people in developing countries around the world have clean water. One dollar will provide water for one person for a year.

Below is a button which will take you to a page where you may see what the books are about and choose which ones you might like to download, and learn more of the water project also. The tips above are not in an ebook just yet, but in the books you will find travel ideas from our Great American Road Trip partner Vera Marie Badertscher of A Traveler’s Library and many other fine writers and well experienced travelers.


I helpedpeople get clean water
led by Tripbase



you may also wish to see

Music Road: Irish music, Irish landscape
Music Road: Music for St Andrew's Day: music of Scotland
Irish Music Festivals: a guide

-->Your support for Music Road is welcome and needed. If you are able to chip in, here is a way to do that, through PayPal. Note that you do not have to have a PayPal account to do this. Thank you.

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posted by Kerry Dexter at

3 Comments:

Anonymous Vera Marie Badertscher said...

I love your tips for Scotland and Ireland. Of course, you remember I consulted you before I went to Ireland. And thanks for the shout out for my Greek tips included in the world travel e-book.

6:34 PM  
Blogger Anjuli said...

I've always wanted to go visit Ireland when I watch a movie revealing Ireland's emerald landscape. As for Scotland- I've been there and you are so right- up North is fabulous- I loved Dundee and Forfar- I loved the road trips- saw wonderful scenery- almost haunting in nature.

10:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We went to Scotland last summer. We got as far north as Inverness and it is the most gorgeous place you will ever see. As far as music goes, I have two wonderful memories. One is watching a bagpiper on the street in Edinburgh and the other is when we were in Inverness there was a pipe and drum band that suddenly assembled and marched through the town. We followed them for blocks. I could have marched with them all day. Bagpipes just get to me.

8:31 PM  

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