Hi all, I'm leaving October 1st to spend three months in Ireland. I'll be working over there for about a month and half and then I'll have a lot of free time. I'll be based in county Sligo and probably have no access to a car. This is my first time to Ireland (been many times to Scotland and Shetlands however) so I was wondering mostly about the weather during the winter. Also I've heard some negative reviews of public transportation so in general I guess I'm just looking for any and all advice. I'm super nervous! Any thoughts you might have would be mightily appreciated! I just found out I was approved to go so I have a lot of planning in not a lot of time!

You should buy a guidebook and read through it and see what appeals to you. If nothing does then spend your days drinking in pubs and hanging out with locals.

Brrrzy, six weeks in Ireland with nothing to do? Sounds good to me. How about taking a few jaunts to London, Paris, Rome or any other attractive place on the Continent? Is that an option?

<i>Brrrzy, six weeks in Ireland with nothing to do? Sounds good to me.</i>

inorite?

Sometimes the best plan is no plan.

You have nothing to worry about -- friendly locals, beautiful countryside, and free time to travel!

I'm not sure what you prefer to do when you travel (culture, history, nature, active, etc.) but Ireland certainly has plenty to keep you busy. It would also be a good idea to get to the continent if you have the desire.

I would also recommend picking up a good guidebook. I love Michelin green guides -- anything with 3 stars is worth a trip all by itself (it makes things much less hit-or-miss).

You could also read through a tour itinerary to get ideas of some of excursions/activities that you might enjoy. I run a tour to Ireland and Scotland each September, so you could read through that itinerary for ideas:
http://www.ipswichtours.com/small-gr...eland-scotland

With six weeks you could really get to know the area well. I would probably want to have a car, personally, to access more remote areas (and the beautiful drives!) -- but you could manage using public transportation. You could probably negotiate a long-term rental with a car rental agency (europcar, for example) which would make it quite affordable.

Whatever you do, enjoy yourself over there!

Go dté tú slán (May you go safely)

Jean Moss
www.ipswichtours.com

"I was wondering mostly about the weather during the winter. "

To eskimos, it's unpleasantly hot and dry: to people in the Sahara it's blissfully chilly and damp. You give us no idea what's "normal" for you.

If you're from most of North America, Irish winters are balmy: it gets colder virtually everywhere north of the Mexican border than in Ireland. Annual rainfall is slightly less than New York - which admittedly by the standards of then British Isles is a rain-sodden quagmire - and it doesn't differ much month from month in Ireland. The reason Ireland has a reputation for dampness is that it rains often but sparsely: the reason some find it chilly is that modest temps around 10 C feel chiller if there's a light shower.

The two crucial things about Irish weather are:
- that by the standards of less fortunate nations, it's spectacularly harmless. Floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, blizzards, droughts and all the other horrors of daily life in much of the rest of the world are almost unheard of (like snakes or volcanoes). Snow is truly rare: winters with no snow at all not unusual
- it's also utterly unpredictable within its limits. A clear sky now is no more an indication of what it'll be like in an hour's time than a weather forecast.

As elsewhere in the British Isles, seasons are marked more by the amount of daylight (identical to Scotland) than by temperatures or precipitation (much, much, milder and warmer in winter).

<i>To eskimos, it's unpleasantly hot and dry: to people in the Sahara it's blissfully chilly and damp. You give us no idea what's "normal" for you. </i>

I like that.

Sligo has a rail connection to Dublin. Most routes originate in Dublin, so you could travel to Dublin and thence to other parts of Ireland - but it can be expensive. Explore: http://www.irishrail.ie/

You can also use buses. The main service is that provided by Bus Eireann. You can explore the possibilities here: http://www.buseireann.ie/

Sligo is a pleasant town but sometimes choked with traffic. Quite a few interesting places close by. The pace of life is fairly easygoing, and the people generally are very informal and easy to talk to. There are many worse places in which to spend three months.