Golf, Sightseeing, Whisky and Food in UK, Ireland

Took direct flight to Manchester. Then took train to Piccadilly Station. 

Day 1. Manchester City (China Town, Manchester Cathedral, Football Museum) 

Day 2.  Rented a car from SixT and drove to Manchester United old Trafford Stadium. Had lunch in their Red Café and then drove to Lytham and St Annes for golf. 

Day 3. Golf again, Then drove to Liverpool. Liverpool Cathedral 

Day 4. Liverpool City (Mersey River Cruise, Museum of Liverpool, Royal Albert Dock, the Beatles Story) 

Day 5. Golf in Royal Liverpool (Venue for 151st Open) 

After a quick lunch in the Royal Liverpool clubhouse, drove to Chester. Just good enough to catch the last 4pm Chester Boat for Cruise in River Dee. 

Dinner @ Little Chef Table (Michelin Recommended). 

Day 6. Birmingham City (Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham City Council) 

Lunch @ Hongkong Dining

Dinner @ Haidilao. 

Day 7. Birmingham (Cadbury World),

After lunch, drove to Wales Reglan Castle, 

Then drove to Cardiff. Dinner @ Purple Poppadom (Michelin Recommended) 

Day 8. Morning Cardiff (Cardiff Castle)  

Afternoon Visit Penderyn Whisky， Mermaid Quay

Dinner @ Pasture, a local steakhouse 

Day 9. Morning Bristol (Clifton Suspension Bridge) 

Afternoon Stonehenge 

Day 10. Golf in Royal Wimbledon

Day 11. Car return and Took flight to Dublin. Due to the failure of Heathrow baggage system, all check in bags didn’t arrive at Dublin Airport. Filled in the bag missing form and took Dublin Express Bus to City and checked in hotel. 

First task was to buy essential items, including toothbrush, pajama, T shirt, socks… 

Dinner at Pichet (Michelin Bib Gourmand) 

Day 12. Morning Dublin City (Trinity College) 

Afternoon Golf at Royal Dublin. 

Day 13. Dublin (River Liffey, Christ Church Cathedral & Dublinia)

Afternoon visit Teeling Distillery 

Day 14. Dublin (Guinness Storehouse)

Lunch at 1837,  Then Dublin Castle 

Dublin Evening, All bags delayed were finally delivered to the hotel. And the delay claim was completed and sent to British Airway for processing.

Day 15. Cliff of Moher.  Joined a local tour. Returned to Dublin at 8pm,

Dinner at the Dublin most popular Irish bar Brazen Head. 

Day 16. Dublin City (Samuel Beckett Bridge, St. Andrew's Parish Church, National Gallery) 

Lunch at Patrick Guilbaud (Michelin 2 Star) 

After lunch, took train to Belfast. This concluded our trip to Republic of Ireland. 

Day 17. Belfast City (City Hall, St Anne’s Cathedral, Albert Memorial Clock, the Fish) 

Afternoon rented a car and had my sixth round of golf in Royal Belfast. 

Dinner at Belfast Stix and Stones, Steakhouse with hot stones, unexpectedly good. 

Day 18. Drove to Giant Causeway. First stop Carrickfergus Castle 

Second stop Portaneevy 

Third stop Carrick-a-Rede 

Finally, Giant Causeway 

Stayed in Londonderry. Dinner at Browns in Town (Michelin Recommended) 

Day 19. Morning Derry City (Guildhall, Wall City, St Eugene's Cathedral) , Afternoon Dark Hedges .

Evening Belfast (Titanic Experience and Nomadic) 

Dinner at Spanish Restaurant EDO (Michelin Recommended) 

Day 20. Belfast (Crumlin Road Gaol) and Flew to London 

Day 21. Morning London (Sky Garden, Millenium Bridge) 

Breakfast at Darcie & May Green 

and Metro to The Monument Station. Sky Garden (Free, need to book online) 

Millenium Bridge 

Lunch @ Savoy Grill (Michelin Recommended) Wellington, Beef Tartar, Snail

British Museum (Free) 

Dinner at Burger & Lobster. And then visited The Shard 

Day 22. London City (Prada Café, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square) 

Dinner at Kitty Fisher's wood grill (Michelin Recommended) 

Day 23. London (Borough Market) 

Lunch at Smokestak BBQ (Michelin Bib Gourmand), highly recommended. 

Hired Airport Shuttle to Heathrow. Return to Hong Kong. End of the trip.

Trip summary. 

1. 23 days of beautiful weather, 

2. 12 cities, 2 Countries, 

3. 9 Michelin restaurants, 

4. 6 Rounds of golf, 

5. 3 world class natural / heritage sites, 

6. 3 museums, 

7. 2 boat cruises, 

8. 2 Whisky Distillery, 1 Beer factory 

Lessons learnt. 

1. Be prepared to bring essential items with you on board, esp. when you have to take transit in London 2. In case of bags delay, don’t panic. Stay calm. Heathrow airport got pretty good experiences in handling that. 

3. Never try to drive a rental car into the London area. There are many surveillance cameras around and you don’t consider any luck to avoid traffic tickets. They are expensive. 

4. No need to buy London Oyster card for metro because it will cost £7 and cannot be refunded. Use direct debit card. 

5. Don’t expect London mobile network can cover all corners. No signal inside metro tunnel and department stores. 

 2023