What are sights not to be missed in Ireland?
 

Hi!

I am 24 year old female traveling solo for 2 weeks to Ireland and wanted to know of some good things to surely not too miss. I am flying in to Dublin and plan to visit there for a few days. Also want to visit Cork and Galway. I plan on renting a car the last day I am in Dublin, probably renting it for 10 days. I heard the best way to see Ireland is just to rent a car and go. Any suggestions on things that I can not miss along the way? Also good things in Dublin, Galway, and Cork??
Thanks!

Car is a great way to see Ireland. A Dublin to Cork to Galway circuit would be good for a ten-day itinerary with tons of great sites en route.

My favorite sites around Dublin are featured on the Dublin episodes of the http://www.irishfireside.com podcast.

Also love Kilkenny, the cliff walk in Ardmore, Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle/Swiss Cottage and Connemara. There are so many more great sites. You are in for a great adventure!

I'm sure you'll get lots of good suggestions here. The posters here are wonderful and very generous about sharing their expertise. But I strongly suggest that you read through some of the threads here on Fodor's about Ireland. And that you pick up a good guide book.

We can help you a lot more if you give us some idea of what interests you. If you do a little research and get a better idea of what Ireland has to offer and what appeals to you, you'll be able to ask more specific questions. And the more specific your questions, the more help you'll get!:)

Any ideas on things in or around Galway City?

Glendalough, not far outside of Dublin, is very special. Also loved Rock of Cashel, and Bunratty Castle is great. I know it may seem touristy, but their medieval banquet is a really fun evening. Everyone blends in together at the tables, so it doesn't matter if you are alone. Ireland is wonderful!

I believe most car rental companies won't rent to anyone younger than 25. Or, if they do, will hit you with some pretty incredible fees. You may want to start shopping around now for that car to see if it's even feasible.

Dublin easily keeps me occupied for a couple days. I've done separate day-tours of Wicklow and Newgrange; I love the National Museum, Kilmainham Jail, Dublin Castle, the Book of Kells/Trinity College and the hop-on/hop-off tour is great. In the evening, there's the Musical Pub Crawl and the Literary Pub Crawl. I also recommend getting an all-day pass on the DART and taking it north to Howth and then south to Dalkey. Both are great suburban towns on the coast that are fun to walk around in.

Hi Subright,

We'll be renting a car as well and what we found so far is Hertz will rent a vehicle to someone 24 years old. However, you have to pay some sort of "young driver" fee. (I forget the exact phrasing as fiancee is in charge of the car part). It definately will make a dent in the budget, but I still think having the freedom of a car is worth it. Hope this helps.

I would definitely make time for the Cliffs of Moher - still one of my favorite places I've ever been. Galways is really fun, and you can easily spend 2-3 days. Take a day trip to the Aran Islands, where you can get bikes and ride all over.

Rock of Cashel is really amazing, and Ailee Cave was worthwhile (may have spelled that wrong).

Really, our favorite times in Ireland (we go at least every other year) are spent just driving around, and stopping in small local towns along the way. The countryside is beautiful and there's so much to explore.

railtours are wonderfull

After touring Ireland for quite a few days, I came away with only one place on my list of places I definitely want to visits again: The Cliffs of Moher.

Dingle was nice; so were some of the hills we drove through, but only the Cliffs really grabbed me. Awesome.

I have read other comments in the "Ho Hum" category. Fine, if that is the limit of their knowledge of land forms. But to me they were as spectacular as they are unusual.

I thought the Vale of Avoca was nice. Scenic, quaint, appealing. But nothing quite matched the Cliffs.

Now another "sight" that is not a natural one was a hotel in Tralee, the one we of the tour dubbed Hotel Crazy Posterior, where posterior is a polite word I am using in place of a 3-letter one of your chosing.

First, I had trouble finding the handle to flush the toilet. There was no chain to pull, no sensor to activate, no button to press, no foot pedal to stomp,
no remote control to click -- nothing in view.

I began a minute examination of the walls all the way around. Finally I found the handle: In the shower!!

Later, about 3 am, an Irish wedding party broke up with long, loud goodbyes in the parking lot. The lady in the room next door ran a sheep ranch in New Zealand with her husband. She was/is about 6 feet, 3 inches tall, and quite capable of woman-handling a large sheep.

She told the mob in the parking lot to be quiet, except it was not phrased that politely. The members of my tour group were from all parts of the English speaking world: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Scotland, England, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States. I could not understand all of the slang, but some of the Aussie and Kiwi talk sounded downright juicy. I just wish I understand what it meant.

Fortunately the guy in the parking lot who was invited upwards for a lession in courtesy did not respond. That lady sheep rancher would have inverted his posture, perhaps permanently.

Had she needed reinforcements, her husband was one of 4 guys on Dingle who cleared the path for the bus by picking up a car up and moving it over.

H

You might also want to look into Paddy wagon Tours, www.paddywagontours.com, as an alternative to renting a vehicle. They have a "hop-on/off" tour which allows you to stay in one of their destination towns for a few days and then grab the bus to the next town of your chosing. The Tour loop encompasses Dublin, Galway,Killarney and Cork. They also do tours in to Northern Ireland.

Slan Go Foill,

Bit Devine
Cowboy Craic