amla

Hello everyone. My family of four (including husband, 14 year old son, and ten year old daughter) will be in Ireland for 9 days this summer, and I'm trying to sort out the big picture itinerary. I've been reading lots of posts and trip reports--apologies in advance if all of this has been covered elsewhere, though!

About us: we like water and music (husband), Vikings and forts (son), castles and animals (daughter), abbeys and towns (me).

Plans so far, advice and comment most welcome:

Day 1. Fly into Dublin. Where to stay? In the past we've rented apartments (Rome, Paris) but we're only planning to stay in Dublin for two nights. Happy to pay a bit more for something very central and nice.

Day 2. Dublin (Trinity, National Museum of Ireland--Archaeology, Dublinia, National Gallery, maybe the Gaol?). Sleep in Dublin.

Day 3. Pick up rental car (where?) and drive south through Wicklow, stopping at Gendalough. Sleep in Kilkenny (Butler House).

Day 4. Around Kilkenny (maybe Wexford/Waterford for Viking sites? Cashel/Cahir, Jerpoint Abbey). Sleep in Kilkenny.

Day 5. Drive to somewhere convenient to Kerry, perhaps via Beara Peninsula? Considering staying near Killarney and debating whether we would prefer a nice B+B or splash out on a fancy resort with access to kayaks, etc. In general, we are not fancy resort people, but it is tempting to have someone else handle the Skellig Michael arrangements, for example. Recommendations either way?

Day 6. Skellig Michael, she says hopefully. Otherwise Killarney National Park, Muckross House, etc. Sleep wherever we slept last night.

Day 7. Skellig Michael, if not possible yesterday. Drive up towards Galway, see Cliffs of Moher, sleep...somewhere? Here the plans start to fall apart a bit.

Day 8. Drive toward Newgrange and see something (Clonmacnoise?) on the way. Sleep somewhere convenient for early morning visit to Bru na Boinne. Trim, Drogheda, ...? Considering Sheephouse Country Courtyard--we like a bit of self-catering and by the end of the trip are likely tired of restaurant meals.

Day 9. Bru na Boinne and nearby. Sleep wherever we slept last night.

Day 10. Flight leaves from Dublin Airport at 11 am. Flights into and out of Dublin are already booked, but everything else is flexible. Unfortunately, I am not terribly flexible myself, although I am working on it! and traveling as a family of four makes it a bit harder to find accommodations on the fly, especially, I would imagine, in July.

That's a lot of questions, I know--thanks so much for getting through them all, and looking forward to your expert advice.

amla

Oops, I should have mentioned that I'm having trouble estimating how long it will take to drive from place to place. Obviously I can use Google maps to help me out, but I've heard one should double the time estimates--does that seem right? And then of course there's the stopping to look at things, which is really the point...we don't like to spend too much time in the car. Thanks!

Tony2phones

Past my bedtime, will look back tomorrow. For now Google will give you the mileage correctly. work on 35mph point to point, any better than that will be a bonus,

jaja

To stay in Dublin, consider Trinity College B&B accommodations.

Day 3, consider taking the DART to Dun Laoghaire....Dan Dooley will have someone meet you there with a rental car. And if you are at Trinity, the DART station is just a walk away.

Day 8, consider Smarmore Castle Hotel in County Louth. Not far at all from Newgrange for the early tour. And Smarmore has an Italian restaurant on the grounds. He may have a discount for a 2-night stay. Definitely Clonmacnoise that day.

amla

I was hoping you would chime in, Tony2phones! Will look forward to it. jaja, thanks so much for the suggestions. I have an email into the folks at Trinity--this option is appealing to us; we're university people (my husband is at Georgetown, and I'm at the National Gallery in DC). Will check out the DART to Dun Laoghaire and Smarmore Castle, too!

amla

Yikes, it's an extra 300 euro to pick up the rental car at Dun Laoghaire and return it to the airport (versus picking up and returning to the airport)! Not sure it's worth it, althought it certainly would be more convenient.

jaja

Wow! We certainly didn't have to pay that! And wouldn't have. This was in June of '13. So much for that good idea!

jaja

You may book Trinity online at http://www.tcd.ie/accommodation/Visitors/ . It's dorm rooms so not fancy but very convenient to many things (buses from airport, and the HOHO bus stops are just outside the gates, for example).

