Looking for central base in Ireland June 2011
Oct 7th, 2010, 03:31 PM
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Looking for central base in Ireland June 2011
We are flying in and out of Dublin, June 2011 for 14 days. The 1st 5-6 days will be in Northern Ireland visiting family. Planning on staying in Portballintrae at a self catering place and doing day trips. Will this be enough time to see the North? Oh, by the way there are 4 couples travelling together and planning on renting 2 cars.
We are then heading to southern Ireland for 8-9 days, staying somewhere on the west for a few days, and then on the east for a few days. The idea is to see as much as possible of the area. I would appreciate suggestions on places to stay that would be close for day trips and easy to walk to pubs / music in the evenings.
Would also appreciate tips on places not to miss, like Dingle, Cliffs of Moher.
Thanks
We are then heading to southern Ireland for 8-9 days, staying somewhere on the west for a few days, and then on the east for a few days. The idea is to see as much as possible of the area. I would appreciate suggestions on places to stay that would be close for day trips and easy to walk to pubs / music in the evenings.
Would also appreciate tips on places not to miss, like Dingle, Cliffs of Moher.
Thanks
Oct 13th, 2010, 01:50 PM
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Galway would be a good base as you can then go north up to Donegal and Mayo and South to Clare. You also have the stunning Aran Islands a ferry ride away (Leave your cars on the mainland). There's plenty happening in Galway so you won't be twiddling your thumbs all evening.
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/West_Ireland_photos_1.htm
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/West_Ireland_photos_1.htm
Oct 14th, 2010, 07:00 AM
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I'm a bit confused. You are in Ireland for 14 days with 5-6 days in the north and then southern Ireland for 8-9 days, allowing some time for the west and some time for the east. That is a lot of territory. Not sure what you mean by east or west or southern- any ideas of where?
IMHO Ireland is best seen at a slower pace. While the country is small, it takes time to get from one place to another. One of Ireland's greatest assets is its people. If you are in the car too much, you miss that.
Complicating your planning is the number of people. Perhaps get a list of must sees from everyone to help narrow down where everyone wants to go.
I think 5 days in the north is great. There is lots of beautiful scenery there. You might want to split your 'southern' time by not going too far south. For example, I wouldn't try to go all the way down to Dingle in this trip. Instead maybe concentrate somewhere in the Galway area for the west and perhaps Dublin for the east. There are lots of possible day trips from both areas. Its hard to say what might be a must see for you, espeically when we don't know what your and your traveling companions interests are.
As for individual advice about sites, I personally would skip the Cliffs of Moher. You are going to be in the north and Slieve League is much prettier, more authentic and less crowded than the Cliffs, where now there is a wall separating you from the edge, tons of people and a steep parking fee.
Good luck with your planning. We can help you more when we get more specific information from you.
IMHO Ireland is best seen at a slower pace. While the country is small, it takes time to get from one place to another. One of Ireland's greatest assets is its people. If you are in the car too much, you miss that.
Complicating your planning is the number of people. Perhaps get a list of must sees from everyone to help narrow down where everyone wants to go.
I think 5 days in the north is great. There is lots of beautiful scenery there. You might want to split your 'southern' time by not going too far south. For example, I wouldn't try to go all the way down to Dingle in this trip. Instead maybe concentrate somewhere in the Galway area for the west and perhaps Dublin for the east. There are lots of possible day trips from both areas. Its hard to say what might be a must see for you, espeically when we don't know what your and your traveling companions interests are.
As for individual advice about sites, I personally would skip the Cliffs of Moher. You are going to be in the north and Slieve League is much prettier, more authentic and less crowded than the Cliffs, where now there is a wall separating you from the edge, tons of people and a steep parking fee.
Good luck with your planning. We can help you more when we get more specific information from you.
Oct 14th, 2010, 12:26 PM
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Wise words from egnolive.
Dingle is about as far as you can get from your departure point in Northern Ireland. The road network in Ireland tends to radiate out from Dublin with motorways going north, west and southwest (direction Cork and Limerick). Taking the direct route will involve a lot of time and it is probable that not all 8 travellers will be keen on spending such a high proportion of their trip in a car. Routing through Dublin to Dingle might make for easier driving but is still a huge time loss.
The west of Ireland might be enough, given the 8 days at your disposal.
