jenmommy

We are arriving in Dublin on August 12 in the morning. We are looking to fly out of Shannon or Kerry to London on either the 17th or 18th (flexible.) We are 2 adults and a 7 year old boy, and we plan to rent a car.

Our "must sees" are the Guiness stonehouse, Cliffs of Moher. I think my son would like to see the Hook Head Lighthouse and he definitely wants to go to castle Blarney.

Any thoughts on whether we could build an itinerary that works this stuff in? Are we missing anything that is a must? We are trying to not jam in too much, but knowing that we may not be back for a long time we want to make the most of it.

Thanks in advance!

griz_fan

If you are arriving from the US, don't try to do much (or expect much) on that first day. Especially with a 7 year old, focus on getting rested and acclimated. Driving times in Ireland were definitely a lot slower than I was used to in the States, so allow for extra drive time, too. Flying out of Shannon would be a good location for seeing the Cliffs. Also, take a look at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. It's pretty 'touristy' but we had a lot of fun, and I can see your son really enjoying that.
get a map and measure out travel distances to get a feel for how much time you'll be stuck in a car. with a 7 year old, I would do everything possible to keep that to a minimum.

jenmommy

Thanks for the tip! We are arriving from Western Canada so jet lag will definitely be an issue.

When I checked the drive times it didn't seem to be too much, but I am trying to adjust my expectations because the last time we were overseas it was just the two of us and we could cope better.

kwren

I just got back from Ireland Monday (great trip!) and we did some of the things that are being discussed here. I haven't finished my trip report, but the beginning of it is some info you might be interested in...

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...h-to-north.cfm

kwren

We didn't do the banquet at Bunratty, but I've taken my boys to medieval banquets before and they loved it. Combined with it being in the castle, a 7 year old should really be enthralled. We wanted to go to the village there but didn't have the time. It's supposed to be pretty interesting. We would do it next time.

Driving from Dublin to Bunratty or Cork is all highway and should be pretty straightforward with driving times. However, there is some construction outside of Dublin which slowed the traffic down. I'd add a little extra time for that. Also, there is a toll around the 'beltway' of Dublin and you can't avoid it going to Bunratty or Cork or the Cliffs of Moher. There is no toll booth - a picture is taken of your car and you have until 8 pm the following day to pay it. We did the paperwork for our car at the airport, but before getting on the shuttle to pick up the car, we went to the Spar store at the airport - it's very close to the rental counters - and paid it by credit card. You can pay in advance (keep your receipt just in case) and that way you don't have to find a place on the road or the next day. A whole lot of hassle avoided. Someone will say it's not a hassle, and in theory is shouldn't be because supposedly any gas station or Spar store accepts payment, but we tried to pay for a second toll in advance, and had to go to 4 places before we found one that would accept our payment. One's machine was broken, one never got the machine but was supposed to. It became a joke because we followed all the instructions and finally ended up paying in a pharmacy! That wasn't even told to us as an option! Take care of this before you leave the airport...you will thank me!

Where you need to add a lot of extra time for driving is going out to the Cliffs of Moher. Those tiny roads are very narrow and you'll be slowing down a lot when a larger vehicle passes you the other direction.

Good luck!