New Plan

decaturdawg · Member

New Plan

youngka · Guru

Terry, Glad you found Michele's site, it is a good one!

Leaving SSN and heading to the Burren area, you may want to check out staying a night in Kenvara & have lunch, and get a good night's rest. There is a fort and many other interesting things to check out in Kenvara. Sheila, at the Conneelys B&B (very nice B&B) has a lot of pamphlets of general areas - around Kenvara --- & Sheila make great suggestions for places to see in and around Kenvara. Her site: www.conneelysbedandbreakfast.com. Also, check out the town site:
www.kinvara.com . If you do have lunch and/or dinner, there is an excellent sea food place just South of B&B in Kinvara: Linnane's Lobster Bar!! biggrin

If you decide not to fly to Inis Mor..... ..... Just South of Kinvara, & South of the Cliffs of Mor, is a ferry landing in Doolin (ferry site for reservations: islandferries@eircom.net.) You will love Inis Mor (website for an excellent B&B, with wonderful views, walking areas, etc. manofarancottage.com (Run by Maura and Joe --- super nice owners!! & great food!)

After Aran Islands you could drive down to Dingle & explore then head on towards Kenmare. Visit Muckross House & Gardens, Ross Castle/Ross Island; Ladies View/Molls Gap. Kenmare has a nice place to eat, if it is time for lunch, etc. called Prego. On the main street not far from JAM (JAM is okay, but Prego is much better! --- JAMS sign is bigger and easier to find wink

)

Skibbereen is one of my favorite places to go. I don't, however, know of any places to stay in town. I just like walking around the town --- stop for coffee and a pastry -- before heading to Baltimore. We did enjoy a little place "kitty corner" from Castle Cahir for lunch -- Riverhouse Cafe -- great souvenirs next door!

HAVE A REALLY NICE TRIP! youngka

I just noticed a posting from Michele which looks like a good place to check out in Kenmare: Arthur's Lodge Wood is offering everyone who mentions my name a special discount off their usual rates of 50 - 75 per person. Save from 10 to 60 per couple when reserving a double room. Good through October 2009, a double room including breakfast is available for 90 a night for those who quote my name when making a reservation.

-- Edited by youngka on Thursday 30th of July 2009 04:24:06 PM

decaturdawg · Member

Thanks, Youngka, for all the great suggestions. Yours & Bit's trip reports from Aran Islands and Man of Aran Cottage helped seal the deal for me on wanting to stay overnight. With the ferry schedule a day trip seemed quite rushed.

I'll look into Kinvara - the Lobster House sounds yummy!

Arthur's Lodge Wood sure looks lovely!

THX,

Terry

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Bearing in mind, that this advice comes from a heathen, Methodist, Italian GATOR:

I would suggest you consider heading DIRECTLY to Galway from Shannon. You don't mention the age/stamina level of the parents, but that flight from SE USA to SNN can be pretty brutal, plus the next morning you have a relaxed pace to either the airport OR the ferry. If you DO feel sufficiently rested, you could visit a bit of the country-side, or just walk around the Latin Quarter and the Square.

The subsequent drive down to Dingle WILL be a FULL one -- but I think you would appreciate the Cliffs and the Burren MORE, by not being so tired...

Just my Orange and Blue 1 Euro-cents worth ... biggrin

Bob

youngka · Guru

Terry, I can guarantee you will LOVE Inis Mor as much as Bit, and now she has me hooked, very peaceful! Thanks to Bob, also, because I was going on and on with my first not and think I lost myself somewhere around the middel biggrin

That ferry ride to Inis Mor is really fun if you can go on the water and Bob's suggestion to go to Galway was good because it is on the way to Ros an Mhil (Rossaveal) for the ferry ride just West of Galway -- nice drive too...... As far as Dingle, Bob mentioned an alternate plan, it is aways out to Dingle and you could probably miss going and see beautiful scenery, villages, towns, etc. along the way to Skibbereen. Hope you are able to go to the Lobster place South of Kinvarra (found this spelling on a map???) Take care, have a great time!!!! youngka

-- Edited by youngka on Friday 31st of July 2009 04:22:37 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Terry,

If you are interested in Arthur's Lodge Wood go to the Hot Offers! section of my forum for a discount there.

I am with Bob on your plans for your first day. You just don't know how jet-lag will hit your parents. They could be too tired to enjoy the cliffs. If you go directly to Galway perhaps you can get an early check-in and your parents can have a nap to revitalize them and then do some sightseeing. It has the advantage on not being in the car for a lot of the first day but being somewhere where each person can do as they please. Then you can do the cliffs on the drive down to Dingle.

I would like to see you staying in some places for two days, rather than so many one-night stops. It will be much more relaxing and you won't have to pack, move on, find another place, unpack and settle in.

Consider two nights in Kenmare. On Oct 9 you can do Bantry & Ilnacullen, then circle back via Healy Pass.

Since Dungarvan is a goal and time is at a premium, have you thought of skipping the slow coastal route through Kinsale and taking the main road through Cork? After all, you can't see everything. Why not overnight in Dungarvan instead? You could see the Queenstown Story Museum in Cobh and Old Middleton Distillery along the way.

Then carry on with the rest of your plan. What do you think?

Michele

decaturdawg · Member

Well, Bob, this god-fearing, Irish, Catholic BULLDOG appreciates your advice

My parents are about 70 and in pretty good shape, but you're right about the JFK-SNN route being brutal. And I couldn't upgrade us since we're not on continuing flights into/out of JFK so we're in cattle class the whole way!! Originally we were departing on Monday, but now will be missing the LSU-GA game due to our Saturday departure so my husband is taking his pound of flesh for this gross mismanagement of the football schedule.

Needed some perspective about visiting the Cliffs/Burren on the way to Dingle and it sounds like that is doable. Since we'll fly vs. ferry, we can be on our way by 9:30am or so. II will stop trying to push the first day - inherently I do know better

Michele, great idea on the time saver to Dungarvan. I was struggling with the route and Kinsale isn't a must do. My parents would LOVE to overnight in Dungarvan instead. Bantry isn't even a must do - I'll play around with spending more time on Berea or in Kenmare if we spend 2 night there.

I am quite clueless as to which route to take into Dublin - if we overnight in Dungarvan we may be able to get past Cashel if there is more intriguing stop over.

I still plan to contact you to get help in finessing the more deluxe itinerary. The Delta flight change set me back a bit but I'm getting excited about it again.

Thanks, all!

youngka · Guru

Terry, thanks for posting your picture, good shot! youngka

Michele Erdvig · Host

Terry,

If you backtrack just slightly from Dungarvan you can go through Lismore and take the scenic Vee Drive north to Cahir where you can see Cahir Castle & Swiss Cottage. Then to the Rock of Cashel. I think that those stops will take most of your day. An overnight in Cashel sounds about right to me.

Michele