travellinsisters

Hi to all,

My sister and I will be in Dublin for 6 days in June. In order to get the best assistance possible from my fellow Fodor,ers I am including our travel time. We will be arriving in Dublin on June 7th at 2:30 pm and leaving on June 12th at 2:50 pm. We are staying right in the centre of Dublin ( on Copper Alley), so our first day will most probably be spent walking around the Temple Bar area and getting to know our neighbourhood (given we are not too jet lagged).

We purchased a 2 day Dublin pass along with a 3 day Freedom pass all ready, since we got a good deal. We first thought of using the Dublin pass on the 8th and 9th but realised that doing it that way would only leave us 2 full days to sightsee outside of Dublin. Now, my sister and I have been talking and we are thinking about using the 8,9 and 10th of June for sight seeing outside of Dublin and using our Dublin pass on the 11th all day and doing a full morning of sight seeing on the 12th, before our departure to the airport at around 1:00 pm .

On these two days (11 and 12) (one full and one-half) we would like to visit these sites:
Christ Church
Guinness Storehouse
Old Jameson Distillery
Dublin Castle
Kilmainham Goal
Malahide Castle
St-Patrick's Cathedral

Is the visit to these sites feasible in one and a half day? Does the Freedom pass include the travel/transport to Kilmainham Goal and Malahide Castle?

We have taken off the idea of visiting Cliff's of Moher, since we do not want to sit on the bus for 8 hours or so,and therefore loosing a day sitting on a bus seat.

Instead, we where thinking about a visit to Kilkenny and another to Blarney, but would like to know if it's doable by bus? If so, how much is the bus ride? Where do we buy the tickets? We wanted to compare the fares with a tour bus and see if it would be worth it to do it on our own without having to follow a group.

Now, if our plan to do the Dublin visit in one and a half day works out, we have one full day left. What other place should we visit outside Dublin?

Thank you all in advance for your time.

travellinsisters

I just found something and would like to know if this covers most of travels by bus. Does the BUS ÉIREANN OPEN-ROAD TRAVEL PASS worth it if we want to travel on our own?

annw

On a one-week in Ireland (I usually have more time) I took the 3-hour train ride between Galway and Dublin, spent half my time in each area. From Galway I went out to the Aran Islands. But I had open jaw plane ticket (in one city out the other)

Depends on what you want to see and do.

My sense of your list of sights is that it's a lot on 1.5 days, but depending on what you mean by "see," and how much time you want to spend. i hope you allow some time to walk around, whether you want to see Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, etc.

A small town outside of Dublin, Skerries, is close by train, walkable, and might give a sense of town vs. city.

Just some thoughts from prior trips. Good luck planning!

travellinsisters

I don't have open tickets. I arrive in Dublin and leave from Dublin for Edinburgh.

I am tempted to ''wing it'' but I am worried about my budget if I go that way. Plus I am the type that likes to plan ahead.

Thanks for your input.

janisj

Only time for one very quick comment now - Don't count on doing anything on the 12th. You have to pack, checkout, hike or cab across the river to the central bus station, get to the airport, and check in at DUB by about 1:30.

So realistically you'll have very little free time on your departure day

littlejane

Kilkenny is a do-able day trip from Dublin (but a much better overnight stop if you have the flexibility to do that). Blarney is too far for a day trip. Glendalough is a very popular day trip also.