Ireland and Wales - your must-sees
 

Two adults, mother and daughter, plan to fly to Dublin around the end of June for around 8 days. We have traveled a lot in Europe but have never been to either Ireland or Wales. We've always used public transportation. We've taken day trips w/tour companies, but generally we don't travel w/groups. We don't have physical limitations.

This trip is being planned rather late, and history tells us Fodors is the quickest way to get great suggestions. Among the things we like are museums, castles, historical places, eating where the locals do, handicrafts, & seeing as much as we can in the limited time we have. One of us really wants to visit the Blarney Stone.

Rick Steves had a program on northern Wales (the area around Caernarfon), and we thought it would be fun to spend a couple of days there. We're just beginning research, so any help Fodorites could give us on what to see - and how to get there - would be very much appreciated!

This may not be what you want to hear -- but touring Ireland by public transport is definitely doable but is not fast or efficient. In 8 days you will only barely scratch the surface in Ireland. Especially since you want to go all the way over on the SW side to Blarney.

So while I love LOVE Wales (I personally prefer it to Ireland in some ways) for your trip, I'd concentrate on just seeing a bit of Ireland --

If you've only got 8 days in total, getting to Caernarvon from Dublin is a long-winded process, requiring either a lengthy sea crossing to Holyhead, or a flight to Liverpool or Manchester, then a train to Bangor then a bus. Assume it writes off the best part of daytime in each direction, though there are antisocial timings you can devise with overnight ferries.

Transport arrangements within Wales at www.traveline-cymru.info You should also look at the detailed UK rail map at http://nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/...icMapLarge.pdf

The problem with Gwynedd is that the railway lines don't really link up properly. In summer, dedicated train enthusiasts can have fun (and use up lots of time) getting round scenic railways praised in guide books by public transport: saner tourists do the same, less slowly, with cars. Though the people of Liverpool and Manchester have been taking daytrips to Conway by train for nearly 150 years, getting anywhere on the North Welsh mainland by public transport from Dublin takes about as long as getting to Los Angeles. And doesn't cost much less.

If you've got an ancestor from North Wales, or you're writing a dissertation on gold mines, probably worth the time investment (in practice, getting on for half your total time budget). Otherwise...

I broadly agree with flanneruk about the difficulty of touring in North Wales without a car.

It's not that difficult, however, to get there from Dublin. The ferry crossing to Holyhead takes less than 2 hours, and you can walk off the boat on to a train that takes you to Conwy (well, if my memory serves me, Llandudno junction, near Conwy).

It's possibly easier to conduct field research on slate, rather than gold, mines.

Sounds like the best thing for us to do is to use all our time in Ireland. We will work on an itinerary using public transportation.

Probably Wales would be a better choice all by itself at a future date.

Thank you for your help!

Your key urls are:
Irish Rail: http://www.irishrail.ie/home/
Main bus service: http://www.buseireann.ie/site/home/

I haven't used either recently (I live in Ireland, and generally use a car). Both sites used to be a bit clunky, but would eventually deliver for you. They might be a bit better now.