Melissa,

That is a tall order in a busy city. Hopefully someone will give you some feedback on the places mentioned. I tend to sleep in the suburbs and DART into the city. Since I'm a light sleeper that assures me a good night's sleep. I would suggest ear plugs. The only downside is you might sleep through your alarm clock! Another suggestion would be to stay in a hotel with a/c so you can have the windows closed.

Michele

Hi Melissa, We've stayed at The Merrion a few times -- great location near Trinity, Stephen's Green, and Pearse St. rail station. We've walked to Grafton Street, too. Price is a bit above what you wish to pay, but they do offer The James Joyce special on the web for 260 Euro per room bed and breakfast (we had breakfast delivered to the room each day and had just about anything and as much of it as we wanted and didn't feel hungry til dinnertime -- just fill in the card and put it on your door knob the night before). The rooms are very quiet and there is a very traditional Irish feel to the property. Your hubby can walk to many places while you're still getting ready in the morning. The exterior of The Merrion looks more like a Georgian townhouse than a hotel, so you may just pass by it the first time around. There are several public rooms in which to just sit, have tea, or a drink. (Another plus to the James Joyce package is that includes a free, guided walking tour.)

Melissa,

For the suburbs I really like Malahide. It is a charming village just north of Dublin City near the ocean and the airport! Your husband could take a stroll by the sea in the early morning. Take a look at my Lodgings page for Beechwood Country House. It is a real gem.

You can take DART into Dublin from Malahide as well as Dun Laoghaire. I may have a recommendation for you there in a few weeks so stay tuned. But it is much farther to the airport since it is south and you have to fight the traffic to the airport on the M50 which is usuallly very slow going.

Michele

The James Joyce package at the Merrion sounds intriguing.  So many choices.  Of course we need 2 rooms so that's $260 times 2.  Then one must ask oneself, do I want to spend $520 per night to sleep at the Merrion?  Hmmm... With so many choices of Ireland accomodations, I did the only sensible thing today.  I spent more money on 2 more guidebooks with Irish B&Bs, to create even more choices, and I'm going to Big Bear Lake with hubby this weekend to have some romance, and celebrate all these wonderful choices!

I like to have one splurge hotel per trip, but for Ireland I think I'll have the splurge hotel somewhere outside of the big cities.  Because Dublin is so packed with sites, we probably won't spend hardly any time in the hotel.

A burglar alarm blaring half the night?  Oh, no!!! What a way to ruin a night plus make you cranky the next day...Even worse if you paid a bundle to not sleep all night!  I was thinking A/C wasn't necessary for Ireland, but I didn't consider the fact that A/C blocks some of the sounds at night...a fan can do the same thing.  Here's something else that works:  if you have a radio, turn it to static all night...creates white-noise and helps you sleep.

Well thank you for letting me blab on and on, you are such wonderful listeners.  Here's me.   My daughters have both gone of to college and the house is suddenly quiet.  Not used to it yet!

The Pembroke...thanks, Bill.  I have studied hundreds of accomodations, pretty sure most of them, but don't remember if I looked that one up yet!  so I will.

Michele, your Edenvale house (Edendale? don't have book handy right now) in northern Dublin suburbs near airport sounds like a real find.  YOu really have some unique treasures on your list, and often they aren't always in a lot of other sources yet.  Plus they are for a good price.  And the rooms are often larger than the smaller rooms you would get at a more expensive place...  That one is really tempting too, I just gotta decide if I want to stay in noisy Dublin as someone else mentioned to have that handy bed for an afternoon nap before dinner...very refreshing.  Sometimes it's fun to stay right in the midst of things...but NOT if burglar alarms are blaring and drunken parties are happenin' in the streets.  Sorry folks I must be getting old as that is not how I am imaging my Dublin in my fantasies!  Oh, Michele, I gotta get your book, I might have your nice hotel outside of Belfast (Newtownards) mixed up with your nice hotel on the northern suburbs of Dublin!  Oopsie!  Not my day.  Today I lost my car and walked all over La Jolla searching for it...Ever have one of those days?       

 

 

 

 

   

Michele, thanks for the reminder about Beechwood Country House in Malahide. Since I am planning to end our trip with 3 nights in/near Dublin at the end of our trip, Malahide is looking like a good location. I think there's also Swords or Skerries...with Malahide being closer to the airport, if I remember the map correctly. From Malahide I'd like to be able to take the DART (or very convenient transportation) into Dublin for the day, and then use the hop-on, hop-off bus. Then we'll need to get back to Malahide.

We won't turn in our car until we've used it to visit Newgrange and/or Trim Castle, as you suggested.

I've been trying to pin down my wriggling itinerary, so that I can pick the B&Bs and book them.

Thanks, Michele. I looked at Beechwood again (I had looked months ago) and it does look great. I didn't see prices, maybe I missed them. Thanks to your informative and reassuring replies, I have narrowed the choices down between Malahide and Dublin, and will probably go with Beechwood. Hubby says if I don't decide soon he will have to stay in crummy places because the good ones will be all full! I think he is trying to help.

If I wanted to recommend your web-site to a new-comer, do I direct them to "IrelandYes.com"? I always arrive here a different way now, by clicking on the links my computer offers me which have big long titles but it works.

Michele, if I stay at Beechwood you bet I will tell them Michele sent me! Thanks for the prices, that is very reasonable for such a nice B&B. Somebody said it is about a mile from the Malahide DART station, does that sound about right?

