10 day..first timers.Need HELP!!

corky · Newbie

10 day..first timers.Need HELP!!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Corky,

Welcome to my forum! You don't have much time to plan your trip and make reservations so I suggest you move right along in your decision making for your two couples.

First, the Waterford Crystal factory tour is not operating. They are in bankruptcy. Their store and cafe is open but not the factory tour. Since you can see and buy Waterford Crystal all over Ireland it is hardly worth going out of your way for.

Your range of 45 - 60 euro per person is perfectly acceptable for B&Bs and even some guesthouses and hotels. However, castles are in a different category. For most you are looking at several hundred euro per night. Go to my Castle Hotel page and click through to the websites to see what I mean. Everyone wants to stay at an Irish castle until they find out the price. After that 80% of people skip it. But if your route takes you to Co. Meath Smarmore Castle is offering my readers a 10% discount.

Since you want to see quite a bit but don't want a marathon trip around Ireland I suggest you sit down with your friends, each couple make a "must see" list, get out your map and calendar and plan as many two or three night stays as possible. Sprinkle in a few one-night stays and you will come up with a sane itinerary.

As for finding great B&Bs take a look at my Lodgings page where I have quite a few listed. My book has complete reviews, descriptions, sketches, maps and/or directions for them.

Only you and your friends know what your interests are and what towns and places appeal to you. By brainstorming together you will be able to make everyone happy. But you all must realize that there will be some things on the "must see" lists that will be cut. It is not possible to see everything during your limited time.

Let me know if you have any other questions. And feel free to post any proposed itinerary so that we can offer opinions. We are here to help.

Michele

corky · Newbie

/thank you for such a quick reply and most helpful suggestions.

How does this sound?

1. Arriving Dublin around 1300 then driving toward Kilkenny and spending the night. Next day take in sights and leave afternoon.

2. Drive to Kenmare and spend the next 2 nights. Will take in Cork, Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castel, Cobh and whatever we can fit in.

3. Next day drive to Dingle and spend 2 nights. Take in sights.

4. After Dingle we will head up toward Galway and check out the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren spending the night "somewhere".

After all this, I'm not sure. We would like to be in Dubin 21 and staying there since we have early flights out the 23.

See, I'm really having a hard time with mileage and time it is going to take to get between towns. So, I don't know if my plan will work or we will just be worn out from the car.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm tired already!!!

thanks!

Fotobug · Veteran Member

So, I don't know if my plan will work or we will just be worn out from the car.

We found that everything took a lot longer than we had counted on. Partly because we didn't want to rush through things, and partly because of lines, waiting for tours, etc. In our experience, having 4 people (we also travelled with another couple) rather than just 2 also slowed us down a lot... rest room breaks, cafeteria lines, packing. Everything was just a slower pace than I am used to.

I'm sorry I haven't gotten a trip report posted yet - I feel like I just got caught up here at home and now we're leaving again tomorrow (road trip to visit older family members this time). :( But Michele's suggestion of using 30 mph as a rough guide to distance/time served us well. We also found that the time estimates on the Michelin site http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/htm/div/map/Ireland-map/ were pretty accurate, too.

We made the conscious decision to take our time and see what we wanted to see at each place rather than to rush through in order to get to more places. For instance, you said Will take in Cork, Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castel, Cobh and whatever we can fit in. We might have had all of those on our initial list, but likely would only have gotten to 1 or 2.

We opted out of Ring of Kerry and did both Beara and Dingle instead. Since I haven't done Kerry, I can't make a comparison... but I can say that we were pleased with the relative lack of traffic (particularly tour buses!) and the awesome sites on both of the others; and that we spent close to a whole day on each - stopping along the way for walks, views, sites, lunch, etc.

As long as you are flexible and don't fret over what you might be missing, you'll have a wonderful time no matter what you end up doing!

Barb

Michele Erdvig · Host

Corky,

Try this automated trip planner: http://www.aaireland.ie/routes/ Plug in your destinations, get mileage (not kilometers) and divide by 35 for approximate drive times.

I think you are on the right track. If I am counting right you have another two days to play with before being in Dublin. I would add another day to Kilkenny and one to Kenmare. Doolin or Ballyvaughan are good places to stay for the Cliffs of Moher and Burren.

How does that sound?

