Trip to Ireland, UK & France in late May - transportation ideas?

[flyershoe]

Brian and I are finally taking a substantial vacation together... all of our other trips have been long weekends.

He wants to see Ireland, England & Scotland... I told him that he has to see Paris, too... LOL. I went last year without him and it just didn't seem right. Plus I'm trying to brush up on my French.

Anyway, when I went to France, I bought a Eurail pass, which I loved. All of France was so easily accessible!! I'd really like to go the train route again, but I'm not sure how the train service is in the other countries. Additionally, we would have to buy a Britrail pass along with our Eurail selectpass for Ireland & France.

The problem is that it looks like a lot of the sights we would like to see are still miles from the nearest train stations. Here are the specific places we want to go/see: Stonehenge, Loch Ness, Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Cork, and Paris (even if it's just a day trip). We of course want to see some castles and stuff, but I'm sure there will be plenty along the way. What would you do? Stay in a central location for several days and take bus tours? Drive? The thought of driving over there scares both of us, plus we would like to be able to just relax and enjoy the scenery.

We have about 8 full days to do this. How would you recommend breaking up the trip? What must we absolutely see? We're leaving on 5/24, returning 6/2. Right now the loads look best into and out of Paris, especially because they have 3 flights a day. Of course that can all change in the next 4 weeks!

Any advice is appreciated!!