Opinion On Itinerary

Dayna · Veteran Member

Opinion On Itinerary

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dayna,

You have a pretty zippy trip planned. You will be just passing through a lot of areas with not much time there. May I ask what you were planning on seeing in Waterford and Killarney (or along the way)?

Day 1: Fly into Dublin early morning and stay 1 night at the Butlers Townhouse in a superior room. Our other options are the Pembroke Townhouse or the Clontarf Castle.... any opinions here? * Wojazz3 (Bill) has stayed at the Pembroke Townhouse and liked it. Clontarf Castle may not be central enough for you. It is in the burbs.

Day 2: Drive South and use a B&B voucher for 1 night. We're heading down to the Waterford area and the surroundings if you can give us a good suggestion on where to stay. * If you have Town & Country vouchers I would suggest either Glenorney in Tramore or Brookside in Dunmore East.

Day 3: Killarney, Kerry area and 1 night at the Fairview Guesthouse * Fairview is very nice. They have parking for just a couple of cars. Otherwise you must park in the public lot that is not too far away.

Day 4 and 5: Connemara, Galway area and 2 nights at the Zetland House Hotel * I have not visited Zetland. But this part of your trip makes the most sense because you are staying for two nights.

Day 6: Ennis, Clare and 1 night at the Old Ground Hotel * Fine.

Since you want a "low key, no stress trip" you may want to consider changing it to cover less territory.

Michele

CowboyCraic · Guru

Dayna,

Welcome to the forum. We will try to help you as best you can whilst you recover from Irish Fever. You really do have more than you can handle if your goal is "low-stress". With only 6 days in Ireland and one of those coping with Jet Lag, I would say the itinerary you have lined out is over-zealous. THe Tour planners will tell you that it is perfectly doable and, to be sure, it certainly is doable. However, you will see most of Ireland through a windshield. i speak from experience. My first trip was a blur of "have to see everything". I felt that I had an obligation to go back and court Ireland properly on my next visit. I have continued to court her and her people and have been given back so much more than I had ever hoped.

If I might suggest, either:

fly in and out of Shannon & do a small southwest coast circle, Killarney, Dingle, Bunratty or a small midwest coast tour, Galway, Doolin, Bunratty, staying two nights in each area at the same B&B.

or Fly in and out of Dublin (alright everyone don't look so shocked)& do a Kilkenny, Wexford, Dublin tour, again spending two nights in each place.

You can head south from Wexford and drive her Coast road with its unbelievable scenery. You can visit Waterford Crystal, as a day trip from either Kilkenny or Wexford. You can then visit Glendalough, Powerscourt, Avoca and Wicklow, either enroute from Dublin to Wexford or from Kilkenny in to Dublin.
Turn in your car in at the airport and spend your last two days in Dublin. Grab a Hop-on/Off Open Top Bus, which will take you to all of the must see sites in Dublin, giving you a narrated history as you go along. They offer discount rates if you buy your admission tickets from the bus tour folk. A Nice Day trip from Dublin would be the Boyne Valley, Tara and Newgrange tour. By going with a tour, you have a tomb tour slot waiting you.

I know that you want to see all that you can in the short time you will be there. It is only natural, we have all been attacked by the "fever". That being said, Ireland is best enjoyed like a fine wine or a good whiskey, savoring every small taste and enjoying the company around you. You may not believe it now, but you will go back again and again. There is no escaping it nor will you want to do so.

Enjoy your adventure! Use the AAIreland site as a handy tool for mileage but not for driving time, as they are purposely optimistic.

Slan Agus Beannacht,

Bit Devine

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi Dana:

I agree with the others in that there is nothing particularly low key and no stress about the pace of this trip. I would consider slowing down and since much of you plan is focused in the west, plan it that way. Just my opinion though.

The Pembroke Townhouse is in a nice quiet neighborhood, about a 20 minute walk to the city center, faster by bus. There are a number of embassies in the area so you see very little to no late night partying around the hotel. The rooms are smallish (like most city hotels) but comfortable. It's an older building with some charm and style. I would say it's a nice mid grade hotel.

Bill

Dayna · Veteran Member

Thanks so much for the great feedback. My husband heard that Ireland is the size of Maryland and thinks that driving the Southern half of it will be no problem. I, of course, have passed on the recommendations of you all that are in the know, but he's a bit stubborn and a "let's do it my way" person. I think we will get there and he'll find that this path he wants to take will have us in the car driving more than enjoying the country and people. This will then slow him down I'm sure. What is your opinion about just going over with no actual reservations made and just do a "stay as we go" kind of thing? We will be traveling mid April. Will we spend too much time searching for a place to stay? I can go with Michele's book in hand and have ideas about where we would like to stay and then call ahead while we are there. That way we aren't locked into a certain time frame if we get slowed down in a region.
Dayna

YaYa · Guru

I think in April you'd be fine with finding places to stay as you go. Maybe have your first and last night booked. Have a great trip. Joan

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dayna,

As Joan suggested, book your first and last nights and then wing it. April is pretty open with the exception of Easter weekend. At the beginning of May is a Bank Holiday.

Michele

CowboyCraic · Guru

Dayna,

In April, you will be fine with a "no reservations trip". What I always suggest when you do such a trip is to stop in to the tourist information centre in whatever city catches your fancy as the place to roost. They will help locate a B&B for you for a small fee.

