Last minute Ireland trip-- How's this itinerary?
 

DH and I just decided to go to Ireland for a week, and we're leaving in less than 2 weeks. Without a lot of time, I was thinking about just going with the itinerary in the Ireland for Dummies book I own. Does it sound okay, generally? We're not looking for total perfection here-- it's last minute. My one question is whether it's too much. We don't have kids and are generally okay driving around to see tings and getting to see a lot. The one limitation is that I will be about 14-15 weeks pregnant. So, if it's driving a liesurely hour or two each day, that's maybe okay, but if it's going to be us rushing from one place to another and I'm going to be exhausted rather than relaxed, that's probably not so great. The itinerary is below. Feel free to say what should be cut out or added in, but keep it simple, b/c we're in a time crunch! ;) Also, would it make sense to cut something out and go out to the Aran Islands? Thanks in advance!

Day 1: Dublin (Trinity College, Guiness, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Shopping on Grafton Street, dinner)

Day 2: Dublin to Waterford (HaPenny Bridge, Post Office, drive to Waterford, stopping in Kilkenny, dinner in Waterford, stay the night)

Day 3: Waterford to Cork (Reginald Tower, Waterford Crystal, Blarney Castle, dinner in Cork)

Day 4: Cork to Killarney (a bit of shopping around Cork, Killarney National Park, lunch in Kenmare, stay the night in Killarney)

Day 5: Killarney to Galway City (lunch and visit Limierck Museum and King John's Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Galway Bay), stop on the way to Galway city to se the Poulnabrone Dolmen, Aillwee Cave in the Burren)

Day 6: Galway City to Dublin (they list some optional sites to see along the way)

When I see a header mentioning Ireland and itinerary, I expect that my first reaction will be "that's too much". You did not disappoint me: your itinerary is too much. Bear in mind that it is November, and the days are short.

I can't recommend what to cut, because there is no clear indication of what sort of thing you most enjoy. Your programme looks to me like one for a coach tour.

Padraig is right on both counts. You will have about 8 hours of daylight each day and driving times in Ireland are usually longer than you think. I wouldn't go so far south at this time of the year.

Your day two has you doing two hours of sightseeing in Dublin then picking up a rental car. A 2 or 2 1/2 drive to Kilkenny. Figure two hours to have lunch and see the castle then an hour drive to Waterford. You will probably arrive in Waterford at night. If that sound ok to you go for it.

It would have been better to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon and not have to drive back to Dublin. On top of all of this the Wx will be in the 30's and a little windy. After reading this I don't sound very helpful but one week in the winter does not allow you may options. Lastly if you think you are going to be driving at night spend tha extra money and get a GPS. Have fun

I agree with the above - you will have the 'green blur' tour rather than an enjoyable stay. Driving in Ireland is an average of 35 mph, and that's in the daylight. November has very short days, and you can't sightsee much in the dark, especially outside the city.

I would say pick an area and concentrate on it for your week. You are trying to see half the country in a week. I've been to Ireland 3 times, a total of a month, and have seen as much as you want to in a week. And even I could have slowed down :)

Use www.viamichelin.com to compute your driving times, and then add a little even to that. You will want to stop frequently and visit sites, explore areas, get lost, etc. I'd concentrate either on the Dublin area and south/north of it or the west country, but not both.

What do you want to see? Castles? Landscape? Shopping? Historical houses, abbeys, etc.? People? Depending on what you like doing, that will dictate where you want to concentrate.

I personally don't like cities much, so I don't spend much time in them anymore. The first day you will likely be very tired if you are flying transatlantic, so don't depend on seeing a lot. Seeing Trinity College/Book of Kells is reasonable, as is shopping and maybe even the cathedral - but the shopping closes at 6pm on most days, so plan accordingly.

Driving from Dublin to Kilkenny can take 3 hours alone, and that's on a main road :) Trust me, I've done it a couple times!

