What to do at these ports on June 3 Crown cruise to England, Ireland, Iceland?

We have tours booked for Akureyri (Princess tour) and Reykjavik (Grayline Tour). What are some favorite things to do in the other ports.....Edinburgh,Invergordon, Lerwick (Shetland Islands), and Dublin? Other than Princess tours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Think you mean Scotland, Ireland and Iceland. Don't go making that mistake in Scotland! ;)

We have tours booked for Akureyri (Princess tour) and Reykjavik (Grayline Tour). What are some favorite things to do in the other ports.....Edinburgh,Invergordon, Lerwick (Shetland Islands), and Dublin? Other than Princess tours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Edinburgh - There was a shuttle that took us from the ship to the center of Edinburgh. We used our time to walk up to Edinburgh Castle and then down the Golden Mile, ending at Palace of Holyroodhouse.

Invergordon - Try to find a good private tour here. There's lots to see. Our favorite spot was Lock Ness and Urquhart Castle. Try some hagus. (I ordered it and offered others at the table a taste of my serving. The plate was empty by the time it got back to me!) Try to get to the Culloden Battlefield. Check out the shaggy highland cattle too.

Dublin - HOHO buses aren't usually my favorite way of seeing a city but our experiences in Dublin were very good. If you are into history stop by Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (go after lunch when the lines aren't as long). You can book a student tour of the campus that includes the Book of Kells for a reasonable amount. There are parks and beautiful churches along the HOHO route. Stop by the Temple Bar area for some lunch. We will be taking the HOHO bus this fall to walk in Phoenix Park, go inside Christ Church, and take a tour of the Guinness Brewery.

We have tours booked for Akureyri (Princess tour) and Reykjavik (Grayline Tour). What are some favorite things to do in the other ports.....Edinburgh,Invergordon, Lerwick (Shetland Islands), and Dublin? Other than Princess tours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

How brave (and mobile) are you? There a train into downtown Edinburgh but it does require walking up some stairs at the port. In Invergordan, there is a public bus that would take you to Inverness, a very walkable city. As for Dublin, HoHo is a good choice

We really wish we could make this trip again-We were talking about it with our daughter last night-reliving some great memories

Enjoy

Think you mean Scotland, Ireland and Iceland. Don't go making that mistake in Scotland! ;)

Thank you for pointing out that mistake. :D

To the OP, If you can get into Edinburgh yourself, walk around, see the Castle and go down the Royal Mile to see the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Palace. Princess Street Gardens are lovely and there are lots of shops on Princess Street.

We have tours booked for Akureyri (Princess tour) and Reykjavik (Grayline Tour). What are some favorite things to do in the other ports.....Edinburgh,Invergordon, Lerwick (Shetland Islands), and Dublin? Other than Princess tours.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Yes, you can book tours in Lerwick (to see the Shetland ponies), but it is a neat town with cobble streets, a fort, and even a beach (at low tide). We just walked around. Look on the web for a walking tour. Check out MountHooley Street. Nice walk along the cliffs to the south near the golf course and cemetary. Locals walking their dogs and chatting with the tourists. There is a local "mall" around a half mile north, but mostly has non-tourist shops. If you want a Burra Bear, pick it up in the old town area.

Thank you very much for the helpful suggestions.

All are very much appreciated!

We were fortunate to be in Dublin 2 nights. One day we did the HOHO and stopped at Guinness & Jameson as well as other sites. The second day we took a private tour with www.wildwicklow.ie of the Wicklow Mountains, it was all day and we loved it. The scenery was beautiful and the tour guide was very funny. We bought all our tickets on-line so we didn't have to wait in line and most of them will give you a discount if you buy on-line.

This is an excerpt from my "Land of Fire & Ice" cruise review (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=58425).

Day 14 (Saturday, August 8) Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on EDT+5

This was the first of three days in a row of port stops. As we approached the Holmsgarth Ferry Terminal dock in Lerwick (www.visitshetland.com), we were greeted by several harbor seals frolicking in the water. I had arranged a private tour for us and 3 other couples (Paul929207, Sydney1a, Sandbucket) with Allen Fraser, owner of Shetland Geotours (www.shetlandgeology.com).

