Scotland and Ireland, 12 days. Suggestions?
 

Hi all,

It's back to Europe for my wife and I. It's our 5th wedding anniversary this year and we'd like to have one last big trip before having kids. She's 27 and I'm 30.

We're thinking of Ireland this time. We also have friends outside of Edinburgh that we'd like to visit for a day or two, hence the title. We've both been to Scotland before, although I missed out on seeing Edinburgh (spent most of my time in Glasgow).

She likes cities, I like nature. She likes a schedule, I like to sit and "people watch". We both like history and culture, and we both love a good fish-n-chips, but neither of us are big into the "nightlife".

Hopefully that helps a bit. Here's a preliminary itinerary I've put together. I'd love to get some feedback!

Day 0: fly out of MDT/BWI/PHL (right now, BWI->BOS->DUB is the best deal)
Days 1,2: Dublin
Days 3,4: Galway
Day 5: Sligo
Day 6: Giant's Causeway
Days 7,8: Belfast
Days 9,10: Edinburgh
Day 11: Dublin
Day 12: fly home

I'd love to skip the journey back to Dublin to get an extra day in Scotland, but the airfare is much cheaper flying out of Dublin.

Is renting a car in Ireland the best way to do things? During our last trip to Europe, we made exclusive use of trains.

Renting a car is the best for your plans but the problem is hiring from Dublin and dropping in (another country)Belfast.

I would reverse the journey start in Dublin, hire a car then Belfast for the first 2 nights round to Dublin to drop the car and either fly to Edinburgh (you might be able to leave your main baggage at the hotel if you use the same place for the 2 nights and the night before your flight home) Taking Ryanair with just one 10kg hand baggage each will be the cheapest flight.

Or rail and sail across to Edinburgh and back either from Dublin or probably better Belfast.

Tony - I hadn't thought of that. Is there really a problem dropping off the car in a different country? I read that the border between Ireland and the UK is not even marked well.

It does make things easier to put Dublin at the end of the trip, as we would avoid a pointless overnight pre-flight stay.

Now my plans are this:
Fly into Dublin, hop on a train to Belfast.
Belfast/Giant's Causeway for 2-3 days
Ferry+train over to Edinburgh for 2 days
Train+ferry back to Belfast
...Here it seems silly to go to Dublin just to rent a car...
drive to Galway for 2 days
drive to Sligo for 2 days
drive to Dublin for 2-3 days
fly home

Actually, what about renting and returning in Galway? The train runs from there to Dublin, so it wouldn't be too bad. I'm going to run some costs and see which makes more sense.

it isn't the border--it is that the car will be licensed/registered in a different country. If a rental company will do it, there will likely be hefty drop off fees.

When rail/ferry option would be good if you had more time,but w/ only 12 days --fly to Edinburgh and back

That should be >>The rail/ferry option<<

Yes, I was looking at travel times, and getting from Dublin to Edinburgh via train/bus/ferry would chew up an entire day.

Is a 2.5 hour train time between Dublin and Belfast accurate?

I did check out Galway car rentals. Very cheap at around $25/day for unlimited miles.

Thanks for the advice Tony and Janis!

w/ the rentals -- be sure to factor in expensive CDW and top/excess coverage. Almost no credit cards cover rental car insurance in Ireland (they do in NI/the UK). One rare type of World Mastercard will cover the insurance --but others won't. The insurance can sometimes cost more than the base rate.

How much baggage will you have? Budget flights from Ireland to Edinburgh have strict or expensive policies.

Bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast takes 2 hours direct.

Pinching the first night and hiring a car from Dublin then heading north you could go down to Shannon for a flight to Edinburgh. returning from there to Dublin.

Budget have a hire depot in Galway city but ensure you get an all inclusive quote with insurance and fuel policy details.

Insurance is the main problem with the two countries on one island and whilst only a few companies will charge extra to take a hire car between the two they must always be informed.

Have you thought of flying into/out of Scotland direct from home?

Just a few options.

The more I think about it, the more I think we'll drop Edinburgh off the trip.

Also, the more I read, the more it seems that a car is almost a necessity.

So, forget my itineraries above. If you had 12 days in Ireland, what would you see? I'm worried that there won't be enough to keep my wife interested. She tends to like the more urban settings and seeing the major sights (e.g. a trip to London wouldn't be complete without seeing the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, etc.). I'm finding that I'm at a loss for what to "see" in Ireland. Personally, I'll be happy to just drive around the countryside for the whole trip. The photos I've seen are simply jaw-dropping.

