Edhodge,

I saw your offer to another poster to email info about Rick Steve's Dingle Penninsula tour and would love it if you would email me with it, too. I missed a good bit the last time I was there and am planning on making up for lost time this May. I've heard that Rick Steve had good indepth info on this area.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Wendy

[email protected]

PS I'll take any info about Dingle and the area the rest of you friendly Fodorites would love to give out, too!!! Ta very much.

Hi Wendy:

Somewhere I have the book and I copied the section from it. I could scan that if you would like. Let me know. I'm in the process of moving so sometimes it takes me a while to respond.

Bill

I'd love a copy too!

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...and/dingbd.htm

Thanks a bunch, IrishEyes. I'll be printing it out bringing it with me for certain. Is it exactly the same as what's printed in the book?

Bill, thanks so much for the offer! If the web site is the same as the book then I'm grand. If not, then I's still like a copy if/when you can get around to it. I know what it is to move though (having missed my trip to Ireland last year to do just that) so take your time - I'm not leaving until May.

I'm planning on spending at least one night at The (famous) Shores B&B while in Dingle, too. Yay! I'm finally gonna get there. Not sure where else just yet but I'm working on it. Am open to any and all suggestions, especially on the roads less traveled...

Places I have yet to go to:
Clonmacnoise
Blarney
more...

Where I want to spend some more time:
West Cork
Westport
Wexford
(Wendy's sensing a pattern here...)
Clifden & the Sky Road
more...

Keep the tips and advice coming and I'll keep reading!

Cheers,

Wendy

[email protected]

Hi Wendy:

We'll be there in May also, going mainly north. We'll end up in Dublin after going through Sligo, Donegal and NI. Ships passing in the night ....

Bill

Bill,

We went that way the last time we were 'home' (April 2003) though I'll admit to not spending nearly enough time in NI as I would have liked. The exchange rate made it difficult to stomach the prices...

Hubby has family near Dublin so we may be a lot closer than you think! Wouldn't it be fun to meet up? Then I can thank you in person for all the great advice about Ireland you given to me over the years. I won't ask you to go out of your way though. I'm still working on our itinerary but our dates are May 2 thru 20th.

Would love to hear what you have in mind for your itinerary, too!

Ciao,
w

Thank you IrishEyes.
I too will be in Ireland the first half of May. (And Dingle on the first weekend after a few days in the Galway area.) Everyone, have a great trip!

Wendy, Not EXACTLY the same. There is not as much info in the link I gave you as in the book. Rick Steves used to have the whole tour of Slea Head Drive posted but must have taken it down so more people would buy his book. In the book he says to start your trip odometer at 0 and then tells you mile by mile exactly what to look for and where to go. He also says that the drive can ONLY be done clockwise but that info is wrong. You can do the drive either way. The "Slea Head Drive" signposts point in the clockwise direction but if you know your way around Dingle and where you are going you can do it counter clockwise -- and I have.

Looks like we will all be in Ireland in May...me too! Pray for good weather.

Isn't it the Fodor thing to do when traveling to put brown somewhere on your rental car so we'll know each other if we should cross paths? I'm so going to do that so I can say HI if I run across you guys in May.

And thanks to Mimi who so kindly emailed me the entire Rick Steves' Dingle write up. I can only imagine the amount of time it took her to do that. Thank you so very, very much!

Cheers,

Wendy

Hi Wendy-it's still cheaper up here in NI than in the south!

Wendy, Brown? How could you tell the difference between the mud and cow stuff on the car? We need to come up with something better.

Wendy:

We will be in Ireland the 13-29 May. I'm dragging some friends along with me and hope they will still be that when we return . We plan to spend a night on the Aran Islands, then a couple of nights at Cregg Castle, then Mayo (probably Westport), somewhere in between on our way to Donegal to stay in some cottages for most of a week and then up through NI and down to Dublin. Let me know what your itinerary is and we may be able to meet up.

I agree with Ann on prices in NI. I did an exchange rate comparison on a bunch of regular expenses there and the only thing that was more than the Republic was petrol. Rooms and beer for example were cheaper in NI.

Bill

Bill and Ann,

Great news! I've been dying to return to NI ever since my first trip back in '96. Have only spent a total of maybe 3 days in the last 5 trips back so perhaps this time will be the one I really discover NI!

Bill,

We'll be overlapping for a week. We'll be arriving on May 2nd staying until the 20th, flying into and out of Dublin. We spend a good bit of time with my mother-in-law near Dublin but do go for trips to the countryside for a few days at a time. I've no exact dates of where we'll be when just yet though; will let you know as I figure it out.

I, too, plan on overnighting it in Westport this go around and visiting the Ceide Fields - the last time we were there it was raining so hard they cancelled the outside tour but I just loved the place.

IrishEyes - Excellent point! Brown on a rental car in Ireland would be difficult to spot. How'd you know we like to spend time roaming with the cattle in the fields... in our rental car? lol. Guess it's hard not to do that when in Ireland. Our last rental car smelled like a byre for a week!

What do you suggest? Bright red tied to the antenna or top of the car somewhere? At least it may stand out a bit more...

cheers,
w