Help 2 Wk Family Trip to Ireland! Please!
 

Okay, here is what we have put together so far, please feel free to tell me what we missed, or should avoid! We pushed up to 2 weeks, but added a couple of days in London. We are clueless and to lodging and where to eat. We are open to hotels, B n B?s , would LOVE a castle we could afford for the family. I think because of it being the busy season, I would feel better having reservations for Lodging. So much is close together, and want to see as much as possible.

My husband, myself, and children aged: 20, 17, 15, and 13, will be renting a van with automatic transmission: we are all practicing yelling LEFT OF CENTER! At Joe!

We arrive in Dublin, Monday, July 17th at 8:30 am. We know we will meet up with Jet Lag at some point, so plan 2 days in Dublin:

July 17th-18th Dublin

Seeing: St. Patrick?s, Bank of Ireland, Trinity College and book of Kells, Grafton St., St. Stephens Green, Merrion Square, Old Dublin, Dublin Castle, Trim Castle, Gaol, Brazen Head Pub, and Temple Bar, Christchurch, Wicklow mountains (may hit these on the way back from Galway ? )

We need hotel input, prefer city center?I think?.

We found out that airfare to London is only about $25, so we thought since may never get back over the pond we should take a peek.

July 19th early flight to London:
See: Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Parliament, Tower of London, planning on doing the bus around town.

July 20th - 21rst early (ish) flight Back to Dublin, pick up van (yes, automatic for sure)
Head towards Kildare, Wexford and Killkeney.

Need Lodging input one or two places???

To See: St. Brigid?s Cathedral, Glenalogh monastic complex, Kilkenny Castle,
Waterford?should we do Waterford Factory tour???

Sat. July 22nd ? 23rd, Cork, Kilarney, Kinsale,

Lodging again?.

To See: Blarney Castle, Bantry House, Star Fort in Kinsale, Cobh train station,
Rock of Cashel, St Patrick in Tipperary. Drive by Roaring Water to Schull, Ballydohb and Mizen Head (don?t know where I read this was suppose to be really pretty)

Monday, July 24th Kenmare to do the Ring of Kerry.

Lodging: Possibly, Ross Castle Lodge, heard good things, also owned by Denis and Rosaleen O' Leary, with a name like O?Leary must be great!

Tuesday, July 25th Dingletown and Peninsula

Lodging, See and eat?????
Wednesday, July 26th ? 28th Tralee, Galway, Clifden, Connemara

To see: Cliffs of Moher, O?Brians Tower ? , Bunratty Castle (do the banquet?)
Connemara, Cladagh Village, Maam Valley?, Muckross House, Ashford Castle, Drive the coast from Galway up to Clifden

Friday 28th through Sunday morning (flight leaves at 1:00 from Dublin ) work our way back to Dublin

Sunday?. I don?t want to leave!!!!

Please, feel free to beat me against the head with better ideas, don?t pick on my spelling lol. We want to make sure we do this right. I already have 3 cameras and a camcorder myself, ready to go, and everyone else has their own. It will be a good tired that we return to the States with!

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topping for mom

Hi,

I will jump in here with a few comments - looks like you are planning a memorable trip for your family, how nice for you all! I haven't been to Ireland yet but we are heading there beginning of May after visiting England. I have done alot of research and because we are only there for seven days are mainly spending the time in the SW, flying in and out of Shannon.

Re: your airfare to London, make sure you know what all the add ons are - taxes, etc. I'm pretty sure it comes out to alot more than $25 which may or may not affect your plans to visit.
As you need so many answers re:lodging I would suggest doing a search here under each area you are planning on visiting and you will find lots of suggestions. Have you contacted the Irish Tourist Board yet? They have lots of good ideas and info. and also a site that has been mentioned here alot is www.irelandyes.com which might be of some assistance as well. Hope this is of some help. Have fun in your planning!

Hi,
First, I apologize if some odd triple post happens from me. I've tried posting to this a couple of times, and while my posts show up to the left of the "post a reply" typing pane as I type, they don't seem to be showing up on the actual board.

OK, first, I'm pretty inexperienced; I've only been to Ireland once so far. Others will give you better (more complete and accurate) feedback. But, here are a couple of ideas...

I'm not sure if you've purchased your plane tickets yet. This comment only applies if you have not. If you're really set on London, does it make more sense to go there on your way to Ireland? Meaning, fly to London, spend a couple of days, and then fly to Dublin. It seems like less airport time. Also, if tickets not yet purchased, consider flying into Dublin and out of Shannon.