Send your wife to London and you go to Ireland ;)

(That wasn't that helpful)

There are hundreds of fabulous things to see Ireland -- it is just that the majority of them are not in/near cities.

Your wife wouldn't enjoy castles, gardens, jaw dropping scenery, country pubs???

It's not that she wouldn't enjoy them; I think she just needs something specific to look forward to. She does want to see the Giant's Causeway and the old McQuillan castle Dunluce.

Maybe I'll leave her in Dublin while I go exploring the rest of the country. ;)

Go to Johnnie Fox' pub in the hills outside Dublin . . . what a great fun time! A word of caution . . . it takes twice as long to get anywhere in Ireland than you think it will take; the roads present real challenges. I concur with flying between the two countries, and it seems like you are trying to fit alot of different places in with the concurrent "lots of driving." My experience was that most of Ireland is seen from the road and not from the cities which is problematic given your wife's taste. What about a spa experience through in somewhere?

Ha, she hates spas. :)

Maybe I'm painting her in the wrong light here. Our last trip was to Florida. We went to Universal Orlando and then drove down to the Everglades for a few days. She enjoyed each equally, perhaps the Everglades more. It's just that she needs a destination. If it's "driving around the countryside", it's no good. If it's "going to the Cliffs of Moher", it's fine.

There are plenty of "specifics" well worth seeing/visiting in Dublin, Galway, Belfast and on the roads in between. Once you have some idea of the route you want to take or major areas of interest, I suggest you get a guidebook <I> Footprints</I> and <I>Lonely Planet,</I> are two of my favorites, but there are other good ones as well. Then you can see what the possibilities are and narrow it down to specific sites.

If still planning on visiting Edinburgh, fly into EDB and then back to either Dublin or Shannon. Northern Ireland ( Dunluce Castle and Giant's Causway) fits well with any plans to visit Belfast and Dublin. Shannon works best for Galway and visiting sites in the west of Ireland. With only 12 days I think it's too much to try to do Edinburgh, Dublin, Belfast, the north coast and the west.

>>fly into EDB<< That would be <u>EDI

12 days gives you time to follow the coast anticlockwise from Dublin to Galway or Limerick and back to Dublin dependant on what you want to see on the way.

The 1st time I brought Christina over we did Belfast to Dublin the long way in 2 weeks. Belfast-Portrush-Donegal-Westport-Spiddle-Ennis-Dublin could be an option for a Roadtrip.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's time for me to dive into the guidebooks.

Okay, one more itinerary. Let me know if stays are too short or too long. The order of the cities may change.

Dublin (3 days), including day trip to Wicklow Mountains/Glendalough

Belfast (3 days), including day trip to Giant's Causeway

Galway (3 days), including day trips to Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher, Burren and to Connemara Nat'l Park

This leaves us with two days to play with. Would it be worth adding Limerick or Cork to the list, or some town in the northwest?

I would put the 2 spare days back between Belfast and Galway, there is a lot of tourist neglected areas in Donegal and Sligo.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-...n_Ireland.html

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-...55325#37655325

http://ireland.activeboard.com/t4060...llina-co-mayo/

Donegal is DEFINITELY worth some time, including the Sliabh Liag cliffs and Inishowen. By the way, I had no extra fees when I rented a car from Dan Dooley in Belfast and returned it in Shannon, or at least it was no more expensive than picking it up in Dublin.

Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains are worth going to. I was there in 2008 and loved it so much I took my husband to see it this past May.

Interesting things around the Dublin area are: Trim Castle and Newgrange/Knowth. I was glad we did both Newgrange and Knowth because they are different.

We were on the first tour of the day for Trim Castle and had a really good guide. You can only see the keep with a guided tour. Then you can wander the grounds. We then took a drive up to Monasterboice to see the High Crosses.

We stayed at a B&B a kilometre from the Cliffs of Moher and went there half an hour before the information centre opened. The parking lot is free before 9:00 and we were the only ones at the cliff.

When in Belfast, maybe check out the treasure recovered from one of the shipwrecks of the Spanish Armada in the museum. We didn't get to Belfast, but while in County Donegal, we took a day trip to Derry because they have a display from a different Armada wreck. My husband is quite interested in it. We also visited a few beaches where they know ships wrecked.

