Need help with4-day Ireland itinerary
May 16th, 2006, 04:55 AM
#1
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Need help with4-day Ireland itinerary
I am reposting this as I did not realize that I needed to be more specific. I would appreciate anyone's advice.
My husband and I fly into Dublin July 2nd at 2:00pm and fly out of Dublin and back to Boston July 6th at 2:30pm. My husband wants me to get our itinerary done, but I can't seem to make decisions and I think it is because I am running out of time and I want to make it a great trip. We actually leave for a European tour on June 2nd and decided that we would do Ireland alone. Now I am having a hard time deciding what to do. Neither of us have ever been, so I really don't know what to expect. What I do know is that I thought it would be neat to stay in a castle (not the super nice fake castle hotels) , visit the Wicklow mountains/hills, see Dublin (I don't have a clue where to stay or what to visit) but we plan on seeing the Riverdance show while in Dublin, if possible. I don't know what else we should do or where to stay. We don't really like super tourist areas and prefer the beauty of nature. We don't mind renting a car and we would like to spend some time along the coastline. Any advice on where to visit, where to stay, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
My husband and I fly into Dublin July 2nd at 2:00pm and fly out of Dublin and back to Boston July 6th at 2:30pm. My husband wants me to get our itinerary done, but I can't seem to make decisions and I think it is because I am running out of time and I want to make it a great trip. We actually leave for a European tour on June 2nd and decided that we would do Ireland alone. Now I am having a hard time deciding what to do. Neither of us have ever been, so I really don't know what to expect. What I do know is that I thought it would be neat to stay in a castle (not the super nice fake castle hotels) , visit the Wicklow mountains/hills, see Dublin (I don't have a clue where to stay or what to visit) but we plan on seeing the Riverdance show while in Dublin, if possible. I don't know what else we should do or where to stay. We don't really like super tourist areas and prefer the beauty of nature. We don't mind renting a car and we would like to spend some time along the coastline. Any advice on where to visit, where to stay, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
May 16th, 2006, 10:42 AM
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Hi:
Although my husband and just got back from a week in Ireland, we flew in and out of Shannon, and did the west of Ireland. Never been to Dublin. But your stay is short, so maybe concentrating on Dublin, and the immediate area is best. I am hoping that posting a second reply will help to get the REAL Irish/Ireland experts to respond.
Although my husband and just got back from a week in Ireland, we flew in and out of Shannon, and did the west of Ireland. Never been to Dublin. But your stay is short, so maybe concentrating on Dublin, and the immediate area is best. I am hoping that posting a second reply will help to get the REAL Irish/Ireland experts to respond.
May 16th, 2006, 12:11 PM
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So it sounds like you need recommendations for a nice place to stay in Dublin, probably for 2 nights so you can get your tickets for Riverdance and have a full day to explore the city. Then a castle hotel somewhere nearby, maybe in the Wicklow mountains. And a final night north of Dublin, maybe on the coast, close enough to get you easily to the airport for your 2:30 flight. You will want to pick up the rental car as you leave Dublin--don't try to drive in the city.
Hopefully someone here has some ideas---I haven't been to Ireland in 10 years, and it's totally changed. We did spend our last night on the coast north of Dublin, but I'll have to dig out a map to recall the name of the town. One thing of interest in that area was Newgrange, an old Celtic ceremonial site--older than some of the pyramids.
Hopefully someone here has some ideas---I haven't been to Ireland in 10 years, and it's totally changed. We did spend our last night on the coast north of Dublin, but I'll have to dig out a map to recall the name of the town. One thing of interest in that area was Newgrange, an old Celtic ceremonial site--older than some of the pyramids.
May 16th, 2006, 04:29 PM
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You may want to go to Newgrange, which is north of Dublin. At Newgrange, you will see Neolithic passage tombs which were built 3,000 B.C. Wonderful visitors center. To tour the actual tomb, you have to get tickets ahead of time, we only went through the visitors center. We thoroughly enjoyed that side trip.
May 20th, 2006, 11:29 PM
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Hi cttork,
You could probably get away with one night in Dublin, and you might consider staying there your last night. That way you could leave on July 2nd for the countryside, return on the 5th for the show (although don't they tour in the states all the time?) and have the morning to explore Dublin. You could even turn your car back in on the 5th to avoid driving/parking in Dublin.
Since you just have 3 days to explore I think it would be best to spend as much time just walking the hills and drinking Guinness in the pubs - so staying just south of Dublin in the Wicklow mountains, and that area makes sense.
You could probably get away with one night in Dublin, and you might consider staying there your last night. That way you could leave on July 2nd for the countryside, return on the 5th for the show (although don't they tour in the states all the time?) and have the morning to explore Dublin. You could even turn your car back in on the 5th to avoid driving/parking in Dublin.
Since you just have 3 days to explore I think it would be best to spend as much time just walking the hills and drinking Guinness in the pubs - so staying just south of Dublin in the Wicklow mountains, and that area makes sense.
May 21st, 2006, 01:11 PM
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suggest spending 1st night in dublin...do hop on/off tour...stop at one or two sights that interest you (our favorites were kilmainham jail and trinity-book of kells/library), then catch riverdance or do one of the pub crawl tours (we liked both the music and literay pub crawl)
do a google search for castle hotels in ireland, several in counties around dublin
pick up rental car
sights south...wicklow mtns., glendalough, powerscourt gardens, kilkenny castle, jerpoint abbey...could probably go as far as rock of cashel with cahir castle as a day trip.
sights north of dublin...newgrange/knowth, hill of tara, monastaboice, melifont abbey, trim castle
I would suggest 2 nights around kilkenny and 1 night north of dublin, not far from airport (there are some nice coastal towns you could check out)
if you venture to stay in cashel, they have a show at bru boru centre that imho would be better than riverdance...that you could see at home
do a google search for castle hotels in ireland, several in counties around dublin
pick up rental car
sights south...wicklow mtns., glendalough, powerscourt gardens, kilkenny castle, jerpoint abbey...could probably go as far as rock of cashel with cahir castle as a day trip.
sights north of dublin...newgrange/knowth, hill of tara, monastaboice, melifont abbey, trim castle
I would suggest 2 nights around kilkenny and 1 night north of dublin, not far from airport (there are some nice coastal towns you could check out)
if you venture to stay in cashel, they have a show at bru boru centre that imho would be better than riverdance...that you could see at home
