pittpurple

Hi,

I've been researching our upcoming trip to Ireland all day and keep coming up with more options!

I'm going with my husband and mom and it's definitely a trip for her. We have 4 days. My thought right now is to fly into Shannon, drive to the Doolin and see the Cliffs of Moher (we're both huge Princess Bride fans so that was an exciting piece of trivia) and stay in Doolin overnight. I have seen on this forum that it's pretty touristy, but my mom loves Irish music so I thought we could do one night there.

From there my thought is to drive to the Dingle Peninsula as everyone says you can't miss it - or is that too much? I see online that it's about a 4 hour drive or is that too ambitious? Is there something we should stop and see in between Doolin and Dingle Peninsula?

That night we could stay... somewhere? I'd rather not switch hotels every day but we're very light packers so it wouldn't be a big deal. The plan would be to get up early and spend the day on the Peninsula.

I thought we could do the Sleahead Drive for a leisurely day, stopping wherever the fancy took us. Stay the night... somewhere.

That leaves another day. We were thinking it might be nice to have some "ladies time" so I had a vague thought that my husband could go back and drop off the car, leaving us in Ennis (I saw a post recommending this town several times) to have a night out - I see there's traditional music pubs here as well. From what I can tell, Ireland is non-smoking which is of huge importance to my mom - are the pubs good about that?

Then take a bus back to Shannon Airport and come home (my mom is visiting me in Edinburgh for a few weeks so we dont' have to worry about travel time - planning on using Ryan Air to get to Shannon).

If anyone could help me solve the gaps in my plan I would really appreciate it. It's just hard to tell with the driving times, etc.

My other thought is to fly to Dublin and do a leisurely tour around that area, but the more I look around it seems like she would really love the beautiful scenery from Shannon.

Thanks in advance!

cd

I like the first part of your plan instead of Dublin. The Clifts, Doolin overnight with pub visit, sleadhead Drive, & Dingle. I would stay at a B&B in Dingle, the beauty there of sea and land is amazing and the people very friendly.

terryfalls

to: pittpurple

i can give you some advise and tips
but you need to decide on your itenerary.
the southwest of ireland, ie county clare is very small by usa standards
and you can cover a lot in 4 days.
be flexable as the weather can affect your plans, it rains frequently in the morning.
using doolin as the home base for the first day i would add the burren
to the iteneray- google "the burren"
and read about it and the megalithic tombs. this is a very unique ice age area.
i would not recommend you and mom on
the streets of ennis by yourself,
the irish will warn you of the "travelers". stay together.
i would recommend moving to tralee
for you accomodations the rest of the stay. it is easy to do the dingle in a half day from there.
from there pick the best weather day
for the dingle trip which takes about a half day. tralee or killarney will be better for shopping. plan the driving directions using www.AAIRELAND.IE.
also check for football (soccer)games on weekend days. don't go to killarney on game days (horrible traffic). if you want more peninsula sceenary try the beara peninsula by glengarriff. kenmare is also a lovely town for easy shopping without your husband.
if you go to killarney take the south road toward the ring past the lakes of killarney up to moll's gap,
stop for the view. do not drive the ring of kerry, the tourist buses will spoil the day.
most of all, do some research, list more sights to see, put them in priority and that way you will not
be stuck wondering what to do on a bad weather day. you will have some options.
good luck and have fun.

TimS

You can drive from Doolin to Dingle in a day, but you'll need at least six hours to do it, not four. Driving times in Ireland tend to be underestimated, particularly on secondary roads. If you take the coastal route to Kilkee and the Killimer-Tarbert ferry across the Shannon River, you'll want to stop frequently to take short walks or admire the view.

GreenDragon

And remember re driving times, there are lots of places to stop and go 'oooh! aaah!' on the drive to Dingle, especially if you drive through the Conor Pass Yes, I think your plan is doable (minus the Dublin part). Clare is beautiful and worth it!

chatham

pittpurple,

It took about 4 hrs., maybe a little more driving from Doolin area to Dingle. We used the car ferry across the Shannon and that cuts off a lot of miles.
I've stayed in the heart of Ennis for many nights and was never afraid to walk alone in the evening. I've gotten up early a.m. to walk and it was fine also. I just never felt afraid at all in Ennis. My last trip was 2005.
We loved our stay in Dingle, you could make it a two night stay, relax and enjoy the little town and the scenery.
You have a very good start and I hope you enjoy your trip. Joan

jent103

I like your first plan, although it's a lot of driving. But it's worth it! Definitely go to Dingle, and definitely use the Killimer-Tarbert ferry to do it. I agree with Joan - stay in Dingle as long as you can. There's a lot to see on the peninsula, particularly if you have good weather.

As far as safety, my friend and I (both young females) stayed in Dingle and Ennis last summer - we never felt unsafe in either. Ennis was actually quite quiet when we were there (though it was a Monday and Tuesday). We stayed at a b&b about a kilometer or so outside the town centre and felt fine walking back. We made sure to do so while it was still light, but it was June, so we were walking around 10:30. If it was unsafe it didn't feel like it! Ennis wasn't my favorite, but it is a good place to stop if you have an early flight out of Shannon.

chip

Definatelty stick with your in/out of Shannon plan.

Be sure to get a B&B within walking distance of pubs in Doolin...likewise stay in Dingle.

Doolin...be sure to get to pub by 7...enjoy some Irish stew and pints...check out where the session is and sit as close as possible for best enjoyment. (think I liked Gus O'Connors just a wee bit more)

The drive from Doolin to Dingle along the coast via Kilimer/Tarbert Ferry is very scenic and takes about 4 hours.

Stay 2 nights in Dingle...you will love strolling/shopping/dining/and great music pubs...and definatley take your time driving slea head...I know we pulled over at about every opportunity!

In my opinion...I think it may be more fun for your mom to do the traditional barn night with Irish dancing at bunratty than Ennis...
I would stay in one of the B&B's within walking distance of the park or one of the hotels next to the park. (I think one of the hotels there also has music in their pub)...and there is dirty nellie's.

We did listen to some trad in Ennis, just didn't care for town as much as others here have and found it quite bleak compaired to dingle/doolin...
not a village...
more a small city(when we returned to Ireland with family two places we wanted to go back to were Doolin and Dingle but did not care to return to Ennis)
bunratty was surprisingly fun, especially for last night activity.

also...

great shopping at the woolen mills that are right there in bunratty...

inexpensive/short taxi ride to airport.

pittpurple

Thank you all for the replies - I'll look into Bunratty for sure, my mom loves doing traditional dances (will be taking her to a ceiladh when she's in Edinburgh) and I know she'd love that. I'll have to start looking into that.

I'm glad it seems like we have a workable plan here - I figure we'll plan a whole day to drive from Doolin to Dingle Peninsula so if anyone has any great stops along the way (any castles or abbeys or anything like that?) I would love to hear about it. My mom definitely doesn't like to be rushed.

And will a full day for the Sleahead drive be enough? I thought that would leave enough time to stop for lunch somewhere cute along the way.

Thanks again for all your help.
PittPurple