Post: #1

I've read all the datasheets for Scotland and Ireland but haven't really seen anyone compare the two or suggest which is better or which city is the best in this region.

I'm planning on spending anywhere from 3-6 months there and I'd like to live in a university area with more young people.

I did a lot of Tinder + GPS spoofing for a variety of Irish and Scottish cities and from that process it seemed like Ireland might have more beautiful women than Scotland but that could be down to random chance.

Anyone have any opinion on the best city in this area or any thoughts on Irish vs Scottish women?

Can anyone comment on whether the gym culture or fitness level varies between these two countries or within the different cities?

And as far as cost of living goes - I've heard all sorts of things and really don't know what to believe. Some say Dublin is way more expensive than Edinburgh but is there really such a large difference? Should this be a factor in my decision? I'm earning USD remotely and I'm not really limited by price but saving more is always better.

My ideal city for this trip has:

1. A high percentage of the city population is students or the students cluster in a small enough area for game purposes.
2. Friendly, cute redheads. 6-7 range is fine for me and big child-birthing hips and a big butt are practically a requirement for me but a girl still has to have a flat stomach.
3. Cheaper would be great, but I'm willing to sacrifice on this if it's necessary to live in the best city girl-wise.
4. Don't care about weather or size of city.
   

Post: #2

Dublin won't be more expensive than Edinburgh by virtue of the Euro nosediving. It was barely more expensive in 2010 when the Euro was comparatively stronger.

Post: #3

Cork

In the South west which has some of the nicest scenery and beaches.
City has over 120k people and numerous Universities and language schools: University College Cork (UCC), Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), The National Maritime College of Ireland, Cork School of Music and Crawford College of Art and Design, Griffith College Cork and many others.

Cork was the European Capital of Culture back in 2005 and has a lot of cool unique bars, streets and events.

Always something happening. Lots of bars run cool promo style nights and there is unlimited daygame opportunities as well.

The city is easily manageable by owing a bike and has a lot of pedestrianized streets and market areas.

Good food and people have good style too. Lots of Irish models live in Cork and its girls are some of the best dressed and hottest.

Good selection of girls - local cork girls are hot, lots of hot girls want to study in cork and it also has a ton of International students and workers.

Good work opportunists (best in Ireland anyway). The most famous product of the Cork pharmaceutical industry is Viagra. Cork is also the European headquarters of Apple Inc.


Can't speak too much for Scotland but I would pick Cork as the city of choice for Ireland to live in. Good weekend sports nearby as well that I will add in if you move there.

Post: #4

Edinburgh/Glasgow > Dublin

It's not even close.

Can't speak on Cork, Galway, etc. but by all accounts they're better places than Dublin.

Post: #5

Hey thanks for the responses guys.

@Courage Reborn,

What's your reasoning for preferring Scotland over Ireland?

Post: #6

Have you been to Ireland? You'll be shocked at how small even Dublin is, let alone Galway etc.

Why just these two places?

Where are you now?

Post: #7

I'm in Wroclaw right now and have been here for a few months. Sampled the local variety already. I'm location independent and new to Europe, trying to do a scattershot survey of different regions of the continent. And yes, I know EE is vaunted on this forum but it's important to me to also visit British Isles, Scandinavia, etc. for my own personal pussy paradise quest. There are a whole lot of reasons for the places I've chosen on my loose, approx. year-long itinerary, but long story short maybe I'll decide to come back to EE, maybe not, but I need to leave Schengen for 90 days anyway and I've wanted to hit up the British Isles for a long time. Plus, big-booty redheads. Can't lose.

Smaller cities are fine for me although Cork might be a bit smaller than I'd be comfortable with. To be honest I've lived in cities of several million but my favorite cities are usually 500,000 or maybe 1 million max.

The important thing for me is the ratio of students to non-students and that if I walk into a pub or cafe that there's a decent percentage of cute girls. If the city is boring, that's OK, as long as I can make friends and build a social life.

