ann
Unregistered User
(1/12/04 6:10 pm)

itinerary opinion

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Michele, we ordered your book and look forward to receiving it. We are going to Ireland along with another couple and are flying out of Atlanta to Dublin on March 9, arriving at 9am on March 10. That day we will pick our rental car up and drive to Drogheda where we will meet some relatives of a friend in the USA. We will spend the night there and drive to Galway on the 11th, spend the next 2 nights there. on the 13th we drive to Limerick and on to Killarney and spend that night in Killarney. On to Cork on the 14th and to Kilkenney on the 15th. We will drive from Kilkenney to Dublin on the 16th and stay there until the 18th when we return to the US. Does this itinerary sound like we will have enough time to get from place to place without spending the day in the car? We will be staying in B&Bs.

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2037
(1/13/04 2:25 am)

Re: itinerary opinion

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Hello Ann,

Thanks for ordering my book. Look for it shortly. Your itinerary looks like this and I am going to give you approximate drive times between places with no stops:

Drogheda (30 minutes from Dublin)
Galway (Drogheda to Galway around 4 hours on main roads)
Galway
Killarney (Galway to Killarney on main roads: 3 1/2 to 4 hours)
Cork (Killarney to Cork on main roads: 1 1/2 to 2 hours)
Kilkenny (Cork to Kilkenny: 3 hours)
Dublin (Kilkenny to Dublin: 2 hours)
Dublin

In my opinion you are covering a lot of territory for the amount of time you will be there. Is there any possibility of departing from Shannon instead of Dublin? With the schedule you are on you will get just a little taste of sightseeing in each area. Is there something you could cut out? If you must arrive and depart from Dublin had you thought of sticking closer to the east instead of trying to drive all over Ireland? I realize that it looks small on the map but there is so much to see and do and all that takes time. So, I suppose it all depends on whether you want a whirlwind trip or something more moderately paced.

Michele

stannseniors
Registered User
Posts: 75
(1/13/04 9:43 am)
 
itinerary

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one thing i noticed about your itinerary is you spend a lot of time (except Galway)in the middle of the country - seeing only land. That may be okay with you but i know when we went we were so upset we didn't see the scenic shorelines until half our trip was over - next time we will spend most of our time seeing those sites. Just want to point that out in case you hadn't thought about that.

ann
Unregistered User
(1/13/04 4:59 pm)

itinerary opinion

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Thanks to both of you. We are flying Delta so it is not possible to fly out of Shannon. We are thinking of not going to Killarney and Cork now. We would like to visit the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty. Would you make any suggestions about which towns to spend the nights if we want to end back up in Dublin on the 16th?
We would like to go to Limerick. Do you think this is still too much driving?

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2040
(1/14/04 1:42 am)

Itinerary

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Hi Ann,

You could certainly enjoy a couple of days in Galway with perhaps a day trip to the Aran Islands (if the weather cooperates). I love the Connemara area, though it is not everyone's cup of tea. It is bleak and rocky with an extraordinary beauty - full of lakes mountains and rugged coastline. If you want to experience the peace and quiet of that area I would recommend Roundstone, a very small village overlooking the ocean. The movie The Matchmaker was filmed there. And of course Bunratty is a good stop for seeing Limerick. The long driving days are those when you drive cross country (about four hours) and you would have two of those. But break it up with some sightseeing along the way or a nice lunch.

Michele

P.S. You will have to go back again for the southwest!

ann
Unregistered User
(1/14/04 12:27 pm)

itinerary opinion

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Rest and peace and quiet are definitely not what we are looking for. We want to experience the pubs with Irish music. We also want to see some castles and beautiful old churches. Of course we want to see some of the Irish countryside and the harbors as well. Thank you so much for your advice. Do you advise making b&b reservations in advance? We already have reservations in Dublin but nowhere else.

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2043
(1/14/04 6:36 pm)

No Peace & Quiet

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Hi Ann,

You can make Galway your base and see Connemara as a day trip from there. You might also be interested in Doolin where they have trad music nightly.

I would recommend reservations in Galway, always a busy city and on weekends in Doolin. Also for the St. Patrick's Day holiday.

Michele

wojazz3
Registered User
Posts: 345
(1/15/04 6:15 pm)
 
Re: itinerary opinion

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By the way Ann, I flew in and out of Shannon on Delta. At one point in the past they offered the open jaw option. It's the same plane. It leaves Shannon, flies to Dublin and then back to Atlanta.

Bill

ann
Unregistered User
(1/15/04 9:51 pm)

itinerary opinion

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We did not know that you could do that but are pretty much committed to flying out of Dublin. We have hotel reservations there already for March 16&17.

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2046
(1/16/04 11:36 pm)

Original Plans

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Hi Ann,

I would stick with your original plans to fly in and out of Dublin then. You will just have to plan another trip to take in a bit more of Ireland next time.

Michele