Yes, too much. We had ten days and went from Shannon to Dublin and did the same itinerary and it was crazy. We were driving about four hours a day on steering wheel gripping tiny roads. Definitely get out a map and do all your driving times with the 35 mph average. It is very very true.

But, now what to cut? Are your tickets set in stone or can you change them to Shannon? I personally enjoyed the west side of the country more. It was more scenic. But I did enjoy Dublin a lot and we were there in July, so I'm not sure how scenic the west side would be in November. Plus Dublin would give you more options after the sun goes down.

I put your route into here:

http://www.discoverireland.ie/RoutePlanner.aspx

And it was 812 km. So that is 505 miles, divided by 35 mph, is 14 hours in the car, divided by 7 is 2 hours per day. That doesn't include the time spent finding everything, getting lost, parking, and general sight-seeing from the car. So really double that and you will be in the car for at least four hours each day.

The Waterford factory is nice if you are into crystal, but not worth it if not, so I would cut that out.

We didn't really enjoy Cork very much.

Get a big map and pick the sites that really, really interest you and plan the most direct route.

Plus you've given yourself no time in Dublin and it is worth at least three days.

One more thing to mention. I don't know how your morning sickness is, but driving that much on those small roads isn't going to make it better.

Ireland is very deceiving. It all looks so close on the map, but for some reason, it just takes FOREVER to drive around.

When the others say it is too much, they are waaaaaaay understating the situation.

You are pregnant, want just an hour or 2 a day in the car, it is Nov w/ short days and iffy to bad weather, and want to circle the entire country in a week.

If you can't change your return flight to Shannon, I'd plan 2 days in Dublin (even though it is not my favorite city - it is worth 2 days since day one will be pretty jet lagged), then decide on <u>one</u> other area you want to visit. I'd personally choose someplace on the west coast - but it could be anywhere. Stay there 3 days and use it as a base explore. Then you have 1 day to get back to Dublin and fly home.

If you can change your flight - that simplifies things a lot. Then you could do 2 night in Dublin and spend the rest of the time over on the west coast.

I'd definitely ditch Waterford.

We still don't know what lukesaunt's interests are. There is plenty of good stuff on the east coast, conveniently accessible from Dublin.

At this time of year (particularly this year, it seems) access to options with walls and roofs seems like a good idea. Today is cold, windy, and wet, and darkness came early. It's winter. Like the summer we have just had, only colder.

Padraig: You are right there.

By &quot;<i>I'd personally choose someplace on the west coast - but it could be anywhere</i>&quot; I meant they could base anywhere - including on the east coast/near Dublin.

There is a wonderful website- discoverireland.com...Please take the advice offered by others and limit your trip to dublin plus one other area. I spent a winter in Dublin and did not see the light of day as I was at work by 9 and finished at 5...days are short and distances are LONG when you are country roads.

Gee lukesaunt... I have to agree with what everyone has said.

On paper is may sound easier than it is once you start the driving.

Maybe ( and I do not know what your interest are),you could skip Waterford and Cork for the reason given by kelliebellie.

I think from Dublin I would concentrate more on the western coast area as janisj has mentioned.

From Killarney...I briefly thought about your doing the Ring of Kerry, since you are on the western side but, that is too long of a drive .

I think if you concentrate on Limerick, Killarney, Cliffs of Moher and Galway Bay, and spend three days in Dublin ...then you have gotten a taste of Ireland.

Flying out of Shannon is a good idea,but at this late stage of the game ,I doubt you can make the change, and there may be a high price extra for the change.

However, if you had your heart set on seeing the Waterford Crystal Factory, then I guess you will go here.!

Having been to all the places you want to go.... for a six day trip ,I would skip Waterford and stay the extra day in Dublin.

There is lots to see in Dublin.

You can spend one day easy walking down O'Connell Street and doing Trinity College.

You must see the &quot;Old Library&quot; at the Trinity College.
You will never see a Library like this again.

All the other posters have given you good advice.

