deeplake

A group of 6 of us is headed to Ireland in May of 2014. What are the non-touristy must sees for us? And is it worth the extra cost to stay overnight in a castle?

We're planning a couple of days in Northern Ireland as well. Smart? Or with just 11 days, should we skip Northern?

We are 3 couples, all in early 50's, have traveled together before. We are planning to rent a van.

nytraveler

It's very difficult to find a lot of non-touristy must sees. The must sees are usually full of tourists.

If you give us an idea of your specific interests it might help more.

If a castle is worth it depends on which castle, what your budget is - and, again, your interests.

If you want to relax in small towns, visit local pubs for casual music nights that will be a whole different trip than is you want to see major historic sights, or focus on natural beauty, or golf or riding or ????? (Is the Newgrange site a must see for you or a must miss - due to lack of interest in stone age mounds and/or claustrophpbia?)

I happen to love Dublin and would spend at least 3 days there historical sights, museums, dining, theater, etc) - but many people find it boring and just want to drive the countryside.

Cowboy1968

I think you need to put "touristy" into perspective.
If you think of lines like at the Eiffel Tower or Sistine Chapel, none and not even the most-"touristy" sights in Ireland are that hard to get into.
The most "over-run" places are the ones you see mentioned here most.. Kinsale, Kenmare, Dingle, Ring of Kerry come to mind.
OTOH, these places are by no means "ugly" -- they usually became popular for a reason, usually a pittoresque location

But as nytraveler wrote, it would help if you gave us a rough idea on what is interesting for your group.

The seperation between touristy and non-touristy is pretty simple: The further you get away from the coasts, the less tourists you'll see. One exemption may be the Rock of Cashel.

Towns like Kilkenny are pretty popular places to visit, but that does not turn them into Disneyland and it does not make them less attractive.

You will probably see many tourists at the Cliffs of Moher. But the area is pretty huge, so it does not make the views one bit less spectacular just because a few hundred people are also present.

The inland lakes are really beautiful, and you probably find here 5 percent or less of all tourists who visit Ireland.
Especially the shores of Lough Derg offer everything you expect from picture-postcard Ireland -- just that no one aside from the Irish seems to know.

Aside from the small Temple Bar neighborhood, Dublin is also very "non-touristy". For some (actually quite many, I guess), it may be too "non-touristy"
But I think Dublin is a great place and second all what nytraveler wrote.

As you plan to drive a van.. is anyone in your group familiar with driving on the left side of the road? Or on narrow local roads with a rather large vehicle?

Tony2phones

Depends what you call touristy as said earlier..May will find us down in Ennis for the Fledh Nua which is a festival with a whole lot of visitors but not what I would class in touristy, dozens of tour bus's arriving every day.

11 days is not long so maybe go north straight from Dublin airport and work over and down.. for example http://goo.gl/maps/gl8uv

Most Castle Hotels are not especially castles but possibly worth considering if you do go over and down would be http://www.markreecastle.ie/?r=40920...FQ4r2wod7TMAIA

abram

with such a short visit, I'd recommend flying in to Dublin and out of Shannon (or vice versa).

We spent 4 days in Dublin and then rented a car for the rest of our 34 day trip. DH is very comfortable driving on the left, as he's done it multiple times before. We rented the smallest car 2 people and 3 suitcases could fit in, and the most challenging part of driving has been the narrow roads--finding the (sometimes VERY) small sweet spot in the center of the narrow lane so he doesn't hit the side wall on the left or another car on the right. Driving a van would be scary.

We have not found the kinds of massive crowds that would interfere with our enjoyment of the trip--although we've only made it as far as Cork, so haven't been to popular places like the RoK or Cliffs of Moher yet.

jaja

Some of y'all have heard this story time and time again...but it is appropriate here.
In 2003, I, three of my sisters and a niece made the Great Circle tour of Ireland in a Ford Tourneo (after a great deal of sturm und drang with Hertz). It was a big boxy thing which seated 7 and had lots of room in the back for luggage. I was the driver and loved driving it; like a commercial bus the engine was somewhere below and I sat 'way up above the road and right in the front of the vehicle. Only one place we wouldn't fit under the gate, Croagh Patrick. Because of our size everyone gave us plenty of room on the road.
In 2011, in contrast, daughter and granddaughters and I had a little car and had to be the ones backing down a narrow boreen when a large RV refused to give an inch. That was when I missed the Tourneo.
The point is, get a big enough vehicle to be comfortable in, and have fun!