A few suggestions: on the day you travel from the north, you should give the group a real treat by booking them into Nevin Maguire's restaurant and rooms in Blacklion, Co. Cavan. From where you will be leaving that morning, you will have plenty of time that day to explore the Fermanagh lakeland area including Enniskillen before sitting into what should be a meal to remember.
Word of warning: advance booking is absolutely essential as the place is often booked out months in advance, especially at weekends.
Next day, you have the county of Sligo at your doorstep - Lissadell House, Yeat's grave in Drumcliffe, Ben Bulben...
For your week in the west, I would favour dividing your time between Westport and Galway city. Westport is a lively small town with plenty of restaurants and pubs and offers interesting day trip options like boat trips to islands like Innisbofin and Clare Island, climbing Croagh Patrick and cycling the old Mulranny to Newport train line.
Matt Molloy's pub is one of the most popular places for Irish music in the area.
Galway city puts the cliffs of Moher within reach although you should visit the Burren for its unique landscape as well while you are in County Clare.
With a party of 8, you are the ideal size for a flight out to the Aran Islands with Aer Arann on their eight seater Islander planes. Fly to the largest island and either rent bikes or hire a minibus in Kilronan to get to Dun Aonghus fort, a spot you are not likely to forget once you have seen it.
Galway itself is always a busy spot, with one festival merging with the next during the summer months. Seek out Ti Neachtain, a pub in the middle of town that is always buzzing.
Galway now has a direct motorway link to Dublin which allows you to make it back to Dublin Airport in about three hours.
Dingle is about as far as you can get from your departure point in Northern Ireland. The road network in Ireland tends to radiate out from Dublin with motorways going north, west and southwest (direction Cork and Limerick). Taking the direct route will involve a lot of time and it is probable that not all 8 travellers will be keen on spending such a high proportion of their trip in a car. Routing through Dublin to Dingle might make for easier driving but is still a huge time loss.
The west of Ireland might be enough, given the 8 days at your disposal.
A few suggestions: on the day you travel from the north, you should give the group a real treat by booking them into Nevin Maguire's restaurant and rooms in Blacklion, Co. Cavan. From where you will be leaving that morning, you will have plenty of time that day to explore the Fermanagh lakeland area including Enniskillen before sitting into what should be a meal to remember.
Word of warning: advance booking is absolutely essential as the place is often booked out months in advance, especially at weekends.
Next day, you have the county of Sligo at your doorstep - Lissadell House, Yeat's grave in Drumcliffe, Ben Bulben...
For your week in the west, I would favour dividing your time between Westport and Galway city. Westport is a lively small town with plenty of restaurants and pubs and offers interesting day trip options like boat trips to islands like Innisbofin and Clare Island, climbing Croagh Patrick and cycling the old Mulranny to Newport train line.
Matt Molloy's pub is one of the most popular places for Irish music in the area.
Galway city puts the cliffs of Moher within reach although you should visit the Burren for its unique landscape as well while you are in County Clare.
With a party of 8, you are the ideal size for a flight out to the Aran Islands with Aer Arann on their eight seater Islander planes. Fly to the largest island and either rent bikes or hire a minibus in Kilronan to get to Dun Aonghus fort, a spot you are not likely to forget once you have seen it.
Galway itself is always a busy spot, with one festival merging with the next during the summer months. Seek out Ti Neachtain, a pub in the middle of town that is always buzzing.
Galway now has a direct motorway link to Dublin which allows you to make it back to Dublin Airport in about three hours.
Oct 16th, 2010, 10:27 AM
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Thank you all for your suggestions. You certainly have us rethinking our plans. I hear you...that it takes longer than it looks to travel around Ireland, so I shall try to not get too ambitious and restrain my fellow travellers.
So, Galway as a base, eh.
SeeDee I love the idea of flying to the Aran Islands and plan on researching that. Thanks for the heads up on Nevin Maguire's. That would make a great stop as we head west.
Egnolive, you are so right in observing that the number of people complicates it. Add in 5 who have never been to Ireland and want to do it ALL, difficult to actually come up with an itinerary. It appears that just doing the west/southwest may be it. Or am I still taking on too much?
We want to go to the Burrens and I think the Cliffs of Moher will be a must (family name) even though Slieve League may be less populated. We are all interested in scenery, mountains to ocean, so Dingle will probably stay on the list. Of the national parks Killarney and Connemara, which would you recommend? I love waterfalls which leans me towards Killarney. We also want to see castles, even stay in one (my husband wants it to be haunted!)and estates with gardens for the girls. Pubs and races for the guys. There is another good reason to have 2 cars.
