vavrenyv

Hi Everyone, I need your help! I just booked a trip w/ a friend (22 yr old & I'm 21) to Ireland and we are getting a head ache from trying to figure out our itinerary. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Here are the details:
We fly in to Dublin Sept. 2 - fly out of Dublin Sept. 9th. We want to stay in Dublin one night and spend the rest out on the coast, we really want to see the Dingle Loop and some castles. Everything else is pretty much up in the air. We are going to stay at B&B's throught the week. Anyone have a good driving itinerary for us that would let us see as much of the sites as possible but not be stuck on the road for the whole trip?
Thanks so much!

CAPH52

Just one question, are you sure you're going to be able to rent a car? I suggest that you check to see whether you're old enough. I think most US companies require you to be 25.

jent103

Before I did anything, if your main goal is to see the western coast, I'd first check into changing my flights to arriving in Shannon. It would make things MUCH easier for you if it's at all possible.

We just got back and rented from Irish Car Rentals. From their web site:

"Drivers under 25 must have held their full license for at least 24 months prior to the date of pick up. The minimum age to rent a vehicle is 21 years (maximum 75). Drivers under 25, i.e. drivers aged 21,22, 23 or 24 are subject to an insurance surcharge of 25 Euro per day... All drivers under 25 and all drivers 70 and over are liable for the first 1,200 Euro of damage to the car (excess). The surcharge is paid when collecting the car and is not included in the quoted price."

So, be aware that renting a car will probably cost you more. Some of the majors (I checked Hertz and Budget) won't rent to the two of you at all, so your options will also be limited.

Other than that: Keep in mind when you're planning that it takes a lot longer to get places in Ireland than it looks like it will. Viamichelin.com is a good tool for directions, but on our trip, almost without fail it took us double the time they said it would. So, if you're locked into flying to Dublin and want to see the western coast, you're going to have at least two long driving days (one out, one back).

Are you leaving from the States? If so, are you leaving the US and taking an overnight flight on Sept. 2 - meaning you're not arriving in Dublin till Sept. 3?

jent103

Just noticed your title said Sept. 1, so I guess you're actually landing in Dublin Sept. 2. In that case, here's a thought. If you're stuck going in/out of Dublin, you'll have a lot of driving no matter what, but this could work. Our trip was only to County Kerry and County Clare, so others may have better input on the other portions. (Well, they might have better input for all of it. )

- stay in Dublin 9/2
- drive to Kilkenny 9/3
- see Rock of Cashel, stay in Kilkenny 9/4 (you may be able to drive on to Killarney - not sure how long Cashel takes)
- drive to Killarney 9/5
- Ross Castle, drive to Dingle 9/6
- Slea Head drive, stay in Dingle 9/7
- long drive back to Dublin 9/8

I had it flipped, but then thought a shorter drive would be better for your first day. As I said, others might have better ideas!

pjdscott

Hello,

If you want suggestions for a south-west costal trip, you're most welcome to visit my Munster tour:
http://www.hidden-dublin.com/tours/munster_index.html

You will get some ideas of how much driving you can do in a day - it will be far less than you think if you want to enjoy yourselves!

Have a great time - you're most welcome to contact me though the site for more advice.

Peter

vavrenyv

Here is what the website we booked says about renting car requirement:
Renters must be between 21 and 70 years of age in order to rent a car. Renters 21 - 25 years of age are subjected to an insurance surcharge, and cannot rent wagons, vans, or luxury vehicles. Renters 71 and over may not be able to rent a car. Age restrictions vary by country. If you are able to rent, you may be subject to an additional surcharge.

We are trying to change our flight to Shannon, but i'm sure there will be a penalty charge. Any more help will be greatly appreciated.

jent103

As long as the penalty charge isn't truly outrageous, I think Shannon is the way to go, if you only have a week and want to see the west. Let us know what happens with that and we can go from there!

vavrenyv

We changed our flight to Shannon!! So if anyone has a good itinerary out of Shannon we'd love to see what your suggestions are. We talked to the car rental place and it is approx. $33 a day extra charge for people between 21 - 23. Thanks Everyone!

jent103

That's great! I'll tell you what we did - it'll at least give you some starting points. (I'm working on a trip report, but...not yet!) "We're" 25- and 26-year-old girls, so relatively similar to you as far as that goes. We flew into Kerry airport (from London), then...

