katya_NY

Upon IrishEyes' excellent suggestion, I am re-posting this question with a new name & some new information.
My boyfriend & I are traveling to Ireland in August. Our trip will be a bit of a whirlwind, but we are looking to get a feel for places we will return to later.
As of right now, we are spending 2 nights in Dublin, and 2 nights in Kilkenny. We are thinking to spend about 2 nights in Co. Kerry, and then our remaining 3 nights somewhere a bit further north.
We are working with a travel agent, and have vouchers for en suite B&Bs, and can stay at "town & country" or "farmhouse" accommodations.
We are hoping for some advise- should we stay in Dingle as our home base? Is it better to stay further inland, and drive to the coast during the day? Does any one have any "must-see" B&B recommendations?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer! And thanks again to IrishEyes for the posting advice!! : )

MaryZ

The Irish coast is so beautiful that I wouldn't consider staing inland if I had the choice.

I really love Dingle, both the town and the rest of the peninsula, so that would be my choice. Kenmare is a pretty town, but lacks Dingle's slightly 'funky' factor which appeals to me. Killarney is also a wonderful town, but such a major tourist mecca that I like to save it for off-season visits.

I'm afraid my favorite Dingle B&B doesn't take vouchers.

Budman

I would base myself in Killarney. You can day trip and do Dingle in one day, and there are lots to do in the Killarney area for the other 2 days.

That entire area will be very busy during the August timeframe. Have you made your B&B reservation yet? Better hurry as most of the good places will have already been booked.

IrishEyes

katya, It is hard to contemplate only 2 nights in Kerry. Where are you thinking of spending your remaining 3 nights farther north? Are you departing from Shannon?

I agree with Budman that Killarney is the most centrally located place for doing day trips in Kerry, especially if Dingle is to be a day trip. However, if it were me I would spend two nights in Kenmare (love that town!) and two nights in Dingle. That would about take care of the other free days. You could easily do Killarney and the Beara Peninsula from Kenmare. Beara is the less traveled peninsula and you might even fit in Ilnucullin Gardens near Glengarriff and Bantry House. I have even gone as far as Mizen Head from Kenmare (though not on the same day as the others).

Dingle in good weather is sublime. There is almost no other place I would rather be in the sunshine. If you don't have to be in the town of Dingle, one of the better B&Bs in Ireland is near Castlegregory on Dingle's north shore: www.theshorescountryhouse.com (Very romantic queen room with balcony overlooking the ocean and dinners Mon-Fri to die for.) Annette takes vouchers but make those reservations now! In Dingle town I recommend Dunlavin House.

katya_NY

Thanks for the great suggestions! Do you think it's worth staying in one B&B for more than 2 nights, given our limited time frame? I know that Ireland isn't a large country, but as I've been reading, the roads are harder to travel than in the US. Since we'll be driving, are we better off to move from place to place more often? Or should we establish ourselves in one spot and take trips from there?

IrishEyes

Whether you want a home base for 2 days or more really depends on your complete itinerary. Sometimes it makes sense to stay put, at other times it is better to have one-night stays. Mix it up a bit but definitely do some 2-nighters. Otherwise you will really tire yourselves out (unless you are 20 years old and on a caffine high).

Faux

I would prefer to stay in Killarney. All of the other towns can be reached from there in a day trip and it is a tourist centre for good reason - it has a very lively night life and lots of attractive sights. The roads are often very narrow - often one lane each way even on major routes and once you are on the Dingle Peninsula, expect single lane roads on which you might find yourself held up behind a tractor of some livestock being moved. Don't expect to race along at speed but the reward is that the area is beautiful.

katya_NY

Thanks for everyone's continued help! I promise a trip report when I get back!!

