travelmom

Has anyone traveled to Ireland with kids? It seems to be such a popular destination, and we'd love to see it. But, I'm wondering if the attractions are the natural beauty and pubs...would this be a good destination to take a family trip? Our kids range in age from early teens (boys) to early elementary age (girls), four kids in total. If anyone has traveled to Ireland with kids, could you give us an idea of what interested your kids? As far as the idea of traveling to Europe with kids, we've done this before with great success...the question isn't whether or not to do it, but if Ireland would be a good destination for us.

kdr

I recently went to Ireland, albeit without children. But every time we visited a castle, my husband would say "my parents couldn't have dragged me away from this place when I was a kid." The historic castle and churches are so different in Ireland than the U.S. because you can climb into different rooms. For example, at Blarney Castle, you can take a flashlight and explore a cave and the dungeon. Great kid stuff in my opinion.

me,too

ttt

Leslie

Travelmom - this is an excellent question. I think you're wise to consider this. We took our two kids (a boy, then aged 11 and a girl, aged 9) to England and Ireland two years ago. Then, last year took them to Italy. These are not sophisticated kids.<BR><BR>Without a doubt, places like London, Rome, and Venice as well as Warwick Castle in England really thrilled them as long a we didn't overdue the tours of stately homes/palaces or stay too long in the art museums. There are many historical sights and activities to attract children in these places and, I felt, fewer of these in Ireland.<BR><BR>Ireland is definitely more low key. While some kids might like climbing through castle ruins, mine have a limited interest in that. Older kids these days seem more interested in gadgetry. But, I'm a big believer that there is no point to traveling 6000 miles as we did to recreate an American experience. That's why, for example, I would never take my kids to Euro Disney, but do feel you have to intersperse the cultural experience with some activities with kid-appeal Kids vary and you know yours best.<BR><BR>We spent a total of 5 days in Ireland, one in Dublin and the rest traveling the SW by car. The kids got very little out of the beautiful scenery (though the drive of Slea Head on the Dingle Peninsula, caught their attention). We traveled through Ireland with family friends who also had two kids. All 4 kids spent most of the driving time looking down at their gameboys! We had to shout at them to look up on occasion, but how many times can they get excited over another flock of sheep or cows?<BR><BR>In spite of this, if you ask them, they will tell you that they loved Ireland! Why? <BR><BR>1) We stayed in farmhouses and they loved the close-up views of the cows blocking the rodeway to our farmhouse.<BR><BR>2) They loved seeing an hours-old baby calf and the son of the farmhouse host, who showed them to the newborn kittens in the barn.<BR><BR>3) They enjoyed the little bit of Irish music we did hear..(pubs aren't a great place for kids, but in the daytime there are some with music and with upstairs dining rooms above the bar)<BR><BR>4) They loved the ferry boat ride from Fishguard Wales to Rosslare Harbour and the Irish children they befriended on board.<BR><BR>5) They loved the old fashioned carnival being held one night in Dingle Town.<BR><BR>6) They loved the charming hosts and hostesses at each of the farmhouses, who made us feel so welcome.<BR><BR>All in all, I would say to go, but to plan the trip in a more optimal fashion than we did:<BR><BR>1. Stay longer than 5 days. Ireland must be experienced slowly. Don't try to drive too far in any given day and stay several nights in each place.<BR><BR>2. Find some musical performances or kid friendly pubs.<BR><BR>3. Create people experiences for them. I am totally charmed by the Irish accent, sense of humor and gift of gab. Stay on farms and dine with the other guests.<BR><BR>4. Do your research to find things that will intrigue the kids (they did like the tour of the Waterford Crystal Factory)..<BR><BR>

travelmom

Leslie,<BR><BR>Thank you for all of the great info...this is exactly the kind of feedback that I was looking for. What time of year did you go to Ireland? We are considering this trip over spring break (Easter, April) next year. We were also thinking of combining this trip with a quick visit to London. Is that what you did, and how did it work out? If we do that, we don't want to spend long in London. Given that, we don't know if it's worth doing London at all, and just save the time for Ireland.

