Never been there before advice

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

Never been there before advice

tony2phones · Guru

Budget or Dooleys are the companies I recomend, the discount code for Budget is currently JULY10.

http://www.budget.ie/promotions/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter%2Bemail&utm_content=promolink1&utm_campaign=july11

Two days in Dublin to acclimatise and shake the Jet lag leaves 8 free nights before your last night in Howth or somewhwere else near the Airport. That gives a good bit of scope and you could probably do the coastal route from Dublin to Galway and back across or Westport to Cork and over. Michele and others will probably have some good ideas later inthe day but my initial advice would be to try and narrow down some must see places to act as a guide.

Michele Erdvig · Host

UNI4MER,

Welcome to my forum. I have rented from Budget before. They used to be my car rental of choice. However, they blindsided me a couple of years ago when they "charged" me 2,000 euro to decline CDW. Since then I've used Dooley and am happy with them. Are you using a credit card to cover CDW? If not, then probably no problem as long as you understand the fine print and add-ons.

What we do here on the forum is help people refine their itineraries. There is no way to know your interests, what you must see, etc. So we leave it up to you to explore your options, give us more info, and propose what you think is a route that will work for your needs. If you have read a guidebook or two, you probably already have a list of places of interest.

For costs in Ireland I suggest you read: How Much Does a Trip to Ireland Cost?

That should get you started. Let us know how else we can help.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

UNI4MER: I like your plan of taking it slow. I'm planning our second visit to Ireland, also for September. Since you like small towns and meandering...I recommend you head for the west coast of Ireland...or the southwest...that's my favorite parts of IReland, so far!

Michele's guidebook is excellent, I have bought it for both of my trips. I also have an entire shelf of my bookcase devoted to Ireland guidebooks. For 2011 my favorite guidebooks for Ireland are Michele ERdvig's book, available on this web-site, and also Rough Guide to Ireland 2011.

Do you like old piles of rocks? (ancient ruins such as castle ruins, or other historical ruins). Do you like wild seacoast views? Do you like hills and mountains? Do you like traditional Irish music?

Good luck planning your trip. Ireland is very friendly, and there are lots of experienced folks that return to this forum IrelandYes.com, and Michele is the goldilocks of Ireland, as she has stayed in all of the places which she recommends! That's rare nowadays.

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

I am the wife responding!
Although we haven't done all of our fine tuning yet, it looks like we really want to spend our time in the southwest region. We are not into big cities, We love the samll towns, speaking with local people and ruins, mountains, rocks and music are what we love. Although we are not huge hikers, We love to get out and enjoy the open land. We have spoken to people that have traveled to Ireland in the past and present and they make no plans ahead of time for where they stay the night. Are there really that many places to stay in these rural communities??? We will have 6 full travel/sight seeing/adventure days, the other 2 days are flight in/out days.

tony2phones · Guru

Just out of curiosity...You have never been to Ireland before so a couple of questions if I may.. Why do you want to spend ALL your time in the Southwest. And why is the North a total no no. I ask purely from a research point of view not to change your mind.

Wellsley · Guru

Hi Uni,

A lot of people will tell you that Killarney is very touristy and it is. But it is also very charming we spent 2 days there and wished I spent more. I found the shopping there to be the best we saw in Ireland. With many shops that stay open until 2130pm with great bargains. Made it to Tatler Jacks pub only once and wish I had more time to visit again. It makes for a good place for a base to do day trips. There are many great small towns in Ireland do some research of things you might like to see in Ireland make a list and see what you can fit in. Your in the right place the people here helped me fine tune my trip and we saw and did things I would have missed.

Frank

wojazz3 · Guru

Hi UNI4MER:

So your 1st plan seems to be to head SW which is fine. One goal was about 2 hours of driving on the 1st day. With that in mind, you could make it as far as Kilkenny which a great small "city" (very small where cities are concerned). It's a great town to walk around, enjoy the little slips and narrow streets in the city center, grap a pint. From there you can head west and south and get the journey started.

You could also go even less distance and end up in Laragh near Glendalough. In any case, even with only two hours of driving, make sure you find times to stop enroute and get out of the car and walk around. I find that I can get in a car, feel fresh as a daisy and excited about the upcoming adventure and with 45 minutes, the eyelids start becoming heavy.

Bill

Judy · Guru

I agree with Frank about Killarney. Dont let the touristy label stop you. Its considered touristy because it is one of the top tourist attractions in Ireland. Killarney has so much to offer in the way of scenery and is a good base for day trips by car of coach.

