My wife and I just returned from a 2 week vacation in Ireland. Before going I had alot of questions and most were either unanswered or I was given information that was not real accurate. I will be honest with you, Ireland is not an inexpensive vacation but in my opinion well worth whatever it costs. We converted our US dollars ,used credit cards and an ATM machine once. We stayed at hotels,B&B's and guesthouses and there is a big difference between them . We used busses and trains and then rented a car. We used our laptop for many uses not the least of was to stay in touch with family and friends at home via e-mail. Wifi was available even in remote areas such as Doolin. If I can help anyone with their questions I would be more than happy to shed some honest, accurate light on any subject that I can.

Hello emv0816,
Thanks for your post, and yes, I have a few questions! First of all did you have a great time? We are about to make our first trip in July and we'll be renting a car. We land in Dublin, spend one night there, then six nights in Galway, and one in Kilkenny, before flying out of Dublin. My second question is, how to navigate? I have a Garmin Nuvi but it doesn't have Europe, and I think it's $150 to load Europe, which is expensive. Should I try to rent a car with its own navigation system? Did you find a good rate on a rental car, with what company? Thanks very much for your help!

Will you post your itinerary please? I am going in Oct and may have questions depending on where you went. Thanks.

gogreen; You should be able to find a used European Garmin on Overstock.com or Ebay, that is were we found one we used last October. We sold our Garmin on Ebay when we got home. Also, go to AAIreland and use their route planner, it was VERY helpful for both our 09' and 2010 trips. A lot of time the route planner information was more helpful than what our Garmin was telling us. Once you go to Ireland you will fall in love with the country and will want to return soon, I did! Enjoy your trip!!

many rentals come with the garmin now for very cheap prices, well worth it imo. I like the hotels and guesthouses more than B&Bs, is that what you found? Doolin being the exception. I loved that B&B. What did you do in Doolin?

We rented a car from Enterprise in Limerick,not the airport. I called them from the train/bus staion and Michael(great guy) drove over and picked us up.We got a Peaugot 308,5 speed very nice car,plenty of room and handled nicely. Took a couple hours to get used to driving on the left side and shifting gears with my left hand but really it's not a big deal.The car got 32miles to the gallon,I had heard about how fuel efficient the cars were in Europe to compensate for the $8.50 per gallon price of gas but 32 is good NOT great.We put over 700 miles on the car without incident. cost per day worked out to be around $43 a day with ALL the insurance. Alot better than I had been reading about on this board before I left.\Road signs are everywhere and we never got lost. We got a Michelin map of Ireland before we went and that was all we needed.ireland has 'national' roads that are like our interstates. They are very nice roads and the only thing that might cause some confusion are the 'circles' or 'roundabouts' or rotaries' . Just think left, and follow everyone else and you can't go wrong.

Our itinerary>> landed in Shannon and took a bus to Ennis. Stayed at The Old Ground hotel(expensive) if you stay there request room 317... you'll love it.Ennis is a small town,with everything a big city has. From there we took a bus to Galway.Took a taxi to Ardilaun Hotel,very nice.We walked down through Salthill and along the promenade on Galway Bay,beautiful! ate lunch at Lohans,recommended by the taxi driver. He wasn't wrong. Took another taxi later to Quays St for dinner at McDonaghs. Quays St is like restaurant,pub row. very lively. 3rd day took a bus to Clifden where we stayed at the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel...very expensive and NOT worth the money you pay. 159 Euros per night for a double bed with no view and it's not really a castle. A bowl of linguini with pesto sauce in their dining room costs 20 Euros ($30)... I asked about what does it come with and the waitress said 'pesto sauce' > haha, I had a bowl of seafood chowder and 2 Guinness. While we were there we wanted to rent bikes and ride out on the Sky Rd but it was way too windy so we walked the 5 or 6 miles. great views and met some nice people. The Irish seem to always have time for a pleasant chat. Day 5 took a bus back to Galway. We were going to take a bus back to Rossaveal to catch a ferry to the Aran Islands but it was too involved and the weather was pretty rough so we decided to stay in Galway and do a self-guided walking tour. Lots of history... and more seafood and Guiness. My wife drinks wine and was always trying new wines from all over the world. We thought that we were missing too much with not having a car so we decided to rent one in Limerick for the rest of our trip. We took a train from Galway to Limerick and got one and drove to Ballybunion along the Shannon River. Stopped along the way for castles and ruins and history everywhere. That night we stayed at the 19th Lodge in Ballybunion...for 120 Euros we got the Tom Watson Suite>> awesome!! 600 sq ft,fireplace,42 inch flat screen, and a jacuzzi that I used to take a soak and watch the golfers on The Olde Course right across the way.(no, I don't think they could see me)...but I think I did see Slick Willy Clinton trying to find his balls.Mary Beasely is the owner/operator and is as my wife described her like Mrs Butterworth. You know it's nice when you don't want to leave.Day 6... to be continued... I have to go to work>>gotta pay for my Ireland trip ya know.

We were in Ireland at the same time--different location. I've started a trip report and will continue as time allows.

Reading your report with much interest. We were in Ennis in Sept. 2010---we didn't stay at the Old Ground Hotel but we did have dinner at The Poet's Corner and really enjoyed it. Did you happen to eat there?

