penel523

Thanks to many on this forum, particularly Tony2Phones, we had a wonderful week-long trip to Ireland recently.

We flew into Dublin and out of Shannon. Our itinerary was as follows:
Nights 1, 2, 3: Dublin, Conrad Hotel
Train to Galway
Nights 4, 5: Galway, Park House Hotel
Car rental in Galway
Night 6: Doolin, Daly's House B&B
Night 7: Ennis, Old Ground Hotel

We made a conscious decision not to drive the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula, figuring we'd encounter so many tour buses that the driving would be overly stressful. We didn't regret this decision.

High points included a day trip to Newgrange from Dublin. After much deliberation, we booked a tour with Mary Gibbon. On the day of the tour, Mary didn't join us; her brother, Michael Gibbon, did. He is an archaeologist of some renown, and that was our lucky day. He made a special stop at the neolithic tomb at Dowth on the way to Newgrange. The tour also includes a stop at the Hill of Tara. Michael's commentary, both on the bus and at the sites, was spectacular.

We also particularly enjoyed our day trip to the Aran Islands--rather, to Inishmore, the largest of the islands. We booked a trip from Galway, which includes a bus ticket to Rossvael, where the ferry debarks. (It's also possible to take a ferry from Doolin, but--others can correct me if I'm wrong--I think the ferry from Galway is larger and thus less prone to induce motion sickness.) The island is 9 miles long; we recommend doing what we did, which was to hop on one of the many vans at the dock and take a tour. Ours stopped at key sites and allowed time to walk around--including plenty of time to climb up to the fort of Dun Aengus and lunch back at the base.

Other favorites:

In Dublin, the Book of Kells exhibit (of course) and the Guinness Brewery (of course).

Also in Dublin, the Chester Beatty Library. Amazing collection of illuminated manuscripts.

Doolin and the music at O'Connor's pub, which we found superior to the music we heard in Ennis--though it could have been the luck of the draw. Daly's House is the place to stay; Susan Daly is a perfect host.

Lunch at Ard Bia at Nimmo's in Galway

Ross Errilly Friary, Headford, County Galway

Quin Abbey, County Clare

Cliffs of Moher. Spectacular. Definitely worth the price of parking.

*****
We were pleased with all our hotels. The Conrad, near St. Stephen's Green, was in a great location. Park House, despite being near the train station and Eyre Square, was very quiet, and the staff was extremely helpful; the location was very convenient. Daly's House: already raved about it. At the Old Ground, we requested a quiet room and got one--it was also a room of ample size.

Except for one night when we had a hankering for Indian food, we ate pub food and were very happy.

The driving was indeed stressful--the narrow roads are really narrow--and next time we might plan a trip in which we would rely on train and bus travel.

Again, thanks to all those who helped us plan the trip!

flpab

I am so glad you went to Newgrange. It must have been fab having someone like Michael Gibbon along with you. Did you eat at the little cafe with the beautiful fireplace? That was one of the best meals I have ever had in Ireland. It was a celtic name. We ate there before doing the climb to the fort. did you see seals? Love Doolin.

Dayle

Hi penel

I'm in the very initial stage of planning an Ireland trip. Have you driven on the "wrong side" before? Did you rent an automatic or stick?

I've driven in Italy and France and am a great stick shift driver, but I have my doubts about trying it on the opposite side of the road! And, I've heard first hand from my parents about the narrow roads.....although I just drove in Sicily for 9 days - solo - with no problems at all!

What driving are you used to?

bonniejean

Fantastic trip report. Thank you. We are also in the early stages of planning our trip to Ireland Summer 2014. Your recommendations and insights are appreciated!

penel523

Sorry, Dayle, to take so long to reply. I've been away from the computer for a few days.

Yes, we'd driven on the left side before, in England--but the roads in Ireland were much narrower. We rented an automatic, after much dithering about it. Automatic rentals are much pricier than manual rentals, but we decided it was worth it. We went to the car-rental office and they gave us an upgrade to automatic; doing it that way was cheaper than renting an automatic via the website. (We rented through Budget, which was the only global car-rental agency that had an office in Galway.)

We specifically elected not to drive the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle peninsula largely because of what we'd read about the difficulties of driving: narrow roads, lots of tour buses. We were fine, but there were times when we had to stop and let a bus go by, or when we drove into the bushes (which seems to be standard operating procedure!). Given that, we were glad not to have to think about when to shift, and also to deal with shifting with the opposite hand.

We are in our early sixties, so our reflexes aren't as fast as they were back in the day.

Thinking about a future trip to Ireland, we've thought we'd plan more train travel and also day trips by bus. I think we could have done the car part of our trip by public bus, but of course it would have taken longer and would have taken away some of the control.

Hope this helps!

bonniejean, I'm glad the trip report was helpful to you! Let me know if I can answer any questions as you do further planning.

flpab, Michael Gibbons was amazing; we were so fortunate! I can't remember the name of the little cafe at Newgrange; it was at a farm, and just about perfect. Nothing overly touristy about it. Maybe you're referring to the cafe on Inishmore, at the base of the fort. That was also very nice! We saw a few seals on Inishmore. And we loved Doolin. We were just talking about the high points of our trip, and we agreed: Dublin in general; Inishmore; and Doolin.