I am realizing that, realistically, consider our family tendency to dawdle (my husband calls it "frittering" but he does it too when he spies an interesting plant or bug!), anyway, considering our tendency to do a lot of dawdling and frittering, 3 nights in Malahide or Dublin is actually not enough time to properly see Dublin, Newgrange, and Trim Castle, let alone enjoying Malahide as well! We aren't speedy tourists...we tend to zero in on something deliciously fascinating, and spend a lot of time there.

Considering that, I have to sacrifice something. That will probably mean either giving up Trim Castle, or giving up Newgrange, or seeing only 1 museum in Dublin plus maybe a little shopping and pubbing. OR ELSE I would have to steal a day from somewhere else in our itinerary and add 1 more night to Malahide or Dublin. OR ELSE I could skip Dublin entirely (NO!) Or else I could skip Newgrange and Trim entirely and spend all 3 nights exploring Dublin. I am also thinking that if we only have 1 day-trip into dublin we might even waste some time feeling lost and disoriented.

Well nobody can make this decision for us but on the other hand I would be curious how people would vote. What would you keep and what would you give up from this list for a first family trip with young adults daughters :

Newgrange, County Meath
Trim Castle
National Museum of Archaeology, Dublin
Killmainham Gaol, Dublin
Book of Kells and Old Library, Trinity College

Thanks for listening!

Melissa,

Sounds like you and your family could easily spend your whole vacation in Dublin (or any other place in Ireland)! As you know planning a trip is all about balancing things out. You can easily see Newgrange and Trim Castle on the same day. Just do Newgrange first.

On the day you drive down from No. Ireland you could do Malahide Castle and get oriented in the village (it is pretty small).

One day for Dublin is probably not enough but I suggest that you make this your one really early day. Get the whole family to agree that to get the most out of your day you will eat the earliest breakfast available, not dilly-dally but get right on DART into the city and proceed with sightseeing. Get yourself a good map of Dublin (Tourism Ireland has walking maps available) and plan everything out ahead of time. For instance you might want to visit the Book of Kells first thing (opening time 9:30) and meet up with your husband later. If you won't be able to communicate while apart, have a place and time set for meeting with the knowledge that one or the other of you might be a bit late depending on wait times at the sightseeing attractions. If you meet at a shopping center, park (weather permitting) or cafe that won't be a problem.

I think that you can see all you have outlined if you make a decision with your family that it is important on these particular days to be focused and get early starts. Save the dilly-dallying for the rest of the trip.

Michele

P.S. Beechwood is perhaps a bit more than a mile from DART.

 

Michele and friendly travellers, thanks for helping me figure out what to do about Dublin.

Armed with lots of info from you all, I had a family conversation and we have reached a decision! I am excited to have one thing solved. We decided to skip Newgrange and devote our "Dublin" days to Dublin. We will leave Trim Castle as a "maybe".

Although Newgrange is impressive being 5000 years old, we decided that since we saw old ruins in Italy in 2004 (Pompeii etc. and an old Etruscan tomb), our priorities in Ireland are different. Nobody has seeing an ancient burial passage as their #1 priority for this trip. So Dublin is the winner. We are spending 2 full days in Dublin, with the possibility of fitting in Trim Castle as well (but giving Dublin the first priority.)

So we will stay in Dublin near city centre. Trim Castle will be a "maybe". We won't use a car while we are in Dublin, we'll use public transportation. Actually I think we an see Trim Castle while driving between Dublin and Belfast, except for one worry...we'll have the luggage in the car which could get stolen out of our car while we are touring Trim Castle (the Worrier is back).

There is still one decision...We either fly into Dublin, visit Dublin first, and then fly out of shannon at the end. Or else we fly into shannon, and visit dublin at the end, flying out of dublin.

Hubby seems to want to fly into Shannon, probably because he's eager to get to the Burren. I favor seeing Dublin first only because I think seeing the National Museum of Archaeology first will put everything else in perspective.

But with our itinerary, there's a problem with flying into Dublin first. With our schedule, that would mean seeing Dublin followed by Belfast...2 big cities in a row...that might be a let-down. (Everyone's vision of Ireland seems to be those rolling green hillsides...and cute pubs.) Perhaps hubby is right and by starting in Shannon, we'll get our fill of the rolling green Ireland and the cute little village pubs, and will be ready for the experience of big-city Ireland.

Also, Michele, your info on staying in the quieter suburbs near Belfast and Dublin is very helpful. I think we'll stay IN Dublin city centre, but maybe for Belfast we'll choose the quieter suburbs.

Thanks Michele and everyone, I love feeling like I was able to make a well-informed decision with your help. I like to consider all the options.

Michele, thanks for all your kind advice. I love your forum. Maybe I will post a new question for Belfast, because that would make it easier for others entering your web-site to find discussions helpful to them (otherwise I am talking about Belfast under a Dublin title up in the topic line!

Michele, it's not Lisa, it's Melissa (close!), and I somehow keep neglecting to sign in. Yes, I will start a separate Belfast topic. Tomorrow! I'm trying to stop these late-night computer sessions, it keeps sucking me in. Talk to you tomorrow!

Michele, you are un-confused now, because Lisa is going to Northern Ireland, and Melissa5 is going to Belfast area, Dublin, and WEst and Southwest Ireland with biologist hubby. Also LISA is probably very polite and Melissa5 has been pestering you with questions! Does that help?

Michele said I'm not a pest. I'm glad, because you all might have trouble getting rid of me.  I tend to write long trip reports.  They can go on for days weeks months even Michele I think you can spot the welcoming B & Bs because you have a very welcoming way about you.