We just returned from a whole week in Killarney. We are also not into big cities like Dublin, Cork or Limerick, but prefer as you said: the smaller the town the better and the coast, mountain streams and rural roads.

If you spend time in Killarney you will see many small towns if you do the Ring of Kerry or the beautiful ocean coast on a day trip to Dingle and mountain streams with a day trip through the Gap of Dunloe. If I only had 2 days in Killarney and had to prioritize, I would do the Gap of Dunloe for the mountain streams and a day trip to Dingle for the coastal views.

We have been all over Ireland on previous trips but Kerry is our favorite. There is so much more around Killarney to see and do that we could have spend more than one week and maybe next time we will.

Happy planning,

Judy M.

Michele Erdvig · Host

UNI4MER,

The only problem with very small villages is there may not be places to stay in them. I like Bill's idea of staying in Laragh (near Glendalough) at the beginning of your trip. It definitely fits your description and is a beautiful area with mountains, streams, lakes and waterfalls.

You may find that after a few days on one-night stays you will want to find a base to nest for a couple of days. It can become tiresome to be always on the move. And since no one asked, my favorite small town in Ireland is Kenmare in Co. Kerry. But there are so many others.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

I'm with Michele. If I were going to stay on the Iveragh Peninsula, Kenmare hands down. Now, I stayed in Glengarriff once and I must say, I had a fantastic time but that was due to being there on a Fri-Sat and getting invite to play at two different pubs. It would have probably been pretty slow on a Tuesday.

Bill

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

Having only 6 days to experience Ireland we must limit our adventure to a specific region so that we don't have to be in the car all day long every day. Some of the small towns may be too small to visit, but I like what I have been reading about Cork and Kerry. I want to see the mountains and the beatiful coastlines and some of the castles too. It seems to me that this area has a lot of all of these to experience and they have held on to many of the original Irish traditions. Since we will be starting out in Dublin and ending back in Dublin we may make a side trip to Monaghan County as my husbands ancestors hailed from there after leaving Scotland ( Bagley ). To answer the question about not going to Northern Ireland. This has something to do with the English, and my ancestors coming out of their graves to haunt me. Although they also originally came from Scotland before settling in Ireland as well ( McCord). Well, if we had more time we would trave the entire Island! The Lower Shannon sounds intriguing as well. Maybe if we didn't sleep.........
Leslie

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

We will definately visit Cork and Kerry. I'm not sure how many regions we can actually visit with only 6 days. I don't think it will be much fun to be in a car all day every day looking out the window and trying to read a map. Now maybe we could do two days in the Midlands, two days in the Lower Shannon and two days in Cork and Kerry, but this may be to large of an area to cover in one trip? But I do think that the first day we should not try and make a big travel day to get to a final destination. Everything looks so close together on a map so the travel times are a big mystery at this point. I am getting your travel book tomorrow!

Thank you,

Leslie

Michele Erdvig · Host

UNI4MER,

I count 10 days in Ireland. Am I correct in thinking that your first two are in Dublin. Then you take off across the country for 6 days, returning to Dublin for your last night? Departure on day 10?

If that is the case, I often suggest getting a jump-start on the trip by spending the last two nights in Dublin and setting off immediately on arrival. You could easily drive to Monaghan on arrival for an overnight stay. Then proceed from there. Monaghan itself is a rather nondescript, busy town. It seems whenever I am driving through it I get stuck in lots of traffic.

Since Monaghan is now in the mix, perhaps you should draw a line from Dublin to Galway and do areas above that line. Monaghan is very close to No. Ireland. You could even cross the border inadvertently, not even realize it and live to tell about it!

If you did the line north of Dublin/Galway some places that fit your descriptions:

Sligo area
Westport
Achill Island
Clifden
Roundstone
Oughterard

Michele

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

We probably will consider Monaghan as an after thought and stick to our orginal plan. Ordered your book today Michele and we are looking foward to learning more. I am sure it is in your book but any idea of a daily budget and the best way to convert currency? thx Bruce.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bruce,

My website has Money and Tips & Tricks pages. I just wrote an article about Ireland Top 10 Money Tips on my Blog. Also see How Much Does a Trip to Ireland Cost?

You might like the article Plan Your Trip to Ireland in 10 Easy Steps.

Michele

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

Where would anyone suggest obtaining a detailed roadmap here in US?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bruce,

Call Tourism Ireland. They will send you a free map 1-800-223-6470.