As for your Ireland route, just make sure you take a look at time in car. You can expect to average about 35 mph. Use that to estimate driving times and then build in time actually spent at sites to get a sense of how full your days will be. Obviously, we all have different ideals for how packed our days are, so you be the judge.

You can use www.aaroadwatch.ie/routes to calculate driving distance and estimate driving times. Some folks seem to think it really underestimates driving time, but for the most the time estimates I have gotten from the site are at 30 to 35 mph.

happy planning,
oopsy

Soccermom:
Whew! You guys are going to be very busy and I am not sure that is the way to visit Ireland? My family and I traveled to Ireland in 2004 and we tried to slow down to enjoy not only the sights of Ireland but also the people of Ireland. I am not so sure of the trip to London mixed in with your trip to Ireland, I would concentrate on one at at time. With the six of you I think you will need to book accomodations ahead. Look at our travelogue here: spaces.msn.com/cartersblog/
Planning is very important but my family says I do too much. But you know they seem to enjoy it after we get to our destinations. We also have visited England and Scotland, but we are planning to visit Ireland again. It is a wonderful country and I know you will enjoy your visit.

you are obviously excited about Ireland and have a lot that you want to see...even for 2 weeks, with 4 young adults this is very ambitious. skip london, once you get the european travel bug, you will be back.

suggested stops for sights you listed(and with 4 young adults, this may still be pushing it)
2 nights dublin, 2 kilkenny, 2 kinsale, 2 kenmare, 2 dingle, 2 galway, last night bunratty (if you haven't already booked air, fly out of shannon) or outside of dublin.

just a side note/?: we have not been blessed with children, but having observed nieces, nephews, and friend's children...your biggest challenge may just be getting them all up,dressed, and packed each day...good luck!

I am hoping in reality it is not too bad, since we are traveling with a group of 10 relatives this summer to Ireland (2 of which are teens), so I too may be in need of a little luck of the Irish myself!

forgot some suggestions...
dublin-don't miss kilmainham gaol
you may want to look into catching a sporting event or including some activities such as golf, horseback riding , and hiking, along with some free time for the older kids to shop and explore on their own

Dear Soccer Mom,

I couldn't resist replying, because I am soooo jealous!!! The Irish people are so warm and welcoming. You'll definitely want to make sure you have time to just hang out, share stories with the locals, drink Guinness (well, not the kids, right?).

My 73-year-old father and I went to Ireland for the first time last summer for 5 days (end of June/beginning of July), and we are aching to go back! And, we're not even Irish! Btw, my dad did all the driving. We think it was one of our best trips ever! Our only regret was that we didnt make it to the Guiness Brewery in Dublin.

Anyway, here's my report (click on my screen name for follow-ups where people asked questions/gave suggestions, etc.):
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We spent five days in London (Wimbledon, high teas, Kensington/Hyde park, Harrods) and then flew from Heathrow to Dublin, where we began our Irish adventure.

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Favorite Pub Food: Fish & chips at McCanns in Doolin (btw, it's a car ride outside the main strip). Favorite Drives: Killarney Park and County Clare. Favorite Accommodation: Gregan's Castle (outside Ballyvaughan). Coolest area/best hike: The Burren!!!!
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DAY 1: In Dublin we stayed at the Merrion Hotel for one night. During the day we saw the Book of Kells (sort of under-whelming) and Trinity College. (If you take the campus tour, it includes admission to the Book, and you can avoid potentially long lines). We walked all over--covering Grafton St., the Temple Bar, the Liffey boardwalk and Ha'penny bridge. People were extremely nice when we got lost, especially the older folk.

DAY 2: The next morning we took an 8am Aerann (?) flight straight to Kerry (Farronfore airport). It was a very easy flight, and we reserved a car at the airport.

We drove straight to Kenmare (very pretty town). It was very congested at the time, though, because the flea market was taking place. We had delicious breakfasts at Prego and then took naps! We stayed at Davitts right on the main street. We explored the town in the afternoon and then at around 3:30pm we drove the southern part of the Ring of Kerry.

Despite some of the posts here, we thought it was amazing. Of course, it's all relative. We're from Chicago and have nothing like it. Also, we had no problem with tour buses. We saw NONE and by 5pm, we virtually had the road to ourselves! We think starting late in the day and doing the ring during a weekday was highly advantageous.

