Krazykats1

We are planning a trip to Ireland in the beginning of November. Our child is doing a semester abroad in Dublin so we are going to visit him and would also like to travel some of the country. We plan on arriving on Friday spending Friday, Saturday & Sunday in Dublin with him. then we would like to see some of the country and are not sure if we should do day trips and stay based out of Dublin or if we should plan a route and spend Monday & Tuesday night along the route to be back in Dublin for Wednesday night. What would anyone suggest? We have never traveled to Ireland before and there will be four people going.

longhorn55

We did a similar trip when our child did study abroad in Dublin a few years ago. However, we were fortunate to be able to travel in spring and to have 8 days for our travel.

Based on your stated parameters, I would sightsee in Dublin on Friday and Saturday (2 days is enough for Dublin) and then either do a day trip out of Dublin on Sunday or amend your itinerary so that you leave Dublin on Sunday as opposed to Monday. Three good day trips from Dublin are: 1) Glendalough and the Wicklow Mtns. 2) Newgrange and Trim Castle, and 3) Belfast. For the first two choices, you would either need to rent a car or take an organized tour. For Belfast, you can use public transportation (bus or train) or a rental car. A rental car for all of these options would likely be cheaper than tours or public transportation for a group of 4, but if you are returning to Dublin at the end of the day, you'd have to arrange and pay for parking. (That's why I might recommend not spending Sunday night in Dublin.)

For the remainder of your trip, it all depends on your interests. We spent a couple nights in Kilkenny (seeing the Rock of Cashel on the way) to see the sights around Kilkenny and Cahir. You might like to drive to Galway and see that part of the country. What I would NOT be tempted to do is go all the way to the western part of the country, e.g. Killarney and the Ring of Kerry because that's too much driving for such a short amount of time.

Consult a guidebook to find what interests you. Then consult a map and the AA Route Planner to see how long it would take to get to the various places. The Route Planner is a great resource, but add 20% to the stated driving time to make it more realistic.

http://routes.aaireland.ie/

ashcanannie

So, are you scheduled to fly out of Dublin on Wednesday? If you haven't yet purchased your tickets, consider flying out of Shannon. Doing so would open up many more options.

Krazykats1

Thanks for the suggestions. We have purchased our tickets and are flying out of Dublin on Thursday. Since we don't have a lot of time and wanted to be able to spend some of it with our child we thought staying the three days in Dublin would be good since he will not have classes on Friday, Saturday & Sunday.But we also want to see some of the country - looking for the best of both worlds! I will check out the route planner.
I have also seen that there are companies that design self drive tours or escorted tours for you that included accomodations - any recommendations on using them?

longhorn55

I would be somewhat wary if either the self-drive or escorted tour provides "B&B Vouchers" for your accommodations. I have never read one good thing about these vouchers. The companies usually claim that they can be used in "over 1000 B&Bs", but those B&Bs are often not located in places convenient to where you want to stay. (As I recently read, there are over 10,000 B&Bs in Ireland, so access to a mere 1000 B&Bs is not particularly good.) You would do much better booking accommodations on your own.

I can understand that you would want to spend as much time with your child as possible (so would I). However, I still think 3 days in Dublin is too much and he/she would probably like to get out of Dublin for a change of scenery. Any of the three places I previously listed would make a great day trip from Dublin for the 3 of you--it just depends on what you are interested in seeing.

MarilynT1435

There is also a day trip from Dublin to Belfast where you can see the Titantic expedition opened this year on their 100th anniversary, if that interests you. If not, a trip to Belfast is very worthwhile anyhow. You can tour the city, see all the old historic buildings with London influence, take a Black Taxi tour through the area of the Troubles---many sightseeing opportunities in Belfast.

Krazykats1

I will check and see if they are true reservations or if they issue vouchers. Thanks for that information. I know that he will be taking a few trips with the college We will have to find out where and the possibility of doing some sightseeing with him is an excellent idea. Thanks.

MarilynT1435

Another day trip from Dublin would be to Boyne Valley Center where you can see the burial tombs that predate the pyramids. It is quite an interesting experience.

Tourismireland

You already have some great suggestions. Firstly spend a weekend in Dublin it is lovely and there is lots to do. The archaeological museum has wonderful Celtic treasures, The writers museum is worthwhile and also Kilmainham Goal. You cannot miss the Guinness Brewery and Bewleys is a great and famous cafe to have a good coffee and cake. There are enough nice places to eat and probably when your child has been there for a while he can show you lots of other places.

After your weekend in Dublin you can rent a car and maybe drive up to Kilkenny on Sunday night. Stay in a nice B&B and have diner in a pub. The next day have a look around Kilkenny and drive towards Killarney for an overnight. On Tuesday you can do the Ring of Kerry and maybe visit Muckross House. Have another overnight in Killarney and leave Wednesday morning direction Cashel for the rock of Cashel and from there you can be in Dublin early afternoon. You can than either stay at the airport in the Clarion or Radisson Blu which are walking distance from the Terminal if you have an early flight. Or you can spend another night in Dublin for when your flight leaves later that day and take a taxi to the airport. With 4 people this is probably cheaper or the same price as when you take the airport bus. In November you should not have a problem booking a B&B just check if they are open because some close for the winter months. Have a look at www.bandbireland.com for B&B also our own site www.discoverireland.com has lots of addresses under the tab of accommodation.