kwren

Our 20 year old son just arrived in Dublin for a 2 month internship and we (me, DH and our 20 year old daughter) have decided to visit him for 10 days 2 weeks from now. This post will be a work in progress as we try to quickly put together an itinerary while doing as much research as possible in the meantime. I'm confident we can pull it off...especially with the help we always receive from everyone here! Thanks in advance!

We will arrive in Dublin early on a Friday morning and leave from Dublin two Mondays later giving us a good 10 days. We planned this over 2 weekends since those are when our son is free to tour with us. We would like to concentrate on the western part of Ireland and will rent a car, probably through Dan Dooley. Wish we had considered at least one way into or out of Shannon but it's too late for that now, and we wanted to spend as much time with DS as possible over the 2 weekends.

Why did we wait so long to start? We wanted to see what excursions would be offered to our son so we would not duplicate anything for him, while still being a relaxing trip for us...well, maybe not so relaxing the first couple of days, but the weekdays between the weekends should be! He had not received any information until arriving this week so that limited us other than some beginning research with not many decisions made.

Here is a very loose set of ideas for the first part of the trip. I would love any suggestions! We love scenery, and are interested in Irish music, folklore, hikes (unless it's raining which I know it does a lot!) and are not up for museums as much this trip.

Friday - arrive - DS gets out of class about 1:00 so we don't have a lot of time to go into Dublin. Maybe we might visit a seaside town near Dublin. Any favorites?

We had wanted to go to Newgrange, but decided that we didn't have enough time for that this day based on some other posts. I know the usual thinking (mine included) that we shouldn't go much of a long distance the day of arrival, but our son would like to see the Burren so we feel that we would need the full day there Saturday. Therefore, we are contemplating driving west once we meet up with him, planning to take turns driving/napping when needed.

We thought we could make it at least to Killarney for a hotel. We'd love to get to Doolin that night, but maybe that's a bit much driving for that day. Opinions? The top Tripadvisor B&Bs are full for that and the next few nights.

Saturday - Burren, Bunratty Castle. Would the "theme park" section be interesting for 2 20 year olds and adults or is it more geared to younger kids? My son thought the medieval banquet sounded fun, but I'd like some advice on that too. Too much? This could shape up to be our most touristy day, but I can do that once for DS!

Has anyone ever stayed in the Doolin Hotel or have a better suggestion for tonight? As I mentioned above, some of the B&Bs are already booked. We'd like to stay in one place as a base for about 3 nights.

Sunday - Take our time getting out today. We'll drive along the coast up to Galway. Maybe walk along the cliffs, depending on the weather.

Next couple of days - we'd like to stay put a few days and visit the Aran Islands, take a boat ride along the cliffs, hear some Irish pub music. I heard it's very good in Doolin, but is that also where the tourist busses go?

Tuesday - we've toyed with going up to Sligo to see the tombs. I don't know if the payoff will be good enough for the amount of time to drive. We'd maybe go back south to the same hotel in this case...

...OR...

just take a southerly route towards Dingle and/or the Ring of Kerry. Any preferences?

I guess that would be Wednesday.

Thursday/Friday - make our way east - Kinsale, waterford? Too much driving? Friday evening DS will take a train to meet us somewhere - maybe Kilkenny?

Saturday - We could visit the Rock of Cashel and Wicklow Mountains

(You can see my research has not quite gotten this far thus the lack of detail - all suggestions welcome!)

The alternative is to skip Waterford, meet DS closer to Dublin, drive north and go to Newgrange Saturday, especially if we skip the Sligo area. My husband is interested in seeing one of those tombs.

Sunday will be in Dublin - Trinity College, Temple Bar, fish n chips , and a comedy club or pub crawl that night. I booked a B&B close to the Dublin City University campus to be near DS and to have east access to go back to the airport Monday morning.

We leave Monday.

Tony2phones

Consider.. Friday night Brazen Head Tales and Folklore? Saturday drive over to Galway.. http://goo.gl/maps/FDZCV Use Galway as a base for the weekend, your son can take the express bus or Train back to Dublin.. after seeing some of the Burren and Cliffs (Inis Oirr and Cliffs Combi cruise) http://goo.gl/maps/xMOHV I can think of no good reason to stay in Doolin nice to visit but not to stay.. Kinvara possibly but Galway would be the better base.. If Kinvara consider the Banquet at Dunguaire http://www.kinvara.com/dunc.html

You have a good look around Connemara for a few days maybe from Clifden http://goo.gl/Ek8bpw http://goo.gl/maps/uqIi8 before North Mayo (Achill Island?) & Sligo possibly south Donegal (Slieve League?)

Thats week one and your son can get the Dublin Coach to Ennis meeting you there on Friday night (Bunratty banquet ? Dublin Coach stops in Bunratty) Saturday the essential visit to Dingle or Killarney Ring of Kerry then back to Dublin Sunday via Rock of Cashel or National Stud Japanese Gardens?

