karenwliu

Hi,

My husband and I have planned a last minute trip to Ireland. Here is our tentative itinerary:

Day 1: Fly from CA to Dublin
Day 2: Dublin
Day 3: Dublin
Day 4: Drive to Kilkenny/Rock of Cashel. Spend night in Kilkenny.
Day 5: Drive to Dingle. Spend night in Dingle.
Day 6: Drive Dingle Peninsula Loop. Spend night in Dingle?
Day 7: Take Tarbert-Killimer ferry. Visit Cliffs of Moher. Spend night in Doolin or Galway.
Day 8: Drive from Doolin or Galway to Dublin. Spend night in Dublin.
Day 9: Flight back to CA.

Is this itinerary feasible? Are there any sights I should add or remove? Thanks for your help.

runnerB

Driving aroung the Dingle loop is breathtaking and be sure to eat at Out Of The Blue,a tiny but much acclaimed seafood resturaunt in Dingle,if you like seafood.It's magical...but tucked along towards the end of the seafront so don't be tempted into all the other pubs and resturaunts along the way!It has Bridgestone quide awards and I ate there on my last trip to Dingle.

By the way,check out the side of Murphy's pub in the main square when you get there .I'm one of the few traditional handpainting signwriters left and there is a huge cutout wooden painter on the gable with a Murphy's Brewery crest,which i made in my studios and transported down to Dingle.It'll make sense when you see it.Actually,you'll spot them all over Kerry and Cork as you travel around!!Enjoy the trip and be sure to fill the car with petrol before you head for Dingle...it's a long way out there!!!

Best of luck
Runnerb

GreenDragon

It would make much more sense, if you can, to do an open-jaw flight - into Dublin and out of Shannon. It would save you a lot of travel time on the last two days, days you could better spend enjoying sites. The drive isn't very spectacular to Dublin If you can do that, I would suggest spending the extra day exploring the Burren area

Other than that, you've got a good, solid plan. Not too many 1-nighters, and doing well to explore just the two areas, Dublin and County Clare. IMHO, Clare is one of the more beautiful areas of Ireland, especially the Dingle Peninsula.

karenwliu

Hi -

Thanks runnerB for the restaurant suggestion and we'll definitely be sure to check out the side of Murphy's pub for your work!
Thanks GreenDragon for your suggestion to fly open jaw. We will most likely fly home from Shannon Airport -- I thought flying open jaw might be significantly more expensive, but it's not!

Ok -- one more question - we're flying out next Friday, October 24th. I'm planning on making hotel arrangements in Dublin. My husband suggested that we book the rest of the accommodations as we travel. Normally, I would totally balk at not having set plans, but since we're traveling outside of high-tourist season, I think we might be ok. Do you think that is a major problem?

Thanks!!!

GreenDragon

You shouldn't have a problem this time of the year. Most places will still be open, but not crowded. Later in the year they may be closed. I was surprised, as well, that open-jaw are often around the same price - that's exactly what we did in 2006. If you want to read my trip report, it's here:

http://www.greendragonartist.com/BI/...eports2006.htm

GreenDragon

Yikes! Just realized most of my photos on that site are dead - gotta redo...

Gumper2007

Have a geat trip, but please remember that the days will be a bit short at the end of October. I suggest you find out the sunrises and sunset times.

Brit

Another good restaurant in Dingle is the Global Village. I think that's a dreadful name for a restaurant, but the food was delicious.

GreenDragon

If you like good Chinese food, Dingle has a restaurant called Tir na Ri, (Land of the Kings). The proprietor's last name means King in Chinese, as his Irish girlfriend explained

althom1122

Too much driving on day 4 if you plan to go to Cashel and then back to Kilkenny for the night. I'd suggest spending the night at Cashel instead.
If you fly home from Shannon (yes, a better idea), you might want to consider a daytrip to the Aran Islands.
My pictures from a trip very similar to yours:
http://kbutler1122.zenfolio.com/f173246035

And my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34512649

Good luck,
Karen

Padraig

A better solution might be to leave Cashel until the morning of day 5. Kilkenny is a far better place to overnight than is Cashel, and for all but specialists, a visit to the rock need not take more than an hour.

