Looking for advice on train trips in Ireland. Has anyone done this?

I have done a bit of both but we did a Game of Thrones tour last year and met a nice lady on the tour that was doing an Ireland rail tour. She was traveling solo and loving it.
We did rail all over NI and liked it. We are doing train to Westport in Sept. We will do a couple of day tours once there but hiking and biking so think we will be ok without a car. I like public transportation in Ireland. Buses are very good there also. Many will tell you the opposite but have seen so much more via day tours than we do on our own. We always stay in a city or village with pubs, shopping and good places to eat. I don't want to be in the boonies at night so have everything we need close by.

If you aim to get around Ireland then a Train is worse then a bus which is worse than a car.

Rail is limited to point to point with few routes and whilst I can get to a Station within 17 miles the next nearest is 30 miles. Bus routes will generally be closer and in many cases if not as fast possibly faster.

If you do a tour by train then getting to the interesting bit will require changing to a bus. By car you can go where you want when you want and not be tied to schedules.

End of the day it depends where you want to go and what you want to see??

Hi
Im from Ireland , have a business here and I plead with you to hire a car , as you will probably find out the public transport here is very very bad , in fact embarrassing and also very expensive . Also the nicest places to go in Ireland , the west and south west have the worst systems . Unless you are planning to spend all your time in Dublin forget it, or want to spend all your time couped up on a bus with someone elses schedule . I'd hire a car , the roads are much better now , and travel where you want when you want , as i said the most interesting Places are the places that are not on the 'tour routes'
Best of luck

cakkoor, see? We all have different opinions. Our bus and rail is so bad in the US that I think the opposite of Ireland.

I have never had a problem seeing the things I want to see off the tourist route. I always am interested in what those most interesting places are to people. I am a tourist, can't help that.
What are you looking to see and maybe I can help you more with how to see it without a car.

Well, maybe I should have been more specific. These were some rail tours I was looking at. I guess they are a combination of train and bus.

http://www.discoveringireland.com/va...ail/#itinerary

http://www.discoveringireland.com/va...ail/#itinerary

http://www.discoveringireland.com/va...ail/#itinerary

I normally love to travel on my own and do it independently, not much of a tour person, but this time my husband is going with me and he's not very adventurous. He won't drive in other countries so I'd have to do all of it. I don't mind, but also looking at alternatives.

I think the lady on our tour did the 14 nighter with Belfast. Our tour driver on the Game of Thrones tour made sure he got her to the Train station in time for her train back to Dublin. She really enjoyed it and it worked for her. It isn't a bad price for what you get. I am more of do it on my own but would hate being the driver. We hate being the designated driver. Love that you are going to Inis Mor.

The rail system in Ireland is useful only if you are traveling to/from Dublin from other major cities. It is poorly laid out to connect between other major cities.

What is usually not mentioned about renting a car in Ireland is just how expensive it is especially for those who need an automatic and need a larger car to carry luggage. If you look at Autoeurope for example, it gives an initial impression that the rate may be reasonable until you start scouring the details to find you have to add drop off fee and location charges. If you need to rent an automatic, there is a major jump in base rental cost also. And finally, for those from countries where they cannot use existing collision coverage, they have to assume the initial €1350 in CDW deductible. Dan Dooley's base prices are higher, but they include location change charges in the base but still high deductible unless you pay even higher base price to reduce the deductible exposure. Gas and parking are on top of these.

You could do those tours you list on your own without a great deal of effort. You could do better trips without a great deal of effort.

If you don't want to drive then there is no need provided you just want to see the main tourist sites, there is no need to drive in Dublin which has good public transport and as indicated the main bases are reachable by Bus or Train.

If you are going to rent a car Book with the people who give you the keys or one of the directly linked brokers. I hate people who come on the forums shouting scam when they have used a bargain bucket agent only to find they have $100's more to pay at the counter or have $3000 on "Hold"

We do a mixture of both train and bus. We did the train to Portstewart NI for a race but bought a ticket we could get on and off. Stopped in Ballymoney for a visit to Joey Dunlop's bar to finish watching the race. It was cheap and nice scenery.
We are doing the train direct to Westport from Dublin. We are then using a small tour/taxi company to take us places two days. Five of us so we do not want to rent a van. The other days we are biking and hiking. Westport is a great base and if we are bored we can take the train to Galway for the day.
Sometime the bus is cheaper and faster. You can get direct buses from the Dublin airport to Galway, Belfast etc.
Galway is a good base and many nice day tours from there including Inis Mor.

Thanks everyone.

Yes trains and buses go virtually everywhere (though along the sparsely populated west coast they are indeed spotty) - But for cities you can get to all of them and trains will take you even to places like the Dingle Peninsula - to Tralee from where you can get mini-bus tours around the Dingle Peninsula.

Car is best if wanting to do the West Coast but for Dublin,Cork, Gallway, etc trains are indeed the best way and buses from train stations to many other places.

For lots of info on Irish trains and buses (check out the Irish Rambler Pass if still around - valid on trains and buses) check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com (check out their free online Ireland chapter in their European Planning & Rail Guide for railitineraries) and www.ricksteves.com.