First-Timers to Ireland
 

My husband and I are trying to plan a trip to Ireland for Oct. 16-24 or 25. The flight from the US will probably be an overnighter, so we will have about 7 days.

I am a HUGE Anne McCaffrey fan and want to visit her in County Wicklow one day while we're there. I figured while in that area we would also check out Glendalough.

Other than that we are really very open for our itinerary (sp?). I was going to keep us on the East coast in the Dublin area and the Pale. We are very interested in ancient history, and my husband wants to see castles.

I figured we would visit Newgrange, Hill of Tara area. Check out book of Kells (Going to the Library no matter what if in Dublin...books are cool:-) and Guiness factory (mmm, Beer good) in Dublin.

My husband now wants to visit the West as well. Can we fill our week just in Dublin and the Pale? With the interests of Nature, ancient ruins, and castles, could anyone suggest an itinerary where we only spend about 3hrs or less a day in the car and go coast to coast?

This site is great and everyone is so helpful. So THANKS in advance. :-)

Boy, are YOU asking to open a can of worms with your post! LOL!

I won't give you a specific itinerary because that is really a very personal thing people need to decide for themselves. I think though that if you want to do very little driving you should stick to the East of Ireland and come back for the West at a later date. Having said that, you *could* drive from Dublin to Galway in about 3 hours...

Places I think you will like and are *must* sees (please double check dates/times these are open as I did not):

EAST
Newgrange/Knowth
Trim
Cahir
Rock of Cashel
Powers Court
Glendalough
Kilkenny Castle/town
Jerpoint Abbey
Clonmacnois

WEST
Bunratty
Cliffs of Moher
The Burren (& Poulnabrone Dolmen)
Connemara
Aran Islands
Ceide Fields

You will not be able to fit all these in.
But they should all be right your alley in terms of interest.

I would save Kerry/Cork and other Southern places as well as up North for a different trip.

I welcome any questions you may have so do not hesitate to email me directly if you so wish. People here have great advice (Debbie and Bill are two of the brightest stars ((*)) and give excellent advice.)

Enjoy planning your tip!

Cheers,
Wendy
[email protected]

If you are on the road to Wicklow or heading towards Powerscourt then you should really make a stop in Avoca Handweavers in a place called Kilmacanogue. It is a really good showcase of Irish crafts and designs (not the naff stuff) and does absolutely amazing lunches... there will always be a queue for lunch (no matter when you go - which shows how good it is) but it moves very quickly and is worth the wait. I suggest you concentrate your whole trip on the East coast... go right down to Wexford/Waterford and then up as far as Drogheda/Boyne Valley area. Spend 1-2 days in Dublin alone. Enjoy.

Can you see if you can get an open jaw ticket ( in Dublin out Shannon , or reverse? )
If so - then trying to do both East and West is possible. You will still be covering a lot of time in the car, so you will have to limit your sites, and daylight will be getting pretty limited ( I am thinking it will be dark around 5:30/6).

Some rough ideas:
Dublin 2 nights
drive to Powerscourt/Glendalough on to Kilkenny.
Stay in Kilkenny again? or on to Cashel/Cahir
choose - Dingle/Killarney area or Galway for 2 nights
Last night near Shannon Airport.(Bunratty, Ennis etc) Maybe do the Banquet at the Castle.

If you have to fly in & out of the Same airport, I really can't see trying to go East/West/East in under 7 days. ( your last day is really travel)

When planning your driving routes - remember you will only average about 35mph, so it will take a lot longer to get from A to B than you expect. You have to stop for directions, sheep, picture taking, lunch, shopping,winding roads, etc. All of these add on to your drive time.

Review the places you want to see. Then plot out rough drive times and how much of your vacation you want to spend in the car.
Also - decide if you want to change B&B's every night, or spend 2 nights in 3 places (my choice). You are going to want to be checked into your B&B no later than 6, but probably earlier, so that you can find it before dark.

Debbie

Wow! Thanks so much for the great information. It looks like we will staying in the East. Whenever I have our itinerary nailed down I will post for feedback.

Thanks again!

avoirgold,

I am glad I have been some help to you in planning your trip to Ireland. I hope you have a great time.

Please feel free to email me directly if you have anything else you'd like to discuss. My husband is from Co Kildare so we have spent many a moon in that end of the country.

Safe travels,
Wendy
[email protected]