Help with itinerary w/seniors.
 

I would love some feedback/advice on a trip I am planning. I will be taking 5 senior citizens on a 9 day trip. We have all been to Ireland before, but when they were younger and in better shape. We have to end up in Donegal to visit family and will fly in/out of Shannon. My goal is not to wear them out with long car rides or too much in a single day. They are mobile but I will bring a wheelchair for whoever is the most tired.

Day1: Arrive Shannon. Check into Bunratty Castle Hotel-get some rest. See dinner show.
Day2: Drive down/around Dingle. (a place everyone seems to like and we have never been)
Day3: at rest in Dingle.
Day4: Drive up to Cliffs of Moher.(somehow we have all missed this)
Stay in Doolin??
Day5: Drive up to Galway or Galway area? Drive thru Burren? Not sure. (Is there another small town with character to stay in rather than a big place like Galway- since my crowd is not very mobile.)
Day 6: Drive to Donnegal town. See family.
Day: 7 family visits.
Day 8: Killer long drive back to Shannon.
Day 9: Airport to home.
Thanks for any advice or ideas.

Only time for a quick note now - am dashing off. But I see a big problem on Day 1. Are you flying in transatlantic? If so, I sure wouldn't schedule a dinner show/night time activities - for anybody, but especially not for a group of seniors.

The jet lag can be pretty overwhelming . . . .

With that age group and amount of time I would skip Dingle and concentrate on north of Shannon. There is plenty to do and see between Shannon and Co. Donegal, and no killer days of driving required.

Sorry, I hit Enter too soon. I can recommend a lovely thatched cottage B&B in Spiddal, just outside Galway, with three rooms all on the ground floor. Five of us stayed there in '03 and we loved it.

kyeager,

I agree with jaja, as much as I love Dingle I think heading up to the North and not having to back track would make for a more enjoyable trip.

Good luck, Joan

Hi kyeager,

I use Fodor Talk a lot to plan my holidays and every so often I feel guilty that I should give something back, and today is the day - while I wait for the Ryder Cup to start. Here are my views:
• The best way to enjoy Ireland is to dawdle. Therefore, belting up and down the west coast is not the answer. “Belting” is probably not the correct term as, no matter how hard you try, you won’t average more than 30mph on the scenic roads.
• Around the Burren enjoy shell fish at a reasonable and very good pub/restaurant in New Quay if you can find it (off the road towards the sea between Kinvara and Ballyvaughan) or Morans-on-the-Weir or Bourkes in Clarinbridge.
• If you take jaja’s advice to stay in Spiddal, there is also a reasonable fish restaurant on the main street.
• The nicest drive in Ireland, in my view, is from Louisburg to Leenane/Killary Fiord. I haven’t done it the other way around but if you decide to stay in Spiddal you could keep going along the coast road through Costello (sign post probably in Irish), Maam Cross to Leenane (where a famous movie was made) and on to Louisburg. From there drive the cost road to Westport, stop off for pub grub in the Shibeen in Westport (Michelin recommended), visit Westport House.
• From Westport you can do more dawdling around Newport, Mullraney, detour maybe to Achill island, Ballycroy, Balina or head straight for Donegal on the main road if no time to dawdle.

I hope this is of some help. At least it has helped my conscience about not giving back to Fodor!

kyeager

I agree with the other posters that the dinner/show the night you arrive may be a bit much. If it's part of the package you've got then plan for it and those who are up for it can go. If not, you may want to wait until you arrive to see how everyone is feeling.

I think you can do the drive to Dingle on Day 2 without too much problem. It's a 3 hour drive from Shannon down to Dingle on the main roads. A nice stop for lunch or just a stretch in Adare is a perfect way to break up the drive. And because you have 2 days in Dingle it's not like you have to turn around and do the long drive back right away.

Day 4 drive up to the Cliffs but go the "back" way taking the car ferry across frm Tarbert to Killimer. Then you can hug the coast road all the way up to the Cliff of Moher. It is definitely a Must See and I'm not sure how it got bypassed on your first trip!

Personally, I would not stay in Doolin, especially if you are going to be there in the summer. I would head further north and stay in the lovely small town of Ballyvaughan or Kinvara just across the boarder into Co Galway.

The drive from Ballyvaughan, Kinvara or Galway/Spiddal area on the main roads is a long a one, 3 to 4 hours. This is probably why most folks are saying to skip Dingle and just focus on places north of Shannon. That way you can take your time getting up there and possibly even have an extra day to get back to Shannon. Up to your group but just FYI what you have in store for youselves if you do your trip the way you have it now. Again, it is doable because you have 2 nights to recover; the hard drive is going to be the one where yo uneed to get back to the airport in one day.

For your last night I would stay in/near Bunratty at a B&B. Plenty of nice ones in that area and the drive to the airport is a short one in the morning. Much better, IMO, than a hotel. If you have a really early departure just make sure you work it out with your hosts beforehand. They are mostly all used to those crack of dawn flights for their guests.

Hope this helps and have a great trip. When, BTW, are you planning on going? You don't say in your post.

Oh! And one more point, do not let your posse bring huge bags as their luggage. On my last trip (May '08) coming back from Ireland we were waiting next to about 8 or 9 senior ladies who had all gone on a trip to Ireland together, and every single one of them had these great big huge bags for check in luggage. One lady was actually pulled off her feet as she tried to wrestle her suitcase from the moving track where the luggage comes out. My husband ran to help her and ended up pulling off all 10 or 11 bags for these ladies. I wondered how they managed lugging those suitcases around Ireland for a week or more!

Safe travels,

Wendy

Thanks so much for all your help. I think I got some very good ideas. We hope to travel in late April or early May. We are hiring a driver and van to get us around. I have driven in Ireland in the past and it was just too much stress. This way I can enjoy the ride, enjoy the Guinness and not lose time to being lost.
I am also need to find accomidations that have first floor rooms (no stairs) or an elevator (for the hotels)...so I really need to do my homework.
I will get researching and planning again with a bunch of new ideas. Thanks!!