First Trip to Ireland
 

We are planning our first trip to Ireland & plan to fly into Shannon late October - late November time frame. We plan to stay 5-6 days. Does anyone have any suggestions on an itinerary for sight-seeing and historical locations? We plan to have a rental car. Any moderate hotel recommendations would be appreciated.

Also, how do you think the weather will be that time of year?

Thanks

You should go the B & B route. You should definitely go to Doolin. The Cliff of Moher are just down the road and up the road are the Burrens. Three pubs in Doolin boast Irish folk music, some of it impromptu by amateurs. I would also recommend Valentia Island in the sunny southwest.

I would try for Late Oct early November. You should still have daylight until 5pm then. Later in November it will be dark by 4:30 or earlier.

Since you only have 5 or 6 days I would concentrate on the West side - Either North of Shannon (Galway / Connemara area) or South ( Dingle/Killarney/Cashel)

Get yourself a good guide book and see what really interests you. And what will be open at the time you will be there.

Almost everything in Ireland is a historical site, so you will need to narrow it down a bit for people to help you out.

You also need to decide if you are going to jump from place to place (1 night per town) or base yourself out of 2 or 3 places (2 if only 5 nights, 3 maybe for the 6 nights) . This will make a difference in the suggestions you get from people as well.

If you click on my name , you will find a bunch of posts where I have remarked on my 1st trip over, in Nov of 2000. As well as my rec's for B&B's.

And remember the general rule - when planning your days/driving routes - you will really only average around 35 mph.

I was in Ireland in late November '98 and the weather was miserable (rainy & windy). It was moreso in the southwest where I was visiting: I talked to some people on the flight back who had spent most of their time in the Dublin area - they said it was OK.

5-or-6 days doesn't give you much latitude. Ennis is nice! West Clare (Lahinch, Cliffs of Moher, Doolin and the Burren) is a nice day trip. Galway is nice for Traditional Irish music on a Saturday afternoon. I don't know if I would chance scheduling the Aran Isands that time of year.

Sorry if I sound negative: I stayed at the 'George' Hotel in Limerick City on that trip. It was windy and rainy all night. When I went down to check out a group was trying to get an affidavit from the management about a large piece of slate had been blown from the roof and had caused considerable damage to the rental car they had parked in the Hotel's parking lot.

But I got a great deal on the airfare!

Candice,

First off, the suggestion to get a good guide book is one you need to do asap. I, personally, prefer the Frommer's IRL guide although this is the best chat forum for Ireland. Be sure to get an Eyewitness guide too (the big one) so you can get a feel for the scenery in Ireland. It's one thing to read about a place and another to see it!

I also second the suggestion for going in October. More daylight hours, more things open and better chance of nicer weather.

You will have the west of Ireland almost to yourselves so I would do one of two things. Either go South into Kerry or North into Galway.

I would definately do the B&B thing which you just cannot beat for price and comfort in Ireland. If you prefer a hotel then Jury's in Galway is great because of it's central location, walking distance to the shops/pubs and they have parking available for your rental car. (Not big spaces but spaces none the less!) Then do day trips out to the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Ashford and Cong, Clifden and Connemara. Your guide book will help you with what's open but it's always a good idea to Call Ahead, too! I'm sure there are a few people here who can point you in the hotel direction for Kerry.

You should be able to get great deals on the fancier places to stay at that time, too. Glenlo Abbey just outside of Galway is well worth it. Cong has the famous Ashford Castle and many people will tell you that Dromoland is well worth a night's stay. Look into what these places are charging now as well as calling them when you get there. You just might get a deal you can't pass up!

If you go the Kerry route then stay in a larger city (like Kenmare or Killarney) and make day trips into the countryside. Ring of Kerry and Dingle, Muckross House, even Limerick, Bunratty and Blarney.

Dress in layers with at least one being waterproof and another being windproof. Better if you can get a jacket or 2 that does both. Bring hats, gloves and scarves. I know I would be freezing in Ireland in October but I live in Southern CA and am pretty much freezing anywhere when I leave it! It will, however be cold and rain is ALWAYS a possibility in Ireland. You just can't have "40 shades of green" without rain and the West of Ireland gets, on average, about 60 inches a year.

Depending on where you are flying in from --> if a long trip then stay your first and last nights near Shannon. With only one or two moves over the other few days. You really just won't have the time in daylight hours to be moving from B&B to B&B everyday. Your trip will also be much more enjoyable with less packing, driving and moving. However, if you check in to a B&B you do not like then, by all means, move on!

Enjoy Ireland!
Wendy

I you've been working with the stereotyped notion about B&B's that I did before visiting Ireland.... be aware that they're generally very different than the frilly places many of assume are typical B&B's in the US (probably an unfair stereotype of US B&B's but not an uncommon one). Look for places that mention "en-suite" bathroom. You'll typically get a very nice room in a house with five or six guest rooms, each (or most) with their own bath (en-suite means private bath in the room). Typically the hosts have their own quarters and own entrance - it was really more akin to staying in a Key West style guest house than the type of B&B I thought it would be. Also.... the Irish breakfasts are great and really filling. The best advice I can offer is to come up with anitinerary and then scale it back. It takes far longer to get from on place to another than you might imagine and there's so much to see along the way. We stayed for 8 days and did the Wicklow Mountains, Cashel, Dingle and galway, then back to Dublin. I fI was doing an 8 day trip again I would cut the number of areas visited by 50% and enjoy more time in each place.

Wendy-you sound like me! I get cold easily, I LOVE Ireland (mom lives there), and I live in So. Calif. too!

Do you usually go LAX-Shannon on Aer Lingus?
Shadow

Shadow

We (now) always travel Aer Lingus out of LAX; rent a car in SD, drop it off at LAX, fly direct to Dublin then the reverse on return. So much better than flying here and there with layovers and lost luggage - been there, done that!

My husband's mum lives in Co. Kildare but we go all over and I LOVE going to Ireland! I love Southern CA, too...

Wendy
(ps I'm cold now! ;) ha!)

We did a very short (4 night) trip in late November of 2001. Landed at Shannon and drove to Doolin for first night. Then on to Galway for night #2, Clifden for night #3, and Ennis for our last night.
Because of the short daylight hours, we didn't cover too much territory each day and got settled in for the night before it got dark at 4:30 or 5. When we're there in the summer, we stay in one place for several days at a time, but didn't mind the 'survey course' approach on this very short trip.
Our November weather wasn't bad. Only one rainy day and temps in the 40s or low 50s. It did, however, get pretty chilly along the coast where it's windy.

When people arrive in shannon they usually head south to Dingle, Killarney, Kinsale, Etc. These are beautiful place but my favorite place is just north of Galway in the Connemara area. Be sure to visit Clifden, Westport, Kylemore Abby, Ashford Castle. These are all just north of Galway. And if you have the budget I would splurge one night and stay in a castle. We stayed in Ashford and LOVED it. and did b&bs the rest of the trip. I have taken several people to Ireland and we usually do the south thing (Dingle, Kilarney) then move back up to the Burren, Galway and into Connemara and come back down to fly out.