Okay, time for an update. We've nailed down dates at each place, and my wife is getting more excited about going after looking through some pictures.

Day 1 - arrive at DUB, hop on train/bus to Galway, explore Galway city
Day 2 - rent car, drive to Cliffs of Moher, explore Burren
Day 3 - rent car, explore Connemara
Day 4 - train/bus back to Dublin, explore city
Day 5 - sights in Dublin
Day 6 - sights in Dublin
Day 7 - rent car, explore Wicklow
Day 8 - train/bus to Belfast
Day 9 - Belfast sites
Day 10 - rent car, explore Causeway Coast, County Antrim
Day 11 - Belfast sites, back to Dublin
Day 12 - fly home from DUB

99% sure that we'll stay at Forster Court in Galway and Premiere Inn Albert St in Belfast, but we're having trouble finding a place in Dublin that wouldn't be too loud at night yet remain close to the sights and be a good value (i.e. <$100 night).

Any suggestions on a Dublin hotel?

We had a decent stay at O'Neill's Victorian Pub and B&B. It's a good value (especially for Dublin) and walking distance to Trinity College and O'Connell Street. It's a bit noisy at night, so if that's a big factor, it's not a good place - there is traffic outside all night, and it is above a pub. Also there's a train nearby. However, the place was clean, the rooms huge (really is a Victorian house) and the rates were very good value.

There are two O'Neill's, so get the right one. http://www.oneillsdublin.com/

Thanks, GreenDragon. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that they have any double rooms available for the nights we'll be there. Seems like a great spot.

Street noise won't bother us, but we are worried about shouting and such at 3AM when the pubs close. We were looking at the Croke Park hotel, and aren't averse to walking from there to the city centre, but I've read that the neighborhood around it isn't the greatest.

Oh, in case it helps, we'll be in Dublin from 29 April to 3 May.

Try Bewley's - they have E99 a room at any time.

Has anyone stayed at the George Frederich Handel Hotel? It looks like a good spot (near Christ Church Cathedral) and is a good price.

And a new question: What's a good romantic place to stay in Connemara? It's our fifth anniversary while we're out there, so a one night stay would be fun.

Sorry, I can't help you with comments regarding the George Frederich Handel Hotel but can make a few recommendations for Connemara.

Ballynahinch Castle Hotel and Cashel House Hotel are both very nice places, arguably the best in Connemara. I would also recommend The Quay House in Clifden. Great hosts and it's oldest building in Clifden (1820) but very well kept. Breakfast is served in the conservatory.


www.thequayhouse.com

www.ballynahinch-castle.com

www.cashel-house-hotel.com

Some people are like the the Abbeyglen Castle in Clifden. It's fine on the inside, but the exterior always makes me cringe.:)

I just wanted to post back in here with a small trip report. Thanks for all of the advice!

We had a great trip. We ended up doing guided tours instead of renting a car. Galway Tour Company for Cliffs/Burren, Wild Wicklow for Wicklow region, and Hidden Connemara for a wonderful hike through the Connemara region.

We took a combo of trains and buses to get up to the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle. It wasn't the best solution, but none of the guided tours leaving from Belfast actually stopped at Dunluce for more than a photo stop. Because of my wife's connection (McQuillan), we wanted to spend some time there.

We never felt at a disadvantage not having a car, but remember to bring your walking shoes! Some of the distances from the nearest bus stop to our destination were a bit far (the Causeway Coast bus wasn't running as it was out-of-season).

I'd have to say that, of the cities, Galway was my favorite for the great pubs. Dublin was overly touristy and Belfast felt more British than Irish (go figure). We had a very enjoyable time in Galway listening to trad music in the pubs.

Of the outdoors areas, Connemara was gorgeous, with great views of the ocean from atop Diamond Hill. Cliffs of Moher was neat, but it's worth about an hour tops. The Burren area was very unique and worth a trip down from Galway. Wicklow was neat, but I wish we had spent a night down there to really soak it in. I'd gladly have taken a day from Dublin for that.

We also had such a great experience at the Prague House B&B in Galway that we will now be looking at B&Bs first when traveling. It doesn't get much better than included hot breakfast with local expertise.

Not quite what you set out to do. Just shows there can be success in flexibility. Glad you had a good time. don't be a stranger there is lots more to see and do.