Fly home Monday..

jaja

Have done the Bunratty banquet twice and the Knappogue once and they were shoulder to shoulder on benches (at Knappogue I was perched on the end of a bench with about half my rather substantial fundament hanging off)...found the Irish Night in the Corn Barn at Bunratty much more enjoyable (3 times).

flpab

Skip Waterford and the Bunratty banquet. Newgrange is so interesting. It is a wait sometimes to get in though. We bought tickets, did the museum, ate lunch there and then got the call to board the bus. Only so many people can go inside together.

flpab

http://www.newgrange.com/visitor.htm We went on a weekday so wasn't so bad.

flpab

Sorry, I just thought about Green Dragon, she is the best for tombs. Read her trip reports or maybe she will see this and offer another suggestion. I am just afraid it will be packed and you won't get to see it. You have to take their van to the site.

kwren

Thanks for the replies - lots to think about and not enough time to do all that we want to do! Of course, this all generated a whole new round of questions!

I've been reading that many people take 2 days to do the Ring of Kerry. If we only spend one day there, is there a certain section anyone can recommend or is that a bad idea?

jaja - Irish night looks fun - can we arrive and buy tickets just for that? Or should we order in advance? You can do the Irish night without going into the castle I presume? We might do that, stay overnight and go to the castle the next day. My only concern is that that castle - or at least the grounds - might be too touristy.

flpab - have you done the Irish night?

I love your suggestions Tony. We were thinking Inishmor, but this combi cruise sounds much more practical. Do we need to buy tickets in advance or can we buy them when we arrive? I would hate to buy in advance and then that day is pouring rain.

Should we stay one night in Doolin to take the combo cruise? (I also read that there are great pubs with music in Doolin if we stay overnight there, but that a lot of them fill up with large tour bus groups. I assume we could find the same thing in Galway? If so, 'where?' will be a future question) If we stay in Galway, how long does it take to go to Doolin to catch the cruise? What time should we leave in the morning to allow enough driving and parking time? Is parking a problem by the ferry? Which cruise do you recommend - 10-2 or 10-4? I think the plan would be to go back to Galway to take DS to the train/bus afterwards. Would there be a better place to drop him off after the cruise?

Is train or bus better from Galway to Dublin? Did I read that busses leave from the train station? I don't know if I looked at the best website, but it listed the following stops: Dublin, Dublin Heuston, Dublin Connolly, Dublin Pearse and Dublin via Luas/Bus. My son will be going back to the Dublin City University. Which would he take? I'm thinking that he could take the 19:20 train, but I don't know how late busses run in Dublin to get him back to the campus.

Is the National Stud a good choice for people who are not horse lovers? We like them, just don't go out of our way to see them, even though it does sound interesting for me at least. Does one entry fee cover both that and the Japanese Gardens? How long to plan at that stop for both things?

Tony - when you say the 'essential visit to Dingle', do you mean an overnight, or just a stop before going out to the Ring of Kerry? Can you please give me more info?

I keep reading about that dolphin at Dingle!

Seems like going north from Galway up to Sligo, then back down south to the Ring of Kerry is a lot. If we only do one or the other, which do people recommend?

I appreciate all the info...even though my head is spinning!

Tony2phones

Dingle. Doolin. Kinsale.. 3 places pushed forwards buy our own tourist board for whatever reason.. There is nothing unique about any of them apart from Disney style tourist hype..

The ring of Kerry takes 5 hours by tour bus no need to drive, but allow a full day not 2..

Dingle is 1/2 the size of the Burren cliffs of Moher eco park,, the whole Dingle peninsula covers 217 sq miles less than 1/4 of this accessible by car.

With the time you have as I had broken it down then you can cover the triangle from Sligo to Kenmare with Dublin as the apex. http://goo.gl/maps/vXGTj (I will work on that as it makes a potentially good route option for others)

kwren

you're saying to stay in Clifden and tour Sligo, Achill Island and Slieve League from there, right? Would all that be too much to see in one full day? Which of those could we comfortably do in one day?

Tony2phones

I think better with a map in hand, Galway as a family, then you meander up to Westport for a couple of days, Sligo for another couple then drop to Ennis where your son can meet you on the Friday. Then round Dingle to Killarney and a long day back to a Dublin Airport hotel.

working on the map, overnight points marked but moveable

OReilly

I took the bus ONCE from Dublin to Galway, and it was awful - too long. Definitely take the train.

I adore the Clifden area - we stayed at least 8 times over the years, but that was several years ago. Great drive to Westport.

Check these out for Driving Tours:

http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Irela...der_0471776513

http://www.karenbrown.com/ListItiner...d/00000002.php

jaja

The Irish Night requires reservations. http://www.shannonheritage.com/Eveni...nalIrishNight/
No, you needn't go to the Castle to attend the Ceili in the Corn Barn. The Castle and grounds are fairly authentic; the Irish Night is touristy but what the heck, you are tourists!
If you need an idea of a place to stay nearby I have a couple of recommendations.