I wish you luck. Ireland may seem small but once you get here and start on her roads, it becomes clear that your normal road speed will not work. You should figure on a maximum of 35mph on most roads, stopping for numerous photo breaks, sheep, cattle, large Lorries, tour buses, etc.

Slan Agus Beannacht,

Bit

wojazz3 · Guru

Ireland being the size of Maryland is not the issue. By the way, Maryland is slightly less than half the size as the Republic of Ireland (and that doesn't include NI). Unless you stay on nothing but main roads (and why would you want to do that) you will find travel there to be much much slower. You should figure that you won't average much more than 35MPH. If you are new to driving in Ireland (it sounds like you are) you need to be aware that travel is very slow and roads are pretty narrow.

I had a laugh a couple of days ago on my ride home from work, I took an alternate route and passed over a bridge that was marked "narrow" The speed limit was dropped to 25MPH. As I crossed it I thought "This could be an N road in Ireland with a speed limit of 60.

You will be amazed at how comfortable the Irish are with missing your mirror by less than a foot at uncomfortable speeds. There are very few motorways and those tend to not be terribly intersting. Driving long distances in Ireland can be very stressful, especially for the passenger.

You can certainly travel without reservations in mid April and it might be a good idea for you if you stick to your initial itinerary. This would allow you to change plans if you decide the stress is boiling over.

All that said, there are some people that have traveled huge distances and came back and said nah nah nah nah nah nah (I think that's the right number), we had a great time despite what you old fuddy duddies told us. OK fine, but this is just an advice board and you certainly don't have to take it. Entirely up to you.

Hope this helps.

Bill

wojazz3 · Guru

One more thought. It's a good idea to reserve your 1st and last night and always reserve a room in Dublin, especially on weekends. OK, two more thoughts. You won't need or want a car in Dublin. If this is your 1st time driving on the left, driving into Dublin is a bit rough. Parking is expensive and driving is difficult. The city center is quite small, so walking around is easy.

Bill

Dayna · Veteran Member

All excellent suggestions, thanks! I will go with that idea of booking the first and last night. The husband really wanted to "wing it" anyway and not be tied to certain hotels on certain nights. I think this will work the best. BUT, should I go with pre-bought B&B vouchers in hand or do a pay as we go? Would there be a significant cost difference between cash or vouchers? With all of this being said, maybe I don't really need to book through a travel company, but just piece it together myself. So far it looks like a simple flight, rental car, a couple of pre-made reservations, and a great little guide book and map. The excitement and huge smile on my face will be included and free of course!!!! Would we save by booking through them or just handling it myself?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dayna,

Most of us who have been to Ireland before are of the opinion that unless you get a super duper deal that includes airfare/car/vouchers, it is best to piece the puzzle together yourself. We have had many discussions here about vouchers. Not all B&Bs take them. I don't know what the price of your vouchers are but the travel agent takes a cut and lodgings end up with a lot less than if you paid cash or credit card and had no vouchers. That is why some B&Bs are guy-shy about taking vouchers. B&Bs are running around 35-45 euro per person lately. Hotels, guesthouses, castles and manor houses will run more. You can check prices by going to my "Links" page and following the links in the "Accommodation" section.

Maybe you should get your quotes and then sit down with your calculator to figure out which is best.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

A vote for handling it yourself.

Bill

CowboyCraic · Guru

Dayna,

Especially given the month you are going over, booking everything yourself would be more cost effective. Use Michele's link for Kemwel to book your rental vehicle, check Aer Lingus for flights, as they are running a special deal right now, and forget vouchers. Look at the cost of letting an automatic over a standard, as that will ease your driving stress.

Booking your first and last night is always the best way to go, as well booking in to Dublin. If you are wanting to see Dublin, either make it your arrival destination or your departure destination. Definitely, as Bill, Michele and the rest of us have learned, do not take the car into Dublin, parking will be at a premium & expensive and traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, will be insane.

Slan Agus Beannacht,

Bit

Dayna · Veteran Member

More excellent feedback, thanks so much. So here is the new plan; we will now fly in and out of Shannon and save the Dublin side for a future trip. The focus will be on the West and Southern areas of Ireland. I did take the advice and check into the Aer Lingus fares and will most likely go with Continental. They are only $70 more total and the layovers are much shorter, plus we stay on one airline all the way from Orlando. CO rate was at $1372 total for the 2 of us ($686 pp). Not bad I guess??? Next I will check into car rentals and move on from there. So far so good and I couldn't have done it without the great advice... THANKS!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dayna,

I'm glad to hear that things are moving along and that you had the courage to handle it yourself. Way to go! The fares seem fair to me, especially coming from Florida.

Read my "Car Rental" page so you know what you are doing. You need to shop and compare apples to apples. In other words same type car, insurance, fees, etc. from one company to another. Make note of whether the quote is in euros or dollars. Get the total and then compare. If in euros you will need to convert the currency. I have a link to a money converter on my "Money" page. Kemwel (on my Car page) will match any other price you get.

I think your plan of skipping Dublin this time is good because of time constraints. You will have to plan another trip and include it next time.

You are on your way to planning a great trip!

Michele