Visiting Ireland for the 1st time in Aug.

chag · Newbie

Visiting Ireland for the 1st time in Aug.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Carol,

Welcome to my forum. Glad to hear you have been reading up on Ireland.

On looking over your itinerary I would really advise you to drop Northern Ireland and the Giant's Causeway from this trip. It is waaaay too much driving.

I am concerned about your first day. Will you be just off a transatlantic flight and have jet lag? If so, I think you are trying to get too far. Newgrange, Knowth, Bru na Boinne, the visitor's center all take time. You need a minimum of 3 hours, probably more like 4 to properly see everything. Add an hour for lunch and it will be 2 or 3 pm before you even depart Newgrange for Kilkenny. You will most likely arrive in Kilkenny at rush hour and totally exhausted. I would stay somewhere in the area of Newgrange like Drogheda. Another option would be to drive directly to Kilkenny and do Newgrange as a day trip when you are staying in Dublin at the end of your trip.

I notice that you have a lot of one-night stays in your trip. If you can plan staying two nights in more places I think you will enjoy your trip better. For instance, you can easily do Waterford and Cashel as a day trip from Kilkenny.

What a pity you can't spend two nights in Kenmare. Any chance of two nights in Dingle and two in Kenmare? Or if you skip No. Ireland you will have an extra day to add.

I think with a little tweaking your itinerary will be better.

As for car rentals, my best advice is to read my Car page and also the post on this forum about Car Rentals. Once you are informed about the tips and tricks of car rentals you can go ahead with that.

Hope that puts you on the right track.

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

I am curious as to why you are backing up to Waterford from Cashel. The old factory was good but the new enterprise is I suspect a poor imitation tourist option, great if your passing but not that special to go out of the way to (I could be wrong). If you drop that night and possibly one from Dingle (two nights is more than enough as part of a tour) then you could put these days between Galway and (Portrush?) the Causeway. Sligo and Donegal would fit nicely in the 14 days if you modified. I have driven round the coast a couple of times from Belfast to Dublin anticlockwise in 14 days

On the Subject of Car hire, as you have the North on your Itinnary then I might be worth considering Hireing in Belfast either by airport bus from Dublin or flying into/out of there. You will have to tell your hire company that you will be touring ALL Ireland not just the seperate countries. Some charge extra insurance for this, some dont but you might find pricing in the North a bit more competative. It is worth remembering that the 6 counties of UK Ulster use £ and therfor you will need these as wel as Euro.

-- Edited by tony2phones on Tuesday 6th of July 2010 05:46:33 AM

Monty · Senior Member

Carol:

You have already received some good advice to get you started, and I would also say that unless you have a real reason to spend a night in Waterford, that there is really no way I would waste a day there. So much to see in other areas, and Waterford can be eliminated in my opinion and allow for you to add a day somewhere else.

Planning is half the fun! Have a good trip.

Monty

chag · Newbie

Michelle,
Thank you so much for your suggestions. I have been going over our plans and we are now planning on going straight to Kilkenny for the first night. From there we will go to Kinsale for a night and then to Kenmare for two nights, Dingle for two nights and Doolin for one night.
We plan on going to Galway for two nights and then Sligo area one night and the last three nights in Dublin. Any suggestions on where to stay in the Sligo area? Also looking for suggestions on where to stay in Kenmare, Galway and Dublin.
I have enjoyed reading the trip reports and learning so much from them.

Tony2phones - thank you for your suggestions. We are already realizing that we are going to have to make another trip back to see Donegal and the Giant's causeway.

Monty - thank you for letting us know about Waterford. After a better look we have taken it off the itineary. Planning is a lot of fun, but a lot of work as well. I have enjoyed learning so much about the history of Ireland while planning this trip.

If anyone has any suggestions on places to stay in the above areas we are now in the process of securing reservations. We would like to stay in the town centers where we can just park the car and walk.
Thanks,
Carol

Monty · Senior Member

Carol:

If you want to stay in Kilkenny at a good place that is walking distance to everything this fine city has to offer, try Butler Court. Great B&B experience and you can't beat the location.

Also in Doolin, I've always stayed at Daly's House and enjoyed Susan Daly's great attention to detail.

Best travels!

Monty

-- Edited by Monty on Thursday 8th of July 2010 10:45:12 AM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Carol,

Glad to see your itinerary shaping up. It sounds better. Go to my Lodgings page for lots of recommended places to stay. My book Ireland Dream Trip has even more with reviews of those I really like and have personally stayed at.

Michele

susan · Senior Member

Hi Carol-

When you are in Dublin you can take A behind the scene tour of Croke Park.

http://www.crokepark.ie/GAA-Museum/Visit/Stadium-Tours

We thought it was very informative and so different from an NFL stadium.

Keep an eye out for GAA games during your traveling,we saw one in Co Leitrim.

Susan

chag · Newbie

Monty-The Daly's house looks really nice and I have put in an enquiry as to availablity for the night we will be there. My daughter wants to go horse back riding and they said that is right next door. We'll either do it in Doolin or Dingle. I like the idea that it is only 300 feet away from one of the pubs.

Susan, thanks for the info on Croke Stadium. It sounds pretty interesting. I forwarded it to my sons. I think they want to purchase tickets to a soccer game in Dublin.

Carol

Michele Erdvig · Host

Carol,

We have a nice sharing group here on the forum. If you need more advice just let us know.

Michele