Take some advice from each of them to make your trip more enjoyable and not make it a &quot;Green Blur&quot; as GreenDragon was adequately phrased it.

Also with a name like Padraig...he probably lives in Ireland. :)

Percy

Thanks, everyone. Like I said, I got the itinerary from a book, and thought I would run it by here because DH and I suspected it might be too much. Interests-- Well, I think our interests in Ireland are different than what they may be when we are normally traveling. We have done a 2 week trip through England and Scotland, and I feel like we toured enough abbies and cathedrals to last us a good long time. I also don't foresee a lot of musuems for this trip. I think our primary interests would be natural scenery, visiting scenic and historic towns, perhaps touring a castle, definitely staying in a castle (corny as that may sound), and doing a lot of relaxing. Seeing whatever the &quot;must do&quot; sights are. And when I mean &quot;must do&quot; I mean, I'm not the type of person who goes to Paris and doesn't want to see the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower but would rather visit some quaint neighborhood 15 minutes out that no one goes to. Of course I want to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre! On the other hand, serious &quot;tourist traps&quot;-- things that aren't worth the wait or the trip, I'm perfectly happy skipping. So if you tell me the Blarney Stone falls into that category, chop it out. I guess what I'm saying is, I'd like to see some &quot;best of&quot; Ireland. I know what you all are saying about doing too much. We planned a trip to Scotland that was a bit too much, and ended up taking one day out and spending an extra day in Edinburough. That said, in one week, we did see Glasgow, the Isle of Skye, St. Andrews and Edinborough, and had a great time. We're pretty young, so we don't have to stay in just one place to have a good time, and we did find that driving could be stressful but also gave us an opportunity to see a lot of the countryside. Do any of you have suggestions as to what to cut out?

Also, from everything I've read, the Ring of Kerry sounds like THE &quot;must do&quot;-- am I wrong here?

Percy, if we follow your advice and go to Dublin, and then concentrate on Limerick, Killarney, Cliffs of Moher and Galway Bay, would the Ring of Kerry be totally out? It looks gorgeous.

We didn't do the whole ring of Kerry, but we did some and then back-tracked. It was beautiful.

Blarney is very cool, but touristy. Although I bet it would be pretty empty in November.

From your lists of interests then, I think you have to do the Cliffs of Moher and the Killarney National Park. We loved Adare, but others say it is cheesy. I thought it was a cute town. They have a manor house turned hotel that is amazing:

http://www.adaremanor.com/

But I've heard there are others even better, but I don't remember what they were.

The problem with Irish castles is that they were sacked by about everyone, so there really isn't much left. We found out that the term we were looking for was &quot;manor house&quot;. Yes newer, but at least it had a roof.

Based on what you say, I would definitely skip Cork. Not that cute. Which I think also means you skip Blarney, but again, okay.

The Kilkenny Castle was great, but out of your way and thronged with tour buses.

Also, look at the map and there is a car ferry somewhere between Cliffs of Moher and Adare that can save you a lot of time.

I enjoyed the Bunratty Castle too, but again, others think it is cheesy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunratty_Castle

Oh, and a lot of people bash Limerick. We didn't go, because everyone said not to.

I might have missed it but are you obligated to fly into Dubin because, if you are interested in natural scenery, castles, etc. I'd skip Dublin and promise to return again when you have more time (I've been to Dublin 3 times - I keep thinking I should like it - but I don't find it that charming).

Fly into Shannon. Visit Bunratty Castle and Folk Park (9:30-5:30). O/N (Dromoland Castle -http://www.dromoland.ie/ - if you can afford it. I certainly can't, but one call always dream.)

Drive to Killmer, take the ferry to Tarbert, drive Dingle Peninsula or Ring of Kerry. O/N.

Drive to Kinsale. On way visit seaside towns. O/N Kinsale.

Visit Cobh Interpretive Centre (10-5), seaside towns. O/N Kinsale.

Drive north, through Limerick - detour to see Rock of Cashel (open 9-4:30) and/or Cahir Castle (9-4:30). O/N. (Or drive direct to Doolin and O/N on Inishmore (Aran Islands).

