First off, I have been lurking here for a while and this is a great site. Michelle's book arrived and will help us find our lodging as we work our way around the southern half of the island.
We are really just going to relax and enjoy ourselves so we kept our itinerary pretty loose. We want to have the flexibilty to talk with locals and enjoy the pubs.
My wife and I fly out of O'Hare leaving Tuesday the 15th of May in the evening, and arrive in Dublin at 8:30 AM on the 16th.
We plan on spending the day in Dublin and spending the night there as well on the 16th.
17th pick up the rental car and head south along the coast.
17th & 18th in Wexford Area
19th in & around Cork
20th & 21st Killarney & Ring of Kerry
22nd & 23rd Galway & Cliffs of Moher
24th early drop off rental car in Galway & take train back to Dublin
Thanks for registering as a forum member. I hope you have found some good advice while lurking. Your itinerary looks pretty good. Do you have your Dublin reservations? Those will be essential. If you are thinking of Kinsale or Blarney for your Cork stay you may want to book that since it is a weekend. Kinsale especially tends to be very busy.
I'm sure you have already checked on any drop-off fees for your car rental.
Enjoy your trip and let us know how you liked Ireland.
Thanks for the advice. I will get my Dublin and weekend reservations made ASAP.
As for the drop off fees, when I typed in my plans on Kemwel (?sp) I indicated a Dublin pickup and Galway drop off. Will there be additional charges other than the prices listed?
My reservation I just got was with Europcar. I had only received a quote before that. I did see where there would / could be additional charges for drop off in different location, so I think we'll just return the car where we rented it in Dublin.
Generally if a car rental company has a depot in a certain city there is no drop-off charge. Europcar does have a depot in Galway so I don't think there will be an extra charge. When you arrive, ask at the desk. You can then make your decision.
If you decide to drive it will take about 3-4 hours. There are sightseeing stops you can make along the way if interested.
Thanks again Michelle. I just booked our Dublin stay at the Jurys Inn Christchurch (per suggestions on the site). If everything goes well on our stay there, I'll probably just book the last night of our stay at the same place when I check out.
It sounds like everything is falling into place for your trip. Let us know how it goes when you get back. I am looking forward to a bumper crop of trip reports!