Post: #8

(03-09-2015 05:33 AM)drasticallyspeaking Wrote:  I'm in Wroclaw right now and have been here for a few months. Sampled the local variety already. I'm location independent and new to Europe, trying to do a scattershot survey of different regions of the continent. And yes, I know EE is vaunted on this forum but it's important to me to also visit British Isles, Scandinavia, etc. for my own personal pussy paradise quest. There are a whole lot of reasons for the places I've chosen on my loose, approx. year-long itinerary, but long story short maybe I'll decide to come back to EE, maybe not, but I need to leave Schengen for 90 days anyway and I've wanted to hit up the British Isles for a long time. Plus, big-booty redheads. Can't lose.

Smaller cities are fine for me although Cork might be a bit smaller than I'd be comfortable with. To be honest I've lived in cities of several million but my favorite cities are usually 500,000 or maybe 1 million max.

The important thing for me is the ratio of students to non-students and that if I walk into a pub or cafe that there's a decent percentage of cute girls. If the city is boring, that's OK, as long as I can make friends and build a social life.

Glasgow has about 550,000 people, three universities, some colleges, and it even has a subway system across the centre, west and south of the city. It's a bit cheaper than Edinburgh or Dublin as well.

Post: #9

You're the first person I've ever heard try and live in Glasgow voluntarily.

There are much nicer places in Scotland.

No love for us English?

Post: #10

I'm gonna hop on the Glasgow train as well. I am currently studying here and while paling in terms of beauty and scenery to Edinburgh and some places in Ireland, the nightlife makes up for it. Large enough local population that there is something to do every night, and has universities (Glasgow, Strathclyde) that make for good "regional" spots as well as the City Center, Merchant City, etc... You get a good amount of students from all over here, as well as Scottish and other nationalities. Also Edinburgh, Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, and even London aren't far far/expensive to travel to for a weekend.

Post: #11

I'm surprised noone has mentioned Belfast yet. Also with a large university population. Relatively small city but rent costs and nights out would be cheaper than the south

Post: #12

I can only think that Atlantic got himself laid in Cork as my view of the city is somewhat less optimistic...totally agree about Belfast

Post: #13

(03-09-2015 02:23 PM)EU Explorer Wrote:  I can only think that Atlantic got himself laid in Cork as my view of the city is somewhat less optimistic...totally agree about Belfast

Cork is a good place to stay for a few months. If you are only coming for a weekend there are better spots.

I don't know too much about Northern Island or Scotland but as far as Ireland goes - Galway, Cork or Dublin.

Ireland does not have consistent nightlife and any night out is highly random as people love to bar hop and everyone is so drunk. This is why you always see highly mixed reports coming from people who spend a short time in Ireland. You could pull every night or you could even get close. It varies so much that no one place or spot is reliable on a short timeline. For longer trips cities like Cork pay off but they do require work. Ireland has talent but you have to put in the work.

As for Cork I lived there for three months but it was during the lowest point of my life. Just finished Uni and was completely broke. I didn't get too much action but it was easy to see there was a lot of talent. My own game and set up held me back.

If people are wondering about weekend/week long trip then that is a completely different topic - lots of festivals, towns that are good on weekends but suck during the week, time of year etc.

Post: #14

I would pick Glasgow.

Lots of girls, cheap and you can easily get to Edinburgh and Newcastle if you want to change it up a bit.

Post: #15

Atlantic:
Do you notice Cork being worse during the summer due to a lot of the girls leaving for places like the Jersey Shore, New York, and Boston, or does it really not make that much of a difference? My hometown is flooded with Cork University students every year from July to September.

Post: #16

When I was right out of undergrad I did a 6 month backpacking trip through Ireland. I mostly stayed in hostels along the coasts and settled in Galway for 4 months after visiting on a whim. I found a pretty nice townhome rental with a bunch of other backpackers just by responding to an ad on the hostel message board.

