JChurch

Hi all,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Ireland in May. I am usually more of a lurker but I may need some help from some of you. After pouring over the Ireland threads I have come up with an itinerary for our upcoming trip and hope to get some of your thoughts on it. To answer a few questions about us. We won't be on an overseas flight so driving far on Day 1 isn't a huge deal. We don't mind driving long distances once my husband gets used to the left side driving. We will be renting an automatic to make things a little less stressful. We would like to stay close enough to the towns so if we want we can just walk there instead of driving. We are also late twenties in age ( 29 & 28), if that matters. Thanks in advance for any advice you have to give us. Also, if any of you have firsthand knowledge of the B&B's we'll be staying, we would love to hear about them.

So here is what I've got so far:

May 20th – Fly into Shannon Airport.
Rent car and drive to Ennis.
Check into B & B (Lakeside Country Lodge). Look for lunch, possibly walk around Ennis. If time, drive to Cliffs of Moher or Burren. Return to B & B for night.

May 21st – Check out of B & B
If time, drive to Burren or Cliffs of Moher. Continue on to Killarney.
Have lunch enroute.
Check into Carriglea House.

May 22nd –Drive Dingle Peninsula or Ring of Kerry.
Back to Carriglea House for night

May 23rd -Drive to Cork to see Blarney Stone Castle. Drive on to Cashel
Check into Fanad House.

May 24th – See Rock of Cashel if we don't have time to visit the day before. Drive to Kilkenny.
Check into B & B ? (not sure which one yet)
Visit Kilkenny Castle and town.

May 25th – Check out of B & B and drive to Dublin Airport to drop off rental car. Take bus or taxi to Ferryview Guesthouse. Visit Dublin City if time.

May 26th- Spend day in Dublin.
Last night at Ferryview Guesthouse

May 27th – Early flight back to Frankfurt from Dublin.

I do have an additional question. The plane tickets are cheaper if we fly to Kerry instead of Shannon (Ryan Air). Could we make a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher from Killarney? Thanks for any advice you can give us.

Julie

JChurch

ttt- This forum moves fast!!

TimS

Allow four (or more) hours to drive from Killarney to the Cliffs of Moher. Time will vary depending upon when you arrive at the Shannon River ferry landing.

sharonf

The Dingle Penisula is not to be missed. We stayed there last April and it is right out of a movie set. Don't for heavens sake miss going to the local pubs every night. The music is great and the people are even greater.
Enjoy, I'm, jealous.

GreenDragon

You are moving relatively fast, but you're young, and it's not TOO fast YOu've done a good job in setting it up, have a great time!

JChurch

Thanks for the advice. I think instead of trying a day trip from Killarney, we'll just stay in Ennis for the night.

You have been a great help!

Julie

JOHNOD

Looks like a very doable schedule. My only suggestions would be to visit the Cliffs and a drive around the Burren on your day of arrival and I would skip Blarney Castle which I think is very overrated and overrun with tour buses. If you fly into Kerry it will take the Cliffs and the Burrren out of the picture but give you another day along the S/W coast which I think is spectacular. You can susbstitute the Ring of Beara for the ROK and not be sorry. Have fun

JChurch

Thanks for your replies. I think we'll stick to flying into Shannon. I do have one question. Would it be possible to combine days May 23rd and May 24th? Instead of spending a night in Cashel, we would just drive on to Kilkenny. The plan would be to leave the B & B in Killarney, drive to see Blarney Castle, continue on to Rock of Cashel and then end up in Kilkenny for the night. For the 24th, we would visit Kilkenny castle in the morning and then continue on to Dublin. What do you think? Too much for one day? I really appreciate the advice you are giving me!

Also, our flight to Shannon will be arriving around noon. Will that be enough time to visit both the Cliffs and the Burren in the afternoon?

Sorry that was more than one question! JOHNOD, From what I have read here on this forum, the Blarney Stone is overrated so we may skip it. But, I hate to miss something that is on the way to Dublin. Is there something better to see instead of the Blarney Stone?

Julie

GreenDragon

The Burren could easily take up several days, from what I can tell -- we're devoting a whole day to it and the Cliffs, but I don't see why you couldn't visit some of it. I'd have a plan worked out ahead of time, though, so you don't miss something you really want to see. There are many diverse things!

The day to Blarney, Cashel and then Kilkenny will be a long one with lots of driving. It's doable, but more car time than site time.

Driving up from Kilkenny to Dublin shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours, which gives time to see the castle (but not much else).