The girls and I did the Literary Pub Crawl and enjoyed it immensely.

Tony2phones

Have you considered heading straight out from the Airport and direct to Kilkenny on arrival, leave all the Dublin time to the end? An alternative to get there or Waterford by public transport and rent a car day 2 to continue. Either Waterford or Kilkenny can be used as a starting base before Jerpoint (between the two) Cashel & Cahir (http://www.tipp.ie/butlerca.htm ?)

The Skellegs.. How are the youngsters on narrow steep paths without barriers? watch the video at the bottom of this link (made on a Good day) http://www.visitballinskelligs.ie/se...ellig-islands/ The boats are weather dependant and leave at 10am so a night before in/around Portmagee or on Valentia Island makes most sense.

Kenmare Bay Hotel ("resort") might be an option for your Kerry base, see also Star activity centre http://www.staroutdoors.ie/activitie...eing-kayaking/

Newgrange etc and Glendalough/Wicklow are regular trips out from a Dublin base. http://newgrangetours.com/ http://www.wildwicklow.ie/

9 days on the ground will fly by and with all on your list there will be little if any wriggle space.

amla

jaja, I just clicked over to your blog http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...ld/3/tpod.html
and it looks like we have a very similar plan. Will read more carefully to see how it went for you and your lovely granddaughters. The Literary Pub Crawl sounds right up our alley, although I'll have to check if it's okay for my 10yo (she'll be 11 by then, I guess, and actually wants to be a writer, so maybe it will work out!).

tony2phones, you've given me lots to think about. The original plan was to leave Dublin for last--this is how we've done it before (with Rome and Paris)--but folks on the forums warn to get over the jet lag a bit before driving off. If we visited Newgrange and Glendalough/Wicklow from Dublin, then a longer Dublin stay at the end might make sense...I just know that in past, we've liked striking out on our own, and seeing things at our own pace--it's hard to imagine getting on a big tour bus.

But yes, there's a lot (too much?) packed into this trip and more moving around of the home base than usual. I'm wondering if we'll tire of all the driving (we have a lot of stamina for sightseeing, though!).

Re Skellig Michael, it's at the top of my list! The kids are like mountain goats--I'm more worried about the crossing myself. Would it be possible to get up early and drive down from wherever we stay in Killarney (or Kenmare), or is the traffic too unpredictable? It's about 70km, so about two hours. Any insight on Skellig most appreciated--the video was great, but it would be good to hear from someone who's been.

If we were to cut something from this itinerary (and/or substitute something), what might it be? Thanks so much for your insight, everyone--do keep chiming in!

Tony2phones

Jet lag won't effect you getting from Dublin Airport to Waterford or Kilkenny by bus. if you pick up a car on arrival and drive straight to Kilkenny (no silly detours over Wicklow on the way)you should be OK? It's well under 2 hours straight drive. Waterford can be done in 2 hours on motorway all the way.. Having driven in Italy and France, Ireland should hold no fears!

The problem with being in Killarney or Kenmare before the Skelligs is that you would realisticly have to leave either before 8am and you wouldn't necessarily know if the boats were going as the sea conditions and town conditions 5 miles apart never mind 25 or 50 miles could be a world different.

amla

I hope the people at Butler House in Kilkenny are okay with my changing the reservation yet again if we decide to go back to the Dublin-at-the-end plan! I'm always a little embarrassed about doing that and hope I'm not the only one who makes and changes reservations in the early stages of planning. Butler House seems perfect for us, though, and I'm looking forward to medieval Kilkenny myself. Should we make a point of seeing Waterford, too?

Sigh, Skellig Michael. It's not the most convenient thing, that's for sure, but I have my heart set on it (and the Book of Kells, which is significantly easier to see). I suppose we could settle for the Skellig Experience on Valentia Island if we have bad weather on the one day we wake up near Portmagee--I can't imagine spending two nights there, but it would be a big disappointment to miss it. Any recommendations for accommodations there??

Never having been to Ireland, it's hard to imagine what driving around the peninsulas will be like--both in terms of how difficult the driving (traffic, etc.), and how often we will want to stop and explore something. Views seen from the window of a car are not usually my favorite, and of course the driver doesn't really get to appreciate them.

jaja, tell me more about the Hawk Walk?! My kids would love it. They want to go horseback riding, too, although we are all far from experienced riders.