Galway is the gateway to the rugged west coast of Ireland. There are great bus tours based in the city that go all over the coast. NUIG also has a presence, but it's not as big of a college town as Cork is. I stayed in Cork for about a week and found Galway more laid back, nicer overall but definitely more quaint with a small town feel. There are festivals in the summer but nothing compared to Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin. As far as girls, when I visited I mostly hung out with international backpacker chicks I met in hostels. The locals were easy to open even for me - I had 0 game back then

If you're open to a more small town experience off the beaten path, check out Galway. If you're committed to a bigger city, Dublin or Edinburgh all the way.

Post: #17

Going to be making this jump very very soon so any more last minute thoughts or opinions are welcome.

Doesn't seem to be much of a consensus here unfortunately.

Are Irish girls and Scottish girls pretty interchangeable looks-wise? (input from natives of the British Isles very welcome here)

Where would foreigner/outsider value be highest? (although to be honest I've heard that the American accent really isn't that exotic and some even actively dislike it)

Where is the most concentrated area of student-age nightlife that isn't super cliquey and has enough women to avoid seeing the exact same faces every night?

It seems like cost isn't really going to be all that different with the euro sliding so I'm taking that factor away from my decision and looking purely for the best city for gaming in this region.

Post: #18

(03-14-2015 01:47 PM)drasticallyspeaking Wrote:  Going to be making this jump very very soon so any more last minute thoughts or opinions are welcome.

Doesn't seem to be much of a consensus here unfortunately.

Are Irish girls and Scottish girls pretty interchangeable looks-wise? (input from natives of the British Isles very welcome here)

Where would foreigner/outsider value be highest? (although to be honest I've heard that the American accent really isn't that exotic and some even actively dislike it)

Where is the most concentrated area of student-age nightlife that isn't super cliquey and has enough women to avoid seeing the exact same faces every night?

It seems like cost isn't really going to be all that different with the euro sliding so I'm taking that factor away from my decision and looking purely for the best city for gaming in this region.

Glasgow and Edinburgh have plenty of international students already, from most corners of the world. Your foreigner value won't be high, though depending on where you're from you might find a niche with certain people. Being American will rarely get you special attention. If nightlife is a big priority I'd go with Glasgow over Edinburgh. The logistics are just far easier and there are a couple of concentrated areas where it's wall-to-wall bars with plenty of students and 20-somethings. People tend to stick with their favourite places so just change it up regularly or you'll find it a bit stale. The city and the surrounding towns reach a population of about 1 million. Not huge, but that's as high as it gets in Scotland.

I haven't been to RoI so I can't comment on individual cities there.

As far as looks, Scots and Irish are close enough that there's no big difference.

Post: #19

You should go to Edinburgh. Everybody who goes likes the place, you can just walk around and enjoy the architecture, parks, museums etc. and it's small enough that you can really get to know the city. Also, the weather is (relatively) drier than in Glasgow. When my bro went to live in Glasgow it rained every day for the first 2 months. The talent in Scotland is nothing special, but in Edinburgh there are always tourists chicks (national and international) to give a bit of variety. Redheads you will find in Scotland although probably more so in Ireland. Anyway, once you've scored a couple of redheads you'll probably start passing on them like the rest of us.

Post: #20

Dublin is rubbish. Prolly whole Ireland and Scotland, being part of the same cunfest hipster homosexual mangina anti-male anglosphere scene.

I've been there for work and can't even possibly imagine how could somebody go there for fun.

Post: #21

Just to echo what has been said - you'll find a lot of Irish students disappear to the states in the summer for their J-1. I've noticed patterns e.g. Cork students tend to head for California. Yes Belfast is a cheaper option BUT it sounds too small for what you're after and you'd grow out of it quickly. I notice it transforms at weekends as a lot of the student population return to their parents' homes in the countryside. I'm not the biggest fan to be honest, and find that the girls there have a particularly bad case of RBF. I personally much prefer Derry/Londonderry, and Galway is great if you're into your music. I used to live in the west end of Glasgow which has a very healthy party scene. Edinburgh is posher and has more private school rugby lads kicking around, which puts me off, although it's a great place to be based during the Fringe in August. Oh, and don't even think about going near Aberdeen!

