Travelling to Ireland 9/1/03 to 9/13/03 on Honeymoon:) Hello, My fiance and I are travelling to Ireland for our honeymoon at the beginning of September. I was wondering if this travel itenary is possible. We do not have any sites planned for sure, just areas we wish to visit. I have listed the towns in which we would stay at night. We would sight-see between the previous destination, etc. We are staying at Bed and Breakfasts and have rented a car.
Day 1-Sept 1st Leave Chicago for Shannon Day 2-Sept 2nd Arrive in Shannon (we already have hotel for this night) Day 3- Sept 3rd Stay in Galway Day 4- Sept 4th Stay in Westport Day 5-Sept 5th Stay in Althone Day 6-Sept 6th Stay in Dublin Day 7- Sept 7th Stay in Dublin Day 8- Sept 8th Stay in Waterford Day 9-Sept 9th Stay in Cork Day 10-Sept 10th Stay in Killarney Day 11-Sept 11th Stay in Killarney Day 12-Sept 12th Stay in Limerick Day 13-Sept 13th Leave for home from Shannon International
Thanks in advance for your assistance. If you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate. I am clueless and there are so many beautiful places that we would love to see. Thanks again! Jamie
garyvol Unregistered User (8/18/03 7:23 am)
leaving from shannon Hi Jamie, Now this is a cool honeymoon. For starters, it's always good to know what time of day your departing flight out of Shannon is. Most folks use Bunratty (my wife Mary and I did) as a night before the departure day. Need time to get last minute shopping, time to recover from Dirty Nellie's, and return the car (gas up first) to the airport and again with more shopping to do at the airport. let's hear what others say. -gary
DebbieK Registered User Posts: 63 (8/18/03 10:19 am)
Re: leaving from shannon My comment would be to try to base your self out of a few less places.
You have 10 different overnight locations in 12 days. That is a lot of moving around, packing up your suitcases, loading up the car, finding another B&B and getting checked in, etc.
You may be very active people, but take some time to enjoy your honeymoon, and not rush from place to place so much. After the stress & rush of planning/having a wedding, you deserve a break.
Maybe: Shannon - depending on what time your flight gets in, you could work part way up to Doolin or Galway if you wanted to. Galway 2-3 nights Dublin 2- 3 nights Cashel 2 -3 nights ( good base for Waterford, Kilkenny, Cahir etc) Killarney 2-3 nights Shannon/Bunratty last night
Now - since you only have 12 nights -> 2 of my 4 "bases" would need to be 2 night stays and 2 could be 3 night stays.
I am sure you have heard this already , but remember when planning your drive times to base it on 35mph. You may do better than that, but overall, it is a good time estimate.
Debbie
mrsmiller2b Registered User Posts: 1 (8/18/03 7:03 pm)
Thanks Thank you both for your insight. We will be arriving in Shannon at 10:00 in the morning so we will have plenty of time to start exploring. Our hotel is already set for the 2nd so we have no need to search for a place to stay when we get there and then we have vouchers for the other nights. The base idea is a great idea and I had seen it in several other posts after I had already posted. I will talk it over with my fiance and he will be happy I am sure not to have to pack and unpack our nice little econ. car
Re: Travelling to Ireland 9/1/03 to 9/13/03 on Honeymoon:) Hi Jamie,
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and honeymoon.
Gary and Debbie have already given you some good advice. For your honeymoon you really don't want a green blur tour. You need to take some time to relax and enjoy seeing Ireland at Ireland's pace, which is much slower than elsewhere.
Even though Ireland is a small island and it may seem like you can see it all, it takes a lot of intensive driving time to get from place to place on small winding roads with sheep on them! Your fiance will thank you repeatedly if you plan less driving time and more enjoying time.
I plan honyemoon trips all the time for my clients and the one thing they always comment on afterwards is that they are glad they stayed at "home bases" and slowed down a little. After all, this is a once in a lifetime event (hopefully!) and you want to make memories, not be stressed out.
Michele
jennyhock Unregistered User (8/19/03 6:20 pm)
Honeymoon Congrats. We went for our honeymoon in July, it was wonderful. We ran in to quite a few honeymooning couples along the way too.
I agree with Debbie - stay multiple nights at the same B&Bs. We didn't do this until the last four nights of our trip. It was o.k. to change the first few days, but after awhile, we really appreciated not having to wake up, eat, pack and hit the road.
mrsmiller2b Registered User Posts: 2 (8/19/03 9:39 pm)
B&B choices Thanks again everyone for the advice. Here is what I have so far
Sept 2nd-stay at the Shannon Great Southern Hotel Sept 3rd and 4th- Galway area...We are booking at the Marless House in Salthill Sept 5th, 6th, and 7th...Dublin-inquiring about St. Judes B&B in Rathmine Sept 8th and 9th-Cashel area...We are booking at the Thornbrooke House Sept 10th and 11th-Kilarney area-we have inquired about the Dunn Court House Sept 12th- Shannon-we have inquired about the Riverside B&B. Leave for home on the 13th.
If you know anything about these B&B's please let me know. I have read some great reviews on the Marless house but feel that I am just looking through my book and saying oh that looks like a pretty house let's stay there. Thanks again! Jamie
Your itinerary is looking much saner now. One word about Dublin. Unless you are real "city people" two days is probably enough there. If you decide on two nights instead of three, I would add that extra day to either Killarney or Dingle.
Marless House is a good choice. Mary Geraghty is a wonderful host and her B&B is quite nice. She has been listed in my book for many years. Make your inquiry there ASAP since she fills up very fast.
Since you seem to be struggling with B&B choices, you might consider getting my book. All the B&Bs listed in it are superior and I have personally stayed in them to be sure they are consistently good. You can read more about it at: www.irelandyes.com/book.html
My personal recommendation for a B&B that takes vouchers in Cashel is Rockside House. Email Rem & Joan Joy at joyrocksidehouse@eircom.net