Ireland Honeymoon May/June 2010 Need Help

spears327 · Member

Ireland Honeymoon May/June 2010 Need Help

spears327 · Member

I was wrong its 13 nights. So change could be based on self cottage staying Saturday to Saturday
3 Nights in Wicklow
7 Nights in Connemara (see Cliffs while staying there)
2 Nights in Sligo
1 Night in Dublin

or

1 Night Dublin
2 Nights Wicklow
7 Nights Connemara
2 Nights Sligo
1 Night Dublin

or

3 Nights Wicklow
7 Nights Sligo
1 Night Doolin
2 Nights Dublin

AHHH! So hard to chose.
Jackie

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jackie,

Welcome to my forum. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage and honeymoon.

I hope you don't mind my saying it, but you are currently all over the map. I realize that it is hard whittling it down to where you want to stay and when. Let me just throw a few ideas out there for you to mull over.

It seems you want to spend one week self-catering. I have done self-catering all over Ireland. My favorite place to do it is Kenmare. You have access to all of Kerry and some of Cork from there. It is a charming town and I think you would love it.

You might consider getting a head start on your trip upon landing by driving about an hour or so away into Wicklow. You could save a couple of nights at the end of your trip for Dublin.

If you decide on the SW, then I would cut Sligo from the itinerary.

Although most self-catering rents from Sat to Sat you are going in the shoulder season. It might be possible to rent for a week on other dates. It just depends on the rental property.

Think about it and tell me what you think.

Michele

spears327 · Member

Thank you for your thoughts. I talked it over with my Fiance and we have decided to stick to the west. We plan on starting with 3 nights in wicklow, 7 nights in galaway, and 3 nights in dublin. We will be doing b&bs in wicklow and dublin and self catering in galaway. WE are so excited!!!!

Thanks,
Jackie

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jackie,

It sounds delightful. You will want to check on hotels in Dublin city center since the B&Bs tend to be toward the suburbs. But since you are spending 3 nights look for "special offers" on the hotel websites. Have you booked your self-catering place yet? Will it be in Galway City or outside?

Michele

spears327 · Member

Thanks for the tips on Dublin. I started looking at accomdations today based on reviews I've read on here and trip advisor. I'm nowhere near ready to make a decision.

In Wicklow I have Riversdale House, Pinewood Lodge, and The Old Coach House. I wrote down Kingfisher Townhouse, O'Shea's Hotel, Willowbrook B&B, Botanic View, and Morehamption Townhouse for Dublin. Most of these are not in city centre.

For the self-catering I have looked at three different shamrock cottages in villages near galway.

craughwell
aughinish-island-newquay
oughterard

I'm still researching. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Jackie

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jackie,

I have a recommendation for Railway Lodge B&B in Oughterard. Recently they added self-catering, which I have not inspected. But if it is half as nice as the B&B it is worth looking at.

My favorite place to stay in Glendalough is Riversdale.

Take a look at Bewley's Hotels in Dublin. They tend to have very good room rates.

Michele

spears327 · Member

Thank you! I took a look at Railway Lodge and it looks amazing unfortunately it is higher than we were looking at. I still have it on our list of possibilities for now. I think we will be staying at Riversdale in Wicklow because all I have heard are good reviews. It looks very nice too. Bewley's is very nice and I have added it to the top of our list.

I'm also going to start looking at car rentals ugh! This is the most unfun of the planning. We will rent from May 25 - June 5 (11 Days). I'm struggling on what to get. I'm very leary about driving over there. I have never driven a stick so if I were to help drive we would have to get an automatic. Adam has driven a stick (some) but is a little weary of doing it over there.

Thank you!
Jackie

spears327 · Member

Well this car renting is a pain in the butt. None of our credit cards will work for CDW in Ireland. I'm also wondering how important Super CDW but I believe I read that if you are under 30 you can't get it and we will be 27 and 28. The automatic is double or more what the manual is. This is going to be tough!

Jackie

Andi · Senior Member

Good luck making your way through the car rental mess. The only comment I have is that while driving in Ireland it's difficult to enjoy the scenery. For that reason, you may want the option of the 2 drivers. Rather than coughing up for the automatic, you could learn to drive a stick; you have several months, and it's a good skill to have.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

If you are from Canada, Certain VISA Cards offer Ireland Coverage. If from the USA, only MasterCard WORLD Cards do. Regardless of your residence location, DINER'S CLUB Card also covers Ireland. It might behoove you to secure a card that DOES cover Ireland. smile

The cost to add a second driver for 11 days will be about 100 Euro ($150, give or take). That's a LOT of extra money, unless you plan to do a SIGNIFICANT portion of the driving. confuse

If budget is an issue, go with the manual shift, in the smallest, cheapest car you can get and don't add (or use) a second driver. As to the 'Super-CDW', you might also look for Michele's Link to www.insurance4carhire.com/ . aww

Car Hire is THE worst part. I call it: "KISSING THE FROG" -- as in, if you kiss a frog, first thing in the morning, NOTHING worse can happen for the rest of the day ... biggrin

But Ireland is SO Worth It! biggrin

Bob

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Wednesday 6th of January 2010 04:11:30 PM

Andi · Senior Member

Yeah, I forgot about the extra driver charge. Another advantage to the smallest car you can get is that it's easier to negotiate on the small lanes. We also got a WORLD car especially to cover Ireland. Be sure to get something in writing if possible from the credit card company to show the rental car people if they refuse to accept the coverage. Even if you follow all the rules, you can meet up with service people who give you a different story from what you were originally led to believe.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Jackie,

We all agree that renting a car in Ireland is the pits. Each company has their own rules and they are not regulated by the Irish government. Please look at my Car Rental page for lots of info you need to know and tips. Plus look at the warning on my forum too.

You have time to get a credit card that will cover your insurance. However, if you cannot do that you will want to get CDW and Super CDW. There is no age limit on them.

I posted this self-catering place on another thread so you might want to take a look as it is very inexpensive: Dooroy Lodge. Note that I have not stayed there. It just looks nice on the Internet.

If you are using this Shamrock Cottage website: http://www.shamrockcottages.co.uk/ you should note that prices are in pounds sterling not euros. That will make a difference in price when you convert to your currency. The euro costs less than the pound.

Michele