Post: #22

@ drasticallyspeaking

Edinburgh, Hand's Down buddy. As has been mentioned previously smaller sized city centre than Glasgow also relatively more upmarket! City centre teem's with 6, 7, 8, & 9's during day & night.

Lot's of student's, think we have 4 or 5 Universities now(3 big ones) Irish, EE, Aussie's, all nationalities really! Good Day & Night game around city centre area's, Newtown, West End, Southside, Stockbridge, Grassmarket etc. All easily accessible to each other with at most a 15-20 min walk between them.

Recently read Courage Reborn's thread:

/thread-27841....ying+Siege

Classic!

He only tipped his toes for a week or so tho!

Why not spend a month in 3 separate cities and broaden your horizons/life experiences?

Think Dublin is still pretty expensive even tho the euro rate is low.

Weather wise mid to late April/May is when Edinburgers start shedding the outer layers to show off a bit flesh!

Hope this helps.

Post: #23

I recently travelled around Ireland for 10 days. The cities I visited were Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway & saw some friends in a small town.

Dublin is hit and miss, entirely depends what time of year to go to. The nightclub Copper Face Jacks will be busy all year though (situated at the top of Grafton Street). Freshers months, rag week or post exams (May time) are the best for Dublin. I went in Feb/March this year and it was much quite than in October last year. Clubs I went to on both trips were Club M (shit hole) & alchemy (not great but I got free entry)

Cork was fantastic, my hotel was centrally located but the night porter was an ass hole when it came to bringing girls back. Bar I went to were 6ix, the night club was called the savoy and another bar that I can't remember the name was. I arrived via train and I'm a young short lad, I was wearing a suit waiting for the taxi and there were plenty of 7s or 8s running past me to get into the station say hey. The people are very friendly, flirty and fun. Cork was probably the best city I visited. There is a noticeable polish community there although the few I spoke to seemed to be very disrespectful about Ireland (and the UK).

Limerick. I was fortunate to have gone during rag week. The bar I went to was Smyths bar that play live music every day (one band is called free beer which always gives the bartenders a laugh) at about 11pm the you go down some stairs in to the nightclub there called Icon. As I was there during rag week I can not say what it is like on a normal night but it was fucking packed. There two dance floors and a few bars scattered about, not many toilets and two tiny smoking areas. No where to speak to a girl.

Galway is another student town, will find international students there (mostly Americans). Bars I went to were the quays, hole in the wall, carbons, front door and electric. Hole in the wall is a fantastic little venue, it's where the young Irish girls go to dance to more cheese songs (Brice Springsteen - Dancing in the dark) is the song most memorable from my time there. Then soon as nightclubs open at 11 in dies down dramatically. Carbons on a wednesday is a must for cheap drinks, I paid €5 for a double Jameson and then it was buy one get one free too. so a quadruple Jameson for €5. Venue is fairly small though. Front door has more international customers drinking there. I did not rate electrics that much (possible due to fatigue as I did 8 nights out in a row).

Finally Castlebar. Avoid. Not worth your time. The nightclub, Mantra, is very dated but there is two rooms. One for over 21s which may be better. But avoid that place.


Out of the places I visited I would rate them like this

Cork
Galway
Dublin (Is fantastic during the right season)
Limerick
Castlebar

I have never visited Scotland so I can't comment there. All the best on your trip.

Post: #24

Decided it'd be easier to make a decision if I just looked for the best accommodations first and made my decision with that knowledge, and now I'm struggling to find a good deal on a decent place. Looking for a double bed and that's about all I care about. Would prefer a private apartment but seems uncommon or overpriced for short-term rentals in these cities.

