Sorry! I just grabbed the Merrion Hotel for a really good price for our one night. Great ratings and free wifi. Seems like a good location too.

Now on to Belfast :-)

That's Dublin Sorted then. The Journey Starts..

Yes!!! I am excited. Plane tickets jumped up $100 tonight, but I have them on hold at a lower price and I think I'll jump on them :-)

I looked into the Premier Inn in Belfast, but apparently the parking costs negate the savings. I stumbled on the Tara Inn, which has free breakfast and parking and is $140 USD.

Plane tickets booked!!! Hope to spend some more time this weekend booking hotels :-)

OK, here is how things are coming together. I've got as far as Day 2 LOL

Flight - Arrived 7/7 early AM

Day 1 Saturday 7/7 - Overnight at The Merrion in Dublin

- Taxi to hotel to drop off bags
- Hop on Hop off tour (possibly if DH wants to visit sites)
Trinity for Book of Kells
Museum of Archaeology
Dublin Castle
Christ Church
St. Patrick's
Wander around Grafton St., Temple Bar, St. Stephen's, Merrion Square


Day 2: Sunday 7/8 Overnight at Tara Lodge in Belfast

Hertz rental p/u at airport @ 10 AM - taxi to airport?

Drive to Belfast. Plan to arrive early afternoon.

Sights to see:
Sectarian neighborhoods (possibly black taxi tour or hop on/hop off bus)
City Hall (outside only)
Generally wandering around city and relaxing


Day 3: Monday 7/9 Coastal drive. Overnight in Derry (need hotel)

Early departure (need to check on hotel breakfast times)!
Carrickfergus

Antrim coast (Giants Causeway, Dunluce, rope bridge)

Arrive in Derry. Self walk of city walls and bogside murals.

Day 4: Derry to Donegal (stop & explore) to Sligo. Overnight in Sligo.

Day 5: Connemara. Overnight in Clifden.

Day 6: Connemara/Cong. Overnight in Clifden.

Day 7: Drive down to Cliffs & Burren. Stop in Galway to sightsee. Overnight in Ennis.

Day 8: Explore more of Clare. Possible day cruise out of Doolin. Overnight in Ennis.

Day 9: Drive to Dingle peninsula. Conway pass? Overnight in Dingle.

Day 10: Slea Head/explore Dingle. Overnight in Dingle.

Day 11: Drive to Kenmare. Stop in Killarney/Muckross House. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 12: Ring of Kerry drive. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 13: Beara Peninsula, Blarney. Overnight in Kinsale?

Day 14: Rock of Cashel. Overnight in Kilkenny.

Day 15: Glendalough/Wicklow mountains. Likely spend evening near airport.

Day 16 - Drop off car (or possibly the night before). Depart 10 AM flight from DUB.

Hi all,

We booked our Derry B&B at Rose Park (thanks Tony).

Working on figuring out what to see/do on our drive from Derry to Sligo. I know we will stop in Donegal, but that is all! Any suggestions? We would like to be in Sligo by the afternoon.

Trying to decide on accommodations for Sligo...whether to give hubby the break and do the Clarion with the bigger bed or go for the B&B.

Hubby is a big guy...so the two of us on a double is going to be tight!

If you plan to leave Derry first thing in the morning, you have time to go out to Glenveagh National Park. Or head down toward Donegal Bay and take in the Slieve League sea cliffs.

Lots to do in the more immediate Sligo area, and you could slide back over to NI in Belleek and tour the factory. I never get tired of that.

You could ask at a B&B for two twins or a twin and a double. I spent many years sleeping on a double with a man I dearly love but now don't want to ever give up our king and go back to that much togetherness. Iorras has tv in the rooms, too!

Thank you for the suggestion jaja. I just looked closer at Rose Park and it says it is a king size! I just sent an email to confirm.

I am also working on Clifden and going to see if their double room is a king or smaller, or if we can switch to a room with 2 beds.

I will check what Iorras has :-)

Oh, and thank you so much for the suggestions! I will jot those all down ;-) I did find some interesting things around Sligo and have emailed Iorras and Iona to inquire about the bed situation.

I love my husband too, but a double is just too cozy for two of us.
----
We do have an extra day (I think)....so I'm trying to figure out where to put it. A friend is pushing for Inishmore because they loved it. I'm just not sure....any suggestions?


Day 1 Saturday 7/7 - Overnight at The Merrion in Dublin

Day 2: Sunday 7/8 Overnight at Tara Lodge in Belfast

Day 3: Monday 7/9 Overnight at Rose Park in Derry

Day 4: Tuesday 7/10 Derry to Donegal (stop & explore) to Sligo. Overnight in Sligo.

