My husband and I will be in Dublin (1st trip to Ireland) the second week of November for about 4 or 5 days (he'll be there on business). We then have about 4 days to do what we want, and I'm still not sure what we should do during those days. I think we'll be tired of the big city by that time; we like countrysides, castles, history, scenery, coastlines. We can fly to Shannon, take a train somewhere, rent a car, etc., during those 4 days; what are your suggestions? We want a real "Ireland" experience. Thanks very much.

You have lots of options, Samsaf.

If it were me, I'd stick closer to Dublin because you only have 4 days. However, you could rent a car, hop on a bus or take the train to the west coast. (About a 4 hour ride to Galway. Less, if you fly, obviously. I know Ryan Air has flights between Dublin and Shannon.) From there you could visit lots of places like the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, Bunratty Castle and Galway but you will need to rent a car in Galway or Shannon if you haven't already got one.

If you stay closer to Dublin I think you should definately take in Newgrange and Knowth. Both will be open in November. Also head south of Dublin into Wicklow and Kildare. Glendalough, Powerscourt Garden, the National Stud, Kilkenny town and Castle are all within driving distance though you could easily stay out the countryside somewhere.

Do some looking over the various places that interest you and see if there's a certain area that contains most of them. That will probably narrow your place of visit and then we can help point out the places most worth what little time you have there.

Cheers,

Wendy

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Thanks, Wendy. I guess I'm wondering which area is the most scenic with the most that we would enjoy. I will research all the places you mentioned.
Sherry

Me too - I'd stick closer to Dublin. Newgrange and Glendalough definitely. Avoca (not too far from Glendalough) is where the TV series "Ballykissangel" is set. Inland to Clonmacnois is another must-see, a historic site beautifully set alongside the Shannon.

I'd have to agree - the Wicklow Mountains around Glendalough, are very scenic. Maybe not as much as the west but...

The best of scenic sights are in the far west. But the days in November are really short. You might not wan't want to waste two of them driving there and back.

Kilkenny might be doable though, along with Wicklow.

Sherry,

Clifton is right on. The days are incredibly short in November and you do not want to waste them driving across the country. If you DO decide to 'go west' hop on a plane there and back.

www.ryanair.com

Otherwise, there's plenty to see in the east, as mentioned before. And when I said "stick closer to Dublin" of course I meant the East Coast area and not just in Dublin itself. I'd definitely rent a car and stay out in the country somewhere because you will be, like you said, tired of the city by then.

November is the perfect time to get great deals on the nicer places in Ireland. Look into staying at a Castle. I'd choose Kilkea, or Waterford or something in the east. You can probably spend all 4 days there just to unwind.

http://www.hotel-ireland.com/castles/
www.kilkeacastle.ie

Geez, I can go on and on but will let you do some looking and come back with more stuff.

Safe travels,

Wendy
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..with the short trip and even shorter days i think you have had excellent advice about limiting your trip to the "dublin area"..the drive over the wicklow mtns to glendellough is beautiful as is the drive to avoca...i think i remember a beautiful drive along the arklow river too..one warning..NOT all b and bs will be open at this time of year..when planning your trip confirm the off season availability of your chosen accmodation before you start finallizing any details of the trip.

Thanks, everybody, for all your suggestions. I am making a list and researching them. We also have the option of flying to Shannon and then flying home from there. Given that, is it still better to stay in the east around Dublin? Thank you.
Sherry

Okay, I've been doing research, and it seems that we might enjoy west Ireland, and there is a Delta flight from Dublin to Shannon (a 50-minute flight). Given that, is it worth it to do that, or do you still think it might be better to stay in eastern Ireland? We're not completely set on going to the west, but it seems that it would have more of what we want. Thanks. Sherry

I feel that flying short distances (like Dublin-Shannon) takes more time than driving! I would rent a car, drive to Newgrange, Clonmacnoise, Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Bunratty Castle (if you like that kind of reancting history" kind of staff), and then fly home either from Dublin or from Shannon. You absolutely don't have to reserve any place in advance in November. Sometimes it seems that every second house is a B&B. All the ones we entered randomly were extremely nice.
Have a great trip!

I spent 3 days in Dublin my first trip to Europe. I rented a car and drove north to Newgrange/Knowth area, explored Slane Abbey, and drove back down around Dublin to the Wicklow mountains. Glendalough I return to every trip, it's a delightful old abbey/graveyard nestled in the mountains, complete with round tower.

Powerscourt falls and gardens are not far from there, and also quite beautiful. The mountains themselves are lovely and peaceful to drive through.

If you do fly out west, there is a whole slew of different things to see -- the biggest questions is probably: Are you ever going again? If so, I'd concentrate on Dublin, and the easy to reach places on the east coast. If you're not coming back (and thus this is your only trip to Ireland), I would probably recommend heading west.

If we rented a car in Dublin and drove toward the west (flying back to Atlanta from Shannon), how long would it take? I assume we'd stop along the way (maybe even overnight) at different sites. Thanks.

You could take the train to Galway (3-4 hours) and then rent a car. Fares are pretty low (and bear in mind that a 50-55 minute plane ride will probable cost you close to that, or more. Airport to City center will take nearly an hour, in traffic, arriving one hour early for flight, the flight and then collecting luggage, etc. at Shannon)
Galway is a small city / big town and is convienient to Connemeara, Kylemore Abbey, Aran Islands, Cong and Cliffs of Moher. Drive to Bunratty your last night and do the Castle and Folk Park. Should provide a liesurely alternative view of 'the other side' of Ireland and nicely contrast with Dublin.

Enroute from Galway to Bunratty is Craggenauan Project and Knapogue Castle. Limmerick (a few miles to the south) has King John's Castle, the Hunt Museum and more. There is also Lough Gur archeological sites nearby. In Galway, just north of the city is Cregg Castle, a moderately priced and charming Guesthouse on a working farm, that we stayed at back in 1999 and found very pleasant.

Samsaf, Keep in mind that not everything in Ireland is open in November. Itallian_Chauffer mentioned the Craggaunowen Project and Knappogue Castle, both of which close in October. Check in advance all opening times for the places you want to see. No sense going out of your way if a place will be closed.

Thanks so much for all your advice. We will check into the train from Dublin to Galway. Sherry