Michele

youngka · Guru

Corky, This site has helped me many times, and since I plan the trips, I've really enjoyed all the postings. We like Prego in Kenmore for a meal and it is about 2 doors from JAM. We also liked staying in Kenvara at Connelly's B/B, in Kenvara -- North of the Cliffs on the same road http://www.conneelysbedandbreakfast.com. For dinner ask directions for Linnanes Lobster Bar (not far from the B/B.) Also check out Kenvaras site: http://www.kinvara.com/. The reading for the B/B and restaurant are accessible on Shielas site, don't seem to come up on the Kinvera site. Have a really nice trip and hope the sun is always shining youngka

corky · Newbie

thanks all or ya'll for help. looking forward to ireland.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Corky,

You're welcome. Let us know if you have any other questions before your trip. And we would enjoy hearing back from you when you return.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

and now for a slightly more opinionated response ....

I agree with Michele that going to Waterford for a closed tour is not a very good idea and in fact, were the tour there, it is interesting, but not interesting enough to spend a day going that way. It's also not considered the nicest crystal in Ireland (just the most well known). If you are going to Dingle or Kinsale, consider stopping by the little shops there and talking with the cutters in person. Both of these are a higher quality and deeper cut crystal than Waterford.

Now my favorite topic and though I'm not always convincing, that famous stone is Ireland's biggest tourist trap. I know everyone feels they MUST see it and kissit. Some feel they've walked away with a bit of Ireland, though more likely, a bit of Irish bacteria. The castle is a ruin, the grounds are quite nice but probably the biggest concern is the amount of time it can take. If you arrive midday in June, my understanding is that the line can take a couple of hours to get though, potentially standing in the rain. Once in the castle there are a couple of clostrophobic flights of stone stairs that you will stand in waiting for folks to kiss the stone. Though I've never been there in mid summer I can imagine the line.

When I was there on a blustery January day, I asked the designated ankle grabber (that would be the guy who prevents you from dropping to your death as you kiss the stone) what the lines are like in the summer. He said they frequently run to the entrance with a heavy tour bus calling. He confiremed that 2 hours was not an unusual wait, especially midday. If you must go, get there early or late as most tour buses have taken of for dinner somewhere by then.

If you are interested in a much more interesting castle, visit Cahir which is much closer. With that in mind, I agree that adding a full day to Kilkenny is a good idea. There is so much to see in the city and lots to see between there and Kenmare. The Rock of Cashel is about 10 miles up the road from Cahir. I dount you will find many experienced Irish travelers who would suggest Blarney over and Rock of Cashel/Cahir Castle combination.

Bill

WCOMALLEY · Veteran Member

I would go with Bill's recommendation, the Rock and Cahir over Blarney. We (Myself, Herself, and The Brother) went to Blarney at The Brother's insistence in October '07. It was a beautiful day, the castle and grounds were OK, BUT---- there was still a line, it was a climb, and there were many more beautiful castles we saw with no fuss. I would have vetoed the whole thing (as Trip Planner you get an extra vote) but we were on our way to Midleton and the East Cork area anyway so we stopped for a lark. No comparison with Knappogue, Dysert O'Dea, and just about anything else we visited along the way. If you are going all the way to the Old Sod why settle for anything less than the real deal. WC

Sidz · Guru

Would have to agree that if there is one thing in Ireland that can be skipped it is certainly Blarney. A tourist trap supreme and not extremely interesting compared to the other wonderful places you can go in that region.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Good old Blarney Castle has a non-stop publicity machine that sucks tourists in like a vacuume cleaner. As everyone has said, there are numerous castles that are better. However, I find that even when people know the truth about Blarney Castle they still want to visit and kiss the stone. It is high on the list of quintessential things for tourists to Ireland to do. Not that I have ever fallen prey to the desire to kiss a stone...or a frog for that matter!

Michele

Sidz · Guru

Not trying to scare anyone about kissing the ol' rock, but you might be interested in this story.. http://www.irishcentral.com/news/The-Blarney-Stone-is-the-dirtiest-rock-on-the-planet-48273567.html

That is enough to be a tie-breaker for me! smile

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sidz,

Thanks for posting the article. Another thing to consider is most people don't know where the Blarney Stone is. There are signs all over saying it is at the top of the tower. You must go up hundreds of tiny steps through small passageways to get to it. Not for the claustrophobic or less than nimble.

Michele