Ireland without driving?
 

Dear all, how should we explore the best of Ireland without driving? Can you please suggest an itinerary for 6 days starting and ending in Dublin please. Are there tour companies that minimize the transportation effort? Many thanks!

From Dublin airport you can take a Citylink Motorcoach to Galway (about 4-hours). www.Citylink.ie
They operate hourly from Dublin airport and terminate behind the Galway Tourist Office on Forster Street. From Galway you should be able to get a tour to west Clare (i.e., Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, the Burren, etc.) or Bus Eireann scheduled Bus Service to Westport, or maybe Knock Shrine.

Then you can return to Dublin by Rail, by BusEireann or by Citylink and spend your last few days touring Dublin and the Dublin area (Glendaloch, for example). You might use a tour company for the latter.

If you do a search of DUBLIN you will find listings for a number of tours (Glendalough, Newgrange) and also check out:
http://www.railtours.ie
-- the Irish Rail website for 1 and 2 day Rail/Coach trips of the West and South West. From Galway, as Ned says, there are a number of tour of Clare and Connemeara. You could also do a day-trip (or overnight) out to the Aran Islands from Galway. From Killarney (accessable from Dublin by train), Deros runs several tours -- Ring of Kerry, Dingle and Gap of Dunloe. http://www.derostours.com
Touring large parts of Ireland without a car IS do-able. YOUR problem will be narrowing down your choices to level compatable with your time frame.

Bob

I do think that your best bet would be to do tours from larger areas like Dublin, Killarney & Galway.

We always try to have a few days of our vacation not have any driving in it and on our first visit we managed three days is Galway - bus tour of Connemarra and a trip out to Inishmor (Aran Islands), 1/2 day all over the city and a train to Dublin.

In Dublin you have all the tours in the city as well as a tour of Newgrange, a bus to Trim or as we did on this last trip- an all day tour of N.I. one day and a tour of Wicklow the next.

Without knowing the time of year you are travelling or how long the plane time will be might I suggest...

Day 1: rest and explore Dublin (book of Kells, Christchurch Cathedral, hop-on, off bus etc.)
Day 2: Dublin tour of Wicklow (we liked Wild Wicklow Tours) or that BIG N.I. tour with Railtours or perhaps Mary Gibbons tour of Newgrange?)
Day 3: Early train to Killarney and tour Gap of Dunloe
Day 4: Hiking around Killarney (many trails, or taking a bus tour of Dingle?)
Day 5: Rail or Bus to maybe Cork or Cahir, stay in Killarney for another tour?
Day 6: Rail/Bus/Fly back into Dublin to head home. (I do know that if you do end up in Cork you could do a quick fly into Dublin and switch right into your plane home- but that would depend on flight times)

Day 3/4/5 could also be Galway and would allow you to explore Connemarra one day, Aran another and the Burren as well!

Unfortunately- 6 days without a car does not leave you much time to stray to too many places. Although I am not one to have all of my trip be within the constraints of a continual escorted tour this may be what is best for you to fall within your frame.

Do check out railtours!

Good luck, would love to know what you decide!
Dawn

Thanks for all your suggestions! I never cease to be amazed by your generosity and detail!

Do you have accomodation suggestions for these locations? B&B's would be great.

Thanks!

You've gotten some great info from Nedsireland, I. C, and Perfect. When you know more about which towns you are going to visit, we all have our favorite places to stay. You might also look at these two web-sites.

IrelandYes

IrelandExpert

Good Luck, Joan

Chatham is correct- my 2nd and 3rd Ireland sites to check are Ireland Yes and Ireland Expert.

There is a current thread here about Killarney-
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35038101

and Galway:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35039498

Cork is for trip three but if you put "Cork" in the subject box I am sure you will find quite a bit...hee-hee- kinda sounds like I'm tellin' ya to "put a cork in it"...LOL

Had a friend stay here and it was her favorite B&B of all on her April visit. It's in Blarney, outside of Cork.
http://www.thewhitehouseblarney.com/

Good luck!
Dawn

With the irish roads and driving standards, this sounds bliss.. I recently met a lady travelling this way with her daughter. Just freelancing with large packpacks... They were in Donegal Town and we saw tham on the bus to Galway.. one of the local Gardai ( the bus stop is outside the Barracks) came out to wish her well and give them advice where to visit in Galway. Enjoy....watching the beautiful scenery freely.