We drove counter-clockwise towards Waterville. It took us about 4 hours out there. We stop a lot for the views! More lengthy stops included the bridge at Sneem, the beach at Derryname House, and tea in Waterville. The return trip took an hour and 15 without stops.

We had dinner at Davitts (good apple crumble) and the next morning drove towards Glin (on the Shannon River).

DAY 3: We took 4 hours going through Killarney National Park. Don't miss it!!! It is breathtaking! Again, you will want to stop a lot. Muckross House alone takes a good hour or more. We decided less was more (We would have liked to have seen Dingle, but were very satisfied with what we had done) and headed straight to Glin Castle in time for tea and rest time.

The drive took us through Tralee (not so nice) and through Listowel (much nicer). Glin Castle was very lovely, right on the Shannon.

DAY 4: We took the Tarbert Ferry through County Clare and up towards Ballyvaughan to Gregan's Castle. Beautiful countryside and beaches along the way. We drove through Kilrush (very congested at the time) and stopped at Kilkee (walked along the beach, had coffee) and then found our way to Ennistimon by mistake on our way to the Cliffs (People were very helpful there and it looks like a very nice town). The roads around the Cliffs were VERY fogged up, so we went to Doolin for lunch and returned later. Cliffs were still foggy, but better and the view was terrific. We drove Corkscrew Mountain (wow!) to Gregan's.


Gregan's was great, the views of the Burren and grounds are spectacular! The gardens are very diverse--from a formal rose garden complete with croquet to a wild brush-y pond area that you can explore. Plus, donkeys and a pony! Great for kids. Also, the staff are terrific, very personable and fun. Unlike a lot of the places we stayed at, you see them everywhere, and they are ready to help. Very "full service." Oh, and there's a really nice comfy pub, right on the premises!

DAY 5: The staff at Gregan's arranged a hike for us on the Burren itself. Our guide was John from Burren Walks (Just google it. There's a full website.). It was a highlight of our trip. Very fascinating. We only had an hour or so, including a tea break provided by John. We could have stayed out there all day! It was about a 20 minute drive to the trailhead (which was actually John's family farm). The farm is about halfway between Gregan's and Ballyvaughan.

After that we drove to Galway airport (about 45 minutes from Ballyvaughan), returned the car, and took a 15 minute cab ride to Galway train station. We had a few hours in Galway before our train to Dublin. We dropped our luggage off at the train station and walked around the Williamsgate area.

The main park was under construction, so that was too bad. We went to the cathedral (very pretty) and the farmer's market (we lucked out, it was saturday), and picked up food for our train ride. Unfortunately, the park was under construction, so we were unable to rest there. BUT, the Great Southern Hotel has a reading room for R & R. No one really stopped us from using it!

Took the 3pm train to Dublin, arrived at 5:30ish. Stayed at the Clarence (U2's hotel). Awesome location, and very pretty high design room interiors. Great, if you didnt actually have to use them! The rooms we had, at least, were very tight and very hot (no ventilation or AC).

The Clarence is just down the street from the Brazen Head and O'Shea's Merchant pubs. Brazen Head was packed, so we went to O'Shea's, the bigger room for dinner and afterwards to the smaller room in back for traditional music. It was also packed and quite a scene--well, there was one of those "hen" parties there--and lots of boisterous singing. (Yes, it is perfectly fine to order cokes at a pub--someone else had asked in a prior post). When an enormous woman from the hen party "flashed" the crowd, we knew it was time to leave! Yikes.

DAY 6: Took Aer Lingus from Dublin to Heathrow, and American Airlines to the States. MAKE SURE YOU GIVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR CONNECTIONS in Heathrow! We had two hours and it was JUST enough time. In Heathrow you have to take a bus to terminal 3, then stand in a "TRANSFER" line and then have a security line after that. It's a lot of walking too.
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A FEW FINAL OBSERVATIONS: Almost all the service workers we met (e.g. servers at restaurants, hotel workers, etc.) were non-Irish. Because of the EU you have tons of Europeans, especially Eastern Europeans, working these jobs. Many hardly spoke English. It's hard to to really converse, to find out the local scene. You have to talk to the cabbies, bartenders, store/restaurant owners. Also, a decent cup of coffee was hard to find. Tea was much much better. We were also a little disappointed in the cheese.

We found the congestion in the cities (Dublin and Galway) and even in the smaller towns to be kind of exhausting. The pedestrian traffic is highly concentrated to a few main streets, so even for walking, budget more time than you need.
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