My husband and I just got back from a great trip to Ireland. We started out in Dublin; first stop was the Guinness Storehouse. The admission is pretty steep (around $17 USD), but you do get to enjoy a pint at the end of the tour at the Gravity Bar which has great views of the city. Dublin was fun; we did the Literary Pub Crawl one night and a historical walking tour (through Historical Insights) one afternoon. We spent two nights there which was enough for us. We stayed at Kilronan House, which we would definitely recommend.

Next stop was the Rock of Cashel -nice view of the Rock from the town and of the countryside from the Rock. We stayed at Legends Guesthouse -great breakfast.

We spent the next day/night in Killarney (stayed at Earls Court Guesthouse -very nice). The National Park is fantastic. We didn't tour Muckross House, but did walk around the grounds to the Abbey and did one of the nature trails by the lake. We also drove out to Ladies View (the drive out there is a little narrow and winding, but very scenic). Killarney is pretty touristy. We went to Danny Mann's pub for dinner and to hear some traditional music. I kid you not, we walked in and they had Lord of the Dance playing on a big screen! It turned out to be really fun though.

We spent the next two nights in Dingle, which was probably the highlight of our trip. We stayed at Greenmount House, which was the best B&B we stayed at the whole time. The view from the B&B alone is awesome, but the service was great. I've never stayed at a B&B in Europe with turn-down service! The first afternoon we did the Slea Head Drive (spectacular!). That night we had a wonderful dinner at Lord Baker's and then heard some traditional music at The Small Bridge pub.

The next day was we drove up to Conor Pass (more great views and the drive up from Dingle wasn't nearly as scary as we thought). That afternoon we took a boat ride in the bay to look for the dolphin (anyone who has read McCarthy's Bar may recall how some of the locals feel about said dolphin!). The boat ride alone was cool, but no Fungie until the very end. The captain was getting nervous since the boat ride is free if there's no dolphin siting. Dinner was at The Half Door (phenomonal!).

The next day, we drove to Doolin and saw the Cliffs of Moher (another trip highlight). Doolin is great; it's the small coastal Irish village I had always pictured. We had dinner in O'Connors pub and stayed around for the traditional music. We stayed at Sea View House -second best B&B of the trip. Darra is very nice and the breakfast was awesome.

On our last day, we drove to Bunratty and toured the Castle and Folk Park. The castle has been completely restored and is fun to tour. I thought the Folk Park might be cheesy, but it's really not. It's well done and we had some of the best fish & chips for lunch at Mac's pub within the park.

The weather was crazy the first few days (showers, high winds, even hail!), but after that, it was sunny most of the time, temps in the 40s/50s during the day.

That about wraps it up. If anyone has any questions about anywhere we went, please let me know.

Glad you had a great time!! Great report.

Dingle is great, isn't it. One of our most memorable lunches was at the Half Door. 54 days and counting.

Where did you stay in Bunratty? We're booked at the Bunratty Lodge.

We stayed at Bunratty Woods. We met someone at Durty Nellies pub that night who was staying at Bunratty Lodge and seemed to like it. Have a great trip! I can't wait to go back.

i have not booked my stay in Bunratty as yet , but Bunratty woods is on our short list. Would you recommend it, is it well located and does it have on-site parking. Suggestion for dinner in Bunratty? thanks.

I personally would not recommend Bunratty Woods. The owner did not inform us that there would be construction going on during our stay (and we had confirmed our reservation the week before, so she could have had the courtesy to mention it at that time). So, instead of taking a nap the afternoon we arrived, we listened to two hours of hammering and sawing. Without the construction, it's probably a decent place to stay. It does have on-site parking and is about a 2 minute drive to Bunratty Castle & Folk Park. We were going to walk it, but there was no sidewalk (or even shoulder), so it seemed a little dangerous to walk the road at night. Have a nice trip.

Great report Kendra. I have the same feelings about Killarney as you do. One of the worst things I heard about Killarney was when someone asked where the outlet mall was. The response was that it's across the street from the McDonalds. I'll admit, I've never spent much time there and I understand that if you know where to go, there are some places that are not quite as tourist focused.

Glad to find another McCarthy's Bar fan.

Budman: You'll enjoy Bunratty Lodge. Mary is a great hostess and her breakfasts provide a nice break from the daily cholesteral bombs that are popular at most places. Somewhere she has a copy of a CD that my wife performed on. I think there is a brief appearance from me too. Someone told me that they had seen it there. The place is easy to find. Just take the Low Road (between Durty Nellie's and the castle) to the end. Bunratty Lodge will be right in front of you. You certainly aren't in walking distance of Bunratty, but there is usually plenty of parking. Sometimes parking is a little tight in the middle of the day.

Bill