15 day trip in September, comments and/or suggestions welcome

noshot9 · Veteran Member

15 day trip in September, comments and/or suggestions welcome

Michele Erdvig · Host

noshot9,

It looks pretty good. Personally I would pull a night from Doolin and add to Letterkenny. So much to see and do in Co. Donegal. Visit Glenveagh Castle, Gardens and National Park if you can. I highly recommend it.

Michele

noshot9 · Veteran Member

That is still possible to do. I just thought that the drive from Dingle to Doolin would take the better part of the day and the trip to Inishmor would take a whole day (ferry going at 10:00am and returning at 4:40 pm) and that would leave one day for the Cliffs and Burren. Hense the 3 days at Doolin. Can I conserve somewhere without skipping Aran Island? The horse drawn carrage tour and the island sounded so much like fun.

CowboyCraic · Guru

You can actually do the Cliffs as you drive from Dingle to Doolin. The Burren can be done as you drive to Oughterard, as the coast road is a beautiful drive up into County Galway. Doolin will take about two hours to visit the shops on Fisher Street. A pub evening at McGann's or Gus O'Connors for your evening there and you are done. Doolin is not a very large place at all.

From Dingle to Doolin, You could take the Ferry and then the Cliff road, stopping at the Cliffs of Moher and then at the tea room at The Rock Shop for a bite of Lunch. That would put you into Doolin in the mid afternoon depending on when you catch the Tarbert Ferry.

That would be how I would play it out. An extra day in Letterkenny is definitely worthwhile. You could spend a month in Co. Donegal and feel as if you had missed something.

Slan Beo, Bit

Michele Erdvig · Host

noshot9,

Heed Bit's advice and take that day for Letterkenny.

Michele

noshot9 · Veteran Member

You all have convinced me. I am changing my reservation in Doolin to 2 nights. Will cross on the ferry and do the Cliffs on the way to Doolin and check out Doolin and the Pubs the first day and night. Next day, do Inishmor and back to Doolin for the second night, then proceed onward.

I bet you two sold "snake oil" in another life.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Snake oil has nothing to do with it -- when you're right, you're RIGHT. biggrin

As you are finding, experienced advice is hard to ignore. And when it comes to EXPERIENCE, these ladies know of what they speak. I have 9 1/2 Ireland trips "under MY belt" and I would still defer to Michele and Bit.

Not that I'm TRYING to COMPLICATE things, BUT ... hmm

On the drive to Letterkenney, consider stopping enroute at Knock Shrine, Drumcliff (Yeat's Grave), Carrowkeel, Donegal Town and/or spending some time in and around Glencolumcille and Bunglas ...

Bob

noshot9 · Veteran Member

Will note those places that you listed Bob. As I mentioned in the original plan, the drive from Letterkenny to Bunratty seemed to be rather long and I planned to break it up into 2 days with a stop somewhere around Roscommon. Is that a good half-way point and if so, any B & B someone could recommend in that area? Is there a better stopping point than Roscommon and still get me into Bunratty mid afternoon or so?

Michele Erdvig · Host

noshot9,

Roscommon would be a fun stop. It is a bit inland and off the main route south but would give you a night in a place that many tourists never get to.

It is one of Bit's favorites. We would both recommend Gleeson's Townhouse for good lodgings and food. You might be lucky and stumble upon trad sessions in some of the pubs.

Michele

P.S. I have some lovely bog land in Ireland you might consider buying....

noshot9 · Veteran Member

Thanks for the tip on Roscommon. I will pass on the land. I have already spent all of my money on ocean front property in Arizona, but you can probably sell it to someone and split with Bit.

The way the EURO is going, it looks like our first and probably only trip to Ireland is going to be without food, so should loose some weight.

CowboyCraic · Guru

Roscomon and Gleesons would be a great stopping point for you. If it is a Thursday night, nip across the street to Doorly's pub, as they have Trad there on Thursdays. You can always ask either Eammon or Mary, the proprietors of Gleesons, where the Trad is for the evening you are there. They will know. Eammon was a councilman for a time and has his thumb in everything so to speak. Along with their restaurant, they have a small cafe which serves a lighter, less expensive fare and is open until mid-afternoon. There is also an excellent Italian restaurant in the old Gaol out the door and to your left about half a block.

You can walk to Roscommon Castle from Gleeson's. I was told by Mayor Kelly, during his visit here last month, that there are plans to renovate the Castle. I am not sure what they are planning to do yet, but he has promised to send me a prospectus and asked for my input. The Roscommon Abbey is also within walking distance. Though a fifteen minute stroll, it will take you past the lovely Sacrd Heart Church. They are also in the process of restoring St. Coman's Church, an Anglican church purported to have been built 300 years ago on the site of St. Coman's Abbey.

Probably more information than you really wanted, but, as Michele said, Roscommon is a favorite of mine. Not just the town itself, but the county as a whole. There is much to do and see. Of a side note, the actress Maureen O'Hara is from Roscommon town, as are Percy French and Douglas Hyde, Ireland's first President.

To answer your question regarding the distance to Bunratty from Roscommon, it is approximately 118 miles, which, using the 30mph rule, would mean about a three and a half hour drive.

Take advantage of Pub food and early bird menus, as well as lie lunch fare from the Maxol & Statol petrol stations. That will help your dollar go farther and you won't have to starve! biggrin

Slan Beo (Take Care),

Bit

-- Edited by CowboyCraic at 11:44, 2008-04-04

Michele Erdvig · Host

noshot9,

Eat as much as you can at breakfast since it is included in the price of B&B. Make a picnic lunch by shopping at the supermarket. They have delis too. Sometimes for dinner I just have soup and brown bread or a salad or an appetizer. When I have been to Ireland for a month or more I get tired of big meals all the time.

Take Bit's excellent advice about Roscommon.

Michele

Anchoress · Guru

Bit; maybe things have changed, but eating via garages is comparatively expensive, for packaged groceries like biscuits ( cookies) and especially fruit, which is not always very fresh.

As Michele says, supermarkets are far better and cheaper, and at LIDL the fruit is always fresh and inexpensive, as they have a huge turnover, as are biscuits etc.

Prices here are rising at a great rate sadly. Milk has almost doubled in the last three years. Now hard to get even at E1.64 for a two litre bottle.

We are baking more and more....

Blessings; snowing here and bitter cold.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Anchoress,

Thanks for your feedback. Milk is through the roof here in the States also. Along with lots of other things like eggs. I assume it has to do with high oil prices. Producing things requires energy, shipping, etc. and all that is reflective of paying for oil.

What can we do? We must eat to live. What are your favorite things to bake? Have you ever considered a cookbook?

Michele

P.S. Snow! I'd better bring my winter clothes.

Anchoress · Guru

Milk has doubled in price in three years.
When LIDL first arrived here from Germany, prices all around went down because they are very cheap.

Now even there things are creeping up; in the smal garage and other convenience stores, they are through the roof. Not just a few cents, but in some cases double what they are in Tesco

Those really are the only two shops we use now. Even Super Value and Mace are costly except for their specials.

Apple pies, cakes, scones, bread... We have a range here, peat-burning, like an Aga, so we cook in that now. It saves a great amount on fuel. Heats the water

A cookbook is on the back burner; probably rather an Irish seasonal miscellany that will include recipes for each season, rather than "just" a cookbook. Plants and flowers, local traditions etc... recipes... I am gathering for that..

Not forgetting our wide range of gourmet preserves.....

Blessings this day

Michele Erdvig · Host

Anchoress,

Let us know when the book is "off the back burner". We would love to hear about it when it becomes a reality.

Michele