The country was beautiful..the people were great.. Food good...hotels and B&B's were terrrific....Driving on the left hand side of <BR>road was one experience and of course the phethora of pubs and the interesting people who hang out there was another one..Weather could have been better....and the spector of F&M restrictions were alive and well in many of the venues..Was from Dublin to Wexford to Cork...to Kinsale to Dingle....to Doolin near the Cliffs and back to Dublin...Don't profess to be an expert on Ireland..but as mentioned ..have returned from 10 day there. If you have any questions feel free to chime in I am glad to help if I can.

Guy: Ireland has been bashed from time to time on this board. What is your opinion of Ireland as a destination compared to other European countries you have visited (if you can make such a comparison). Did you train at all, or just drive. Thx.

<BR>Guy, <BR> <BR>What did you think of Dublin? <BR> <BR>We have a week in Ireland & are trying to decide how many nights to spend in Dublin as opposed to driving in the country -- it would give us an extra night in Galway, Cork, etc. <BR> <BR>Thanks for your offer for advice, <BR> <BR>Steve

I'll be in Ireland in May for a week -- will go from Dublin to Limerick (via Kilkenny and Cashel), over to Shannon, up to Doolin, through Galway, back to Dublin. Hoping to visit Ring of Kerry as well. Any suggestions on things to see/do or great b&bs to stay at? We have accommodations arranged for our Dublin stay and are working on the rest. Any other general comments are appreciated. Thanks!

Curious :..Ireland was equally as interesting and entertaining as any other European destination. I have travel a fair amount ( including many other European destinations).. and enjoyed ireland as well as any other place. I drove the entire time..did not take a train so don't know what that expericence would be like..but I am now a big fan of Ireland. <BR>Steve:..We were there for 9-10 days and tried to do to much...meaning driving. I would suggest to see fewer places and spend more times in the places you chose..there is simply too much to see and one can not do it all in one trip. Dublin was great..very cosmopolitan.. It was a very happening place. Grafton Street was a maze of people and shopping opportunity and all in all Dublin does not lack in entertainment value in anyway. I can tell you that I drove 855 miles from Dublin to Wexford to Kinsale to Dingle to Bunratty to Doolin, and back to Dublin. In retrospect, I would have gone fewer places and stayed a bit longer in a few more places. Did not make it all the way to Galway..but I would not delete Cork from the itinerary...I very much enjoyed Dingle and Doolin.. <BR>Michelle: I think there is not any bad itinerary in planning a trip to Ireland. <BR>Doolin was great...it is a small little sleepy town located 8km from the Cliff of Moher. with two of the best Pubs in the land. We stayed a great B&B in Doolin called the Doolin Activity Center for L20/person..including a great breakfast..the place is new and frankly is almost nice hotel quality standards.. <BR>Another place I liked very much was Dingle...a similar B&B named An Cappel Dubh or ' The Black Horse'...was also very nice...@ L25/person. and is located just a few doors from the well known Pub called Dick Macks...Driving ..albeit can be very theraputic and relaxing..can be at the same time a big pain..Ergo, I suggest not trying to see too much in too little time..We took a nearly a whole day to drive the ' Ring of Kerry'..and although it was very beautiful and scenic..I am not sure that the ' juice was worth the squeeze'..in terms of sights seen compared to driving time.. I would have rather stayed longer at Dingle, Doolin, or Kinsale I think, rather than have spent the time driving on the narrow roads around the Ring of Kerry..Stayed at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin...Also, the Fitzgerald Hotel @ the Bunratty Castle near Limerick was not bad...I am convinced..that you can not make a bad decision regarding travels in Ireland...just remember to drive on the left....) <BR> <BR>

Guy, I agree with you about Ireland. Been there 2 times myself. Once with my wife and once with my father (glad I got to take him since he passed away not long after). Both times it was a joy to see the country, but especailly to meet the wonderful Irish people. The first time with my wife we spend too much time driving around. On the trip wjith my father we visited less places and actually enjoyed it more. Dublin: other than the Guinness Hop Store, I would skip it. Another big city and I'm not "into" the big city life. Give me a cosy little town with a few pubs and a nice B&B and I'm happy as Larry. (Anyone know who Larry is?) <BR> <BR>Michelle, what a coincidence, someone with your name has written an excellent book that I used calleed the Best Little Guide to Ireland. I got a lot of good tips from it as well as fantastic B&Bs, sightseeing and PUBS! I do reccommend it highly if you are doing a do it yourself trip to Ireland. It was my "Bible" over there and never steered me wrong. Now I'm looking forward to another trip, this time with my wife and mother...maybe in another year or so. Till then I'm sampling the Guinness here and dreaming of the real thing in Ireland (hope the Guinness strike is over by the time I get there!) Cheers, George

George, <BR>The Guinness strike was a one day stoppage so stop worrying over supplies start worrying over Guinnesses (or rather Diageo - its parent compnay) attempts to close its breweries in ireland and move the entire operation to London. The "strike" was over plans by Guinness to close its packing operations here in ireland and the unions fear that it is the start of the end of Guinness in Ireland. Me - well I am drinking Dary's Stout (www.dublinbrewing.com) <BR> <BR>A pint man !

