Tshop

My family (with two teenagers) will be spending three nights in Dublin. I'm looking at two different one day rail tours -one to the cliffs of mohr(sp?) & Bunratty, and one to Cohb & Blarney Castle. Has anyone taken either of these and are they worth the money? We will be doing the wild wicklow bus tour, so maybe there is enough to do around Dublin without this additional tour. Need to keep the young ones entertained. We will then be spending three quieter days in Wales, so I don't think I'll mind too much if our time in Dublin is a little hectic.

nytraveler

I would strongly suggest you do these by car - or even bus - instead. The train system is ireland is excrutiatingly slow (this is not the TVG at 200 mph - more like the LIRR silver snail at about 40) - I was ready to shoot myself after one day of using it.

NEDSIRELAND

I don't know when you will be going or where you are getting your info but: Unless you connect with a bus tour in Ennis or Galway, I don't think you will get to the Ciffs of Moher by Train. As a matter of fact, I see some difficulty getting Dublin-Cork (Cobh) in a timely manner by train.

The 'when' comes into play because many of the Bus tours to the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin or the Aran Islands from Galway just operate May-Sep. Of course you can always get a private driver to Chauffer you there (as we did in May'02 from Ennis).

I think you should re-examine your trip itinerary (with a map of Ireland at hand). Then visit www.irishrail.ie and www.BusEireann.ie

I travel mainly by BusEireann in Ireland: If you buy a timetable at BusAras in Dublin you'll enjoy frequent fast and comfortable travel

GeoffHamer

You can get from Dublin to Cork or Galway, amongst other places, by train, more quickly and more comfortably than by bus. Most Irish mainline trains have refreshments so you can have a coffee or a can of Guinness while you're travelling.
These tours are advertised on www.irishrail.ie and seem a good way of seeing a lot in one day. They are long trips: the one to the Cliffs of Moher starts at 0700 and gets back to Dublin at 2115, but attempting to go so far in one day by bus or car would be more exhausting. Whether it's worth it for you depends on various factors, including whether you'll be able to back to Ireland again soon.

Tshop

Thanks for the info. The tours I had in mind were from that same website Geoffhamer mentions - irishrail. They are combination deals with bus tranport where needed. I didn't consider going that far until I saw these tours. If anyone has actually taken one of these tours, I'd love to hear about it. We will probably not get back to Ireland, so I'm tempted to see as much as I can. Our trip is at the end of March but it looks like these tours run year round.

jond

Last year I took a rail tour from Dublin all the way over to Galway/Connemara (Kylemore Abbey) and there was plenty of time to get there and back in one day because the tour was well organized.
Be aware that if you sign up for the Aran Islands tour it may be cancelled if it's too foggy in the West (and it often is).