PMYoung

Leaving for Ireland May 10, 2010 landing in Shannon on the 11th, renting a car and driving to Doolin and spending 2 nights at Doonagore Farmhouse B&B - will see Cliffs of Moher while there. Any other places we should go around there? Want to drive north to Galway and then to Sligo or not? Want to visit Beleek and then drive to Dublin for 2 nights. Then heading south to see Cork, Covh, Kinsale, Waterford, Blarney Stone. Any suggestions on a itinerary and other pubs, B&Bs etc. I'm overwhelmed by the places. Ring of Kerry is a must and also to Dingle and Fraley.

Returning on May 24 and would like to stay near Shannon, but someplace interesting for our last night and close to the airport.

Any help would be appreciated!

Ricardo_215

Bunratty Castle is very near Shannon Airport. You can visit the folk park there, tour the castle, and book a banquet if that appeals. (Probably the banquet isn't that authentic, but a bit of harmless light banter, especially geared to the American market) There are b&b's nearby as well as hotels. It would probably make a pleasant end to your stay here.

Even though you have two weeks, don't try to do everything. I've lived here 30 years & haven't seen it all yet. Try to go slowly & enjoy what you are doing, otherwise you may be checking your watch the whole time, needing to move on. You might just want to relax & stick to the west, and visit Dublin another time.

In county Clare you have the Burren, with unusual rocks & flowers. There are the islands too; Achill (there's a bridge) & the Aran islands (boat or plane) are the main ones. You mention Kerry & Cork - there are many places to see there. Will you have children with you? Older people? I hope you have a great time.

PMYoung

I'm traveling with my 80-yr.old mother. We had planned on visiting the Bunratty Castle & Folk Park..pass on the banquet.I have a map and planned on seeing the Dysert O'Dea Castle and then on to the Burrens with a possible visit to Aillwee Cave and then on to the B&B we reserved for two nights in Doolin. My mother really wants to go to Beleek and also to Dublin...my thought was to find a B&B outside Dublin and take the train in to the city and then the hop-on-hop-off bus for a city tour.

We plan on spending more time in the south and west. My husband's mother's relatives are from Dingle and Fraley and I have several letters from the Parish Priest so we thought we would explore the gravesites there for more info.

I'm looking for a good itinerary to follow (not to the tee) but something that will allow us to see all the usual sites...and of course recommendations for some B&Bs.
Do you recommend getting the Heritage Card?

shodge

We took the boat from Doolin to the Aran Isles; Inishmore I believe. We rented bicycles and rode around but there are taxis and pony carts. If your mother is able the boat trip itself is worthwhile. You get a great view of the Cliffs of Moher and the coast of Ireland. I really enjoyed learning about the culture of the area. It gives one a perspective of the influence of the sea and the weather on life there. A different Ireland than the lush interior.

irishface

Well, if you want a sample itinerary, might this work?

May 11 land and head to Doolin. Visit the cliffs, settle in. Depending how tired you are, take a drive around the Burren.

May 12 Ailwee caves, Dunguaire Castle or trip to the Aran Islands (weather permitting)

I know that you mentioned seeing Belleek, but it is quite a bit out of the way of the other things you want to see. Personally, I don't get the appeal of Doolin especially for two nights. I have spent time there. there are a couple little shops, some pubs and that is about it. The trip to Inishmore is much longer from Doolin than Rosseveal and more weather dependent. Frankly I would spend that time in Galway, but since you are booked into the B&B already, I suppose that can't be helped.

May 13, drive to Dublin. Stop at Clonmacnoise to see the abbey ruins. since you have a car, you might stay outside of Dublin in say Dun Laoghaire and take the train into Dublin for the day.

May 14. Dublin. Take the hop on hop off bus to get oriented.
visit Kilmainham jail, book of kells in Trinity College, walk Grafton St. (pedestrain only) or visit the street market on Moore St. From the HOHO bus stop on OConnell St. near the GPO walk north to Henry St. on your left and then a block or two down Moore St. will be on your right.

May 15 (since the factory is closed, you could skip Waterford) and drive toward Cobh, Blarney, etc. Cobh has a great exhibit of the immigrant experience leaving from there and heading for America. It was also the last stop of the Titanic so there is quite a bit about that as well. Blarney is Blarney. Spend the night in the area.

May 16, Head toward Killarney (many on this board prefer Kenmare, but my choice would be Killarney) On the way stop in Garinish and visit the wonderful gardens on the little island in the harbor. You might also see seals basking on the rocks in the harbor on your way out.

May 17, 18 as well in your base, either Killarney or Kenmare.
Do the Ring of Kerry. Stop at the Staigue fort, prehistoric with 12 foot thick walls. It is off the main road a couple of miles. It is a twisty road up there so busses can't go in and you may have the place to yourself. Spend some time in Killarney National Park. Visit Ross Castle, Gap of Dunloe. Muckross House and farm museum (houses from rural Ireland, crafts and workers.) Walk up to Torc Waterfall. Take a jaunting car ride.

May 19, 20, 21, 22--drive to Dingle (less than two hours from Killarney, not counting stops you make) and settle in. Explore the Dingle Peninsula with its beehive huts, Gallarus Oratory, Blasket Center in Dunquin. Weather permitting take a trip out to the Blasket Islands (uninhabited since 1953, the ruins of the tiny village are a haunting sight, good walking.) Do your genealogical research.

