Just back from Ireland..Trip Report
 

Just got back from Ireland..thank you all for your help with our itinerary. My husband and I are early 30’s, from Chicago, and planned an impromptu trip when we got a $300 rt airfare on AA. We had a great time although it was much more slow paced than other European countries. We arrived in Dublin, circled the south, onto Dingle and back to Dublin. We did a lot of sitting in pubs, drinking beers, and met a lot of people. Here is a quick rundown of itinerary, accommodations, and restaurants

Arrive Monday AM in Dublin. Rented a car from Budget, no line, no wait, no hassle. Drove to Glendalough through the Wicklow Mountains and then on to Kilkenny for the night. Stayed at Berkeley House which worked fine. Car park very helpful, clean good size room, and newer bathroom for 70Euro. Ate at a non descript Indian restaurant and hit a pub before an early night.

Tuesday – Wandered around outside of Kilkenny castle. Drove to Rock of Cashel which was a favorite. Great tour and neat grounds. Back in the car and onto Kinsale. Stayed at the Blue Haven, room 4. Beautiful large room overlooking the main street, large bathroom, great location, 100Euro. Ate at Fishy Fish which was fantastic – got there around 2:30 and no wait. Wandered around town and then just ate a pub dinner at Blue Haven. Went to and excellent pub we found in Rick Steves with great music and stayed until closing.

Wednesday – Fantastic breakfast at Blue Haven. Took off on drive around southern coast on our way to Kenmare. Amazing Abbey along the drive in Timelogue (sp?) that barely received a mention in the books but was a favorite. Beautiful drive, arrived in Kenmare and stayed at our favorite place, The Lodge. Beautiful room, huge four poster bed, modern clean bathroom, lovely common areas, and a short walk into town. Stayed in Holly Room at 90 Euro. Saw the Druid Stone Circle, the local church, and had an exceptional dinner at the Lime Tree which I highly recommend. Hit a put in town for more music, can’t recall the name, and stayed until closing.

Thursday – Excellent breakfast, amazing pancakes. Headed up to Killarney National Park. Beautiful drive, amazing pictures, a few short hikes. Drove to Dingle stopping along the way to run around on the beach at Inch, and checked into Greenmount House. Had reserved a room overlooking the bay but when she say my husband and I, both very tall, she was concerned about the footboard on the bed. She showed us to a room in the back that was much bigger with a king bed and though there was no view of the bay there was a lovely private garden at 125 Euro. Walked down the hill and went to Murphy’s Pub along the water. This was a favorite of ours, excellent food and great atmosphere. Finished up the night at John G Ashe pub listening to music.

Friday – Bike around Dingle. Rented bikes and headed out for Slea Head. People thought we were crazy as the winds were ferocious. A couple of times we had to get off the bikes as the wind was throwing my husband either towards the cliffs or towards traffic – being 6’4” and 240lbs you can imagine how fierce they were. We got back into town around 4, stopping at a number of pubs along the way, and went back to Murphy’s for dinner. We ran into some people from PA and ended up doing a pub crawl with them including Doyles, Dick Macks, John G Ashe, and another pub I can’t remember.

Saturday – Long drive back to Dublin. Made it in about 4.5 hours. Stayed at Conrad Hilton as I had a ton of Hilton Honors Points. Lovely hotel and great location. Wandered around town, went to Trinity College, walked by Dublin Castle, and met up with some friendswho live in Dublin for dinner.
Sunday – Headed home for Chicago.
Thansk again for all the suggestions on this board. Let me know if you have any questions.

Penguin, It would of been alot easier to have departed from Shannon. Wondering if you saw the Cliffs? Also, did you get to kiss the Blarney Stone? These were a few of our trip great memories.

Penguin,

great trip report!

I don't usually like to travel quite that much (a different city every night), BUT yours must be the best fast-moving itinerary I have ever seen. Awesome job planning!

We are eying Dublin - Kilkenny - Kinsale (and lots of the Beara Peninsula) for our next trip. Thanks for the tips.

We actually did not do the Blarney Stone (our friends from Dublin said to skip it) nor did we do the Cliffs of Mohr. We were going to drive up the west coast the last day but realized we were way too rushed and there was too much we wanted to see. We figure our next trip will be with the kids (which we left home this time) to the Cliffs, Galway, Connemara, and the Burren.

We're leaving in 6 days for our first trip to Ireland, and really enjoyed your report, as we will also spend 2 nights at the Greenmount, 2 nights at The Lodge, and a night in Kinsale at the Pier House--(8 nights total-2 in Dublin and 1 in Doolin). Sounds like you had a great time..which town did you like the best??? Thanks..Pam

Thanks for taking the time to post you trip report. Sounds like you got lots of fun in on a short trip.

oopsy, who doesn't leave for another 7 months. argh...

Pam,
We also wanted to stay at the Pier House but they never got back in touch with us. I really enjoyed all the towns but I think Kinsale was the most quaint and the food was the best. Dingle was acutally a more bustling town than I expected but the drive there as well as around Slea Head is breathtaking. I kept telling my husband that the Dingle area is the quintisential (sp?) Ireland. I enjoyed Kenmare but I think my favorite part was The Lodge and the Lime Tree. Have a wonderful time - bring you fleece as it was definitely chilly.

Ah someone else that loves the pubs as much as I do! Very nice.

Penguin, and now we must know: after telling your hubby that Dingle was the quintessential Ireland, do you still think so? If you could plan your trip over, what would you leave out?

Thanks very much for sharing. I am excitedly planning our first family trip for next summer 2006, going with hubby and young adult daughters. Looks like we will be visiting Dingle Peninsula; County Clare (Burren, Cliffs of Moher); Westport, County Mayo; Belfast area; and Dublin/Newgrange.

Thanks Penguin,
I feel quite sure now that for an October trip, we made the right choices in where to go and where to stay...you just reinforced our choices..thanks for the report..We leave Wednesday, and will definitely report back, when we return---Nov. 7th ( 10 days in Ireland and 10 in Belgium)..Thanks to all for your help!! Pam

Pam-I leave tomorrow...will be in Dublin until the 20the then Co. Roscommon (to visit mom) then back to Dublin until returning home on the 30th...have a great trip!!
Shadow

Penguin, great trip reports, I added to my notes, thank you!

Pam, Leaving in a few hours, we'll see you in Doolin! If things get mixed up and we don't get messages, we will most likely be in McGann's.

Shadow, see you at the airport!

Any Fodorites in Doolin on the 22nd of October doing a pub crawl be sure to stop and have a drink with us!

WhooHoo! Vacation is FINALLY here!
Dawn