My husband and I will be traveling with our children (ages 8 and 5) to Dublin at the end of June. I'm looking for hotel recommendations that would be comfortable for a family of 4, and also within walking distance of The Shelbourne (husband has business meeings there). We're also contemplating a visit to Edinburgh (we'll have 4 extra days), but don't know if that would be too much. Is it possible to go Dublin-Edinburgh-Dublin in 4 days?

You could certainly do Dublin-Edinburgh-Dublin in four days since the easiest and cheapest way is to fly. Fares on Ryan Air are currently about E7.00 with about E17.00 in additional taxes. The ferry would be much to time consuming and expensive.

I don't have a suggestion real close to the Shelbourne in Dublin. The city center in Dublin is very compact and is easily walkable for adults, though would probably get pretty tiring for kids. I've stayed at the Jury's Christchurch, which is in a good location generally, is affordable but would probably be about a 15 minute walk to the Shelbourne.

Guess I wasn't a lot of help. Siobhan?

Bill

Thanks Bill, how about Harrington Hall on Leeson street. They are serviced apartments and may be more suitable with children and is about a 4-5 minute walk to the Shelboune. Also you do not state the price range so I do good value for money rather than posh.

- The Russel court Hotel on Harcourt Street 10 minute walk through the park to Shelbourne

- Harcourt Hotel, Harcourt Street. 10 minutes away.

- Leeson Inn, Leeson Street

- Alexander Hotel, Davenport Hotel, (there is a third and they are located beside Merrion Square opposite eachother) they are owned by the same group and 10 minutes walk to the Shelbourne

- Longfields (?) off Baggott Street, Fitzwilliam Street. 10 Minutes to Hotel

- Trinity Lodge on S. Frederick Street

- Brooks Hotel (Good Rate on Smooth Hound and Late rooms.com. 15 minutes but a great area off Grafton street.

All of these are near the parks. It will be a good place for the kids in St. Stephens Green as they have a small playground and can feed the ducks etc. I loved the park as a child when I was 5 and we came for the summer. A while ago....

Hello Kathysa,
We just returned from Dublin with our 2 kids (ages 11 and 7). Stayed at Jury's Inn Christchurch...location was good, but I would not stay there again. Rooms were definitely well worn, staff was not very friendly. And we had to remind each day for 2 extra towels for the kids (a small thing but shows the level of attention..). As stated above, Dublin is compact so you can walk anywhere, leaving your choice of hotels much broader.
By the way, check out the Natural History Museum in Merrian Square....really interesting, our kids loved it and its' free!!
Have fun!

Thanks for the suggestions. As this is our first trip to Ireland and Scotland, we need all the help we can get It never occurred to me to fly to Edinburgh, so I greatly appreciate the suggestion regarding Ryan Air. We'd like to avoid renting a car, so if we can get directly from Dublin to Edinburgh, that would be great.
The hotel suggestions, including what to avoid, are extremely helpful. I'd go for value over posh. Something large enough for 4, clean, safe, etc. Near the parks would be ideal. I'll check out the ones you all recommend.
Any other suggestions regarding Dublin or Edinburgh would be greatly appreciated. Kids would love to stay in a castle one night so I need to do some research on that.
Thanks.

Castles are going to cost a lot. You might get better value for one in Ireland as its Euro versus sterling. How about an old Manor house..the kids are so small they may not know the difference! or you could take them on a day trip to visit Powerscourt (an estate and gardens south of Dublin in Enniskerry). When I was 5 we spendt a summer here and dove alot in the countryside. All I remember is the parks and family and the seafront. The parks were the most fun thats why I remember it!

I visited Malahide castle (a few miles North of Dublin) and I had a great time there. The train ride is nice and easy to get to the place.

You can visit Malahide Castle on a day trip but you cannot "stay" there overnight. I think this is the place where when they do/did dinners at the castle they always set an extra place as tradition. This is beacause the Pirate Queen Grace O'Mally (From Mayo) landed there and expected to be received at the castle as a guest. When she was refused she kidnapped the son for several months and returned him when she was welcomed as a guest and made them to promise to set an extra place every day for any unannounced visitors in future. I think she was trying to put some manners on them. She was a tough old bird!

It's nice for a visit on a sunny day. For lunch you can go across the road from the entrance to the Garden Centre that has a really nice cafe (Soups, salads hot lunches) and is child friendly.

Powerscourt as well is fun for kids and has beautiful gardens to walk around and you can have lunch there in the Avoca Cafe. They do bus tours f4om town and you can get one that included Glendolough. These trips kept us busy as kids and I remember enjoying all the gardens and parks running around...this is going back a bit in the 70's!

It sounds like we should stick to a castle or old manor house in Ireland. Any recommendations on old manor houses near Dublin? We won't have time to get too far out of Dublin. Both Powerscourt and Malahide Castle sound nice. Can you get to both via some type of public transportation or will we need to rent a car? To keep costs down, we're trying not to rent a car.
Thanks.

There are tours that you can book in the tourist office on Suffolk street that will do either of these from the city and bring you back in the evening.
Neither has easy access to public transport.

Thanks. It sounds like if we forego a rental car, we'll need to look into the daylong tours if we want to get out of Dublin to see the sights. I was hoping to avoid having the kids confined to a tour bus too often, but it sounds like that would be our best option. Any suggestions on web sites for companies that offer these day tours in either Dublin or Edinburgh? I've found many that offer the overnight, multi-day tours, but since we'll be making Dublin (and Edinburgh)our home base, those won't work.
Thanks again.

Kathysa,

Here is the link for the Tourist office. Maybe give them a ring for the tours in Dublin.
http://www.visit.ie/countries/ie/dub...tour_info.html

Also here is some info on the specific bus tours but only with phone numbers.

http://dublin.goireland.com/Scripts/...qx/listing.htm

This shopuld get you started.

S