Went through Edinburgh and Glasgow on Airbnb and seems like they're looking for 1500-2000 pounds just for a private room. I sent a ton of messages out asking for possible discount long-term rates, but no real good options so far. One lady did write back and say off the top of her head maybe 700 pounds a month (this was for a private double room in the West End of Glasgow). But that offer doesn't even give me a good gut feeling. I just hate the idea of paying more for a big lifestyle downgrade over what I currently have.

I'd way rather have a 1 bedroom flat to myself (getting way too spoiled living in Wroclaw in a private apartment for 450 pounds, which is considered overpriced for what I have here).

Not really sure what my budget actually is, I can afford all these prices but I just can't stomach feeling like I'm paying over market price and I really don't like the idea of a landlord possibly looking over my shoulder if I start having a fuck buddy or girlfriend stay overnight. I was looking in a few flat search/offer groups on FB and prices are way lower than on Airbnb. But not many people are offering short-term accommodation. And not many double rooms. And the overall quality of the accommodations just seems pretty shitty. And there are like 15 people commenting one each post 5 minutes after it's made.

I'm kind of thinking of just way-expanding my search to 10-15 uni cities in the UK on Airbnb and picking a place to go based off wherever I can find good deals.

I could also just show up and stay somewhere expensive for a week while hitting up real-estate agents / looking locally. But not sure if that's a better strategy.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Edit: Looking on Gumtree in the short-term accomodations sections looks like there are some 1bedroom flats for 900 pounds per month: http://www.gumtree.com/search?sort=date&...mber_beds= . Not unbearable but still feels like a rip off. But I really don't know what's normal for the rental market in UK. Anyone share what I should feel OK paying?

Post: #25

(03-23-2015 04:18 PM)drasticallyspeaking Wrote:  Decided it'd be easier to make a decision if I just looked for the best accommodations first and made my decision with that knowledge, and now I'm struggling to find a good deal on a decent place. Looking for a double bed and that's about all I care about. Would prefer a private apartment but seems uncommon or overpriced for short-term rentals in these cities.

Went through Edinburgh and Glasgow on Airbnb and seems like they're looking for 1500-2000 pounds just for a private room. I sent a ton of messages out asking for possible discount long-term rates, but no real good options so far. One lady did write back and say off the top of her head maybe 700 pounds a month (this was for a private double room in the West End of Glasgow). But that offer doesn't even give me a good gut feeling. I just hate the idea of paying more for a big lifestyle downgrade over what I currently have.

I'd way rather have a 1 bedroom flat to myself (getting way too spoiled living in Wroclaw in a private apartment for 450 pounds, which is considered overpriced for what I have here).

Not really sure what my budget actually is, I can afford all these prices but I just can't stomach feeling like I'm paying over market price and I really don't like the idea of a landlord possibly looking over my shoulder if I start having a fuck buddy or girlfriend stay overnight. I was looking in a few flat search/offer groups on FB and prices are way lower than on Airbnb. But not many people are offering short-term accommodation. And not many double rooms. And the overall quality of the accommodations just seems pretty shitty. And there are like 15 people commenting one each post 5 minutes after it's made.

I'm kind of thinking of just way-expanding my search to 10-15 uni cities in the UK on Airbnb and picking a place to go based off wherever I can find good deals.

I could also just show up and stay somewhere expensive for a week while hitting up real-estate agents / looking locally. But not sure if that's a better strategy.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Edit: Looking on Gumtree in the short-term accomodations sections looks like there are some 1bedroom flats for 900 pounds per month: http://www.gumtree.com/search?sort=date&...mber_beds= . Not unbearable but still feels like a rip off. But I really don't know what's normal for the rental market in UK. Anyone share what I should feel OK paying?

I can only speak for Glasgow, but you should be able to find a normal 1-bedroom or reasonable studio for £400-£500 in reasonable condition. It's possible the short-term market is more expensive as landlords love the student contracts starting in July/August, but search through the 1-bedroom or studio/bedsit category, sometimes people put it in the wrong category or are just open to negotiation.