JOHNOD

Yes you can visit the Cliffs and take a ride around the Burren in one afternoon. You should have decent daylight late in June. The Cliffs only take about an hour and you can get a good feel for the Burren after driving around for an hour or two. Yes you can drive from Dingle to Cashel and then on to Kilkenny in one day but it will be a long boring drive. I did kinsale to Kilkenny last year and ws not impressed. It is a shame you do not have another day or two to visit Kinsale or visit the Beara or Mizzen peninsula but you can look forward to that next time. Have fun

JChurch

Thanks for all of your replies they have been really helpful. After reviewing my itinerary for at least the 15th time, this is what I have now.

May 20th - Arrive around noon at Shannon Airport. Pick up rental car, lunch. Do Cliffs of Moher and possibly the Burren depending on time. B&B in Ennis for the night.

May 21st - Checkout. Bunratty Castle. On to Killarney to check into B&B.

May 22nd - ROK, Dingle Peninsula or Ring of Beara. Is it ok to decide which one to see when we get to Killarney or should we have a decision made beforehand?

May 23rd - Added another day here to spend in Killarney. Suggestions?

May 24th -Checkout. Killarney to Cork (Still haven't made a decision about Blarney Castle yet), Cork to Cahir (possible visit to Cahir Castle) on to Cashel to see Rock of Cashel and then end up in Kilkenny for the night. If you guys think this can be done in one day, then we'll plan on it. I'm trusting you guys. . We will decide to see either Cahir or Blarney, I don't think we'll have time for both.

May 25th - Kilkenny Castle then on to Dublin. Spend remainder of day in the city.

May 26th - Day of Dublin sightseeing. I just noticed on Ryanair.com that they have a flight departing Dublin around 7pm. So possibility of leaving this night depending on how much our room will cost.

May 27th - Home, if we don't fly out the night before.

I didn't change it a lot, just 'tweeked' it a bit. Let me know what you think.

Thanks, again

Julie

JOHNOD

If you have a day to kill in Killarney try the Gap orf Dunloe. My wife and I have hiked it twice and if the Wx. is nice its a great walk with a boat ride through the lakes at the end. Have fun

carolynf

Sorry to hijack but Johnod, how long is the Gap of Dunloe hike and what is the degree of difficulty? Thanks!

cparris

If you go to Blarney castle also take time to see the park...the trees are really amazing(behind the castle)

JOHNOD

The Gap of Dunloe is about seven miles long. Half the walk is up and half down. My wife and i are in our 50's. If you don"t try and make a forced march out of it is is very doable for folks in reasonable shape. You buy a ticket in town and a small bus takes you out to Kates Cottage. If you don't want to walk it you can take a pony cart for an extra charge. At the end you get into some open boats with a guide and you tavel through the lakes ending at Ross Castle and a ride back to town. Very nice day if the Wx. is nice. If you poop out on the hike empty Pony carts are always passing and you can hop on and pay the fare. Have fun

JOHNOD

one last thought on the Gap. Ladies should use the facilities at Kates Cottage prior to starting out as there is nothing untill you get to the end as my wife reminds me.

GreenDragon

By all means, you don't need to pre-arrange anything to decide Ring of Kerry or Beara or Dingle. Choose when you want to

I personally would recommend Cahir/Cashel over Blarney, but that's just because Blarney is so touristy And Cashel is bloody impressive! Here's a pic I took:

http://www.greendragonartist.com/Sal...ckofCashel.htm

JChurch

Just wanted to say thanks for the replies. My husband and I are back from a wonderful week in Ireland. I must say that this trip was probably the best trip we have been on even with the nasty weather. It rained on us everyday but we made the best of it. We had time to do both the Dingle peninsula and the ROK and I have to say Dingle peninsula along with Slea Head was my favorite of the two. We drove to the Cliffs and saw absolutely nothing because of all the fog around us. We weren't able to see much of the Burren either. Ireland is beautiful and I can only imagine how much more so when the weather is nice. We did enjoy Blarney quite a bit even with all of the tour bus groups but the Rock of Cashel was most impressive.
We had no problems driving on the left. My husband adapted quite nicely. We hope to go back one day and hopefully the weather will cooperate with us!

chatham

Thanks for posting back to us. I hope you do plan another trip. Too bad about not seeing the cliffs and the sun not shining at all in The Burren. Grey on grey is hard to see.

SandyBrit

JChurch - How thoughtful of you to post back. Your thread will help others planning a Ireland itinerary.

Sandy