chemgirl

I'm a single mid/late 20's gal heading solo to Ireland this fall for my long overdue first trip to the land of my forefathers! This board has helped tremendously and now that I've booked my tickets (Sept 1-16) I want your expert opinions on my travel plans. Too much...too little...etc. I will be renting a car and know that many B&Bs will charge a single supplement since I'm alone. Ok, here goes:

Day 0 (Sept 1): Depart Chicago for Shannon via Philadelphia

Day 1: Arrive Shannon, pick up rental car, head to Doolin, explore The Burren, check into B&B

Day 2: Take ferry to Aran Islands (weather permitting), return to Doolin in evening

Day 3: AM visit to Cliffs of Moher, take ferry from Killimer to Tarbert and head to Dingle

Day 4: Explore Dingle peninsula (Slea Head drive?)

Day 5: Head to Portmagee, visit Skellig Visitor's center

Day 6: Ferry to Skellig Michael (weather permitting), back to Portmagee in evening

Day 7: drive to Kenmare, visit National Park, Muckross House, etc. stay in Kenmare

Day 8: fight tour buses on Ring of Kerry (driving clockwise) to see Derrynane House, Staigue Fort, ogham stones, etc, back to Kenmare for evening

Day 9: Drive to Kinsale, Kiss the Blarney Stone (sounds pretty touristy, but how can I go past and not stop!) Check out Charles Fort

Day 10: explore Kinsale

Day 11: drive to Kilkenny via Cashel, see Rock of Cashel on the way

Day 12: explore Kilkenny & surrounding area (Jerpoint Abbey, Kelly Priory, etc)

Day 13: Drive to Trim via Glendalough, see Powerscourt Gardens

Day 14: visit the valley of the Boyne, Newgrange, Knowth

Day 15: maybe hit Trim castle before heading to Dublin to return rental car and head home

So what do you think? I'd like to try and spend at least two nights per B&B so I'm not constantly rushing from place to place. And I'm a big history buff, so I'm more interested in the historical places than anything. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Is this itinerary ok-what would you add/cut out? I tried to keep this short and not include evey little thing I plan to see in each town and on the way. But B&B, pub, and places to see that you can recommend would be fantastic. Thanks so much!!

Budman

It looks like a nice, well thought out itinerary -- not rushed and to give you time to take in some pubs and ambiance of the areas.

TimS

I, too, like your itinerary.

Ferry service to the Aran Islands from Doolin is often cancelled because of tides and wind.

Here is information from Rick Steves' Ireland guidebook: Island Ferries (www.aranislandferries.com) sails to the Aran Islands from Rossaveal, a port 20 miles west of Galway. There is shuttle bus service from Galway to Rossaveal. Drivers should go straight to the ferry landing in Rossaveal, passing several ticket agencies and pay parking lots. At the boat dock you'll find a convenient E4-per-day lot and a small office selling tickets for Island Ferries.

O'Brien Shipping operates smaller, slower boats departing once a day from Galway (not Rossaveal) and stopping at all three Aran Islands. For drivers, there is a E5 parking lot at the dock.

chemgirl

Ferry service from Doolin to Inishmore is one of the biggest 'ifs' on the trip-it's all riding on the weather. Especially in September, I don't know if I'll be able to do it or not. I don't really have much desire to see Galway this time around, so I'd rather not try to leave from Rossaveal. Do you think if I called the ferry operator in Doolin when I arrive at Shannon they would be able to tell me if the ferry will leave the next day or is it a 'day of' only kind of situation? Maybe I can stay further east in the Burren instead of staying in Doolin (Kinvarra? Ballyvaughan?) then I would be closer if I have to drive to Rossaveal early on Day 2 to get to Aran. If I go from Rosseveal, I'd probably take Aer Arann instead of the boat since it's quicker and there are more departure/return options. The viamichelin website says Kinvarra to Rossaveal is just over an hour, so probably closer to 2 hours? Then I'd have to drive back to that night when I get back from Aran. That would add about an hour of driving to Day 3 going to Killimer via the Cliffs of Moher. Any suggestions?

yesiree100

This is a very well-paced itinerary...you've done your homework.