May 23 return to the Shannon area. Go via the Shannon ferry to avoid driving through Limerick. Visit Bunratty folk park and maybe the banquet. (It was my favorite of the three offered in the area. Sure it is touristy, but it was lots of fun.) If you have time visit Cragganouwen, a recreation of a prehistoric farmstead, a walk through the woods where you may catch sight of wild boar (well fenced in), the tower fort (14th century), pleasant little tea room, and see the Brendan, the boat in which Tim Severin recreated St. Brendan's voyage to North America 1000 years before Columbus. (Columbus got better press than St. Brendan or the Vikings.)Cragganouwen is one of my favorite places. I always take friends there when they come with me, and, as many times as I have been there, I go back and find something new each time.
May 24, fly home.

Mind you, this is just one idea and you'll get lots of other suggestions. This plan doesn't have a lot of one night stands and only a couple of days with lots of driving.

PMYoung

I'm traveling with my 80-yr. old mother and friend's of hers stayed at the Doonagore Farmhouse B&B.They really liked it..I thought 2 days there would give us time to relax and me get used to the driving.Our plan was to go to Galway and spending a night there before heading to Belleek - from Bellek I was going to drive east into Dublin in one day. I booked the B&B for two nights but can change them if need be before we get there.I've e-mailed Mary the owner about other things so I don't think canceling one day would be a problem. Any thoughts?

GreenDragon

Actually, I thought I read that the Waterford factory was opening to visitors again?

GreenDragon

Sorry, just looked it up - they are reopening June 2010, which won't help the OP

o1012

It's not interesting, but we've stayed our last night at Bunratty Meadows B&B on both of our trips to Ireland. It's a very nice B&B and spotless. It's close to the castle and about 10 minutes to Shannon. I highly recommend it.

Bronxbomber

Your dates are my dates. We are bypassing Bunratty. Instead, we are spending the 22d and 23d in Ennis. That Sunday (23d) is the start of their Fleadh Nua, a week-long festival of Irish music and dance, story-telling, etc. Ennis is only about 20 minutes from SNN.

sheri_lp

You mentioned it's your first trip to Ireland, but I don't know if you've driven on the left before? I spent the month of March in Dingle on my 2nd trip and it took me a little while to remember a few important things:

When you two lane highways, the slow lane is on the left.

When you approach a roundabout, read the sign carefully for your exit. If you're exiting the first or 2nd then stay in the left lane. If you're exiting the 3rd or 4th, stay on the inside right lane.

The roads are narrow - so try to get the smallest car possible. I had a Nissan Micra and it was great, but I know you have to consider the comfort of your mom too.

I've stayed at the Cill Bhreac B&B in Dingle, and the innkeeper Angela has just done some redecorating, so it should be nicely freshened up. Very comfortable rooms (they have ground floor rooms for easy accessibility) and great breakfasts.

I spent two nights in Ennis which is a nice town and all, but it's one-way streets had me LOST for ages and it might be helpful to have a GPS if only for that town

gablues

Another note to roundabouts - some have markings on the road as well. Sometimes...you might well have to be in the right lane to exit the second exit.

Ricardo_215

"When you two lane highways, the slow lane is on the left." Rather, the overtaking lane is on the right. (It's not officially called a fast/slow lane) You should only overtake in the right lane, then move back in. But don't drive on the hard shoulder, an emergency lane also used by tractors and other very slow vehicles, separated from the road by a broken yellow line.

Mind you in parts of the west some of the roads are about as wide as bicycle tracks.

And after the colder-than-usual winter they are now mostly full of pot-holes. Have fun!

sheri_lp

same diff Ricardo

Ricardo_215

IME, in US & Canada you can overtake on either left or right on dual carriageways. But not here. Some people refer to fast lane/slow lane, as obviously if you overtake you go faster, but it is different & when we change continents we have to change our driving styles. BTW sheri_lp what did you think of the O'Connor Pass? - not a lot of room even when you are not overtaking...

sheri_lp

I loved the Conor Pass and the big boulders made me think twice but I love those little single track roads. I took the one from Dunquin UP the hill, and came out at Ventry. That was a nice ride!

There's also that little road from Inch that goes up and over and comes out on the N86.

Ricardo_215

You're getting me all whimsical now. I love Brandon Mountain & have walked up it many times, but last year we were planning to go for a weekend, and the weather was so lousy all summer I didn't make it. Then when some fine weather came in September, I wasn't well for a couple of days, so my wife went without me & took our son instead!

sheri_lp

Right at the end of the road at Brandon Creek is this little dilapidated cottage for sale. The door was open, so I peeked in and it was crumbling with birds nests but it had the best view!

tod

PMYoung - Last year I made a pilgrimage to FOYNES Flying Boat Museum on the River Shannon Estuary, in memory of my dad who worked for B.O.A.C. I wrote about it (with photos)in my Trip Report - click on my name and you can find the report.

This museum is very interesting and I think anyone who remembers those 'good 'ol days' will love it! For the younger set, it will boggle your mind to see the equipment used to fly across thousands of miles from various places around the globe. You could never believe passenger aircraft was like this!
Here is the link:http://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/

TPAYT

I'm taking all of this info in as we are going to Ireland in the beginning of Sept.

Irishface------you say to bypass Limerick traffic by taking the ferry route. We will be doing this on our way south from Westport to Dingle. On our way north up to Shannon airport we would like to visit Adare. Cowboy1968 mentions in another Ireland post about a new M7 motorway tunnel under the river to bypass Limerick traffic. It sounds like a good idea. Have you used it?