trying to think of good options for getting from the dublin airport to the killarney area. ryan-air doesn't have a flight at a good time to work with my arrival and i am nervous about driving myself after the long flight from the states.

anyone know of a good private car service that could take us from dublin to the killarney area? i used a private car service for the first time on a recent trip to italy (from milan airport to lake como)... it cost a bit more than taking the train, but have to say, the ease of it was worth the splurge of an extra 50 euro.

thanks for the help!

I would think that the cost for a private car service would be out of sight.

Why not take an airport bus to Dublin and then either trains or buses from there to Killarney? See the Journey Planner at www.irishrail.ie and www.buseireann.ie. The train would be a bit more expensive, but a lot faster.

Adding to my previous post. If you fly into Shannon, the cost of a car service from there to Killarney would be more "reasonable." However, I'd still choose to take a bus to Limerick and then either a train or bus from there to Killarney.

One more thing. If you fly into Shannon, renting a car there and driving to Killarney would be a good option. It's 135km from Shannon to Killarney and viamichelin.com gives an estimated driving time of around two hours. However, I'd allow up to three hours since driving in Ireland can be very slow.

I agree that shifting to Shannon airport, if you can, or even Cork, is a better option. Barring that, train or bus service is good in Ireland. I would think the distance would make the private car very expensive.

thanks for all the suggestions. ideally would like to fly into shannon - but haven't found any good options for flights from atanta to shannon... is ryan-air the best choice for getting a cheap flight from dublin to shannon or does anyone have other suggestions for that leg?

thanks!!

The nearest airport to Killarney is Kerry. The next nearest is Cork. Go to the Dublin airport website to see who fly the routes.

Shannon's a red herring: people are mentioning it only because it has flights from the US. It's a great deal further from Killarney than the town's local airports. If you fly to Kerry, there are buses into Killarney from the airport, but it would also make sense just to hire a cab, or prebook one to meet you.

Try www.itasoftware.com, they might give you some options. You can't buy on that site, but it will give you all the routings. www.kayak.com also works, and www.sidestep.com. They might not have ALL the little airlines, but they have most.

Continental evidently does ATL to SNN, and has some layovers in Newark - but 5 hours isn't terrible, it's actually useful in case of most airlines perpetual delays.

Delta also flies the route, via Paris and New York, without long layovers.


http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/di...;Z=1&TBC=0

"They might not have ALL the little airlines"

So what's the point of using them?

Using foreign websites (or the close to useless whichbudget.com, so often - and so unhelpfully - recommended here) to find out about minor European routes is doolally, since virtually ALL European (and absolutely ALL British and Irish) airport websites list all the direct routes, and all the operators flying each route - legacy, lowcost and charter.

Apparently Aer Arran no longer flies Dublin-Kerry. That leaves only Ryanair.

Plus: Ryanair has several flights/day from Dublin to Cork. Minus: If you're late into Dublin and miss your Ryanair flight to Cork, your ticket is worthless and you'll have to buy a new one for a later flight at a much higher price.

If you fly into Shannon, consider driving to Ennis and going back down to the car ferry. It is an easier drive than going through the city of Limerick right after your flight. I don't know that it saves miles, but less stressful driving.
We did this on one of our trips. It did not take us too long to make the trek from the airport to Killarney this way. Most of the roads are just through the countryside.