If you've got good weather on Day 1, go see the Cliffs on that day (quick, easy drive from Doolin) because you never know what the weather will be like on Day 2 (I also like the Cliffs at sunset).

For the Ring of Kerry, instead of trying to beat the tour buses, you might consider joining them on a day tour. The driver tends to miss the scenery and it could be a nice break from being behind the wheel. If you do drive, be sure to stop often to take in the sites.

I'd choose Cobh over Blarney because it's got some great history and some really interesting, beautiful sites, but hey, sometimes there can be something very satisfying about partaking of a tourist trap experience.

Kilkenny to Glendalough to Trim will be a lot of time in the car. You might want to save Glendalough for another trip.

Kells Priory and/or Athassel Priory (near Cashel) sound like they might be right up your alley...huge ruins.

Give my Walking Kilkenny tour a try
http://knockahopple.com/downloadkilkenny.html

Also, some of the sites on your itinerary have been covered on the Irish Fireside Podcast
www.irishfireside.com

Good luck and safe travels.

GreenDragon

Sounds like a fabulous trip! Again, as Budman said, not too rushed, but good enough time to do what you want. BTW, it's probably just a typo, but it's KellS Priory, not Kelly

I'll be to many of those places this June, I'll be sure to post a trip report!

chemgirl

Oops-thanks Green Dragon. I look forward to your trip report! The more I look into Ballyvaughan and Kinvarra the more they sounds pretty nice. Now I don't know what to do! Doolin's nightlife sounds more 'happenin' but after all the flying/driving/walking I might prefer a quite first couple of nights...

bobludlow

Weather permitting, I'd trade your car for a rented bicycle in Dingle and bike around Slea Head. It makes for a wonderful day and may help you work off the effects of too many pints of Guinness.

chemgirl

Yesiree100--that walking tour of Kilkenny is perfect! Self-guided tours are right up my alley-thanks so much; I'll let you know how it goes! I wish more places had these kinds of detailed walking tours!!

cahilla

Hi Chemgirl:

We just got back from our week in Ireland - fabulous, fabulous. The Slea Head drive was one of our favorite things -- is it heresy to say that we preferred it to the Ring of Kerry?

Our trip only overlaps with yours in the beginning, but I will let you know that we loved the B&B's we had in Doolin (the Ballyvara House) and in Dingle (Emlagh Lodge -- NOT House). Really, I can't imagine a better place to stay in Dingle: it really is a 5-minute walk into town, and it's right on the water. And the Ballyvara House in Doolin includes a lovely little restaurant, which was particularly helpful given that it was our first day in Ireland (and on the off chance that you're vegetarian, as we are, it was a real score, since the owner of the house is veggie, and always makes sure her chef does up some great stuff; the breakfast, veggie or no, was great, one of and maybe the best we had).

Dingle, by the way, was also a lovely place to shop and eat. We ended up, contrary to the (as it turns out, correct) advice of this forum, staying in Killarney, and it was far too busy to enjoy. So we were happy that we had done all our gift shopping in Dingle.

Although Killarney town was not our cup of tea, we did love our B&B (Ross Castle Lodge), and since we were mostly interested in doing some nice walks at that point, the location worked out fine.

Okay, I think that's all the advice I have at the moment!

yesiree100

Glad you're looking forward to the Kilkenny tour. I wish more towns had really good self-guided walking tours as well...I guess I'll just have to spend more time in Ireland and just keep creating them myself

McShane

Chemgirl,
What a fabulous itinerary! You've found great places to visit.

One thing to think about is that you'll be going to the Iveragh Peninsula (Ring of Kerry) twice - first to catch the boat to Skellig, then back again on Day 8 to Derrynane house. You might consider just one 2-day excursion to the Iveragh. I think on Day 5 you could go to Derrynane, then spend the night in Portmagee. It's just the slightest backtrack as they're pretty close by. Then, Day 6 you could go to Skellig, then the visitor's center. The Skellig boat gets in early to mid-afternoon.

Day 7 you can complete the RoK drive to Kenmare (or go up over the spine - spectacular drive), freeing up day 8 to explore Bantry or something. You might enjoy Bantry House or the garden on the island outside of Bantry. Both are wonderful. Of all the many, many places we had tea in Ireland, my son like the tea room at Bantry House the best.