Day 5: Wednesday 7/11 Connemara. Overnight in Clifden.

Day 6: Thursday 7/12 Connemara/Cong. Overnight in Clifden.

Day 7: Friday 7/13 Drive down to Cliffs & Burren. Stop in Galway to sightsee. Overnight in Ennis.

Day 8: Saturday 7/14 Explore more of Clare. Possible day cruise out of Doolin. Overnight in Ennis.

Day 9: Sunday 7/15 Drive to Dingle peninsula. Conway pass? Overnight in Dingle.

Day 10: Monday 7/16 Slea Head/explore Dingle. Overnight in Dingle.

Day 11: Tuesday 7/17 Drive to Kenmare. Stop in Killarney/Muckross House. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 12: Wednesday 7/18 Ring of Kerry drive. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 13: Thursday 7/19 Beara Peninsula, Blarney. Overnight in Kinsale?

Day 14: Friday 7/20 Rock of Cashel. Overnight in Kilkenny.

Day 15: Saturday 7/21 Glendalough/Wicklow mountains. Where to stay?

Day 16 - Sunday 7/22 - Overnighting at airport (likely Premier Inn)

Day 17: Monday 7/23 - Depart early AM

Near Glendalough I am looking to stay at Riversdale House:
http://www.glendalough.eu.com/ . I haven't stayed there yet, but a friend whom I trust did, and was very happy with it. It is also well liked on Trip Advisor.

Thanks jaja!

I booked my sligo B&B and am just waiting for word back from the Clifden B&B.

Then I think I'm going to start from the end and work back to the middle while I figure out what I'm doing with that extra day.

We now have Clifden booked. I think I need to go backwards now to figure out the extra day we have on the ground...I guess the debate is whether to add in Inishmore or leave a day at the end near Dublin and do Newgrange.

Any thoughts?

This would impact day 7 where I guess we would go from Clifden to the ferry. Do Aran Islands and then drive to Galway and overnight there.

Day 8 would then be Cliffs/Buren and the overnighting in Ennis.

I guess I'm just wondering whether Inishmore is worth it? How frequent do the ferries run?

Would we just be better off adding a day somewhere else to slow things down and skip Inishmore?

Leave InnisMor until the day and see what the weather is going to be like. There are plenty of options to fill the day if the weather is a bit off (wind rain rough sea's).

Which B&B in Clifden?

Aran Ferries timetable

http://www.aranislandferries.com/times_mor.php

Couple comments - if weather is bad Dingle is almost not worth it. So flexibility if possible is a plus. If weather is good Dingle is fantastic. The little boat tour out of the harbour was excellent.
Dublin is very compact hop/onhop off bus convenient- MUST see the jail-excellent tour, Guiness tour is worth it just for the amazing view of the city

Tony - For Clifden we went for the Dun Ri guesthouse, per your recommendations :-)

Travel - Thanks! We're planning on a few days on the Dingle Peninsula...so hopefully we'll get a good day!

I was almost thinking of throwing the extra day over in the southeast area....give us a little more leisurely time to explore that area.

One day I would like to bring my father back....so I can always see anything I miss on another trip :-)

Quick question:

Day 10: Monday 7/16 Slea Head/explore Dingle. Overnight in Dingle.

Day 11: Tuesday 7/17 Drive to Kenmare. Stop in Killarney/Muckross House. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 12: Wednesday 7/18 Ring of Kerry drive. Overnight in Kenmare.

Day 13: Thursday 7/19 Beara Peninsula. Overnight in Kinsale?

Day 14: Friday 7/20 Blarney, Rock of Cashel. Overnight in Kilkenny.


Should we move to Kinsale after the Beara peninsula drive and to be set up for day 14? Or stay in Kenmare and do Beara and return to Kenmare?

It seemed to make sense to move to Kinsale....drive along the coast and be close to Cork, and then the next day make the drive up to Cashel.

Any thoughts? Am I shortchanging myself at all? I know RoK will be a LONG day....is Beara also a really long day? Too long to drive Beara and make it to Kinsale?

I'm getting ready to contact places in Kenmare (Caha's and Abbey Court) and need to decide on 2 vs. 3 nights.

No harm heading to Kinsale as the next step rather than back to Kenmare.

Beara..http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-...unty_Cork.html

Day 14 fine.

Thanks Tony!!! That is a very detailed read :-)

Does anyone have any recommendations for Kinsale?

Bryno over on TA is the guru for the Cork/Kinsale area pop him a message over there.

Thanks Tony....I posted something earlier today.

Snagged the Pax House for Dingle. A little pricey, but hopefully worth it.