Ireland

DH and I are thinking about going to Ireland this summer. Any thoughts, tips, or suggestions would be appreciated!

Re: Ireland

Been there 2x. Once with my family when I was 16 and once with my DH when we were dating. Loved it!

Few ideas: fly into dublin and out of shannon or vice versa. No big deal if you can't as drive to dublin from shannon is less than 2 hours.

Best part of ireland is you really don;t have to "plan" - just car, frommers book, flights and your first night. If you stay in B&Bs and you are doing the traditional sightseeing loop the B&B you stay in will call ahead to the next town you are in and book for you (this is traditional tourist route so in their best interests to make a netwrok in the next city).

Loved Kinsale, Dublin and Galway. Do the Bunratty Castle feast one night - touristy but fun. Galway and Dublin are party towns every night of the week. FM with any specifics

Re: Ireland

Yes..definitly do the Bunratty feast. It was amazing and so much fun.

Re: Ireland

DH and I lived there for almost 2 years. I think the Cliffs of Mohr (West Coast) is a must. I also like the South East Coast. The Dingle Pennisula is really nice and not as crowded as the Ring of Kerry. I would suggest flying into Dublin, spend a few days there. You really only need 2 days in Dublin (it is small and depending on your interests you could do it all in 2 days.) Then renting a car and drive around making your way to the west and flying out of Shannon. Glendalough which is outside of Dublin is really nice too. If you have any questions, please FM. I would be happy to help.

The Fodors book has so great drives. One of my favorites was the Vee Gap, which is in the southeast.

Some major sites of interest are (IMO)
Glendalough
Rock of Cashel
Vee Gap Drive
Cliffs of Mohr
Dungarvan (small coastal town near Waterfod) DH and I loved it.
The Burren in the west near the Cliffs

One of the best things about driving around Ireland is the country side and all the old ruins of Castles littered around. You can stop and explore them on your own and others have guided tours. I believe there is a musuem pass of some type (can't recall the actually name) that is worth it if you plan on doing a lot of castle tours and there are a lot. We didn't go to the Blarney Castle or the Blarney stone as everyone told us they were overrated and overrun with tourists. Beware driving around Ireland takes a lot of caution and time as there are not too many main highways, mostly just crazy country roads. Plus, with all the cute towns you just want to stop in and have a pint or two.

Good Luck with your planning!

Re: Ireland

Giants Causeway is a must see also!

Re: Ireland

Someone else asked this a while back. This is what I told them...

DH and I went last summer. We had an amazing time. FM me if you would like to see our pics, I'll send you the link. If you go to Donegal, I highly recommend Slieve League. They are the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and they are stunning. Kinsale is a cute little town, we had a lot of fun there. We also went to Mizen Head-southernmost tip of island, which was very nice. I recommend doing a day trip to one of the islands. We took a ferry over to Inishbofen Island. Very secluded and beautiful and we rented bikes and just explored. It really depends how you do Ireland what you'll see. We didn't go on any tours, so we did some things that were off the beaten track. Let me know if I can be of any more help. You will have a great time!

Re: Ireland

Re: Ireland

We did Ireland for part of our HM & we decided on a do it yourself CIE drive tour. We got B&B vouchers & drove our way & stopped where we wanted, it was great & we saw so much!

Image Attachment(s):

Re: Ireland

Image Attachment(s):

Message edited 12/8/2006 1:51:41 AM.

Re: Ireland

I have no tips since I have not been there, but I am going in April and cannot wait!