Leslie

We went in August and had lots of rain in England and, especially, Ireland. My daughter said, "We should have come in summertime, mommy!" This made some of the scenery hard to see and added to the slowness of the driving. <BR><BR>I'm told June and July are better weather months but I find everything is cheaper (and demand for frequent flyer miles lower) when not summertime. So we often use spring break for travel.<BR><BR>If you only have one week, then either skip London or limit your Irish itinerary. It takes 2 to 3 times longer to drive from point A to point B in Ireland than here or in the UK. Irish roads, unlike her people, are terrible. No superhighways there!<BR><BR>London is absolutely fabulous for kids and at least 3 days there would be important (note: if you haven't booked airfare and really want to loop in London, research an 'open jaw' ticket to Ireland and see what kind of cheap fares RyanAir offers from Ireland to London. Then fly home from London, or vice versa. I certainly wouldn't try to drive across Wales to London if time were short.<BR><BR>I'm not a big Ireland expert. Others on this board could give you additional specific sites for kids. I think if you go to the book store to peruse the travel books you can specifically seek destinations that interest kids (check the index under kids). Then plan an itinerary that limits you to one region, such as the West/Southwest.<BR><BR>We went from Dublin all the way across the country to Dingle in one day, stopping in Adare for lunch. Big mistake. Took over 7 hours to drive about 150 miles/120 Kilometers.<BR><BR>We didn't find Dublin all that exciting. We did like the double decker bus tour, as much for the charming live guide as for the orientation it gave us. The kids also enjoyed the tour of Dublin Castle (again, because the charming tour guide noticed them squirming and pulled them in with fun questions about rooms... "Now, kids, why is there no bed in the "Queen's Bedroom?" to which that all shouted, "No Queen!"<BR><BR>I don't know Shannon, but would consider (next time) flying in an out of Shannon to visit some of the great sights on the west coast we missed such as the Cliffs of Moher, and focusing on Dingle w/ County Kerry.<BR><BR>I would skip the Ring of Kerry as it's too long a drive for kids and the Slea Head drive on Dingle was lovely. The town of Dingle is very quaint, great restaurants lots of pubs with music. They have a famous dolphin offshore and boat trips out to catch a glimpse (we didn't have time for this.) Really loved Doyle's Seafood Bar (it's a restaurant) and they we're fine for kids. We stayed at Devane's Farmhouse near Dingle. Mary Devane was delightful.<BR><BR>Also, the kids like Killarney alot, and the Blarney Castle, and Muckross House and Farm.<BR><BR>If you decide to go to London, I can tell you what our kids loved. Plus there have been many posts on this forum about kid-friendly London.<BR><BR>

Ann

Don't have kids, but my aunt and uncle brought my 5-year-old niece with them when they came to visit me. She loved the following: eating in pubs; the Carrickfergus Castle, where they have costumes and props for kids to play with, as well as pub across the street with whale-shaped fried fish for lunch (although the animated feature they showed of people having limbs cut off scared her to death); learning how to sing Irish drinking songs; running along the beach and in the mountains; meeting new people. She did not enjoy the Bushmills Tour because the smell in the distillery was too strong for her. Of course, we didn't expect her to enjoy that part.

Ann

We found so much interesting history that we would stop every few miles in Ireland. Get a book of ancient sites and make it come alive for the children by talking to them about the ancient people. We went to bogs where peat is dug up for fuel, we went to stone croppings where there had been sacrifices, to the Ring of Kerry in a pony cart and then the small boat (like a dinghy) across the lake. The kids still talk about this!

fatima

Your kids will love it. We took an extended family trip, not only our kids but my parents too, last year. A bit different than the other replies, we did a specially designed coach tour just for families, which had tons of activities for the kids, and we did not have to worry about driving, or in my husband's case, getting lost.<BR><BR>The kids would do it again in a heartbeat. It including biking, looking for dolphins by boat, horseback riding in addition to the regular sights.<BR><BR>

Wendy

No kids but found lots in the following places - and all seemed to be having the time of their lives!<BR><BR>In Dublin: Dublinia, Phoenix Park's Dubln Zoo, The Ark; Cultural Centre for Children (www.ark.ie), Dublin's Viking Adventure and the Viking Splash Tour looked like tons of fun (www.VikingSplashTours.com)<BR><BR>Kerry: Muckross Farms various sized farms representing "old Ireland" before the tractor. Tons of animals, homes to look through and barns. Renting a horse and cart for the short ride (30-45min) to the waterfall and back.<BR><BR>Tipperary: Cahir Castle there's a tour but you can also explore the whole thing on your own. <BR><BR>Wexford: Irish National Heritage Park (www.INHP.com) Make sure you go on the days there are people in costume and get the guided tour.<BR><BR>Just a few places off the top of my head...