gigi,

Welcome to my forum. When planning any trip you always start with fantasy. You want to do and see everything even though you know in the dark recesses of your mind that it isn't possible. When you are partway into your planning reality asserts itself. That is when you realize you have X number of days and cannot possibly see everything on your list. Many times this forum gives people the "wake-up call" they need to plan a successful trip.

If you have 4 days in Dublin, will be staying in an apartment and using public transportation? Since you want to visit all parts of Ireland, you now have some tough decisions to make.

The Cliffs of Moher, Blarney and Giant's Causeway can be done with RailTours. Wicklow can be done by various tours, which are available from the Dublin tourist office. Each one of them is a day trip in itself. I count 4 day trips that will each take up an entire day.

Are you arriving on Aug 27 off a transatlantic flight with jet lag? If so then part of the day will be involved with getting your luggage, transport to your apartment, settling in and getting your bearings. Are you departing on Sept 3? What time? If you are taking a transatlantic flight you need to be at the airport 3 hours in advance. Will all or part of departure day be spent sightseeing or just departing?

Considering that you are staying in Dublin, are you going to spend time seeing the city? That could easily take two days or at least one whole day. That would leave you maybe 2 whole days for going elsewhere in Ireland.

For your 2 days in London. When do you depart from Dublin? You need to get to the airport in advance. Going and coming means some time will be spent traveling.

As you see the logistics are more complicated the more you add.

Have you thought of skipping London? That might give you time for all you want to see in Ireland. But that is a decision only you can make.

Michele

The 4 days I was reffering to for Ireland did not count day of arrival, the 2 days for london or day of departure.  We arrive at 10:30am on Sat. and since we are traveling over night we are hoping that will help with the jetlag...maybe we will sleep thru the flight?  We figured we would settle in and sort of wander around that evening... maybe Temple Bar?  Spend Sunday wandering around Dubin.  We are looking to fly to London on Tues morning at 6am and come back on Weds. around 8pm.  Truthfully in London she just wants to see Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.  So then we would have Mon. Thurs. and Fri.   Of the things I listed before, what would you say would be the best to try to do? 

If you are set on your plan, the job of those on this board is to help you achieve it as best as possible. But your plan is really, really terrible. You arrive in Dublin on Saturday morning. Is it impossible to convince you that you will not want to pack up, flying to London on Tuesday, take a quick look at Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and then fly back on Wednesday? Those 2 days will be taken up with logistics and travel and not have much fun to them. Do you realize that you will probably have to be up at 3:00 am to catch a flight at 6:00? Maybe you can push that to 4:00, but it will be tense if you're staying in the center of Dublin town.

Arriving back in Dublin at 8:00 pm, it will be difficult the next day to enjoy a full day trip to one of your other destinations, for which you'll probably have to be up early if you plan to do a day tour bus. As Michele pointed out, Moher, Giant's Causeway and Blarney are each a full day trip from Dublin, most of which will be spent on a bus.

If you must plan for the London trip, one idea is to plan to spend Sunday, the day after your arrival, in Dublin, so you can acclimatize and recuperate. Then spend Thursday as another day in Dublin. Plan your day trips for Monday and Friday.

A better plan would be to choose a couple destinations in Ireland and plan your entire trip around them. Most of us have realized that it's much more memorable and more fun to enjoy what you can comfortably do, than to race around and say, "well, at least I looked at thus and such a place for 5 minutes before I got back in the bus."

gigi,

Do you already have your airfares and flights? Is the trip written in stone? If so, I suggest you look at the links provided for the various tours. Read them carefully to see departure time, return time and what they include. Only then will you be able to choose the right ones for your circumstances. Also, some tours will be weather dependent. For instance the Cliffs of Moher and Giant's Causeway are outdoors. There are other tours that might do more indoor things.

We are here to advise you about the realities of your trip. But only you can make the final decision as to what you will do and see. Not everyone is alike. Some want a lightning fast trip and others prefer time to enjoy. Whatever your travel style I hope you have a great time.

Michele

gigi,

It is always difficult to mesh your style with another persons. I suppose your stepmother has a "bucket list" to check off. Putting Scotland into the mix is crazy! There is only so much that is humanly possible unless you can hire you own private helicopter.

Have you thought of flying "open jaw" into London, see your step mother's choices, then go on to Ireland for the remainder of your time and fly home out of Dublin instead of all the backtracking from Dublin to London to Dublin?

A member of the forum has done a Paddywagon tour and liked it. They tend to cater to the backpacking crowd though.

The "must do" in Ireland is really what appeals to you. Does your stepmother have any ideas of what she must do?

Michele

gigi22 wrote:

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I really appreciate the advice and I am passing it along to the rest of the group. I think my husband and I would be happy to stay in Ireland the whole week. My stepmom's theory is that she may never get that way again so she wants to do as much as possible. Just throwing this question out there....would it be easier for us to take her to Scotland vs England? She wants to do all 3 and I know it's just not realistic. I'm just trying to get all the info I can to present to her the best way to spend the week.

I did look at Paddywagon's website and I would really like to do several of their tours. Would it be good to take one Northern trip and one Southern trip? And then what else would you suggest as the MUST DO while in Ireland?

Thanks again for all your help! It really helps me to plan for a trip like this!

gigi

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 Hi Gigi,

Do as much research as you can and figure out what are your must see's or at least the things you would like to see the most. Since you have four full days you could do four tours, but that might be pushing it. Maybe one full day touring Dublin, two full day tours and one half day tour. (just a thought) It's really up to you. Here is a short list of a few things to search, but not limited to.

Cliffs of Moher

Burren

Ring of Kerry

Giants Causeway

Blarney Castle

New Grange

Glendalough

Connemara

Dingle Penisula

Dublin

Frank

Hi,

Travelling and visiting new places is always fun and when it is your first trip to any place, the excitment level is always high.

I visited Ireland last year. We were also a group of four people. It is such a beautiful place and has got so much to explore. Be it the beautiful sceneries, castles, museums, pubs, hotels , restaurants. It has got all. It is a perfect blend of moderism as well as rich cultural heritage.

I am still working on the itenerary but i am thinking ahead to the packing! LOL Priorities ya know? Anyway, I understand the weather can be unpredictable so i'm thinking layer T-shirts, sweaters, hoodies? Rain Ponchos? And I takea ton of photos and wonder how I can keep my camera batteries charged? Is there something I can buy stateside to convert my current battery charger? Any other things I shoo;d make sure I bring?

Thanks again for all the help!
Gigi

You can get plug/current converters all over the place so no problems on that one. The what to bring list runs from Coffee to a liquidiser but a common request is a "face cloth"?