ITINERARY HELP: Ireland/Scotland/Amsterdam

I'd expect that all accom in Edinburgh is now sold out for the Tattoo. :/ This would be the instant problem I spot and I'd tackle that first and work the rest of the trip around it.

As for getting around Ireland, small it may be, but the roads suck, it takes a long time to get anywhere once you're about 30-40 miles from Dublin. Google maps says it's about 3hrs 15 min each way, and I'd agree with that. Your biggest problem will be getting around, particularly if you don't have a car, see the faq's for transport web links.

As for Scotland, it's a hike from Dundee but Skye may be an option although I'd overnight at Glencoe on the way as it's a proper mission from Dundee in one hop. Scenic though. You could always fly out of Inverness with http://www.flybe.com but you may find them too expensive, so the drive back to Edinburgh or Glasgow to fly out there may be required.

Dublin to Galway by car now takes about 2/2.5 hrs as long as you don't go on a Fri or Sun Evening or bank holiday weekend. Bus takes a little longer as it tends to stop at small towns now bypassed by M4/6

fly out to Amsterdam (aug 31-sept 5): would look to take a day trip out of the city; any suggestions would be awesome
Thanks to the short distances, you could visit a lot of places on day trips from Amsterdam, for example Leiden, Den Haag (The Hague), Delft, Haarlem, Enkhuizen, Volendam, Marken, Edam, Zaanse Schans open-air museum or somewhere along the coast. Rotterdam is cool - even though it may take some time getting used to it, as it's a bit grittier than Amsterdam and not at all a quaint Dutch town - a walk around Noordereiland will give you some nice views on the modern architecture that sets the center of Rotterdam apart from other Dutch cities.
Utrecht, Den Bosch, Maastricht, Groningen, Deventer, Breda and Amersfoort are a few other towns that are highly recommended.

Other areas to look into (preferably for an overnight stay): any of the islands (Texel is easiest to reach from Amsterdam, but the others can be combined nicely with a trip around Friesland province), the south of Limburg province (around Maastricht), Hoge Veluwe National Park or Zeeland province (the storm flood barrier exhibition at Neeltje Jans is a must, and the provincial capital Middelburg is a lovely little town).
The areas around Zwolle and around Enschede as well as most of Drenthe province hardly see any tourists apart from a few Dutch on cycling trips.

Forget the Tattoo. Sold out for Aug 26th and 27th (final day).
You could just base yourself in Dundee and do day trips such as:
Edinburgh (as Fwoggie says accommodation in Edinburgh will be sold out at inflated prices)
Train to Stonehaven and do a coastal walk to Dunnatter Castle and back.

Bus to St Andrews and explore town and beach. Ideal time to go. Population down by 40% outside of University season. Ask to see the pavement engraved with a heart where William first met Katy!
Bus to Tayport and walk through Tentsmuir Forest to the beach and if tidal conditions right see the seal colony. My dog hates the beach- no stones or sticks just pure sand.
Extremely difficult to visit a whiskey distillery from Dundee. They are all in Ireland. Even whisky distillerys will be difficult to get to without a car. However in Edinburgh there is the http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/. Can't comment on it since I have never been there.
In Dundee itself you can visit the Discovery Centre
http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=129

thanks for this. yea so the plan will be to skin Edinburgh all together. we`re going to stay in Glasgow and then head over to dundee. can you suggest some must see places in GlasgowÉ
thanks

thanks for this! youre right the tattoo is sold out on the 2 days i was able to go. im actually going to be flying into glasgow now (the flight into edinburgh is too expensive due to the tatoo), can you recc things to do in glasgowÉ i`ll be there about 1-2 days.
and then heading to Dundee for 2 days.

thanks a lot for providing me with these! i`m going to look these up.

instead of travelling from Dublin to Galway, i think we might just stay on the east coast and do a day trip around Dublin. not sure where to go though. my boyfriend is quite active, so is there a place we can rent bikes and bike around maybeÉ

thank you!

3-4 days in whole countries will do them no justice at all. Have you considered Northern Ireland ? Often overlooked in the past but seriously underrated yet compact . Birthplace of Irish Stew, Armagh ( ancient capital of all Ireland, ) home of the Ulster Fry, The oldest whiskey distillery in the world ( Bushmills ) Once the biggest ship building industry ( including the tragic Titanic ), biggest linen industry, biggest rope manufacturers, the oldest continuously published newspaper in the English speaking world ( Belfast Newsletter ) etc etc. You could pretty much see most of the ' main ' tourist attractions in 4 days as all are less than a couple of hours from Belfast and the ferry crossing to Scotland is just 90 mins from Belfast to Stranraer. Cheaper too ( UK pound.)
Belfast - North Antrim Coast and Giants Causeway- Derry's wall's ( last remaining walled city in British Isles,) - Ulster American Folk Park ( probably the best immigration museum in the world ) - Belfast - Stranraer, Scotland.