Just a word in defense of Dublin (I was born there so I feel I must). It's a great place for the under 35s as it has a huge population in the 25-35 age bracket so the entire city is geared to the set. <BR> <BR>There are wonderful pubs, from traditional to ultra chic, in the areas between Temple Bar and Dawson Street. Terrific restaurants (but expensive mostly) which rival anything you can find in other European capitals, but a lot fewer, of course. During the day, visit Trinity College, Christ Church, Stephen's Green. Day trips to Glendalough, Castletown House, Powerscourt and Newgrange are very enjoyable and all distinctly Irish. <BR> <BR>If you only have a week, you must get to the West (Galway & Connemara) or South-West (Kerry). My husband & I spent many summers in and around Killarney and the scenery is spectacular. Lately, however, we have been disapointed with the "traffic" in the area so last year we went to Connemara - absolutely wonderful and some of the best restaurants (particularly fish) that I have ever visited in Ireland. Galway is nice town with a very "human" scale. <BR> <BR>My personal preference is to arrive at Shannon and spend a week in the West before hitting Dublin. Once in Dublin, we do 2-3 side trips to Wicklow, Meath, Cavan. <BR> <BR>Another base you may want to consider is Kenmare in West Cork and a whole different adventure is Donegal. <BR> <BR>I feel a bout of homesickness coming on ... time to book my trip in September! <BR> <BR>Regards ... Ger <BR>

My sentiments exactly on the too much driving, we did that the first time & were exhausted & the poor driver misses so much just trying to keep us alive. One suggestion we did on the 2nd trip was take a bus (i know! i know!) tour arnd the Ring of Kerry, but at least the driver got to see some scenery. Its so gorgeous even if a bit touristy now. Unless you're hiking it, someone won't get to see it while drving. As far as staying in Dublin, definitely spend time in the country, as much as possible. This last trip we rented a house in Connemara & spent 2 weeks on the west coast & a week going thru the Norht, Giant's causeway, Belfast etc. One mile is more beautiful than the last.

my husband and i went to ireland recently, both age 29, and we loved Dublin. it reminded us greatly of boston, could have spent more time there than the 2-3 days b/c each nite we got pretty drunk, so ended up sleeping late each day. keep in mind, we were there to attend a wedding, so while in dublin were there with about 20 assorted college friends, so probably we partied it up a bit more than if we'd been alone. <BR>very nice restaurants in Temple Bar. <BR> <BR>also, we loved Dingle. literally cannot tell you how beautiful the ring of dingle drive is. we had a great meal at Doyles, stayed down the street at a B&B called Walshs, with a pub w/ amazing Trad. music right across the street. <BR> <BR>also drove through the burren and a bit into Connemara, both of which were great. <BR> <BR>

Michelle or Scurry, We spent 11 days in Ireland last summer. Dublin was nice, but two days there was plenty. We used the bus system while in Dublin and then picked up our car and headed to Killarney. Stayed at the Applecroft House and it was great. Muckross House and grounds were nice. The ring of Kerry is a full day trip, if limited on time go to Dingle peninsula. We loved Dingle, stayed at Duinin House. The drive to Slea Head is spectacular! The Dingle Pub and the Small Bridge Pub had great music. We then saw thw Ciffs of Mohr and stayed in Doolin. We stayed at the Atlantic Sunset House but the Sea View House looked nice. Gus O'Connors in Doolin was the best music we heard. The Doolin Cafe had wonderful food. We then went to Galway. It is lovely. The trip there included seeing the Burren area. Very cool. The shopping in Galway is good and the Quays Pub is a must. McSwiggans had good food. We loved all that we saw and hope to return soon. Many of the b&bs can be viewed at www.townandcountry.ie

<BR>Thanks to all who share their advice on Fodors!

We're off on our fourth trip to Ireland in 10 days. We have never spent any time in Dublin (saying it for a winter trip) ... but love the west, north, and southwest. Agree that the driving is pretty hard on the driver ... and we like to settle in. We generally do a combination of self-catering for a week and B & B's for multiple nights. Last year we spent a week in Donegal, in a little village out of Letterkenny, Rathmelton. Had a wonderful four bedroom house, and did a different day trip each day. From there we went to Westport. Stayed at St. Anthony's B & B which was nice. Onto luxury at Cashel House in the Connemara ... than to Kilkenny. Loved the town, but our B & B was not the greatest. Had another week in a cottage in Cork, than three nights at Ballymaloe. We were there in September and OCtober, so the costs were less than the high season. Weather was good, and the crowds were gone. LOVE IRELAND!!!