We've been to all those places and we especially loved Derrynane and Skellig. We found the Skellig Visitor's center to be rather dull. I don't remember there being much at Portmagee to do! Might be a quiet place to stay - which can be nice.

Be advised that it's a boat rather than a ferry to Skellig so you have to make arrangements w/ a boat captain on the phone ahead of time. Derrynane was wonderful, both the house and the gardens, and you can also walk out to a very cool ruined abbey from the beach there depending on the tide.

We also loved Newgrange and Knowth and Dublin was quite interesting w/ lots to do.

chip

suggestions...

agree with seeing cliffs 1st day, if nice

seems like you can see all of ROK on days 5&7, to and from Portmagee. save all of day 8 for the park, Muckross House and Abbey, and Ross Castle.

on day 13, if you have to skip anything, skip Powerscourt...Glendalough historic and beautiful.

day 14, be sure to include Hill of Tara if time

74 days, 9 hours, 43min and counting until our trip to Ireland!

joolleeb

If you are going to Glendalough you must see the monastic ruins-they were one of my foavorite sights in Ireland second to the Rock of Cashel. Powerscourt is beautiful as well but we were there in late May early June and the flowers were blooming and rhodadendrums were as well. Check into whats bloom in September it might influence your stop there.

Is ROK a must? in my opinion Bearer, MizenHead and SHeaps Head Peninsulas are more beautiful and less crowded

chemgirl

Great ideas-thanks so much to everyone! I think I'll alter my ROK time a bit-go from Dingle to Portmagee on Day 5, spend day 6 on Skellig and then head to Kenmare for the night after getting back from Skellig instead of spending a second night in Portmagee. Oh, and I'm looking into taking a bus tour of the ROK on Day 7 (Yesiree's suggestion). I hadn't thought about missing out on scenery while fulfilling the driver/navigator role. Taking a Bus tour might give me a chance to see things I had missed otherwise. So we'll see. I've been pouring over this itinerary for months so it's nice to see that the veteran travelers aren't shuddering at my plans! 5 months to go!!!

chemgirl

Oh--forgot to add--ROK isn't a must. I actually hadn't included it for a long time but Skellig Michael just sounds too interesting to miss! I wish there were a better way to get out there and I'd skip ROK all together...

crckwc

On day 7 you plan to drive to Kenmare, see the National Park and Muckross. Both the National Park and Muckross House are in Killarney, not Kenmare. I would think you'd want to base in Killarney. If you do, I can recommend a great B&B just opposite the National Park, set off the road, quiet, with a view of the park and lake. It's Carriglea House, www.carrigleahouse.com. We've stayed there 3 times and love it. Try to get a room in the main house in front with the view.

chemgirl

Good point on Killarney--I've just heard Kenmare is a smaller, less hectic town to get around in. Thanks for the recommendation, though, I'll look into it!

wojazz3

Hi Chemgirl. There are some beautiful areas inside the Ring and the Gap of Dunloe is a great way to spend a day. If Skellig is high on your list (as it is on mine), perhaps spending planning to stay somewhere close enough (kenmare is fine if you can get an early start) will help you deal with the weather. If the weather is bad on the Portmagee day, but good on the next two, it would be a shame to miss the Skelligs beacuse it wasn't on the calendar. Maybe put all three near Kenmare. Just a thought. The Skellig ferry ride is said to be quite rough. I'll give you my report if we make it out there in May.

Bill

McShane

Hi Chemgirl,
Bill makes a good point about the weather. If you went from Dingle to Kenmare, and based yourself there for several days, you would be sure to find one day of good weather for Skellig. If I recall it was about 1.5 hours driving from Kenmare to Skellig. The boat is a long ride over open ocean and I doubt it's ever really calm so if it's bad weather I don't think they make the trip. We loved the ride and the island. Just remember to make your boat reservation a day ahead. We got the phone number of boat captains from the tourist office in Kenmare and phoned them.

Then the other 2 days in Kenmare you could go to the national park and check out one of the other fine peninsulas. I wouldn't do the bus tour of RoK because you'll just be traversing the same road you drove to Portmagee. I drove it twice to go back out to Derrynane but then I was in Kenmare for a week. It is a pretty drive.