O/N Doolin. See Cliffs of Moher

Fly home.

If you are stuck with Dublin, let me know and I'll give you some additional ideas (I agree with the comments about visiting the Waterford Crystal Factory and although I wouldn't detour to visit Cork city, the county is beautiful.)

Here is what we did, 3 of us plus disabled 82 yr. old MIL. Now, we did this in the summer, when days are WAY longer.

Day 10 Arrive Dublin afternoon. Drive to Trim, maybe an hour away. Stayed at Highfield House, great B&amp;B across the street from castle...

http://www.highfieldguesthouse.com/

Day 2) Next day we visited the castle for an hour or so (where they filmed lots of Braveheart). Drove over to Longcrew Cairns, some of the oldest graves in the world. Walk was too steep for MIL, so we did not go in.

Now, we stopped in Castlepollard for about 2 hours, because this is where my MIL thought her family was from. It wasn't. So, leave off this part.

Drove down from Castlepollard to where our cottage was, about an hour west of Limerick. The drive is kind of interesting. Got to the cottage about 9pm.

The cottage, Hazel Cottage is absolutely fantastic. The owners live on the same property, but it is a very large farm, so you never even see their house. This is one case where the pictures and description doesn't come anywhere near giving the cottage it's due. It is absolutely amazing and the location is FANTASTIC. Plus, it was only about $600 for the week, this time of year the price is MUCH lower.

http://hazelcottageireland.com/

Day 3 - Raining, we were tired so didn't do anything but relax at the cottage, drove around the area and played with the calves.

Day 4 - Drove the Ring of Kerry, shopping in Kilarney. Started late, got back late, didn't care. Got lost once, after leaving Killarney, but didn't matter, the scenery is amazing.

Got home about 10pm.

Day 5 - Used the ferry to cross the Shannon, 10 minutes drive from the cottage, cost is about $25. Brunch in some giant garden/home. Garden was cool, lunch was ok.

Drove up the coast road to Cliffs of Moher, stopped in a couple of small towns on the way. Spent maybe an hour or so at the cliffs. Drove back towards Shannon by way of Ennis. A neat town, spent some time at the old Friary and then searched out the old church.

Made it to Bunratty by about 6pm. MIL wanted the Medieval Banquet. It was expensive, but worth it, she had a great time.

Got home about 1 am.

Day 6 - drove into Limerick. Saw King John's castle, but didn't spend much time there. Went out to Shannon airport for late afternoon flight to Bristol.

Now, the biggest lifesaver on the trip was our laptop/GPS system. We use a ProGin 108 receiver and AutoRoute 2007. The software was dead on accurate and we usually only took the really small roads. That software even had the driveway to the cottage. I'm sure TomTom or Garmin has the equal.

We did not leave before 9am, due to the hoops we have to jump through getting MIL ready.

Pretty much we drove around, stopped at all kinds of little places, met lots of people and saw lots of stuff. With MIL, about 1-2 hour stretch of driving was all she could take without a break.

This time of year, your days are going to be MUCH shorter, but even at that you can see alot.

Have fun,

dave

I agree with the above - if you can fly into Shannon, there is easily a week's worth of fantastic scenery and such for you to see. If I had to choose between Dingle and the Ring of Kerry, I'd choose Dingle, but both are beautiful. The Cliffs of Moher are a must-see, as is Dingle. Other sites are the Burren, the Ailwee Caves, Poulnabrone Dolmen - all of those can be seen on a day with the Cliffs, if you like. I don't think the ferry from Doolin will run in November to allow you over to the Aran Islands. I enjoyed Bunratty (ceilidh in the corn barn, folk park, castle), even if it was touristy.

