I recently went on a Globus Tour of Italy. The only disappointments of the itinerary, was the included meals, 1 hotel (which was switched) and the day in Pisa (we weren't there long enough to go up the tower)

I am starting to plan a trip to Ireland. I have been looking at escorted tours not just because of the driving (I find 4 hours of driving every day or even every 2 days to be too much for a vacation), but also because When I hear the word bed and breakfast, I assume out of the cities away from the nightlife and pubs.

If I was to do a selfdrive/B&B vacation of Ireland how much driving is there really between tourist spots. Are there b & b's inside cities (near some famous pubs) and will we be able to get similar site seeing experience as with the tours.

I refuse to take Globus/Brennan because of how unprofessional and unorganized the tour guide was. I have been looking at CIE tours which seem to have alot included. Are there other suggestions to escorted tours or suggestions for a trip that has everything I am looking for:

centrally located hotels/ B&B - especially near night life (I don't mind driving to day time activities)

2 hrs or less driving daily

Get a good overview of Ireland (main tourist sites)

Would need to know much more information to be of much help.
When do you plan to go?
What sites (or, at least, TYPES of sites) do you want to see/ visit?
How many in your party?
How long do you want to take?
Is driving four or so hours a day REALLY that unpleasant, versus RIDING 4-5 hours?
Personally, I would rather experience Ireland from in a rental car, at my own pace, rather than watch it wizz by the bus window, while living on someone else's timetable. Still, there are plenty of people that can not / will not drive, yet still enjoy visiting Ireland.
Let us know what we can do to help.

Bob

Check out this trip report concerning a non-driving trip:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34584502

http://www.paddywagontours.com is one for more budget-oriented Mercedes Minibus tours. I don't know if they are what you would call 'escorted' even though they all include transportation and B&B's. They have several itinerary / duration tours available, one that includes stays at Dromoland & Ashford Castles.

I have stayed at B&B's in downtown Dublin, Galway, Ennis and Ballina (Co. Mayo); so your assumption that B&B's are out in the sticks may need a bit of refinement.

Sorry! That 'Package' tour that includes overnight stops at Ashford & Dromoland Castles is a CIE Tour, not a Paddywagon tour.

I got my tour operators mixec up.

We would like to see Cliffs of Mohr, Ring of Kerry, some castles, some famous pubs, maybe have a medieval dinner in a castle, watch some Irish dancing and hear some Irish music, visit Blarney castle. A little bit of history, a little bit of nature and some traditional meals. We are both in our mid 20s, we like night life but low key, pubs etc.

I am glad to hear there are B&Bs in the city this answers one of my bigger concerns and will be a good help in making my decision.

As far as driving is concerned. My husband didn't like the idea of being on someone else’s watch either. But since he would be doing most of the driving I felt this would be the most relaxing for him.

I love to plan our vacations and do research, so that's not a problem. Mike and I get very discourage if we get lost and Driving does tire him out.
I agree that sometimes the scenery did just "wizzed" by on the motor coach but we also enjoyed chatting with the other folks about what they did in the town we had just been in, since there were so many different things to do. We planned to take naps on the motor coach so that we could do more in the evening and early morning. We took a 1 hr nap the entire 12 days because there was so much to do while on the bus.

I found a site that shows you the distances between cities. It seems like there's a lot of major cities within 4 hrs of each other. Is this True.

If we were to spend about 10-12 days in Ireland, We would like to spend at least 2 nights in each place we stop (changing hotels after one night seemed like a pain to us especially if we don't have someone carting our bags around for us.)What are some suggestions of places to stay (maybe even central place 30 min from 3 different places that we could do day trips to, but again in an area where there is some night life (i.e. a pub with a band or something)

I did check that out. It seemed interesting, but public transportation seems more of a pain then driving yourself. You still have to map everything out and lug your bags around. But it did have some interesting information, thanks.

The other thing I tried to look into which I felt would be a neat thing would be a cruise of Ireland. This way you don't have to move your bags or switch hotels and you still get to see a lot. Unfortunately Cruises never stay in port as long as you would like. And the only cruises I found that stop in Ireland stop at 1 maybe two ports then off to anther country. Does anyone know of any cruises that just go to Ireland?

Hope this all makes a little sense.

some suggestions...

we hired a driver/guide for next june...I was able to do the planning and choose places to stay and visit . the itinerary is flexible. we are going to be a larger group (10) so extra cost of a private tour is spread out more...but it may be worth the extra money...a couple hundred more than a group tour.

when the 2 of us went to ireland a couple of years ago we (I) drove...I am looking forward to relaxing a little...but honestly, if it were only the 2 of us again, we would be renting a car and driving! can't beat the freedom to wonder and linger where you want to ...without 50 other people tagging along.

there a several places where you could stay in a b&b (conveniently in town) and walk to places or take an organized tour...

in dingle...boat tours, also bus/van tours of slea head and sights around dingle pen....so you could take a break from driving.

several of the smaller towns are interesting enough to explore for the day...dingle, kenmare, kinsale, and I am sure that others have their personal favorites


killarney (maybe from kenmare, which I would prefer,...not sure if you can get tours of ROK) you could go on a tour through gap of dunloe and ring of kerry...probably some other organized tours also

I am sure that you could also pick up some other tours ...so you could break up driving days with tours, if that is a concern...

I found that to see a variety of sights you have to drive quite a bit since most of the sights are "on the way"..." or one might say " the journey is the destination". fun to find those special secluded spots

keep reading this site and you will get a lot of good ideas

It sounds like you are asking information that a guided tour would handle for you. The things that you want to see fit into virtually every guided tour. You won't need to figure out where to stay, that will all be covered.

Most guided tours will take you to pubs that tend to be predesigned for tourists. In other words, shows that they think tourists will "really" like. I'm not sure what a famous pub would be and if it is famous (with a few exceptions) it's probably pretty tourist heavy. Take Durty Nellie's for instance. On the other hand, I went to the Brazen Head and the night we were there, it seemed to be a night with regulars in it, so you never know.

You could take a cruise inside of Ireland where you pilot a boat down or up the River Shannon. Your bags stay on board every night and you will see a lot of very cool things that most people miss. Sure you are piloting a boat but it's pretty easy unless you are my wife and run us aground (another story for another time). That might be a bit too adventurous though. I loved it.

Bill

Bill: Check out the 'BITS AND BOBS' link at:

www.millstreet.ie

As soon as I saw it, I thought of you and Budman!

Bob

Hey, Bill (wojazz3): Is that the Brazen Head at O'Connell & Cecil Sts. in Limerick City you mentioned? It's a Sports Bar (lots of TV's) and I was there for a 'Cup' Match one Sunday afternoon. It was a real 'mob scene!'

For TheSweeneyParty: You say you are starting to plan your trip to Ireland but you don't say when this will take place. 'When' is important because you may get to the Ennis Spring Caeli Festival (last week of May) or Willie Clancy's Irish music & dance classes & competitions (Spanish Point, west Clare: late July to early August), or Galway's Oyster festival, etc., etc.