I don't think karenwliu should plan a visit to the Aran Islands. It's not the best time of year for it. Her programme is sufficient for the time, and allows some scope for adjusting for bad weather (we have been having a lot of it) or for accommodating other things that are geographically convenient to the route, such as taking a look at the Burren.

karenwliu

Hi all --

THANK YOU! Thank you! Thank you for providing great ideas and input. Your comments and trip reports have me so excited for the trip! I have revised my itinerary as follows:

Day 1: Board red eye flight to Dublin.
Day 2: Land in Dublin EARLY in the morning. Take some melatonin and fight off jetlag. Explore as much as we can.

Day 3: Dublin

Day 4: Finish Dublin. Either pick up rental car and drive to Kilkenny OR take train to Kilkenny and pick up rental car. Explore Kilkenny.

Day 5: Finish Kilkenny. Rock of Cashel. Drive to Dingle. Spend night in Dingle Town.

Day 6: Drive Dingle Peninsula Loop. Spend night in Dingle Town.
Day 7: Take Tarbert-Killimer ferry. Visit Cliffs of Moher. Spend night in Doolin or Galway.

Day 8: Free day. I think this gives me a little flexibility with the itinerary. I'll use this either to explore the Burren or as a make-up day. Spend night near Shannon Airport.

Day 9: Flight back to CA.


Just a couple questions:
1.) This is the first time I'm renting a car in Europe. I'll be sure to get a smaller car to navigate narrow roads. According to Rick Steves - buying the CDW insurance plus the Super CDW will be the easiest, but priciest option. What do you recommend?
2.) Quite a few people have recommended waterproof shoes. Is this really necessary? Just wondering if I can get away with wearing sneakers or my leather shoes.

Thanks!

-K

GreenDragon

This time of year, get shoes you can get wet and won't make your feet cold... trust me. There is a reason the country is so green.

Insurance is a hard one, as ireland is one of the countries most US credit cards will NOT cover for rental insurance. Therefore, you will probably have to purchase the CDW, which can double your car rental price. But trust me - it's not worth it to skip insurance, as it is an adventure (to say the least) driving in Ireland

Padraig

karenwliu wrote: "Quite a few people have recommended waterproof shoes. Is this really necessary? Just wondering if I can get away with wearing sneakers or my leather shoes."

It depends on exactly what you want to do, and how water-resistant your shoes are. Some of the activities that you have in mind involve walking on grass that might be long (Rock of Cashel, Cliffs of Moher, Burren). If you take some care, and your shoes are somewhat water-resistant, you can get away with it.

Remember also that wet grass can be slippy, so choose footwear to take account of that factor.

It might not rain, but I wouldn't plan my trip with such an assumption.

GreenDragon

Not only can wet grass be slippy, but the sheepshit on it is VERY slippy. Trust me, I know wherefore I speak - the Kells Abbey grass, while lovely green, was COVERED in the stuff. Since it was misty rain, every step had to be very carefully taken. I was very glad I wasn't wearing sandals that day!

karenwliu

Thanks Padraig and GreenDragon - I'm going to bring my waterproof hiking shoes. I'd like to avoid wet feet and slipping on sheepshite.

Can anyone recommend a decent hotel or B&B near the Shannon Airport? I checked TripAdvisor -- the hotel and B&B options near the airport have received terrible reviews!

onetwo

Perhaps you should be looking in Bunratty instead of Shannon. It is only 15 minutes from the airport.

pittpurple

I think it's a really good plan! I haven't made it to Dublin yet, but we spent 5 days in the SW and had an amazing time.
We stayed in Dingle for a night and had a lovely time - we saw some great music and took a great walk around the village.
We had a super early flight from Shannon and stayed in Ennis - it's a great town and really close to the airport. I asked on the board about where to stay and everyone overwhelmingly voted for Ennis.
Have a great trip!

karenwliu

Hi everyone:

Sorry for the 4+ month delay! Thanks to all of you who helped me craft an amazing last minute Ireland itinerary. My husband and I had a wonderful trip. This is my very first trip report -- it's pretty bare bones but I hope someone out there will find it useful.

