Question:
Folks, I've just returned to the States, having spent the last few days driving about England and Ireland, and thought I'd write it here, before I forget too much. Hotels will be reviewed at www.tripadvisor.com

First, lessons learned (re-learned)... A) No matter how long it /should/ take to get somewhere, missed turns on the roundabouts, congested-traffic, rain and other misfortune, add 50% for England and 100% for Ireland. The M25 at rush-hour crawls at snail's pace. B) Do not pre-pay for tours, theatre or other entertainment on the day that you arrive after a long-day's journey (see above) C) The Brtish Heritage Pass from www.visitbritain.com is a good deal if you do not like digging cash out of your wallet at most historical sites in Britain.

Day 1 -- Gatwick to Bath (B&B: Paradise House). Of all the airports I've been in, Gatwick requires the most walking. Due to a flight delay, we did not leave the airport with our rental car until 11A. We found Stonehenge easily, then ate a bad lunch at a road-side dive, and arrived at our B&B about 4P, exhausted. But still, we walked to the Roman Baths + back (worth the effort). For dinner, we foolishly tried to drive to our restaurant and got lost. We found it, but had to ask for help 2x to find our way back to the car park.

Day 2 -- Bath to Waterford, Ireland (B&B: Diamond Hill House). Rain and delays from accidents marred was was 'spose to be an easy drive thru Wales to the ferry at Pembroke Dock. We rushed and were next to the last car in line. With a 3 hour boat ride, it was pretty much a lost day. A flight from Bristol maybe, would have been better, even with a drop charge.

Day 3 -- Waterford to Glin Castle via Kilarney (Hotel: Glin Castle). We toured Waterford Crystal and left the showroom only a few hundred Euros lighter. N72 was washed out just past Lismore Castle. In areas, Ireland's national highways are what I would call, pig-trails. After stopping at a mall in Kilarney for my wife's shopping fix, we drove by Muckross and to Ladies' View in Kilarney Nat'l. Park. As it was getting late, we turned back and headed North to Glin Castle -- an exclusive old manor house just on the South side of the river Shannon, near Limerick.

We were greeted by the manager and the doorman turned out to be our conciege and waiter. We had a large room with a 3d floor view of the river and a huge bathroom. It was chic and expensive. A couple from Galway became engaged while we were there. A guest said that it was common for men in the area to bring their GF's to Glin Castle to propose... After all, how could she say no in such a place?

Day 4 -- Glin Castle to Galway (Hotel: Galway Bay Hotel). After an early stroll around the walled-garden and made-to-order breakfast, we took a ferry across the Shannon -- the winds whipped up waves splashing our car with mud -- and drove to the Cliff's of Moher. Although marred by all the construction to 'improve' visitor services, it was worth the diversion. Then we drove to Galway, with a stop at Dungaire Castle. We go to the Aran Islands, and in hindsight, it may have better to head for Dublin.

Day 5 -- Galway to Dublin (Hotel: Clontarf Castle Hotel). This day we only /thought/ we missed turns on roundabouts, backtracked 2x and found we had turned correctly. We found our hotel, dropped our laundry at 'Suds & Tubs', and had lunch at 'Duke's' (overpriced). Then we hopped a city tour-bus and found dinner, music & dancing at the Arlington Hotel. With no idea how to drive back to our hotel, we ended up driving to the airport and following directions from there.

Day 6 -- Dublin to Buxton, England (B&B: Rosleigh House). We crossed back over by ferry while watching a silly Jim Carey movie in the /theatre/. Then lunched at a pub in Caernarfon (Wales). Bypassed Chester to get to Buxton, close to Chatsworth, in the Peak's disctrict. Had I known that Chatsworth did not open until 11A, we might have stopped earlier.

Day 7 -- Buxton to London via Chatsworth (Hotel: Reubens at Buckingham). Arrived at Chatsworth at 9:30A, found last night's room key in my pocket and called the hotel (arranged to post), and waited for the House+Gardens to open. Lunched at Chatsworth's Stables and drove to Gatwick to return the rental car. Traffic literally inched on the M25. It took us 5 1/2 hours! The 'Gatwick Express' train into London was slow as well, taking an hour. But we found a great Italian place to eat near the hotel (L'Arco).

Days 8 & 9 -- Tour of London + Vicinity. Using a combination of tour busses, underground, and taxis, in two days, we managed to visit the Tower of London, Changing of the Guard, Westminster Abbey, Kensington Gardens (tea at the Orangery), Madame Toussard's, Covent Garden Market, and do a field-trip to Windsor Castle.

Comment: Of the European capitals that I seen in recent years (Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome, Vienna). As a favorite, I place Rome first and regretfully place London last ... Its a lively city, no doubt, but its s noisy, busy, jumble of mismatched architecture, and feels run-down... Its a shame

Answer: I'm gong to say 'I told you so' on two counts : -) In particular Gatwick is a *big* deviation if you're driving from the north of England and need to get to Central London.

5.5 hours doesn't sound out of line for a drive from Buxton to Gatwick. But the Gatwick Express shouldn't have taken a whole hour, especially as it's marketed as a premium service, even though any advantage in scheduled time is fairly marginal compared to other Gatwick-London trains. I was aggrieved a while back when the journey on Gatwick Express took 45 minutes (and a rather circuitous route out of Victoria) because of engineering on a Sunday.

Still, I'm glad you had a good time and that, despite a few delays, you were able to stick to your itinerary and see what you wanted to.