Irisheyes- we are departing from Shannon, and that is (mainly) why we are trying to plan our trip in a semi-semi circle, from Dublin to Limerick. We are a bit intimidated by what some posters have said about the driving, so being centrally located sounds like the way to go! I have patience for days (I teach junior high) but no experience driving on the left hand side of the road. I just hope the locals will be patient with me, too!
We are interested in taking it easy, so maybe we should plan on 2 nights in Kenmare or Killarney, and then two nights in Dingle. This will still leave us the chance to drive a bit north to stay our last night in Limerick. Does this sound like a good compromise?
I am not used to being so limited on time, as when I have travelled, it mainly coincides with study (I teach Russian and Spanish). So when studying abroad, its very easy to be in class all week and travel on the weekends! I guess I've been spoiled- we'll see how we do squeezing everything into 10 days.
The Shores looks gorgeous, so I hope they wil have room for us!! Off to check now!

Thanks again!

Marlie

Katya,

Kenmare is a much nicer town than Killarney. Killarney is larger, but Kenmare is a sweet, cute, town with colorful buildings and shops. From Kenmare you can drive the Beara Peninsula easily. There are also many nice restaurants and shops in Kenmare. Everyone has thier favorites, but mine would be Kenmare hands down.

I was very disappointed in Dingle the town it’s self. Again, everyone has their likes and dislikes. Neither my husband nor I wanted to stay there once we saw it. To me it seemed run down, and the atmosphere seemed carnival like. Instead we traveled down the peninsula to Ballyferriter. It is just past Slea Head. It’s a very tiny town but beautiful, and it’s only about 5 miles back to Dingle if you take the cut through the peninsula. We found a beautiful beach there and a great pub. The Dingle Peninsula is just spectacular and not to be missed!

IrishEyes

katya,

A note about The Shores. As I said before it is on the north shore of the Dingle Peninsula. This means it is way out in the country. If you feel you want to go pub crawling, etc. and have close proximity to Dingle town, this is not the place for you. If on the other hand, you want a beautiful B&B overlooking the ocean that is quiet and far from the crowds of August, this is the place. If you happen to be there Mon-Friday I highly recommend having dinner there. It costs around 25-35 per person -- but what a feast! You will remember it forever. You must book dinner in advance.

Marlie's recommendation of staying in Kenmare as opposed to Killarney in August is excellent. What a wonderful little town, yet filled with great restaurants, pubs, etc. Killarney will be much busier with tour groups.

For your last night you might find that Bunratty is a good choice as opposed to Limerick City. Bunratty has many B&Bs that take vouchers and is only 10-15 minutes from the airport (virtually no traffic to deal with). Make it a fun last night and book a banquet at the castle or go to Bunratty Irish Night in the corn barn.

katya_NY

Thank you to Marlie and IrishEyes(again!) for the suggestions. I think Kenmare will be a better fit for us- I am very interested in seeing what a few pubs are like, but "pub crawls" are not for me!! I do not like beer, period. My boyfriend works part time as a bartender, so he's very excited to see the Irish pubs, too- but we are definitely the " one drink with dinner" types. I guess I will have to have a beer somewhere along the way, otherwise it won't be a full Irish experience... but I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of Guinness!! : )

Thank you, also, for the suggestion about Bunratty. I know there is a castle there that is frequented by tourists, so it would be something nice to see. And the less traffic en route to the airport, the better!!!

callalilli

Hi - just a quick note since i'm still a bit jet-lagged.. got home last night. First - we stayed at the Shores one night and had the best to-die-for breakfast of French toast with bananas and warm honey syrup, yogurt and fruit, and meuslix.. very gourmet. Annette is a wonderful host. Second - the driving !! my head is still spinning... its the craziest thing. however, it only took a short time to get used to the rules (or lack thereof) of the road. The drivers there are amazingly patient. We found it hillarious to see 100k/hr speed signs when driving those narrow winding roads. Always remember the mantra - "stay left, stay left, stay left". I made it back to the car rental with no dings, no flat tire - a miracle to be thankful for. I dont know where you should stay but I would recommend not moving to a different spot every night (like we did) - way too much time driving. And it WILL take longer to get from point A to point B than you might think. ENJOY !!