Willem46

11 day itinerary in Republic of Ireland


My wife and I along with another couple will be going to Ireland in October of next year for 11 days. The first three days we will be in the Dublin. We will not be part of a tour but with a friend of mine from the UK. Our intentions are after Dublin to take a train to Galway and pick up a private Chauffeur driver (Dave Hogan) there. Our expectations are that we will tour with him to see site such as the Cliffs of Mohr as well as the Ring of Kerry. We have some additional ideas such as visit the Arun Islands as well as other sites in the western and southern parts of Ireland for 5 days. At this point he will leave us off in Cobh where we will take the train to Waterford and then back to Dublin where will fly out to Philadelphia. We would appreciate any additional ideas for the 5 days with our driver as well as the two days afterward or other suggestions. If anyone has used Dave we would appreciate any comments or feedback.

Gene

janisj

Just a quick comment right now. I personally would drop Waterford and spend the extra day in the SW so it isn't so rushed.

Then you can, depending on the timing, fly from Cork to Dublin and catch your flight home.

Willem46

Thanks Janice I will definitely consider that.

nini

We were in Ireland in October and rented a car and drove to various places that were of interest to us-15 days and excluded Northern Ireland, Galway, and Dublin. We met up several times with a group who were on a Vagabond Tour( you can google for info). A young Irish woman drove them in a sort of converted Range Rover. They had rave reviews on this tour- you might look into that-looked like lots of fun. I think there were 12 in the group and they were all very pleased with the suggested accommodations.

Tony2phones

Take it your UK friend is more willing to pay a small fortune for a driver than do the driving themselves.

bean11

I disagree with Tony2phones(sorry Tony I think you give great advice) but we had a private driver last October and I think it was worth the extra expense. By not having to focus on driving, I was able to focus on the scenery and the Irish experience. I would have been a nervous wreck driving in Ireland. Quite frankly, we are spoiled in the USA with generally well marked, wide roads. I sat in the front seat with my driver for 5 days and still hadn't figured out how to drive in Ireland(I'm a slow learner too). Back to your original question, the areas around Killarney and Cork would be worthwhile also. We had our driver take us around Dingle instead of the Ring of Kerry.

indy_dad

I do find it curious that the UK friends also don't want to drive, but to each their own.

We spent 3 days in Killarney, 2 in Dingle and 3 in the Galway area (including a day on Inishmore). Here are some photos/commentary in case that is of interest:

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/ireland.html

janisj

bean11: "<i>By not having to focus on driving, I was able to focus on the scenery and the Irish experience. I would have been a nervous wreck driving in Ireland. Quite frankly, we are spoiled in the USA with generally well marked, wide roads. I sat in the front seat with my driver for 5 days and still hadn't figured out how to drive in Ireland</i>"

Major difference being -- the OP's friends are <i>from the UK</i>. No learning curve, should be totally used to the driving/road conditions. Unless of course the UK friends don't drive . . .

Willem46

Thanks for all your suggestions. Just wanted to claify that my UK friends are not the ones travling with us as it is another couple from the US. I am just meeting him in Dublin for the day which he knows quite well.


I absolutely agree about not being able to see the sites if you are concentrating on driving. I have driven in countries including the UK that drive on the left side of the road and it was unconfortable and did not really focus on the sites.

Janis, I have two questions:

1) What sites did see during your 5 days?
2) How did you find the driver and vlidate his credentials?

bean11

We went in October of 2011 and had all our arrangements made by Tenon Tours (Stephanie). I think they are located in Boston. They arranged for our hotels in Dublin, Galway, Killarney, and Kilkenny. We had a private driver that took us from Dublin to Galway via Knock. We used public transportation to get us to the Aran Islands. Tenon arranged for a driver who drove us from Galway to Killarney. We saw the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Blarney Castle, Rock of Cashel, and Waterford Crystal. The luxury of the driver is that he was able to make suggestions and get us into some places for tours. He made arrangements for us to see Kilbeggen Distillary, Smithwick's Brewery, and Waterford Crystal. He also made many invaluable suggestions for places to eat and things to do. Our driver was Mr. Tom McDonald. He was subcontracted to us by Tenon to an Irish tour group that his daughter(Amy) owns (aruralexperience.com). Tom would call his daughter daily and she arranged the extras(ie, making sure places were open, times, costs, etc). I thought the cost of the private driver was extemely reasonable for the personalized attention we received. I also can't speak highly enough of Tom, Amy & Stephanie.

janisj

"<i><blue>Janis, I have two questions:

1) What sites did see during your 5 days?
2) How did you find the driver and vlidate his credentials?</i></blue>"

I didn't hire a driver - that was was bean11, who I was just quoting. But s/he answered your questions in the next post . . .

Willem46

Thanks Bean 11 for your input and insight. Your comments will be invaluable. We are considering not making any reservations except for Dublin since we are going in the off season and to remain flexible and perhaps at the suggestion of the driver. From what I understand it should not be a problem at least so far as the B&B's.We are also just focusing on a few areas as we have learned from our many trips to Italy if you try and do too much you wind up not really enjoying what you see.

I would appreciate any comments from the Foders community.