- Killarney first night (late afternoon flight)
- Gap of Dunloe tour, Killarney second night
- Drove Killarney-Kenmare portion of Ring of Kerry, lunch in Kenmare, drove to Dingle day 3
- Slea Head Drive, stayed in Dingle night 4
- Driving Day (Dingle to Ennis), stayed in Ennis night 5
- Drove to Cliffs of Moher, saw from top then took Cliffs cruise, back to Ennis via the Burren for night 6
- Flew home from Shannon next morning.

We didn't see any castles, although with another half a day in Killarney we easily could have hit Ross Castle (or done it and Muckross House instead of the Gap). I'm sure there are more castles in the general area. The main tips I have about driving are a) it always takes longer than you think (as previously discussed) and b) don't try to do too much on your first day. Maybe on your first day, just drive maybe to Doolin and see the Cliffs, something like that. That's about an hour and a half from the Shannon airport.

CAPH52

I'm glad the car rental is going to work out for you. It wouldn't have been a disaster if you couldn't. There are other ways to get around. But driving really is the best way to see Ireland.

I'm not going to chime in on your itinerary 'cause it's been too long since I've been to that particular part of Ireland. And I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice. But, if you have the time, read some of the trip reports. They'll give you lots of good ideas and it's a good way to get psyched for your trip!

Have fun!

chip

1-Doolin-Cliffs of Moher, Dunguaire Castle,Burren

2-Dingle-Slea head loop, Minard Castle(ruins)

2-Kenmare(more convenient to Beara Penisula/Healy pass drive, quieter) or Killarney
Ross Castle, Muckross House, Gap of Dunloe, Killarney National Park, Ladies' view, Moll's gap

1-Cahir Castle, Rock of Cashel, spend night in Cashel
or
spend night in Galway(hour+half closer if you stayed in Killarney)
or
add night to Doolin(day in Aran Islands),
or Dingle, or Killarney/Kenmare

1-Last night in Bunratty-folk park/castle ...folk night at bunratty

vavrenyv

Here's our itinerary, any suggestions on cool places to see or eat would be great...

Details:
Arrive September 2, 2007 in Shannon at 7:45 a.m.
Departing September 9, 2007 from Shannon at 2:45 p.m.
Day 1 Drive to Doolin see Cliffs of Moher and spend the night in Doolin.

Day 2 - To Killarney via the ClareCoast and the Killimer-Tarbert ferry. Spend the afternoon at KillarneyNational Park. Overnight in Killarney.

Day 3 - Drive the Ring of Kerry with a stop in Kenmare. Overnight again in Killarney

Day 4 - Day trip to the DinglePeninsula, overnight in Killarney again.

Day 5 Drive the SW coast, Bantry Bay, Glengarriff, Baltimore, Glandore, etc., overnight in Kinsale.

Day 6 Head to Blarney for the day and overnight in Kinsale.

Day 7 Drive to Cahir and visit Rock of Cashel. Continue to Bunratty and stay overnight.

Day 8 - depart from Shannon.

jent103

Days 1-4 look pretty good to me (can't speak to the others). Just as a word of warning, it'll probably take a good 5 hours to get from Doolin to Killarney, so keep that in mind when you're planning how early to leave vs. how much of the park to see.

mari5

I'm not sure: are you flying INTO Shannon and OUT of Dublin(open jaw, a good way to do it).....OR in and out of Shannon.?
We made a 9 day trip....first night around Bunratty, then to Galway(Cliffs of Mohr on the way), then back to Castlegregory (north of Dingle on the coast), then over Connor pass to Dingle(2nights). The Slea Drive is spectacular . Then on to Kenmare, then Kinsale, Waterford and into Dublin for 2 nights. You can certainly cut out Galway or other towns. We felt like we got a great overview of these parts of Ireland.,,,but YES, the roads are narrow, curvy,and some rough...so it does take longer than you'd think. But what a gorgeous country, and the friendliest people in the world!!!

Padraig

Vera, do you really want that much driving? What about getting out of the car and walking a little, or just sitting and watching the clouds go by? Take a photograph or two; go into places; have a coffee break and engage people in conversation. Be *in* the place, not merely passing by on the way to the next checkpoint.

[The only really short day on your programme is a trip from Kinsale to Blarney and back again. Blarney! It's scarcely worth 30 minutes of your life, and you are proposing to make a day around it.]

I suggest that you cut your programme and go for intensive rather than extensive.

You haven't actually said much about what you like to do, so I will not make recommendations on what you might cut, and what you might want to keep.