If you are stuck flying into Dublin, there is still plenty. How about a day trip north to visit Malahide Castle, hang out on the beach? Another day trip could be west to the National Stud &amp; Japanese Gardens. A couple days could be spent south of Dublin at Powerscourt Gardens, Powerscourt Falls, Glendalough Abbey (my favorite of ALL the abbey's I've been to for the beautiful valley setting). Driving through the Wicklow Mountains alone was worth the trip, for me. Add a couple days in Dublin proper, and you've got a full week. :)

They do not call the book Ireland for Dummies for nothing. You would have to be a dummy to follow that exhausting itinerary.

The Fodors members have offered valuable advice and most of it is to slow it down. They have also offered their own favorites to the mix. This is the shotgun approach to planning a trip. You are being sent off in all different direction.

Considering that you may want a couple of days in Dublin and your last night there, that will give you 4 other days to play with. Do you really want to drive 4 hours to the west coast and four hours back again? Basically it is a waste of 2 days.

You could spend your whole time in Dublin and do day trips from there. That would save on the cost of renting a car.

On the other hand if you want to rent a car and get into the country you could stick closer to the EAST coast. There is plenty to do and see there even though it it always the SW that is mentioned. Ireland is full of interesting things to see and do everywhere not just on the main tourist trail.

There are some castles to stay at near the east. Clontarf, Kilkea and Smarmore being three.

Make it easy on yourself and your baby. Don't fall for the &quot;green blur&quot; tour or you will be exhausted.

Good luck with your last minute planning.

For what you want - I agree that it would be much better to fly in/out of Shannon and skip Dublin entirely.

If you can't change your flights - you could always fly to Shannon (or Cork) from Dublin. That will save you the best part of 2 days on your itinerary.

Lots of good advice , but I do not know if you can change the flight to Shannon fom Dublin , since as you said:

You are &quot;leaving in less than two weeks&quot;.


In answer to your question, if you concentrate on the West Coast, then yes you have time to do the Ring of Kerry.

It is a gorgeous circular drive, start out early in the morning from Killarney.

Or as was stated you can do Dingle.

When you are in Galway (Bay), you should follow Bing Crosby's footsteps from his memorable song of &quot;Galway Bay&quot;.

This was the first place I went to when I was there.

Just ask anyone to point you to the Spanish Arch...you can walk there easily.

Here are the first four lines of the famous song:

&quot;If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You will sit and watch the moonrise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay&quot;

Now lukesaunt,........... Claddagh means &quot;a stony walkway&quot;.. and that is what you will be walking along on once you past through the Spanish Arch.

You are now walking along the famous Galway Bay !!

Let me just say that when in Galway,you are very close to where John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara filmed &quot;The Quiet Man&quot;!

I think I will stop here because you have so much good advice, it is just a matter of how you will alter your trip now to make it more enjoyable and relaxing.

( PS. I would have liked for you to kiss the Blarney Stone , but it is too much out of the way!!)

Percy

Everyone has given some good advice. It sounds like you are enterested in the Ring of Kerry, but I guestion if it is possible to drive and enjoy the entire route in one day with such short day light hours. Padraig and others may know best about this, but I will say it took us a very long day. (Maybe we are just slower than most.?)

No matter where you go in Ireland, you are guaranteed to have a great time!

See, now THIS is why I come on these boards to plan trips. I always get the BEST advice. I have printed out everything you guys said above, and am highlighting it and planning to revamp tonight. We're looking into the flight suggestion, and we'll see what happens, but I have enough here to plan a great, RELAXING trip. Thank you!

It's the wrong time of year for the sort of trip that lukesaunt and some others have been discussing. We're talking about late November.

I really think the RoK is a bad idea in these circumstances. There is not enough time to do it within daylight hours, and there is a high risk of losing the scenery in rain or mist.

If you stay near Dublin you have possibilities in the city for wet days, and you can avail of any good weather to head 30 miles north to Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, perhaps even the next 30 miles to the Cooley Peninsula. Or you can go 15 miles south into the Wicklow Mountains and visit Glendalough. A day trip to Kilkenny is also feasible.

If you come in winter, it is best to do winter tourism.

