Blank

New to these forums, and I was hoping for some advice and recommendations for a friend and I who want to plan a trip there soon. We are thinking July or August, and 1-2 weeks to spend there, typical weather that time of year seems good?

Here are what are goals are:
*Not stay in one spot. We want to travel around to see interesting landmarks, natural scenery, coastal
scenery and towns that are worth the effort.
*Definitely visit Dublin for however long is recommended. Galway was also recommended.
*See and possible stay in a few Castles.
*No preference to travel method per say. Switching up between a rental car, train, biking, and hiking a bit
would all be nice.

I really appreciate any advice people can give with the above in mind. We don't want a strict schedule, just want to relax and see cool things at our own pace and try to hit the list.

We are both flying out from the US, any other advice for cheaper tickets or travel tips would also be appreciated. Anything other than a basic passport required?

Thanks!

nytraveler

Trains in Ireland are not great and buses take a lot of time. If you can rent a car (it's very late to rent one now for July) that is your best option. Although distances are sort many roads are local and due to that and the number of wandering sheep - you should count on an average speed of about 30.

Not sure of your budget - but staying in castles is usually very expensive.

And exactly how many days you have on the ground (IMHO you need at least 2 days/3 nights for Dublin) will determine how many places you can go. Assume Jul and Aug will be crowded and you need to make lodging reservations in advance - even B&Bs,

Tony2phones

2 weeks as a Road trip will take you round 70% of the Islands coastal route, by car. relying on public transport slows things down a little and means relying on going places the tour bus's take you. Consider a week by PT and a week by car.

No car needed for Dublin 3 days. lots of tour options including Newgrange and Glendalough. Maybe walk Bray head to Greystones.

Bus to Cahir (No.8) for an overnight see the castle and Swiss cottage along with the same bus to Cashel and back after you have dropped your baggage.

Then to Cork for a couple of days to see Cobh and Kinsale.

Killarney is a good base with tour bus's doing all the Kerry sights including Invaragh (ring of Kerry) and Dingle, Gap of Dunloe

bus from Killarney to Limerick then Bus/train to Galway which has lots of touring options, Cliffs and Burren, Aran Isles, then Hire a car for the areas north and west of Galway.
http://goo.gl/maps/L5ihu
Sligo and Donegal need a car to explore as does the Connemara for which Clifden would be a good base, Westport being a good stop off before Achill island (land bridged) before Sligo, Donegal and over the Foyle into Northern Ireland for the Antrim coast then Belfast and back to Dublin dropping the car at the airport.

Just suggestions, any, all or none might work for you.

giro

After being in Ireland this past May, here are a few thoughts. We disliked Killarney, too much traffic, too big of a town to have much warmth to it. We preferred Kenmare where we stayed. After visiting the Dingle peninsula we returned our rental car to the Cork airport and took a train from cork to Dublin. If you buy train tickets a few days out they are less expensive. Friends took a train from Dublin to Galway; so I wouldn't agree that train service is poor. Using trains might add drop off charges to your rental car.
While in Dublin we took a tour bus for a day tour of the Wicklow mts. We aren't enthralled with bus tours but it was a reasonable way to see the area.
Good luck planning.

sheri_lp

I did the Dublin-Galway train right after our plane landed so we could make time without driving jet-lagged. Once we got to Galway we were easily situated, and drove happily for a week with time spent in Dingle and Kinsale.

I agree with giro that Killarney has a lot of traffic, but I thought Kenmare was a bit busy too for its size.