This conversation is so helpful--I really appreciate your thoughts and advice!

jaja

amla, I/we have done Hawk Walks at two different venues and are looking into a third for June. They vary, but the participants get to fly a Harris hawk in the woods, and you get to meet other raptors.

The lads and I (trip report #1; Granny and the Gossoons) did ours at Ashford Castle near Cong. It was excellent and I would highly recommend it.

The one from trip report #3 was at Dromoland Castle and was put together at the last minute but was well done. As with the boys, it was a secret from the girls until we actually were there. Imagine my chagrin when Erin whispered, "Granny, you do know that Darby is afraid of birds?" Turns out one on one was okay; it is the flocks of nasty old seagulls on the beach in south Texas that set her off.

For the June trip we are looking at Killarney Falconry since that granddaughter only asked for two things and one was a Hawk Walk.

For nights 5 and 6 you might look at http://muckross-stables.com . You could get your riding in and be close enough to Killarney for the Hawk Walk.

I have a friend looking into the Killarney Falconry offering so I will let you know here once I hear from her.

The Skellig Experience was underwhelming and especially so for the price. Just our opinion. My elderly knees would never handle the actual island, and you do know that there is no shelter, toilet facilities, etc. on the island?

Do know too, that while we always say we are going to get up early and do such and such, the B&B hostesses set their own breakfast times. Many of them will leave cereal, muffins, fruit etc. for those early departures though.

I think the pub crawl will be fine for an 11-year-old as it's early enough in the evening and I bet she'll enjoy it.

jaja

Day 5; the Beara Peninsula is great. The kids (and the grownups) might enjoy taking the cable car over to Dursey Island just so you can say you have crossed the Atlantic by cable car.

On your way north of there, I highly recommend Gleninchaquin Park. You'll find a number of pictures at the bottom of Day 4 of the Lucky Horseshoe blog on travelpod.

The Healy Pass is fun driving.

amla

Thanks so much, jaja, especially re Killarney Falconry--that would be super-convenient. I've added the Dursey Island cable car and Gleninchaquin to our list (along with the pub crawl).

So it seems as if a lot of my problems would be solved if I just dropped Skellig Michael from the itinerary entirely. Then we could meander from Kilkenny to Killarney via Beara on Day 5, spend Day 6 around Killarney with no rush, and then have Day 7 to head north and west--possibly even not booking accommodations in advance (if I can stand it, and it's feasible for a family of four in July).

Day 8 is still open--is is silly to spend two nights in the Newgrange area (for Bru na boinne first thing one morning, and Dublin airport the next)? Any recommendations for the drive across and/or the Newgrange area??

Sniff, Skelligs.

Tony2phones

You have the Skelligs at the top of your list... Go for it. There are any number of options to overnight near by
http://ringofkerrytourism.com/ballin...breakfast.html
http://www.ogradyswaterville.com/, http://www.brookhavenhouse.com/
the latter 2 in Waterville which was a favourite haunt of Charley Chapplin.
No even I wouldn't wing it around Kerry with a family of four in July.

amla

Thanks, tony. I'll definitely keep weighing the Skelligs. It's true that they've been at the top of my list since we started planning our trip to Ireland (maybe even before!). But the truth that I've been trying to ignore is that I get terribly motion sick (just ask my family about the glass-bottom boat trip). I've been hoping that the crossing won't be that bad, and I'll take anti-motion sickness pills, etc. -- but in all probability it WILL be that bad, and it can take awhile to recover. There's a lot to do and see in Ireland (quick, name something stunning to compare!). Perhaps better to pass?

And good to know I am not crazy for booking in advance (although perhaps not this far in advance!).

jaja

If the Skelligs mean that much to you, by all means do it! That motion sickness is bound to have a cure....talk to your family doc. If you are giving an entire day to the Skelligs you will have some time to recover once you get there and once you are back.

jaja

By "cure" I meant something temporary, OTC or by prescription.

amla

I'll definitely look into motion sickness remedies! I'm also very much wishing we had Just One Extra Day--it's always like that, I suppose! I can have two out of three of these: Skellig Michael, Killarney National Park and around, Cliffs of Moher and around. Hard choices!

Still wondering about those last two days, too. Some trip I will spring for the open-jaw tickets....