Thank you for that info- my husband and I have been doing some "comfort biking" on rail trails. The farthest in one day -about 30 miles. What was the biking like?

DAE---As far as the driving goes, it was a bit difficult the 1st day being very tired. That's why we chose Ennis, about 20 min. from Shannon airport, to stay the 1st night. After that, it got easier every day.

Now we really didn't drive in any big cities like Dublin or Galway, and driving on the smaller roads was very managable. To us having a car is the only way to go. You can take your time and stop anywhere you please. Being on a bus on the Slea Head Drive(Dingle Peninsula) somehow wouldn't have been as enchanting as having our own car. The same in Westport on the Nephin Drive--impossible on a bus, doable on a bike I guess.

I'd have to say the only really difficult drive was from Killarney to Kenmare on the N71 which is part of the Ring of Kerry---absolutely horrible, white knuckle driving. We then found the faster motorway to return to Killarney.

Now we have driven extensively in France and found it very easy as it is on the right, but then we don't speak French, so that was a problem. We've driven in Italy and found it to be a nighmare. So all in all, even with the left hand side to consider, Ireland is a place to have a car. Take your time, avoid the big cities for driving, and don't get excited if you get lost, everyone will help you with directions. As much as we love France, of all of our European experiences, Ireland was one of the best. We will return.

TPAYT, those photos are beautiful! What did you buy at Louis Mulcahy? When I was there in March, I bought the most beautiful little coffee set and every morning I "go" to Ireland :)

TPAYT. thank you for that great report! Your photo of the Muckross grounds brought me back to a humorous (could have been disastrous) memory. On one trip when my now 19 year old was 4 we toured the estate. While I was lagging behind in the gardens my husband Pete was horsing around (pretending to be the horse) on the open grounds with our son on his shoulders. We had planned to take that same horse you mention and buggy ride and my son was giddy and running out of patience so Pete started galloping around with son on shoulders. Lots of giggles later we're off to the horse and buggy.

Pete reaches for his wallet in his back pocket and it's gone. We paid to get in to the house so we knew it had to be somewhere on the grounds. There is nothing to be done but retrace our steps. A little frantic we tear over to the open area where they were horsing around and I see an AmEx card on the ground. It's his but there is nothing but the card. Then my son points several feet away and there is an Irish bill, then another a few feet away and then his Visa card. Then his license all in a trail over a couple of hundred feet and finally his empty wallet. Apparently, as he was galloping along things were dropping out of his wallet onto the ground one by one by one. Still not sure how exactly no bills blew away or how it all fell out so uniformly. We were very lucky!

Beautiful shots!

TPAYT: You were so right about going right to Ennis and dropping the first night. One night's sleep makes everything else on the trip work, don't you think?

And TPAYT you are also right that some of the prettiest places by car also work very well on a bike--you get the time to soak the beautiful in.

But in a car, you don't have to GET soaked in rain. :) Actually, considering we've biked for three weeks there, we rarely encountered rain--and even then, it was more mist than anything. But still, in a car, you don't have to worry.

DAE:
It's not rails-to-trails biking, but it's beautiful biking. If you can do up to 30 miles per day (that's the magic number bike companies generally recommend you be capable of doing), the routes on the West coast are not onerous (I have a much different assessment about biking Beara and Healy passes South). Plus I'll point out that we were never playing "Sherpa"--no luggage on bikes--and our bikes were EXCELLENT, so those things alone make life quite enjoyable on two wheels.

Some of the "beautiful by bike" on our first bike trip...
--We got to follow the coast north from Lahinch to the Cliffs of Moher and then descend into Doolin.
--We then biked the coast road to Ballyvaughan and went up into the Burren.
--We took the a.m. ferry with bike to Inismore and biked out to Dun Aengus, etc on a simply gorgeous day. Lovely lunch there with such a view.
--We took the ferry to Rossaveal and rode the coastal roads through Gaeltacht along the beaches of Connemara.
--Later we left Clifden via Sky Road--stunning--and explored Conemara National Park the day after (Kylemore Abbey, etc).

We loved our views on this bike trip so much that on a third bike trip (we did a trip from Kenmare to Kinsale between) we repeated much of this route, only this time adding a leg from the Kylemore Abbey area up to Leeane (one of the most stunning rides ever) and then over to Cong.

Heck--I'd bike it again!

"only this time adding a leg from the Kylemore Abbey area up to Leeane (one of the most stunning rides ever) and then over to Cong."

I've heard that route is breathtaking. Sounds like a great excuse to start planning!

I think September is my favorite time to go to Ireland.

sheri_lp Hey, that's exactly what we purchased at Louis Mulcahy and it does take us to Ireland every morning.

