I know that having a car to see Ireland is probably the very best way. However, if we are there in the July/August timeframe I suspect there will be some traffic concerns, especially while learning to drive on the left side of the road. We plan to to a "bus tour" of 12-14 days that will hit the highlights, but we would like to spend another 10 days or so independently and I am wondering if is reasonable to get around via train and/or bus as we have done in Europe (continent). We'll have a couple suitcases to deal with. I am thinking that maybe there are 3 or 4 towns in the south/west that are accessible by train/bus (from/back to Dublin) where we could stay 2-4 nights each and do daytrips to places that the tour won't go, e.g. Aran islands. Any advice you have in this regard will be useful and certainly appreciated. This is our first time to Ireland and we want to "do it right", but are a bit concerned about driving during this busy toursit period. Thanks for your help. Jim

Ireland does not really have a very extensive rail system like the rest of Europe, so the bus would be a better idea. I believe you can get bus passes good for so many days. This might be your best bet.
Have a wonderful time!

The Irish rail system also offers combination rail and bus tours as a package deal. One leaves early and returns late, so one gets a full day of it. Usually the tour is a combination of trains and buses. I am not sure at my age I could take two of them consecutively because the tour leaves at 7 AM and returns at 10 PM.
Some are overnight.
A typical day trip is 90 e.

The major problem I see with this type of tour is that departures are from Dublin and return. Hotels in Dublin are very expensive, so that is not the cheapest way to do your touring.

I opted for a guided bus tour.

Getting around by bus and train is quite doable, especially if you get a litle creative.

You do not have to treat the bus vs. train in an either/or fasion. If the schedule of one vs. the other for a particular route suits you better, then take that. The bus routes are much more extensive, so they will probably be you main transport.

There is no need to keep going back to Dublin.

To get to the countryside places or to places with very limited transport connections, you can take day tours form your "base" towns.

On my first trip to Ireland, I did not get a car. I concentrated in just a small area - Counties Clare and Galway, but there was a lot to see in those areas.

Bus from Shannon Airport to Galway(stayed three days, including renting a bike one day to get out of town)

Boat to Aran Islands (rented a bike for my time there)

Organized day trip to Burren/Cliffs of Moher (about the only way to realistically)

Orgainized day trip to Connemara, - but got off the tour half way through - in Clifden, and stayed a couple of days (rented a bike to get to Inishbofin), and then picked up the tour 48 hours later to return to Galway. This was no problem with the day tour company.

You've come up with a very workable solution if you want to avoid driving. Take a look at these websites for bus and train info: www.buseireann.ie and www. irishrail.ie

Thanks for your responses Kodi, Bob Brown, Howard and MaryZ. It sounds like train/bus is do-able and unless I get my courage up to do some driving, that's the way we'll go.

Thanks again. Jim

Just remember that train schedules in Ireland seem to more of a general guide than anything else. I've never once made a connection on a train in Ireland. It's a combination of either my arriving train was incredibly late, or the train I was trying to connect to left early.

I've found buses to be a bit more reliable. But trains are a good option for a direct trip between two cities.

Thanks for that additional input, Ann41. From your experience, what is the situation with suitcases on a bus? The trains we have used in Europe all seem to have plenty of space to store them onboard. I assume with busses they have to go "underneath", but I am wondering if a mid-size suitcase is a problem - I think ours are about 30 inches or so. Thanks, Jim

If you are going up to Northern Ireland you can buy multi day Rover tickets from Translink that cover all public transport (trains & buses) within the Province and parts of the Republic of Ireland as well. The railway up to Derry is quite spectacular along the north coast and featured in the Great Railway Journeys of the World series made by the BBC.
agree with a previous post in that you should cut down on the time based in Dublin as, although a beautiful city, the cost of hotels there is frightening

Thanks for that additonal input, Greg58. I had not planned on taking the train/bus into Northern Ireland, but with your description of the trip up to Derry, I will need to reconsider that. Thanks again. Jim

I drove in Ireland and had a wonderful time. However much of my times, especially in rural areas , was spent with my eyes glued to the road watching out for cars coming at me around corners at 80mph on roads as wide as my driveway. I'm not sure why but in the country there aren't many straight roads. It would be nice to sit on a bus or train and take in the scenery.

Driving is not that bad, really. It will be stressful for just the first hour or while you are in Dublin.

So much more of Ireland will be open to you if you are able to drive yourself: more towns, better schedules, better inns. All in all, the slight stress overhead of driving will be more than made up for in the added freedom to linger a few minutes more in a favorite spot or to move on when YOU are ready to.