Shannon to Dublin - Itinerary Suggestions?

DorothyEA1 · Member

Shannon to Dublin - Itinerary Suggestions?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

Welcome to my forum. We have had a lot of new members come aboard today. I have a question. On 5-29 you say "Dad stays in Portmagee". Does that mean you part ways there? Or will he continue on the rest of the trip with you? Or does it mean that he will do his thing while you do yours on that day?

Let me know and I will give you my ideas.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

I beg your pardon for not being clear.

Dad will continue on with me. In Portmagee I think he'll stay ashore and leave me to climb the 640 steps on the Skellig. I let him fish and he leaves me to hike. Last year he hung out in Ballyvaughn when I hiked in the Burren. Time doing our own thing makes us better travelling companions. smile

He's a spry, if a little rotund, 72 year old. His usual routine is far less active than traveling with me. He keeps up but is usually in bed early.

D.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

Thanks for clarifying. It looks like you are trying to cram a whole lot into a little bit of time. You will definitely be on the move. I usually refer to that as a "green blur tour of Ireland".

5-28: Going from Clare, taking the ferry, doing Dingle and getting to Portmagee is a very long day. I suggest an early start.

5-29: Are you completing the ROK circle counterclockwise? If so, going to Killarney and then Kenmare is backtracking. Either stay in Killarney and forget Kenmare or stay in Kenmare and drop Killarney.

5-30: Suggest dropping Bantry & Cobh. Instead head directly to Blarney, then Cahir, Cashel & Kikenny. Even so, another long day.

5-31: At last a reasonable day. wink

The rest is okay. Although, if you have that extra day to add somewhere I suggest Killarney/Kenmare, Dingle or Dublin. But I don't know if your Skellig Michael tour is reserved or not. So that might not work.

You will want to be extremely careful at Skellig Michael and wear good footware. Two tourists died last year doing the climb. And be sure to have alternate plans because the boats don't go in bad weather, high seas or unfavorable winds.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

Thank you. I appreciate your suggestions and will review my plan.

We covered a greater area last year without the 3/4 day side trip but it seems the south is a different animal than the west and north of the island.

Grateful for your insight and knowledge,
D.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

A lot also depends on how many stops you plan each day. Every sightseeing venue takes time too. Let us know what you decide and if you have any other questions.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

I've cut out the Clare stop and am working on the new plan. This is the early draft:

	Option 2
Wed., 26.5	Arrive Shannon; Craggaunowen, Quin, Tralee	stay Tralee
Thur., 27.5	Dingle	stay Glencar or Killarney
Fri., 28.5	Fish; hike, stay dependant on where fishing guide is found	stay Glencar or Killarney
Sat., 29.5	Ring of Kerry	Kenmare?
Sun., 30.5	Kenmare, Blarney, Cahir, Kilkenny	Kilkenny
Mon., 31.5	Kilkenny, Wexford	Kilkenny
Tues., 1.6	Glendalough	Glendalough
Wed., 2.6		Glendalough
Thur., 3.6	Dublin City Bus Tour; parking in Dublin? [Lost my shirt $$ last year at Christ Church parking area.]	Dublin
Fri., 4.6	Fly Edinburgh; 2 day pass for city tour; ride bus get lay of land	Scotland
Sat., 5.6	continued city tour; Castle, ship, etc.	Scotland
Sun., 6.6	Highlands or St. Andrews Day trip	Scotland

Mon., 7.6	Wrap up and fly back to Dublin	Dublin
Tues., 8.6	Home again	Boston

I am grateful for your suggestions and envious of your job though, truth to tell, this is hard work!

D.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

I'm going to give you a couple of suggestions for fishing for your father. In Waterville on the Ring of Kerry try: Frank Donnelly at http://www.lakelandswaterville.com/ In Killarney try: John Buckley at johnbuckley17@eircom.net In Kenmare try Brendan Grant at bgrant@kerryfishingguide.com

You will probably need two nights in the place where your father fishes. Best to make those plans and then tailor the rest.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

You are a blessing! Thank you.

D.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

Happy to help. If you did the fishing in Waterville it is close enough to Skellig Michael for you to do that while your father fishes. Let us know what you decide and if you need more advice.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

This is wonderful. Thank you. I booked with Frank and Anne at Lakeside where Dad will fish while I go to the Skelligs.

Could you suggest how far a weary traveller might venture after landing in Shannon? I'm heading for Doolin but suspect that may be a bit too far. Stuggling with Listowel, Tralee, ???

Last year we travelled from Dublin after landing to Kildare and stayed in Cashel. By the time we got there, Dad was pretty much done for the day. I'll be driving and don't underestimate my own stamina.

Thank you for your guidance,
D.

CowboyCraic · Guru

Dorothy,

Either Listowel or Doolin would both be in reasonable driving proximity to your arrival point of Shannon. I would suggest Listowel, as your focus seems to be in the Southwest.

You can cut a bit of time and distance by taking the Kilmer/Tarbert Ferry across the Shannon estuary. That drops you off in Tarbert and Listowel is just below.

Slan Beo,

Bit

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

Glad to hear you are getting multiple things done with one stay in Waterville.

If you want to see the Cliffs of Moher then Doolin. It's about 1 1/2 hours from Shannon Airport. The drive is really not bad. Then you can nap and relax, perhaps go to the cliffs late afternoon and have a nice dinner.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Thank you both for your suggestions.

I think we're going to skip Clare this year as we took in the Cliffs last year. We were going there for the fishing originally.

I have made a reservation in Tralee. I'd still like to get to Quin after we land but can easily let that go if need be. If we head to the B&B, we can sightsee, nap, have dinner, see the area and see what evolves. We'll be on our way early Thursday so we have time to see Dingle and get to Waterville.

I really appreciate your insights.

D.

wojazz3 · Guru

I have become less and less of a fan of the Shannon Ferry because of the price. It's now up to E18 or roughly $25 which seems a bit much for a 15 minute ride. From where you are in Clare, even with the traffic in Limerick, I would go that way. There will be a bypass around Limerick in the not too distant future and that should help things out a lot.

Once out of Limerick the trip moves pretty quickly and it's a nice drive. I got to experience an blizzard this year when I took that road.

Bill

DorothyEA1 · Member

Hmmm, I'm not packing for snow but did get lost lost lost in Limerick last year! I think we'll be ok if we stick to the signed streets. I'm hoping anyway. Thx.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dorothy,

When driving south through Limerick you should look for Cork road first. It then branches off toward Tralee. That could be where you got lost before.

Michele

DorothyEA1 · Member

Michele,

Thank you so much! I'll watch for that.
Last year we were headed west coming from Lough Gur. It was an interesting hour or so. smile

D.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Oh, Lough Gur. That's a whole nother route.

Michele