dtatum

My husband and i are planning a short trip to Ireland and London for our anniversary at the end of September/start of October. The plan is to fly round trip from JFK to Dublin as it is the cheapest route. We would arrive in Dublin before noon on Sunday Sept 25 and then stay in Ireland until Sept 30th when we would fly to London and stay there until either Oct 4 or 5 before flying back to Dublin and then back to the states.

We don't really want to rent a car in Ireland but do want to see other places than just Dublin I was considering doing 2 charter day trips and then 2 days in Dublin does this sound reasonable? Also what would you pick for Day trips the one I really want is the Cliffs of Moher in some form but not sure what we should do for the second day trip? Also we have been looking at viator for these "day trips" is there any other sites we should consider.

We literally have zero idea what to do in London other than we have tickets to the NFL game at Wimbley that Sunday Oct 2, that's our only definite as it's the day before our anniversary and my husband's favorite team is playing there.

any and all help is much appreciated

historytraveler

For Ireland have a look at Rabbies www.rabbies.com They do Ireland although I'm not familiar with their specific tours there. I'm guessing they'd be more reasonable than Viator and they have the added bonus of being a small tour company...no more than 16 passengers.

greg

Before you commit yourselves to these flights combination, be sure you have looked at the overall picture and not just the transatlantic segment.

I think you are considering two uncoordinated round trip tickets like this?

1. JFK-DUB, DUB-JFK round trip
2. DUB-London, London-DUB

On the last day you are either doing:
London-DUB then connect to DUB-JFK
or
London-DUB, overnight in Dublin, then connect to DUB-JFK

If you are returning from London back to JFK on the same day, you need a lot of margin built into the Dublin layover as you are responsible for making this connection on your dime.

If you choose to overnight in Dublin before coming back to JFK, this night subtracts from your overall trip. You might be paying less, but for effectively for a shorter trip.

janisj

The R-T airfare in/out of Dublin may <i>seem</i> cheaper. But when you add in the cost of getting back to Dublin, plus essentially a lost day of your already short trip, it is probably a false economy. Look at Open jaw into DUB and home from London. Called Open Jaw or multi-city.

You won't want to be flying back to DUB the day of your transatlantic flight because if you miss it you are out of luck. You'll want to be in Dublin the night before your flight out.

As for what to see/do in London -- there are HUNDREDS of possibilities - get a guidebook and decide which few most interest you. The MIchelin green guide or DK Eye Witness are very good options. Or the Fodors London.

Jags or Colts? I went to the Niner/Jaguar Wembley game a couple of years ago. You'll have a ball. Did you get hospitality packages or general tickets?

janisj

Oh -- and I second the recommendation for Rabbies - a very good tour company.

nytraveler

To help you figure out what to do in London - which has literally hundreds of sights - you really need to tell us something about your interests.

Perhaps start with destinations above and a couple of basic guidebooks.

dtatum

janisj unfortunately the flights back from London to the US get in too late which is why we were aiming to fly back from Dublin because once we get to JFK we still have to the then fly to Nashville. And all the flights we saw from London got us in to JFK at 8pm which means we wouldn't be able to catch a flight to Nashville till the next day. as for the game my husband is a colts fan and I think he just got regular tickets (he bought them so I'm not sure but i'm sure he went with whatever was cheapest). As for London I did pick up a Fodor's guide book from 2014 at the used bookstore today so hopefully that helps us figure out what we want to do...I'm more concerned with Ireland as we wont want to spend all 4 days in Dublin and I'm trying to figure out the best way to see other things weather we take a train somewhere or do a day trip via coach...I looked at rabbies and it appears as if their tours are mult-day not single day trips unless i'm looking at it wrong...if we were to take a train to another town how would we go about getting around in that town?

historytraveler

Yes, Rabbies are multi-day trips. There are several tour companies that do day trips from Dublin, but it's been too long since I've looked into them, so I don't feel comfortable recommending them. Just google day trips from Dublin and/or Ireland tourist information and see what you come up with then check back here for further comments.

janisj

There are flights from LHR to many other cities/airports besides JFK.

Have you looked at Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, Newark, Chicago, Detroit, Dallas, etc. etc. I just think wasting most of a day packing and returning to DUB is a shame.

janisj

my post didn't top the thread so trying again . . .

dtatum

all those other cities are like double the cost of a flight from Dublin to JFK. JFK is the cheapest to fly in/out of and we can get to JFK from Nashville quite easily and cheaply using frequent flyer miles. from what we've found an early flight from London to Dublin gets us in with at least 4 hours till the flight from Dublin to JFK and this way we don't waste a different day flying back to Dublin from London and not having that day to enjoy the city. It's a full travel day but I think I'd rather do it all in one day then space it out and waste time that could be spent sight seeing. If London to JFK got in at an earlier time I'd spend the extra money but it get's in too late. And it is significantly more money to start in London and then fly back from Dublin too...already looked into that as well...this is the cheapest way

janisj

>>we've found an early flight from London to Dublin gets us in with at least 4 hours till the flight from Dublin to JFK <<

That works IF the flight is not delayed or cancelled. You really should think about flying from London to Dublin the night before.

Tony2phones

Consider Flying into Dublin then from Shannon to London. Split your Ireland time between Dublin and Galway. The only reason for doing the trips to The Cliffs, Giant's Causeway, and god forbid the 18 hour trip to the Ring of Kerry from Dublin is to spend 80%+ of the time polishing a coach seat.

Fair enough if you want to see Newgrange to the North of Dublin or Glendalogh to the south of the city. From Galway you can get full day trips to the Cliffs and Burren (Afternoon trips on Weekends), Inis Mor (Aran Isles) or the Connemara with either Kylemore Abbey or Cong.

As you arrive on a Sunday you could get the Bus straight to Galway, drop your bags and do an afternoon trip to the Cliffs. Monday for Galway or a tour, returning to Dublin on the 27 the 28,29 for Dublin and a day tour.

flpab

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...ty_Dublin.html

Great day tour on a small bus.

http://www.galwaytourcompany.com/gtc/tourinfo.jsp?id=22

long day but know people that did it and they lived.
Rabbies are multi day tours and you don't have that much time.
Dublin is a great city with a ton to do.

Scotia

I recently went to Dublin and booked a tour with www.railtoursireland.com to Belfast. They were excellent and have several day tours from Dublin by train to many destinations.

I agree with janisj. There are hundreds of possibilities of things to see and do in London. I have been there many times and still have not seen or done the many sights.

flpab

Scotia, we are doing that railtour to to Belfast one day in Sept. It looked very good. I just want my friends to get a taste of the North. It is spectacular.

thursdaysd

I don't understand why you can't find flights from London to New York that arrive before 8:00 pm. I've never been on a flight from the UK to the US that arrived later than mid-afternoon. Where are you looking? And why are you booking the Nashville to JFK leg separately?

flpab

thursdaysd, money, time and miles being used.

thursdaysd

@flpab - yes, but it may be false economy.

bean11

We took 2 day trips from Dublin each with Paddywagon tours. The first was to Belfast, Giants Causeway and the rope bridge. Lots of pretty scenery and about 2 hours total in Belfast. That trip lasted about 12 hours. The second was to Glendalough, and Wicklow mountains. This second trip was less than 8 hours. As others have said, the western end of Ireland and back to Dublin would be too much traveling in one day.