I would like some help on visiting Ireland. Dublin is a must. I love to see castles and pubs where the locals hang out. What other cities would anyone recommend. Also any other special things I should not miss.
thanks,
Mike

Hi Mike. You'll get great information here, but you'll find it will be more appropriate if we know something about you. Age, likes/dislikes, budget, mode of travel (for example, are you prepared to rent a car?), how much time do you have, what are the things you have heard about Ireland and have intrigued you, etc. Also, doing a search on this site will certainly get you started.

I am 48. and have been to Europe several times. I love seeing the historic sights and music. Renting a car is a possibility. Usually I have taken the train to get around. I will have to stay about one week. I also love to walk. My budget is I guess mid-range. I am interested in sampling the local food and ale.

If Dublin is a must, and you only have a week, I would suggest you stay towards the east coast, as you wouldn't really have time to see the likes of Cork & Kerry properly. I would highly recommend renting a car, as train travel in Ireland is fairly limited.

I would suggest a few days in Dublin, then perhaps you could visit the likes of Glendalough in Wicklow, and Newgrange in Meath, with maybe a day or two in Kilkenny.

I also love historic things, and rented a car from Dublin on my first trip. I'll second the suggestion of Newgrange -- it was great! I stayed in a wonderful farm B&B manor house in Navan (forget the name now ). Then I picked a road and travelled south of Dubin through the Wicklow mountains. I explored Powerscourt Falls and Gardens (delightful 18th century gardens) and discovered Glendalough by accident. I've been back to Ireland twice, and each time I had to go back to Glendalough. It is a wonderful old Abbey and graveyard -- I have many pics of it!

North of Ireland on the way to Newgrange, I saw a ruined castle and decided to stop and explore. It was actually an abbey, Slane Abbey, and it was great to explore it at dusk -- noone else around. I even climbed up in the bell tower (boy those stairs were tiny!)

Can't help you a whole lot in pubs, as I didn't hit many in Dublin, but I'm sure some others of us could help.

The Book of Kells in Trinity College I liked, though it's set up pretty touristy, it's still really wonderful.

Take the hop on-hop off bus tour in Dublin your first day, it will give you a nice overview of the city.

Have a wonderful time, slainte!

Hi Mike:

You've gotten some good suggestions here. Just to clarify what cailin was saying (and she knows better than most of us) renting a car in Ireland is really the best way to see the country but do NOT rent one for use in Dublin. The Dublin city center is quite compact and the public transportation IN DUBLIN is very good. Hop on - hop off bus tours are a good idea for first visits to a city. www.visitdublin.com is a pretty good site for checking out what's going on and Cailin and Siobhan here are probably better.

If looking for local ales in Dublin, try the Porterhouse or McGuires, both in the city center. MaGuires overlooks the Liffey and the Porterhouse is in Temple Bar on Parliament St. Despite Irelands reputation for beer drinking, there really aren't a lot of different choices like you would find in England. Guinness was pretty successful at running small breweries out of business but that has changed just a bit in the last decade or so. The D'Arcy brewery is in Dublin and I believe there are a few places on the north side of the Liffey that serve there beers. All are very good.

Of course there is Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish, Harp, Smithwick's and Kilkenny that can be found in varying degrees of popularity around the country.

As cailin said, with your limited time and Dublin as a must, sticking to the east coast is best and there is plenty to see as she and Green Dragon pointed out. You could go on a whirlwind tour that got you to the west coast, but you will get pretty much a green blur tour.

Bill

Thanks, All your ideas sound great.

We had fun at The Temple Bar in Dublin. It may be packed full of college kids but all (maybe 200+ people) were singing along to these awesome guitar players. It was very fun & we are well past college age. We went to Doolin & Gus O'Connors was very fun there. Traditional Irish Music is what we heard. If you head down to Bunratty Castle, Dirty Nellies is the bar attached & very fun sing along type of place. This father/daughter duo was unbelievable. Many tourists joined in from all areas of the world & we had tons of fun there.