Need help with Northwest Ireland itinerary

dan38 · Member

Need help with Northwest Ireland itinerary

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan,

Thanks very much for your comments about my book. The 2010 edition just came out!

You didn't mention where you were flying in to and out of, but what you outlined sounds like a great trip.

I was at Glenveagh a couple of years ago in the spring. It was glorious. Be sure to tour the castle and walk all through the various gardens. The road to Slieve League has been improved so that is good news.

When in Sligo (if time permits) I recommend Gleniff Horseshoe Drive and Parke's Castle. The drives around Lough Gill and Glencar are lovely. For beaches try Rosses Point and Strandhill. I actually climbed Knocknarea once. I thought my husband was going to have a heart attack. He couldn't believe that this city gal actually did it. If I can do it, anyone can.

I wasn't that impressed with Ceide Fields but others like it. Not far from Westport (Castlebar) is the Museum of Country Life, which I did like a lot.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Michele

dan38 · Member

Thanks, Michelle! Well, if the 2010 edition is out, I'll just have to buy it, won't I? aww

To answer your question, I'm flying from Washington DC -- not sure where I'm flying into. DC to Dublin to Donegal Airport seems best, since I plan to spend the most time in County Donegal. Only problem is that I planned to rent a car with automatic transmission, and there appears to be only one car rental company at Donegal Airport itself, and the rental cost is around 600 Euro. cry

I suppose I could try renting elsewhere in County Donegal, but I'd need to figure out a way to get from the airport to the rental agency. Alternately, I could fly into Shannon and rent a car there, but that means I'd need to drive 3.5 hours to Donegal the first day. Or I could fly into Knock.

Do you (or anybody on the forum) have any thoughts?

Thanks,
Dan

murphy · Guru

Dan....good name you have! I have been seeing on various other web sights that more people are using the train to get from the east (Dublin) to the west (Shannon, Galway, and I presume Donegal, since there is a huge 7 arch train tressel right north of Westport) At any rate, since there are fewer good flights into Shannon, and more people are forced into using Dublin airport, it seems like a good "jet-lag" option to me....let someone else do the driving during the first few tired hours in Ireland, and while the scenery out the train window is probably pretty good....if it gets boring in the middle of the country, you could always take a nap! Just an idea....others on this forum may want to weigh in with their opinion! another Dan

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Dan --

Consider Derry (or Londonderry, depending upon your political leanings -- hmm

).

Not only is UK car hire MUCH simpler and more straight-forward, THIS year, for a variety of reasons, it is MUCH cheaper than renting in the Republic.

Bob

bronxbomber · Veteran Member

What IS Derry like? I have not read much about it here.

We have friends to visit in Belfast next year, so more q's then.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bronx,

Derry is a largish city straddling Lough Foyle quite near the border with Donegal. The main old portion that most tourists visit for the walls, murals, etc. is west across the bridge if you are coming from the Belfast direction. There is good parking at the Foyleside Mall and the tourist office is right nearby. They even have free Internet computer stations inside the mall. How nice is that?

It is called the Maiden City because its walls were never breached. Anything else you wanted to know about Derry?

Michele

P.S. I don't have any particular political leanings so I will just call Derry what St. Columba named it originally. Plus it is short and sweet. Columba is also known as Columcille. He had two names too.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan,

You can drive from Dublin to Donegal in about 3-4 hours. Dublin will definitely have more car choices than Donegal.

Michele

dan38 · Member

Thanks Dan Murphy, Michele, and Italian Chauffeur! biggrin

I'll compare Dublin and Derry rental prices to see which one would be best -- I hadn't thought to do either option.

Zstep · Veteran Member

If you can face the thought of a stick shift, the cost differential is startling. Something to think about and I bet availability will be better for manual transmissions as well. For me (8 day rental), the differences was almost half ($870 vs. $504).

This is out of Dublin, mind.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

dan38 -- Just to give you an idea of the discrepancy this year, I've gotten quotes ranging from $800-1800 to rent a manual, without CDW, for 17 days during this July, for a Ford focus class car, Cork Airport to Shannon Airport. Same car class, same dates and same terms, but pick up and drop off from Belfast International Airport is UNDER $500!! confuse

I'm just sayin' ...... evileye

Bob

Susan in Wi · Member

We have a Ford Focus, manual, booked through Dan Dooley for 12 days in June, pick-up and drop-off Dublin Airport for $355.00 USD with CDW or $535.00 USD with Super CDW . I called for a quote, did not book it, then called back a couple of days later to book and the price had gone up a few dollars. This was just last week.

We also priced an automatic, same size and it was $800, including CDW, another $15.00 per day for Super CDW. The prices on the website were a bit higher than I was quoted on the phone.

Susan In Wi

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Susan: Rates from Dooleys web-site for my dates - 15 July -- 1 Aug - for an Automatic is as follows:

                    Micra --   $1458.86

                     Corolla - $1788.31

                     Megane - $2036.44

Even availing myself of the 10% discount, that's STILL a whole bunch of money! cry

With the airlines making it so DIFFICULT to fly into Shannon, more and more people will be landing in Dublin. Now, if a two hour bus or train ride could SAVE me almost $1000 -- plus make it much less of a hassle to waive the Insurance (since companies in the UK (INCLUDING Northern Ireland) accept masterCard, Visa and American Express --- you would have to think that companies in the Republic would suffer???? confuse

I'm just sayin' biggrin

Bob

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bob,

Yikes!!!

Check carefully with your credit card insurance for renting in Northern Ireland. Mine told me ALL of Ireland was included in the "may not cover" scenario even though it is part of the UK. You man need one of the few World MasterCards that still have Master Rental insurance.

I have a quote of $506 for 29 days. But it's off season and not an automatic.

Michele