I'm also making notes for our next trip. Ballybunion and the 19th Lodge sounds like just our kind of place. MDH is a golfer and would love it.

I, like your wife, am a wine drinker and have been really surprised at the wines offered in Ireland from all over the world.

Yes , we ate at the Old Ground's Poet's Corner the night we arrived in Ireland and the night before we returned. The lamb cutlets are the best I've ever had. love the ambiance as well!! Day 6, I walked over to the golf course in Ballybunion. very windy and cold. walked around the course for about an hour,no golfers. there's a walkway to the beach right through the course so I walked on the beach and then returned for my big Irish breakfast at the 19th lodge.We drove down to Dingle and drove on the beach at Castlegregory where there was a wind surfing competition going on. then drove over the mountain via The Connor Pass (wow!!) great views!! drove over to Dingle and checked into Heaton's Guesthouse. VERY NICE!! we had a suite and it was big and beautiful. Nuala and Cameron Heaton are wonderful hosts. Dingle is a nice little town with some great pubs and music. We had our laundry done (no laundramatts) at 1 Euro per pound. cost $30 for a load of laundry. whew!
Day 7>> started with the BIG irish breakfast. On the Heaton's menu they had things like salmon and eggs, porridge with Drambui,cream and cinnamon;the bread pudding was as good as I have ever had, and that includes New Orleans.I cashed in some US dollars for Euros at Bank of Ireland and got a good rate ($1.46 per Euro). We drove out to do the famous Slea Head drive. nice weather made for some great views. it's only a 28 mile loop but it took us all day. lots of pictures, hiking and we brought a picnic . Ryan's Daughter was filmed in part there so we had our picnic on that beach.Alot of people were bicycling the loop,you can rent one in Dingle.several small towns on the loop for food and beverages . Ate dinner that night at Heaton's. I had the chowder and black sole (local fish) awesome!

Thanks this is a great report. Keep it coming please.

I've enjoyed reading about your trip to Ireland.

We drove from Dublin to Dingle and up to Galway last summer and didn't bother with a GPS. Instead, we brought the Michelin touring and motoring atlas with us and it was all that we needed. I highly recommend it.

Now that we have a car we can stop and go when where and when we want. Along the way we stopped at grocery stores and bought water and food for the road and picnics. Wine and beer for later at the B&B.Castles,churches,ruins in the towns sometimes on the edge sometimes in the middle. Regardless,the history is RIGHT THERE. The Irish are so CONNECTED with their past. they have a genuine identity and pride to go with it. The food,music,dancing,crafts etc are just the tip of the pride iceberg. I found myself interacting with them for the mere pleasure of interacting with NICE people.Seemingly everyone has time to chat,to help you if you need it. On the train from Galway to Limerick the conductor even helped us with contacting the rental car place once we got to the station. I also found myself wanting to be more Irish,my great-grandmother's maiden name was Donovan. Like I wanted to be connected.to be one of them.Respect is everywhere from the way they look to the way they act to the way they keep their yards and homes. Such a nice change from where I live in Florida.
we left Dingle and headed east off the peninsula. Nice drive. They say that during the high season the narrow roads are packed with tour busses and the driving becomes very hectic. Glad we did it in May. We stopped at Inch beach. in the 18th century looters would mislead ships in with lanterns and then loot them . not very nice... I wonder if they were Irish? You can drive on Inch Beach and we saw somebody actually driving full speed right into the waves. Couldn't believe the car didn't stall.We didn't have any reservations for the night so we didn't really have a destination. The Ring of kerry was on our itinerary so we drove along and stopped at Valencia Island on the very west end. we were wanting to go see the Skelligs but the ferry wasn't running that day because of high seas. Valencia Island was very interesting. there was a heritage center where there was info galore on Skellig Michael. well worth the 4 Euro admission... even had a 20 minute film . There are hotels and B&B's on the island (which you can drive to) but we opted to move on. We ended up that day in Waterville. Charlie Chaplin visited there alot and there's even a statue of him . We decided also to stay at B&B's to save money.We stayed at a nice one near the famous Waterville Golf Club for only 60 Euros.Went in to town and ate at the Lobster Bar. Food and locals were great as usual. If you use a credit card at a B&B they charge you an extra 5% because that's what they are charged. So, if you use cash,it's cheaper.Some don't even accept credit cards so ya better ask first.

Thanks so much for the great posts. They are very informative! We are headed to Ireland 6/8-6/18. We plan to be in Dublin till 6/12 then head off to Kilkenny for 1 night,Kinsale for 1 night,2 nights in Killarney and 1 in Ballyvaughn returning to Dublin and leaving the next day. Is this a do able itinerary? also we haven't booked any lodging for Kinsale or Killarney, should we do this ahead of time or wait and see how the journey goes?

it is do able . We went all the way from Cork City (actually Cobh) to Doolin in about 3 hours. The highways are great. so, if you go all the way from Killarney to Ballyvaughn plan on half a day. Are you going to see the Cliffs and then stay in Ballyvaughn? if so, you can stay in Doolin,much closer. We drove through Ballyvaughn on the way back to Ennis. Not much there. O'Connor's Pub in Doolin has great food and music and the PAIRC B&B 2 minutes walk away is fantastic. Bring cash if you're staying at Pairc.as for booking before you go... I can't say if that's a good idea or not. I understand June is when business really starts picking up.