-K

Day 1: Flight from San Diego to NYC to Dublin.
Day 2: Landed in Dublin at 7:30 AM local time. The sun wasn’t even up yet! Caught the Aircoach into the city, dropped off our luggage at Fitzwilliam Townhouse, ate a quick breakfast, and began our exploration of Dublin. We walked the entire day and visited the following:

Trinity College, Book of Kells
Old Jameson Distillery
Guinness Storehouse
Lunch at the Guinness Storehouse
Dublin Castle (too late to enter)
Dinner at Wagamama (for old time’s sake, my husband loved Wagamama’s noodle soups when he lived in London years ago)
Live music and beer in Temple Bar

Day 3: Dublin
Breakfast at SPARS.
St. Stephen’s Green
Grafton Street
Our hotel offered free passes on the Hop On – Hop Off tour bus. We hopped on the bus for a ride to Kilmainham Gaol.
Lunch in Temple Bar
O’Connell Street Stroll recommended in Rick Steves’ guide
Merrion Square to say hello to Oscar Wilde
National Gallery
Dinner at Davy Burns Pub
Live music and beer in pubs near St. Stephen’s Green

Fitzwilliam Townhouse would not be considered luxury accommodations, however, the hotel was conveniently located and the rooms were clean. Dublin was the only city where we reserved accommodations in advance of our trip.

Day 4: Dublin to Kilkenny
Caught the Aircoach back to the airport to pick up the rental car. We elected to pay a little extra for the GPS (thank goodness!) Driving in Ireland was not as challenging as my husband thought it would be – however, he did admit breaking into a sweat a few times and he avoided driving at night. ☺ Our first stop was Kilkenny:

Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Design Center
St. Canice’s Cathedral
Rothe House
The Black Abbey
Dinner at Ristorante Rinuccini. Food was tasty and service was good, however, something I ate did not agree with me and I felt a little under the weather the next day.

We spent the night at the Butler House. The room was extremely spacious, clean, and beautiful.

Day 5: Kilkenny, Rock of Cashel, Dingle Peninsula
Breakfast at the Kilkenny Design Center
Drove to and visited the Rock of Cashel
Long drive to Dingle Peninsula
Spent night at Castlewood House, which was a phenomenal B&B.
Dinner at Chart House Restaurant

Day 6: Dingle Peninsula
Explored the Dingle Peninsula (AMAZING!!!!)
Dinner at the Out of the Blue Seafood Only Restaurant. My husband ate a half dozen oysters on the half shell for dinner. He fell violently ill that night. He was not able to shake it for a couple days. My food was very tasty though and I didn’t get sick!
Another night at the Castlewood House.

Day 7: Cliffs of Moher, Doolin
I bought my husband bland biscuits and a few bottles of Lucozade for the drive and ferry-ride (Tarbert-Killimer) to the Cliffs of Moher. We made frequent stops – my husband was feeling really crummy.

Cliffs of Moher (AMAZING!!!)
We spent the night in Doolin at the Roadford House, a very cute and quiet B&B. The B&B proprietors were so friendly and wonderful!
Dinner and Breakfast at the Roadford House – Hands down, the best food of the entire trip.

Day 8: The Burren, Bunratty Castle
Breakfast at the Roadford House (mentioned above)
The Burren (MUST SEE!!)
Bunratty Castle

Day 9: Shannon, San Diego
Flight from Shannon to San Diego

althom1122

Nice summary of your trip! Sorry to hear you were both under the weather during the trip, but otherwise it sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for posting - I enjoyed reminiscing!