First time out of US and need help planning trip to Ireland!

sarahstrip · Member

First time out of US and need help planning trip to Ireland!

Green Dragon · Guru

April is a lovely time to be travling in Ireland. I went in 2005, and the yellow gorse covered the country side like a buttery blanket! Not crowded at all - season is more in June, July and August. While it misted every morning we were there, and got down to 45 degree F at night, it was about 65-75 during the day, and usually cleared up to bright sunshine in the afternoon.

You are right to stick to the west or the southwest to keep to the small towns and natural beauty. All of Ireland is beautiful, but I think that area got more than it's fair share of the beauty.

Self drive and B&Bs is what I would recommend. I would also recommend not switching lodging every night - stay at least 2 - 3 nights in each spot, (if not more!) allowing yourself to get to know the area, the local pub, the great places around it.

Green Dragon · Guru

Sorry, it was 2002 not 2005 I went!

Here is my travelogue if you are interested...

http://ireland.activeboard.com/index.spark?forumID=65127&p=3&topicID=5589098

Carrie · Veteran Member

Congratulations on your first trip to Ireland. I agree that April is a very good choice. Also the southwest for the scenic beauty. The Dingle peninsula is especially beautiful. I think the best way to see Ireland is by rental car so you can go at your own pace, making stops as you please. Rent the smallest car you can, since the country roads in Ireland are much more narrow and winding than what we are use to here in the US.

I've been to Ireland on two solo trips and am returning in September. It's an easy country to visit with friendly people. Enjoy your trip!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sarah,

Welcome to my forum. This is the place to post your questions.

Green Dragon and Carrie have started you out with some good suggestions.

I travel often in April and love spring in Ireland. The month can start off with bare trees but as the month proceeds toward May more and more will be blooming across the countryside. Mid-April and later into May are ideal.

Excellent idea to rent a car and explore Ireland on your own terms. That way you can see what you want, when you want. You can linger and explore. As Green Dragon says, try to have bases to stay for 2 or three nights.

Since you want to be in the country, I suggest flying into and out of Shannon if you can. The SW is beautiful and packs a tremendous amount of scenery into a small package. Loch Lein is still offering my readers a discount, as are other places. See the new section of my forum Hot Offers!

Travel agents that specialize in Ireland can get you some good airfares. You can also start looking at the various airline sites yourself. What airline do you think you will be flying on? Be sure to sign up for newsletters on your airline of choice.

Go to my Getting Started page for a jump start on your trip. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Michele

-- Edited by Michele Erdvig on Wednesday 15th of July 2009 11:38:32 PM

sarahstrip · Member

Green Dragon...

Thank you so much for all your suggestions. They were extremely helpful. And I am going to really start looking into a few B&B's that might be good central places throughout instead of changing every night or two.

Thanks again for your insight,
Sarah

sarahstrip · Member

Michele,

Thank you for your response. I am still finding my way around your forum but i will be sure to look at the ares you pointed me too. I have to say that I am thrilled that I found my way here. However...at this moment I can't even remember what lead me to your site. But nonetheless grateful!! I will keep you posted as I get further into the planning and ask more questions along the way if that's ok.

Sarah

sarahstrip · Member

Your return trip is just around the corner. I bet September is a beautiful time to be there and the weather I'm assuming will be nice. Thank you for your thoughts and insight. I will keep you posted as the planning unfolds. BTW what part are you visiting in Sept.?

Sarah

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sarah,

It's funny the way you can stumble across things while surfing around on the Internet. Just be sure to bookmark my forum and website so you don't lose them.

We are here to help you make sense of all the info you will be gathering about Ireland. After a while it all gets to be a jumble but feel free to run it past us on the forum at any time. It is good to have friends to help you sort things out.

Michele

sarahstrip · Member

Thanks so much. You're right. My mind is on overload. I've been to the library and checked out books. And really do feel overwhelmed by all the information. I just ordered your book and think I will allow that to be my Ireland "Bible" and return the others that I'm finding more frustrating than helpful at this point:)

Thanks so much for the help and encouragement
Sarah

sarahstrip · Member

Michele,

I'm sure your book will be able to answer this question but...Green Dragon suggested that I pick only a few B&B's and hotels for my 10-12 trip in April and stay in a central location a few days and travel from there to surrounding places. I know I want to stay with the small towns and natural beauty so the Southwest coast. Any suggestions to a few central places that would be good for that?

Thanks,
Sarah

stewh · Guru

Hello Sarah,

It looks like you are well on your way to planning a great trip. I would suggest the town of Kenmare as a possible location to stay in the SW. There is plenty to see in the area with great daytrips at hand. The town itself, while small is quite cosmopolitan with an abundance of restaurants, pubs and even shopping. It is a particular favourite of my wife and (I think) of Michele.
happy travels
Stewart

sarahstrip · Member

Thank you so much. I will check that out right now:)

Sarah

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sarah,

Stewart is right that Kenmare is my favorite small town. I also recommend Dingle for the SW. My favorite city is Kilkenny but that is farther east. And I actually prefer Loop Head to the Cliffs of Moher. Although both have their charms.

Michele

meredith · Veteran Member

Sarah, my husband and I spent four nights in Dingle and five in Kenmare in September last year. We had absolutely no trouble filling in our days sightseeing. there is so much to do and as the others have told you, that part of Ireland is just beautiful. Dingle was our favourite place, but Kenmare comes a very, very close second.

regards
Meredith

sarahstrip · Member

Meredith,

Thanks for your comments. I feel like I'm really getting great information from people who care and who have experienced Ireland!!

Warmly,
Sarah

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

We've been three times, in early to mid April and I think that we had terrific weather nearly each time, for MOST of each trip.

In 1999, we had cold and rain for two of our eight days and other than the odd day or so, in 2001 and 2003, typically we saw days in the 50's and nights in the 40's -- although I remember driving down to Cork from Kildare and actually turning on the car's AC because it was in the mid-70's and HOT, in the sun!

I, too, really like Kenmare, but I am probably the odd-man out, in that I would personally prefer to park in Killarney -- especially in April. It sometimes gets a bad rap as being too fake, too touristy and too crowded, but most of the places that people flock to Ireland to see are nearby (even though Kenmare IS closer to some TERRIFIC places, too, like Bearra ).

A nice compromise might be to spend 2 & 2 & 2 -- split between Kenmare, Killarney and Dingle -- but that might be hard, if you only have a week or so.

My advice would be that once you get Michele's book, see which attractions interest you most and see which town (Kenmare OR Killarney) is CLOSEST to the greater number of them and let THAT determine you choice of accommodation ....

Bob

sarahstrip · Member

Bob,

Three times! Wow. Thanks for the post. I tend to like smaller towns with less people however I am going to stay at least 10 days so maybe I like your idea of breaking it up into 2-3 nights in each place. I appreciate your insight a ton. It is helpful while I'm sorting things out in my head. It gets a bit overwhelming.

Sarah

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sarah,

There are some wonderful, caring members on my forum. I am so fortunate to have such a lovely group that calls the forum home. They are very generous with their time and with sharing their suggestions.

We were all in your shoes once, planning a first trip to Ireland. Now that we know about the country we love to share our observances with others.

I hope you will feel at home and that you are among friends.

Michele