No one is interested in spending more than 1 day in Dublin, so will leave it to the day before we fly out. Ideas on were to stay?
I would appreciate any feedback and will update you on our progress of streamlining an itinerary.
So, Galway as a base, eh.
SeeDee I love the idea of flying to the Aran Islands and plan on researching that. Thanks for the heads up on Nevin Maguire's. That would make a great stop as we head west.
Egnolive, you are so right in observing that the number of people complicates it. Add in 5 who have never been to Ireland and want to do it ALL, difficult to actually come up with an itinerary. It appears that just doing the west/southwest may be it. Or am I still taking on too much?
We want to go to the Burrens and I think the Cliffs of Moher will be a must (family name) even though Slieve League may be less populated. We are all interested in scenery, mountains to ocean, so Dingle will probably stay on the list. Of the national parks Killarney and Connemara, which would you recommend? I love waterfalls which leans me towards Killarney. We also want to see castles, even stay in one (my husband wants it to be haunted!)and estates with gardens for the girls. Pubs and races for the guys. There is another good reason to have 2 cars.
No one is interested in spending more than 1 day in Dublin, so will leave it to the day before we fly out. Ideas on were to stay?
I would appreciate any feedback and will update you on our progress of streamlining an itinerary.
Oct 17th, 2010, 02:16 AM
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Dingle may be the price you have to pay for democracy; it is doable in your timeframe but have your "I told you so" heavy sigh well practiced.....
Glad you are considering Nevin Maguire; he is one of Ireland's best young chefs, passionate about Irish produce and he is bound to come out and meet you if there are any foodies in the party.
Your onward progress from Blacklion takes you towards Sligo town; en route you can catch the waterfall at Glencar. Lissadell House, north of Sligo town, may be open to the public; worth a visit.
The N17 takes you out of Sligo; divert at Claremorris for Ballinrobe. From here, the idea would be to go to Ashford Castle (if the budget permits)in Cong for one night. An interesting scenic, ie. longer, route would be motoring around Lough Mask via Tourmakeady (waterfall number 2!!) and Lough Nafooey.
Would suggest two nights in Galway city to give you time for your Aran Island trip. You probably won't want to leave Ashford but it's a relatively short run to Galway so that day will still give you plenty of time to explore the city.
You can incorporate the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren in your onward progress south; if your budget is still in healthy condition, you have the option of Dromoland Castle for a stopover before you leave County Clare. Bunratty Castle nearby is not a hotel but has in interesting folk museum to visit.
Onward to Limerick, (St John's Castle) and you can also drop in to Adare Manor en route to Dingle for refreshments. Having got you to Dingle, even I need a rest, so you can get to work on some research of your own. Enjoy!
Glad you are considering Nevin Maguire; he is one of Ireland's best young chefs, passionate about Irish produce and he is bound to come out and meet you if there are any foodies in the party.
Your onward progress from Blacklion takes you towards Sligo town; en route you can catch the waterfall at Glencar. Lissadell House, north of Sligo town, may be open to the public; worth a visit.
The N17 takes you out of Sligo; divert at Claremorris for Ballinrobe. From here, the idea would be to go to Ashford Castle (if the budget permits)in Cong for one night. An interesting scenic, ie. longer, route would be motoring around Lough Mask via Tourmakeady (waterfall number 2!!) and Lough Nafooey.
Would suggest two nights in Galway city to give you time for your Aran Island trip. You probably won't want to leave Ashford but it's a relatively short run to Galway so that day will still give you plenty of time to explore the city.
You can incorporate the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren in your onward progress south; if your budget is still in healthy condition, you have the option of Dromoland Castle for a stopover before you leave County Clare. Bunratty Castle nearby is not a hotel but has in interesting folk museum to visit.
Onward to Limerick, (St John's Castle) and you can also drop in to Adare Manor en route to Dingle for refreshments. Having got you to Dingle, even I need a rest, so you can get to work on some research of your own. Enjoy!
Oct 24th, 2010, 10:35 AM
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Just a tip on McNeans (Nevin Maguire's restaurant) - you need to book it well in advance.
If they do not have accommodation you can stay at Custom House in Belcoo which is just 5 mins walk across the bridge from the restaurant (on the NI side).
If they do not have accommodation you can stay at Custom House in Belcoo which is just 5 mins walk across the bridge from the restaurant (on the NI side).
