Help with Ireland Itinerary
 

Hi everyone! I've lurked on this board a long time, reading everything I can get my hands on, and now I think I'm ready to ask about an itinerary. Sorry in advance for what will probably be a rather long post.

I'm currently studying abroad in Rome, and after my program ends on May 14, I have about a month to travel (solo). As my student visa expires on June 3, I've decided to head to Ireland for my remaining time until I fly home to the US (from Dublin) on June 13. I know it might be possible for me to exit Schengen on or before the 3rd and then re-enter as a tourist after the 3rd, but I would rather avoid any problems and just get out of Schengen when my visa expires. I made a separate post for the Italy portion of the itinerary to keep things organized. Anyway, here's my tentative Ireland itinerary:

June 3: Fly Rome to Dublin (landing at 2:10pm) and Train Dublin to Galway (Is doing this train on the same day reasonable? And I'm having a hard time finding anything about luggage on Irish trains. I'll have a large suitcase (from the semester abroad), a small suitcase, and a backpack. I can handle it all on my own fine, but I don't want to run into any problems with being allowed to take it all on the train.)
June 3-8: 5 nights in Galway (guided day trips to Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, and Connemara)
June 8: Train Galway to Dublin
June 8-13: 5 nights in Dublin (guided day trips to Rock of Cashel and two out of Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, or Glendalough)
June 13: Fly Dublin to the US

I'm very interested in history, architecture, and natural beauty. I like art, but prefer it in small doses and/or as part of a historical building (e.g. I LOVED the frescoes in the Duomo and the mosaics in the Baptistery in Florence). I'm very also very active and enjoy activities like hiking and kayaking (any suggestions for those types of things in either base would be much appreciated!) I want to try different foods (I'm especially fond of sweets!) and I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, but I'm definitely not into partying/nightlife. I also enjoy just wandering around cities, exploring and going into interesting shops.

All of the day trips are tentative. Would it be practical to wait until I'm in Galway and Dublin to book those trips? Some of the companies I'm looking at are Galway Tour Company (gives the most time actually at the Cliffs of Moher than any others I've seen), GalwayBusTours.ie, Go Ireland Tours, Faherty Tours (for the Aran Islands), and Paddywagon. Any comments on those or suggestions for other companies that would provide good day trips? I'm only 20, so too young to rent a car, so I'm thinking any forays into the countryside would best be done by guided tour. It's not ideal, but I think that's the best I can do.

I found some companies that do a day trip to the Giant's Causeway from Dublin, but it's a VERY long day (in the range of 14 hours). I am young and active, but I don't want to go crazy and end up with a miserable, exhausting trip. Do you think the Giant's Causeway is worth it? And am I planning too many day trips overall? My only must-sees are the Cliffs of Moher and the Rock of Cashel. Other than those, I just picked what looked interesting and was accessible from Galway and Dublin.

Thanks for reading all that, and thanks in advance for any responses!

are you interested in Ireland or Italy. Same post for both. Looks like another fishing expedition ??

cancel above post..don't know how to remove my posts on this forum

Ireland..
Have you considered Flying into Belfast?... Whether or Not if you land in Dublin get the bus from Out side the airport to Belfast for 2 nights (you won't be disappointed) and take a Cuseway/Derry tour from there on the mid day or just grab a bus there and back.
Day 3 Dublin by train or Bus for 3 nights.. Express Bus to Galway.

If you don't want the Belfast leg then you are back on line here and get off the plane and grab an express bus to Galway. no point going into and across the city for a train..

Localised Tour companies are so close together you can't separate them just get on the one that suits you.

Moher can be done on your own by Bus from Galway maybe get the Bus to Doolin and take a guided walk up to the Cliffs along the revamped Cliff path.. Possibly do a combi cruise from Doolin to Inis Oir and see the cliffs from sea level.

Cahshel is on the No.8 (Cork) bus route form Galway and the entrance fee includes a guided tour.

Just a few comments based on our experiences from two trips to Ireland and those of our daughter who did a semester of study in Dublin and a semester of study in Belfast:

1. Based on the number of nights you will be in both Galway and Dublin, I see no reason not to take a couple of day tours from each city. With 4 full days in Galway (June 4 - 7), I would definitely take day trips to the Cliffs and to Inishmore. Depending on your interests, you could do another day trip to Connemara or spend 2 days sightseeing in Galway. With 4 full days in Dublin, I would recommend 2 days for sightseeing in the city and then a day trip to the Rock of Cashel and a day trip to Glendalough. I think you'll do yourself a disservice if you try to do 3 day trips from Dublin and only allow yourself only one day to see the city. Newgrange was interesting, but we appreciated the history and amazing scenery in Glendalough more. And as much as we enjoyed the Giant's Causeway, I feel certain a day trip there from Dublin would result in more time on the bus than actually seeing the sights.