Tony2phones

There are 4 bus's between Dublin and Galway, 2 express, 1 semi express and a commuter service.. either Go Bus or City Link express are as fast as and generally cheaper than the train for your son ,, probably worth him looking into getting a Student Pass for his time here.

flpab

we did the go bus for cheap and it was quick. We had a brand new double decker one way. It was 25 euro rt.
I have never done the Irish night. This is where Tony and I disagree. I love Doolin. McGanns, McDermoots and O'Connors are great entertainment. Some of us rode horses after the trip to the Aran islands. You can stay in Galway and do Inishmore which has the most beautiful cliffs, better than the cliffs of Moher imo.

indiancouple

kwren, I know that you have read my Trip Report of Ireland, and also commented on it. Just to add to the advice given to you by other posters here. I too would recommend using Galway and Killarney as your bases to stay on the southwest part of Ireland. Doolin is way too small a place. Likewise for Clifden. We found Galway to have the best trad music pubs in Ireland, and the liveliest city centre. Dingle is a very nice town to visit, but I am glad we stayed at Killarney, which has far more to offer in terms of things to do in the evening.

The Burren and Cliffs of Moher are a short drive from Galway, as is the Connemara region. The Ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula are easily doable from Killarney.

No parking problems almost anywhere in Ireland.

kwren

Thanks indiancouple - looking at staying outside of Killarney for 2 nights.

Lady1

Been to Ireland 3 times but seems many of these respondents are local with great advice, but as an American used to our roads, I would advise you to look at road distances and calculate it will probably take you as much as twice as long to get from one place to another as it would here unless you are traveling a motorway. Many roads are much narrower, curvier and have farm vehicles that are very slow. Just take a close look at the map and pay attention to what kind of road you will be traveling. Our first trip we were unable to keep to the schedule we had set because of our unfamiliarity with the roads.

You can make great time on motorways, but the smaller roads are time killers. Especially considering you will be unfamiliar with driving on the other side of the road.

Also, when you rent your car, consider that if you don't pay the extra for automatic transmission, you will not only be driving on an unfamiliar side of the road, you will be shifting with your left hand. Even if you are left handed, you won't be used to that. We always pay extra for automatic. Saves on the nerves

kwren

Thanks Lady1 - I wrote to DanDooley today to ask about an upgrade. We had considered everything you wrote...except for shifting with the other hand. Do you use the right foot on the clutch or is that the same?

Has anyone been to the following castles:
Bunratty
Dunguaire
Kilkenny
Rock of Cashel

Would it be too boring for teenagers (well, they are 20) to go to all of them? My kids want to see a couple of castles. Which might appeal the most?

kwren

We also don't want to be on the run the entire vacation. There is no doubt we could see all the areas mentioned above if we drive and drive and drive, but that isn't too relaxing, so which do you prefer in terms of beautiful scenery:

Ring of Kerry vs Dingle Peninsula

And which would you prefer to go to:

Connemara or the Sligo area to see the tombs

Here is what we have set up so far:

Friday - arrive and pick up DS at Dublin City University, make our way slowly west, staying in Ennis for 2 nights (tried Kinvara, but everywhere I wrote to is full. Ennis might make more sense considering the next 2 days)

Saturday - combo tour to Inisheer and cliffs, Bunratty Castle Traditional Irish Night
How long does it take to get to Ennis from there. Should we stay near the castle?

Sunday - Burren, drive by Dunguaire Castle, drive by the top of the cliffs, take DS to Galway for bus or train

Monday - Connemara or Carromore/Carrowkeel near Sligo. Preferences?

Tuesday - make our way south toward Killarney, maybe via Dingle Peninsula, maybe not. Wanted to stay at Friar's Glen for 2-3 nights, but a triple room is not available Tues night.

Wednesday - Ring of Kerry

Thursday - a more relaxing day maybe in the Killarney National Park area - suggestions welcome

Friday/Saturday - Waterford (we have a personal reason to see it being made but realize it's not at the top of many people's lists), National Stud/Japanese Gardens, Avoca Mills, Kilkenny Castle +/- Rock of Cashel. We have to pick up our son at a train station somewhere late Friday afternoon.
Alternately, we could do only a couple of these things and go up to Newgrange and Monasterboice on Saturday, and stay in Dublin that night. I think DS would like to travel farther from Dublin.

Sunday - leave from Dublin

jaja

The pedal arrangement is the same as you are used to....petrol and brake right, clutch left. I can only speak from my own experience but I have in 8 trips had no trouble at all shifting to shifting with my left hand. Just depends on budget...only once did I spare the brass for automatic and that was when I had to young-teen boys with me and felt that I would be distracted!

Hard to choose between Connemara and the Sligo area. There is much to do and see around Sligo. And then there's Achill Island...one of my particular favorites.

Ennis to Bunratty is about ½ an hour. You will be on the motorway for most of the trip. Alcohol is served at the Irish Night so you might consider that.