mewhaj

Will fly from Tampa,Fl to France( Manigod near Geneva )and spend seven days with my wife's parents. Need advice on best way to get from France to and around southern Ireland and spend six days. My inlaws are about the same distance to four airports-Geneva,Lyon, Nice and Zurick. Need advice on ground travel( don't think I want to try driving in Ireland) and suggestions on stops to get a flavor of the culture without hitting too many tourist traps. Which air airport would you suggest to fly back to Tampa. I am asking a lot and I would really appreciate any advice from seasoned travelers. Thanks
Jim

jent103

Renting a car would give you the most flexibility for sure - I didn't think it was that bad, truly. Just takes a bit of getting used to. The roads are small, but so are the cars. And you wouldn't be doing it jet-lagged, which is good.

If, however, you're absolutely sure you don't want to rent a car, there are several threads here about private drivers in Ireland - do a search and you should find some good information. There are also buses and trains (search for nedsireland's posts - http://www.fodors.com/community/profile/nedsireland/ ); that's doable, but will limit you to their schedules and make it harder to get to smaller towns.

Which airport depends on where you want to go in Ireland. If you plan to spend your time in the southwest, fly home from Shannon. If you'll be more in the southeast, Dublin is probably more convenient.

Melissa5

I suggest you fly into Shannon, and rent a car in advance...because once you leave the Shannon airport, there is a lot of scenic driving through beautiful countryside and villages. You didn't mention when is your trip, I don't think? I suggest you choose one county in southwest Ireland to explore. Either County Kerry or County Clare would be great choices. Enjoy your trip!

tenaya

Aer Lingus flies to Cork City from Paris and Zurich (and to Dublin from Lyon) If you rented a car at Cork you'd find it quite easy to adjust to the roads as the airport is on the south side and laid out so you could spend a while driving around before hitting the highway.... going south to Kinsale which Americans love and continuing West.
Your other option would be taking the bus into the main bus station which has buses to everywhere.
Six days isn't a lot if you work on a 30 mph rate. I do recommend the car -- and drop off at another airport i.e. Kerry if you had to get back to DUB.
As I find the (apparent) total lack of one-way fares to anywhere international totally frustrating I don't know how you'll get back to Tampa and am full of admiration that you travelled from there to France!

tenaya

should have checked aer lingus web site first --- Zurich seems to have gone -- perhaps returning summer... there's also a Cork/Munich.