2. When our daughter got to Dublin, she did the hop on/hop off bus tour and enjoyed it very much. When we went to visit her, we all went on the Historical Walking Tour of Dublin and did the Traditional Musical Pub Crawl one evening. She liked both of those tours--and the Traditional Musical Pub Crawl is more about the Irish music than it is about "pub crawling". The Historical Walking Tour does not require prior booking, but you definitely need to book the Musical Pub Crawl in advance (despite what the website says about same night tickets) because the number of people on the tour is limited. We saw lots of unhappy people who had not pre-booked turned away.

Historical Walking Tour http://historicaltours.ie/
Traditional Musical Pub Crawl http://www.discoverdublin.ie/musical-pub-crawl/

3. The Faherty tour (with the cycling option, since you are active) to Inishmore looks pretty good, but if you prefer to do things on your own, you can do a self-guided tour of Inishmore. Aran Island Ferries offers a coach transfer from Galway to Rossaveel where you pick up the ferry to Inishmore. Once you get to Inishmore, you can rent a bike (plenty of shops near the dock rent them--10 euros per day) and ride around the island on your own. It would be best to take a bagged lunch with you on the ferry, but you can also buy food at the Spar Supermarket once you get there (but that wastes valuable time). On your bike, you can get to Dun Aengus, the Seven Churches, a ring fort, a seal beach, etc. You'll get a map when you rent a bike and it's easy to get around the island. Note: If you decide to do the Faherty tour, I still recommend taking a bagged lunch if they don't provide one. They will probably have you eat at Dun Aengus and the lines at the cafe can get really long. You could waste valuable sightseeing time in line or miss out on eating all together.

Aran Island Ferries www.aranislandferries.com

4. If you have the opportunity on your day tour to Glendalough, do at least one of the hikes there. There are a number of different trails of varying lengths and difficulties. We did the Short Spinc Trail which gives fabulous views from on high of the glacier-blue lakes.

5. Finally, our daughter traveled to several different places in Ireland and enjoyed staying in hostels on her own. (She "splurged" for private rooms rather than staying in dorm rooms.) She used Hostelworld.com to find and book these hostels and told me that she liked this website because the reviews of the hostels were accurate. Like you, she is not a "party-er" and was able to find hostels that were not "party central".

Thanks Tony2phones and longhorn55! All of that is so helpful!

Tony2phones, I already booked my flight from Rome to Dublin because Dublin was the only city to fly into at a reasonable price and the only nonstop flight from Rome. I think I'll probably pass on Northern Ireland for this trip. I don't really want to add another base, especially since I'm going to have quite a bit of luggage. Thanks for the tip about taking the bus straight from the Dublin airport to Galway and for the tips about doing a couple of those day trips on my own! I will definitely look into that.

longhorn55, thanks for all the great information! I think I will probably plan on doing day trips to the Cliffs of Moher and Inishmore (renting a bike on my own and going around the island at my own pace sounds like a good way of doing this, and I will definitely take a packed lunch!), and then wait to see how I feel about a day at Connemara vs. an extra day in Galway once I get there. I think you're both right about the Giant's Causeway. As interesting as it looks, it's probably not worth all the hassle and time of getting there, especially if it would cause me to shortchange Dublin. Thanks for the links to the tours in Dublin too. I looked at them and they both look right up my alley. I also like the idea of hiking in Glendalough. I definitely have some more research to do!

Like your daughter, I prefer a private room if I can find one in my budget, especially when I'm traveling on my own. I've used hostelworld quite a bit, but it can be hard identifying which hostels are and are not "party central." Do you happen to know the names of any of the places where your daughter stayed?

Thanks again!

Sleepzone http://www.sleepzone.ie/ might be a good option,they have a Galway Hostel and 2 others one in Lisdoonvarna which is handy for the Burren and Cliffs with the other by the Connemara National park about 4 miles from Leenane.. A shuttle bus is provided between these 3 locations.

Travellernat, my daughter says she stayed with a friend in Galway who was at the university there, so no recommendation for a hostel there.

She says she spent one night at the Jacob's Inn (21 Talbot Place) in Dublin before coming back to the States. She said she chose it because they would allow her to store her baggage for a week before checking in. (She had checked out of her Dublin dorm and was traveling around for a week before flying home.) She also said it was close to the bus station to/from the airport. It might be a place you'd want to consider if you didn't want to haul all your luggage to Galway.