All - I was planning a 10 day trip but due to my DH's job we had to trim the trip to 5 days. We still wanted to go and see some of ireland. Here is what was decided and what is flexible - please advise as what else might fit into our trip or really should not be missed on our first trip: (also keep in mind that our trip is less than two weeks away)

Day 1 - Fly to Dublin Ireland
Day 2 (W) - Arrive in Dublin - Visit all highlights of trip; take walking tour of city. (no hotel chosen yet)
Day 3 - Finish up basics in Dublin - Take train to Waterford. (no hotel in waterford)
Day 4 - Tour Waterford; take evening train to Limerick. (Hotel in Limerick - cannot change)
Day 5 (Sat) - Take day trip to Cliffs of Mohr.
Day 6 - Leave am from Shannon.

Should we go to Waterford or somewhere else? Do we need two days in Dublin?

Thanks!

Forgot to include that we won't be renting a car and will be using the trains.

jrm612,

I'm interested in the replies you receive. I love train travel, in 1997 we trained from Dublin to Kilkenny. Had five days in that lovely city and surrounding area. I asked the staff in our hotel about where to train next. I thought of Waterford as it is on the same line. They all said, no, no, it's not a very nice town. We ended up taking a taxi over to Cashel.

Another good trip was Dublin to Cork. There was a jazz fest and could only get accommodations in Blarney which I enjoyed very much, the hotel and the park. Stayed a few days in Blarney and got a train from Cork over to Killarney. After Killarney we needed to be in Shannon and that was going to entail changing trains twice. Used another taxi.

I'm sure you'll get some great suggestions from these great people.

Joan

waterford is not pleasant at all, imo....the factory tour at waterford is not worth going across the street to see....

with only 5 days, why not rent a car and just drive from dublin to shannon and visit places along the way...its easy...

just north of shannon is quite nice and just to the south as well

I agree with the idea of cutting Waterford from the programme. You could substitute Killarney.

Another vote for cutting Waterford. Killarney is a great substitute.

My suggestion would be to take the train to Galway and make that your base after you have visited Dublin.

Last year a friend and I had a blast exploring Galway and took the ferry out to the Aran Islands. The weather didn't cooperate on the day we were there, but we both agreed that renting a bike would be a great way to explore and something we would like to do in the future.

Galway is very walkable and has a cute little central business district. Our B & B was right down the street from the train station and the tourist office, where we made arrangements for the ferry. I believe you could also arrange other tours there as well.

Personally, I loved Dublin and could easily spend days there but given your time, maybe you would be better off spending only one night and then heading out the next afternoon to the west. That also depends if you are interested in museums and cultural things that are found in Dublin.

Any time in Ireland is better than no time!

Thanks for the help. I think we are going to go to the Aran Islands instead. They look beautiful. We were thinking of doing this as a day trip from Dublin and staying in Dublin an extra night. Any recommedations on tour companies?

You don't do the Aran Islands as a day trip from Dublin, particularly in October when the days are getting shorter.

Go to Galway the night before and take plane or boat from there.

A day in Killarney would be far more satisfying in my opinion than a day on Aran,especially late in the year.The Killarney region-not the town itself-is the main tourist centre in Ireland outside Dublin.It takes about three and a half hours by train from Heuston Station,Dublin to Killarney.You have there, or within 2 hours driving, The Ring of Kerry,Dingle and the Killarney National Park to name only three really special places to see.You can get a bus or train to Limerick then-about 60 miles away.

From Dublin the tours would be sites on the east side of the country, like the Wicklow Mts and Glendalough. If you search for day trips you should get some good recommendations.

Galway would be one of the places to get tours to sites in the west. The Aran Islands are off the west coast, the westernmost point of Europe we were told.

We didn't take a formal tour there. We bought a ticket for the ferry at the Galway TI and had planned to rent bikes when we got off the ferry.

Unfortunately it was raining and blowing hard so we paid 10 E for one of the informal van tours. The guide took us to many of the sites and then back to catch the return ferry. We both agreed that we would love to come back when it wasn't late November and rainy/cold to explore the area on bikes and maybe even stay the night.