1 week free - where to go

I am travelling in July on a contiki tour of Europe for 14 days.
I have one week free after the trip, and am tossing up between Scotland, Ireland and staying in London.

What would you recommend? I really want to see the whole castle / old stuff that scotland has to offer, but I cant really decide...

All opinions welcome!

I recommend that you go with your gut and do Scotland .But are you spending any time in london a few days might be nice. Rember you donr need ot go to Scotland to see the whole castle thing they have them near london to.

I would one zillion percent go with Frankie75 - Post #2#. If you want old castles - then it just has to be Bonnie Scotland. There you can walk round ruins as well, on your own with nobody around for miles and all for free. There are castles around London too - Windsor, Arundel (about 60 miles away - just over an hour on the train from london Victoria) and Leeds (again - about an hour away), but for me - the whole feel of Scotland knocks the spots off the stuffy air and millions of crowds in and around the capital.
Check out Virgin Rail for some cheap advance train fares up to Scotland. It can save a packet, rather than turning up on the day.
Have a great trip.

Scotland is very beautiful, but there's a distinct difference in mentality between the Edinburgh half of the country which is very friendly, and Glasgow which I found to be a bit blunt at times.

Ireland has some beautiful scenery and many national parks which are well worth visiting and the people are very friendly and hospitable. I went there myself for a few weeks as a teenager and although I'm a lot older now, I still have fond memories of the country.

Not quite sure where Post #4# is coming from with their views on Scotland.... "There's a distinct difference in mentality between the Edinburgh half of the country which is very friendly, and Glasgow which I found to be a bit blunt at times"
Difficult to see Edinburgh as half the country, when the two cities are only 40 minutes drive from each other, from one end of Scotland to the other is over 250 miles - and there is almost 31,000 square miles of it. That's almost twice the size of The Netherlands!!
A night out in Glasgow, if you've the time - is just magical. 100's of the pubs have live music that is wonderful - and the food to be found in the city is amongst the UK's very finest.

Wow thanks for the advice everyone.

Edinburgh sounds awesome, and im really getting excited!
I might spend a couple of the last days in London, and maybe 4 days in Scotland area.

Thanks again!