We loved the large pieces but they are hard to transport and shipping is high. What a beautiful, friendly shop.

For those of you who might enjoy it, below is the link to our short, fast, musical slideshow that I posted on another thread.

http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripw...3-15f8-d09e?lb

quinnsmom---what a funny story. The kind that makes memories.

AlessandraZoe---fantastic that you can bike so many miles. We did meet alot of bikers on the Slea Head Drive and we used to bike often but never quite that far. On our next trip we plan to take in the Kinsale, Bantry area. It was in the back of our minds for this trip, but we ran out of time. There are so many beautiful places that you want to stay awhile.

Oh TPAYT, we are not great bikers. Oh, correct that. I am not a great biker.

Husband, even for an old guy, is pretty good not because he bikes all the time but because he's one of those sickening "MVP at every sport in high school" kind of guys (I was the "Most likely to be a librarian").

One daughter is state swimmer, so she's good because she's used to all that operation on no air stuff. The other daughter who always WANTED to be an athlete (no eye-hand coordination, limited skill set)somehow is a MONSTER biker even if she hasn't been on a seat for years. On a trip, she can bike 60 miles up hills per day, and I am not exaggerating, and be back at the hotel, showered, with a wine glass in hand, before anyone else in the group comes back.

That said, the key is to be able to HAVE gone before you leave 30 miles in one day at least ONCE. When I bike here, I rarely bike more than 10 miles. Pre-trip, I make sure I get a 30-mile day in. And then I have a nice hilly practice route that gets my mind straight.

I've just found this and I'm loving it. I'll be printing and taking it with us for our May adventure, thanks so much.

So glad you enjoyed it. We had such a good time in Ireland in Sept. that we are in the process of planning a return trip in May. The same month as you are going. Maybe we'll run into each other. If you see us say "hi" since you know what we look like.

Great trip report, fab pictures. I think driving is the toughest part for the driver. We even folded in our mirrors. Going again but doing public transportation and day tours. I don't mind driving in Germany but Ireland scares me. Glad to hear your opinion on Dingle. Agree, beautiful but not for me. Thank you!

Ha Ha, TPAYT, click on my profile and you will recognise us too. Maybe a beer in one of your recommended pubs? ;-)

So I just realised I hadn't viewed your photos. WOH, fantastic, just beautiful, makes me very excited.
I'll be following your May plans.
AD

TPAYT: Thanks for sharing your trip report and the great photo slide show! I enjoyed it. We loved Matt Malloy's pub in Westport on our first trip to Ireland. I am now trying to plan our second trip to Ireland for September 2011. Considering staying in Kenmare. Just not sure if the Ring of Kerry is worth it with all that traffic...hard to decide. Maybe we will do Beara instead. (Did the Dingle peninsula on first trip.)

So you did think Ennis was good for a 1st night stop? I hear Ennis has good music. Our 1st night stop was in Bunratty on our previous trip.

Melissa - Ennis is only about 30 minutes from the airport, and there are quite a few nice venues for music. I stayed at the Temple Gate Hotel which is right in the middle of town so you can easily walk everywhere. There's a quiet pedestrian square between the hotel and the main streets so it's pretty quiet.

We liked Ennis and would stay there again. As I said in my TR, "The Poet's Corner" was wonderful for our first dinner in Ireland. They did have music later, but with jet lag and all we skipped it and turned in at 9 so we'd be ready for the next day.

In May we will be staying in Kinsale and also hope to do The Beara.

BTW, your instincts are correct. Just driving on the ROK road from Killarney to Kenmare was the worst drive ever for us (as an example, driving in Venezuela was difficult, but nothing compared to that day of tour buses and speeding BMW's on the ROK).

Also, Kenmare was charming---one of our favorite places.

I have driven from Killarney to Kenmare many times over the years and hopefully will do so again.It is a beautiful drive in each direction and I suggest you do it both ways. The road is narrow and sometimes you may have some buses coming against you from the south. Traffic can be heavy too but less than it was before the recession.If you are apprehensive it is much quieter in the morning and this can mean from 6 to 11am in summer when the days are very long.In the evening 6-10pm in summer is quite good too. Stop from time to time on the away,including a trip to Muckross House, the short boat trip to Dinis Cottage and the Meeting of the Waters from the lakefront nearby, perhaps a jaunting car trip or a walk from Muckross House to Innisfallen Abbey and the old fashioned farms. You can eat or shop at Avoca and especially after rain visit the waterfall at Torc,which you can do while parked at Muckross House where there is plenty of parking and a good restaurant.