From Lerwick we drove north through beautiful countryside dotted with Shetland ponies and sheep to a lookout above the village of Voe. (Allen mentioned that the area was famous for its woolen fabrics. On one tour, an older gentleman told him, “I’ll have to tell Ed that I saw where his underwear was made.” “Ed” was Sir Edmund Hillary and he wore that underwear while climbing Mt. Everest.) Then we headed west through Brae to Shetland’s narrowest point at Mavis Grind, where the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are only about 20 yards apart. Next we drove up Collafirth Hill for a view of Shetland’s highest hill, Ronas Hill. After that, we drove along Shetland’s only fjord, Ronas Voe and took a short break at a café in Braewick. The café has a gorgeous view of St. Magnus Bay, an ancient meteorite impact crater, and Shetland’s best known sea stack, Dore Holm. Next we headed northwest to the spectacular volcanic cliffs at Eshaness and more sea stacks.

Some of our group needed another pit stop, so Allen took us to the former capital of Shetland, Scalloway. The major site there is Scalloway Castle (www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/shetland/scallowaycastle/index.html); Allen is a descendant of the earl who built the castle.

John and I had asked Allen to drop us off at the Broch of Clickimin (www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/shetland/clickimin/index.html), on the outskirts of Lerwick. However, Allen insisted on giving all of us a tour there; he seemed pleased that we knew about this site and proud to show it off to us. After a quick drive past the highlights of Lerwick, we were back at the ship with a half hour left for a quick trip to the grocery near the dock. We saw more than 3 of the Princess tours combined for considerably less cost and with an excellent guide who actually was involved in developing some of the geologic exhibits we saw along the way. However, there were no Shetland flags at any of our stops.

This is an excerpt from my "Land of Fire & Ice" cruise review (http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=58425).

 

Day 14 (Saturday, August 8) Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on EDT+5

This was the first of three days in a row of port stops. As we approached the Holmsgarth Ferry Terminal dock in Lerwick (www.visitshetland.com), we were greeted by several harbor seals frolicking in the water. I had arranged a private tour for us and 3 other couples (Paul929207, Sydney1a, Sandbucket) with Allen Fraser, owner of Shetland Geotours (www.shetlandgeology.com).

 

From Lerwick we drove north through beautiful countryside dotted with Shetland ponies and sheep to a lookout above the village of Voe. (Allen mentioned that the area was famous for its woolen fabrics. On one tour, an older gentleman told him, “I’ll have to tell Ed that I saw where his underwear was made.” “Ed” was Sir Edmund Hillary and he wore that underwear while climbing Mt. Everest.) Then we headed west through Brae to Shetland’s narrowest point at Mavis Grind, where the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean are only about 20 yards apart. Next we drove up Collafirth Hill for a view of Shetland’s highest hill, Ronas Hill. After that, we drove along Shetland’s only fjord, Ronas Voe and took a short break at a café in Braewick. The café has a gorgeous view of St. Magnus Bay, an ancient meteorite impact crater, and Shetland’s best known sea stack, Dore Holm. Next we headed northwest to the spectacular volcanic cliffs at Eshaness and more sea stacks.

 

Some of our group needed another pit stop, so Allen took us to the former capital of Shetland, Scalloway. The major site there is Scalloway Castle (www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/shetland/scallowaycastle/index.html); Allen is a descendant of the earl who built the castle.

 

John and I had asked Allen to drop us off at the Broch of Clickimin (www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/shetland/clickimin/index.html), on the outskirts of Lerwick. However, Allen insisted on giving all of us a tour there; he seemed pleased that we knew about this site and proud to show it off to us. After a quick drive past the highlights of Lerwick, we were back at the ship with a half hour left for a quick trip to the grocery near the dock. We saw more than 3 of the Princess tours combined for considerably less cost and with an excellent guide who actually was involved in developing some of the geologic exhibits we saw along the way. However, there were no Shetland flags at any of our stops.

Carolyn,

Thank you so much for all the information. I just sent an email to Geotours to see if they would be available for something similar to your tour.

We were fortunate to be in Dublin 2 nights. One day we did the HOHO and stopped at Guinness & Jameson as well as other sites. The second day we took a private tour with www.wildwicklow.ie of the Wicklow Mountains, it was all day and we loved it. The scenery was beautiful and the tour guide was very funny. We bought all our tickets on-line so we didn't have to wait in line and most of them will give you a discount if you buy on-line.

Thank you very much for the information. We will be in port for just one day. I will contact Wild Wicklow to see what they might have available that day and also will do some more research about the HOHO bus. Someone else also suggested that and it sounds like a good possibility.

Thanks again

For Invergordon, another beautiful area to tour is the Highlands. Our tour included Dunrobin Castle and Gardens and many other beautiful sights.