Padraig:

This is a wild guess :) but is your last name Harrington !

Just kidding ! ((B)) Guiness !

I read on another posting that you indeed are in Ireland... therefore your information supersedes anything I could say. !

Percy

Percy wrote: &quot;I read on another posting that you indeed are in Ireland... therefore your information supersedes anything I could say.&quot;

A kind offer, sir, but I decline it. I have a better chance of knowing the facts than many visitors do, but opinions are fair game for all.

Fact: the Gaelic word &quot;cladach&quot; means beach or shore. Another fact: it can also mean beaten path. I invite your opinion on which meaning gave a name to An Cladach (the Claddagh).

Weather report: It rained during the night, but when I got up I saw blue sky and sunshine. If I were on holidays near Dublin I might think it a good day for heading into the Wicklow Mountains (I would have spent yesterday in the National Museum and similar places). There has already been one good shower since.

Padraig - what happens in the winter? Do you get snow? Do all the trees lose their leaves? Is it still so green or is it brown? I sadly have no idea.

Ireland in winter... aah.

I look out the window and I see some trees and shrubs bare of leaves, and others still shedding. Of course, we also have some evergreens, introduced varieties of pine and native plants like holly.

The grass remains green, but growth is arrested, so the livestock are indoors on winter rations (still mainly grass-fed, in the form of silage or hay). Sheep, however, are still foraging the mountains.

Shorter days, a bit more rain that feels like a lot more rain because there might not be enough warmth between showers to dry things. Morning frosts are common from this time of year onwards, but the temperature usually rises several degrees above freezing during the day.

We don't get much snow. Some years we have none at all; more typically we might have about three or four days on which there is noticeable snowfall, mainly in January; it doesn't always lie on the ground for long. Once -- just once -- we were snowed in for a week in my quiet rural location (had it been really urgent, I could have battled my way out, but we had enough food in the house, and it was cosy). We don't cope very well with snow because we don't get enough of it to be trained and equipped for it. Snow chains? No. Snow shovels? No. Snow ploughs? Blades temporarily fixed to council trucks; otherwise, no. Road gritting? Some, but really for dealing with frost and ice.

lukesaunt

Forgive me for hijacking your post ,but I have a question for Padriag.

Padraig, when I did the ring of Kerry, I stopped off at a place called Waterville( I think that is the name).

I recall walking across the street to a beach area, and I saw a statue or monument here.

I do not know who it was for.

I think ,but I am not sure, that it could have been to Charlie Chaplin(?).
I did not take a picture here,like I did at the Molly Malone and James Joyce statues in Dublin.

Is there a statue, monument or some dedication here to Charlie Chaplin.?

If not then it's back to the drawing board !!

Thank you for letting me invade your memory bank

Percy

yes-there is a statue of Charlie Chaplin in Waterville . . .

Hi,
There is a statue of Charlie Chaplin in Waterville. He and his family used to vacation there. If you do a search of &quot;Charlie Chaplin and the Ring of Kerry&quot; several sites will come up with pictures of the statue. Sorry, I do not know how to cut and paste, put the links here or whatever they call it.
Hope this was helpful.

Seeing that the question has been answered before I saw it, all there is left for me to do is add an url: http://www.pbase.com/trip/image/216003

[Not my picture]

Thanks Padraig! It sounds sort of like what maybe Seattle gets in winter. I haven't been there. We (Michigan) always seem to have at least a foot of snow on the ground from December to March. It would be nice to see green grass (and not have to mow it).

kelliebellie wrote: &quot;It sounds sort of like what maybe Seattle gets in winter.&quot;

Yes, or Vancouver. The comparison is often made. Geographically, there are similar factors in play.

You're in the equivalent of Poland or Belarus. Except that they have at least 30cm. of snow.

Thanks janisj, Roisin and Padraig.

Thanks for the direct link Padraig.

I copied the picture and put it in my Ireland Trip Folder.

Good Night

Percy ( now for some I-) )