yellowrose477

I decided to start a new thread as my last one was getting pretty long. I have finally come up with an itinerary. Took SeeDee's initial advice and tweeked it. We will depart MSP on June 13 and leave Dublin on June 23.
June 14,15,16 - Staying at Evergreen B&B in Malahide. We thought we could do Dublin, Drogheda, Howth and maybe south to Kilkenny.
June 17 - Heading toward Enniskillen and staying at Willowbank House.
June 18 and 19 - Will stay at Eas Dun Lodge in County Donegal
June 20 and 21 will be at Marless House in the Galway area.
June 22 we will head back toward Dublin and stay someplace near the airport.

How does this sound?

irishface

I stayed at Marless House a few years ago. Welcoming hostess, lovely breakfasts, clean and pleasant room. It is just a few doors up from the seafront. We walked along several evenings and watched "the sun go down on Galway Bay". Bus into Galway stopped nearby (short ride--Salthill is actually part of Galway, I believe) and saved us the trouble of dealing with our car in the city.

You certainly have enough to keep you busy on your days in Malahide!

Not sure where Eas Dun Lodge is but you will have a full day driving from there to Galway. There is a lot to see on the way and many tempting sights at which to stop.

However, this sounds doable and a bit off the Fodor beaten path. Donegal is gorgeous and interesting. You'll love it!

I suspect that you have heard the warnings about driving into Dublin. IIt is not easy to take a car into the city--little parking and what there is frightfully expensive. Streets can be confusing (markers are on the sides of buildings rather than on signs) and often change names at the drop of a hat and are often one way. I believe there are good public transportation options from Malahide. By the way, just to add to your busy schedule, Malahide itself has a castle. Quite interesting. It also has a large model railway display (2500 sq feet) which includes streets, houses, River Liffey and more.

Have a wonderful trip!

yellowrose477

I have heeded the warnings about driving in Dublin! Evergreen House is in Malahide and we plan to leave the car there and take public transportation into the city. Evergreen is within walking distance to the castle in Malahide. We kind of like to be a little off the beaten track. There always seems to be something new to see and interact with the local people. I know most of the people head south - but I think that we will have enough wonderful things to discover with our itinerary. Thanks for the info on Marless house. It looks beautiful. We got our tickets yesterday, so now am getting more excited. We are flying Aer Lingus - never have flown that one before - but will be fun to be on an Irish plane I'm sure.

irishface

Sorry to repeat the Dublin warnings. You will indeed find many wonderful things to see and do on YOUR itinerary. I am so glad to see someone is going to do an itinerary that goes beyond the ordinary.

Don't know where you are taking off, but when I fly out of Boston (always Aer Lingus to Ireland), it always feels as if I am almost there once I get through security. There are so many Irish at the AerLingus gate--either going home for a visit or returning home after a visit with American relatives. I always look out the window of the waiting area to see my plane and which Irish saint's name it carries.

You will have a wonderrful time! Hope you have time to do a trip report when you get back. I know you have to catch up with mail, laundry, work and all that sort of stuff, but just let us know maybe one or two highlights!

longhorn55

We've stayed in Malahide on each of our two visits to the Dublin area. I think you will enjoy staying there very much and it's very easy to get into Dublin by DART or bus.

Why not stay in Malahide on your last night as well? It's only about a 15 minute drive to the airport and I think the Evergreen B&B (or any other Malahide B&B) would be a nicer choice than an airport hotel.

yellowrose477

I did fine a B&B last night in Malahide for the last night before our trip. Evergreen was booked up unfortunately - but I got a reservation at San Juan guesthouse in Malahide. It looks like it is very convenient to the airport. I will do my best to do a trip report when I return. I usually take notes every evening of what we have seen and done and that makes it easier to recall.

allisonm

I like this route. You are not trying to see it all and are going to be in some lovely areas.

We stayed at Evergreen last April and wished we weren't there for only one night - and it was our first night, when I usually crash by 7 pm. Our plane from JFK arrived so early that we drove to the beach and tried to rest, but it was hard to close our eyes with the sun coming up over the ocean; it was too nice to miss. We had breakfast In the hotel (but wouldn't do that again.)

Marless House gets terrific reviews and the location is great. We enjoy staying in Salthill. We will be in Galway next month, but chose a place closer to the city. I hope your room overlooks Galway Bay!

Be sure to see Slieve League in Donegal!

yellowrose477

I'm glad you are all approving of the route. At first I had us going way up north to see the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim coast, but I felt it was too much driving. I believe this route we can still see a lot, but not be so rushed. The correspondence that I have received from all the B&B's have been very nice. All of them got good reviews on Trip Advisor. allisonm, glad that you have been at Evergreen and am glad we can spend more than one day there. Our flight gets in early as well and we can't check in till later - she said she would try and have things ready by noon.

indy_dad

We also stayed at Marless House. Mary is very friendly and helpful and the location is convenient (we did Aran Islands and Connemara from there).

Many on this forum would look down their nose as such a touristy activity, but we really liked http://www.tradontheprom.com/ which you can walk to from Marless House. The talent on display is remarkable. Yes, they are a little over the top in self promotion and the hotel isn't the best venue but our family really enjoyed it. Book ahead and you can get some really good seats.

More pictures than you probably care to see on my blog:

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

yellowrose477

Loved the pictures! I can't wait to see some of those sites for myself. What month did you go? Sometimes we kind of like "touristy stuff" as well. After all, we are tourists! I am looking forward to some of the pubs with the traditional music as well. We just want to get a feel for how the locals live. Of course I am one of millions that have Irish descendants and am looking forward to being in the "homeland." That is one reason I wanted to head to Northern Ireland because I'm sure that is where my folks were from. Not going to do any looking around for graves or anything - but just want to know I was in the same area as those that have gone before me.

indy_dad

Our trip was last August.

The pub scene timing didn't suit our family situation so that's another reason we sought out the paid events like Trad on the Prom and event in Dingle.

yellowrose477

Understandable that the pub scene isn't very doable with younger children. Our son is 27 so no problems there - my problem may be keeping him OUT of the pubs! LOL.

yellowrose477

Just rented our car through Dan Dooley. We got an automatic with an extra driver and all the insurance we could get and we did get the Pat Preston 10% off discount. The total came to $755.00. I am pleased with this amount and won't have to hassle with our World Master card, etc. I hope that we have as good an experience with Dan Dooley as many others on Fodors.

allisonm

We are reserved with Dan Dooley again for later this month. We had originally planned on a standard until DH broke his collarbone. I sent Dooley an email asking for the price for an automatic instead and they responded in short order. We have had good service from them in the past.

yellowrose477

My son wants me to call them back and get a manual transmission. He drives one here and said that he won't have any problems shifting with the left hand. So maybe will call back - I think there may be about a $200 difference. Is that what you are finding? Is there rental counter in the airport or off sight?

jaja

The Dooley rental county is right in the Dublin airport, easy to find. At least I have found it twice and I'm usually hopeless. And there's an ATM just across the way.

allisonm

The difference in price for us was $180. On all other trips (save one) we have had a manual and DH had no trouble shifting with his left hand. I think our biggest problem has been instinctively going to the wrong side of the car to get in!

Rental car pickups are easier at Dublin than Shannon, where you have to get on a shuttle to your car lot.

yellowrose477

I always like it when you don't have to get on a shuttle to get to a rental counter. I drove in Scotland a few years ago and didn't have too much trouble staying on the left side of the road, but I had a hard time with depth perception of how wide the car was on the left. This time my son and husband will do the driving and I can watch the beautiful scenery go by I will call on Monday and change to a standard transmission as my son says he thinks it will be fun!