Michele

dougiefreshhh · Member

Hi:

My wife and I took our first trip to Ireland in early June.

We decided to take it "low and slow"..as opposed to the "green blurr".

It was a 10 day trip (June 4-14), and and we spent it entirely in the SW.

Flew in and out of Shannon to save on the drive just to get to the SW.

You can find my trip report with our route, towns, B&B, pubs...on this forum.

In summary, we did not get to see everything we wanted to...but instead, we took the time to meet and mingle with the locals. It was great fun...can't wait to go back!

Doug

Melissa5 · Guru

UNI4MER: Our second trip to IReland is coming up in September. Our first trip to IReland was about 5 years ago. Like you, we wanted to slow down and have time to truly savor a few special spots. But I also wanted to visit the area where my favorite Irish grandmother grew up. So I know that ancestral connection can make your planning more complex.

Like Michele advises, you will need to decide whether going to Monaghan is a priority or not. I suggest that you find out if there are any historical areas still remaining in Monaghan which could be meaningful for you. For example, I decided that we would NOT visit the place where my Irish grandmother was actually born, because my research showed me that everything historical in that spot has been torn down, and there wouldn't have been anything "old" for me to see. Instead, I chose to take my family to Belfast, because that is where she grew up with her 9 siblings, until she emigrated to the USA at the tender age of 17. In Belfast there were still old spots remaining, and it was very special to me to take my family to walk in the old Botanic Gardens, where she actually walked with her sisters long ago! There are very old parts of the gardens remaining that were there when she was there. Also, there were some old house left in the area where she grew up, and I was able to walk the streets and see the old houses...also meaningful. A family member showed me a photo of my grandmother as a little girl, peering from the door of one of those houses, although I couldn't find the exact house, I still thought it was a special experience. She also loved the sea, gardens, and music, and all over Ireland I felt I understood her better.

Now, I'm not even sure I know where Monaghan is, so I can't help you with that. But...I can tell you that County Clare and County Kerry are amazing! They are very special. I dearly love County Clare, and my whole family loved County Clare. I think you could easily spend 6 happy nights in either County Clare or County Kerry! aww

I like to have my accommodations booked in advance so that we don't waste any of our vacation time searching for a place to stay. However I know some people like to be spontaneous. I feel like when I research our "home bases" carefully, and book a well-located accommodation for a minimum of 3 nights, we have plenty of time for spontaneous experiences and day-trips. I like to book accommodations which are within easy driving or walking distance to great sites. Just for one example, we spent 3 or 4 nights in Ballyvaughan, County Clare, because from this base, we were able to attend the Dunguaire Castle medieval banquet in Kinvara, see the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, and attend the thursday night set dancing in Vaughn's in Kilfenora, and also hear fantastic Irish traditional music in Greene's pub. All of that accomplished using only 1 b&b as a base... I dont' like packing and unpacking myself a million times on vacation...

We also spent several nights in Dingle and wished we had more time as there is so much to do near there.

I"m not sure if you are traveling in a busy season, but if so, you would have to worry about the best places being full. If its slow season, perhaps you could more easily find a room at the last minute. Also if you happen to be in an area during a festival, every room in the area could be booked as well.

Here is my opinion and I could be wrong...but for avid planners like me...who spend loads of time reading all the guidebooks and the forums...I already know in advance where I will enjoy spending more time... Whereas for travelers who don't do as much research in advance, they might feel like they won't know what they will love until they arrive...and so maybe they like to stay flexible. But for me, I am already falling in love with particular spots while I'm researching and talking on the forums. REading trip reports helps a lot too.

Sorry I've been a bit long-winded with my response! I meant to say...go for it...county Clare and County Kerry are great, either one could become your whole trip and I think you'd be delighted!

Michele mentioned Westport, and we loved Westport and County Mayo as well.

We like Irish traditional music, friendly pubs, meeting the locals, wild unspoiled scenery, culture and history, and seacoasts which are wide open and NOT built up.

Have an amazing trip!

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

Call Tourism Ireland. They will send you a free map 1-800-223-6470.

Michele

We did and got your book as well and we would like to pursue your tailor made itenary. We'll finish the book, by the way which is fantastic, and try to let you know what our potential game plan is when embark to the emerald isle on 9/1.

-- Edited by UNI4MER on Saturday 30th of July 2011 11:29:50 PM

-- Edited by UNI4MER on Sunday 31st of July 2011 11:26:40 AM

-- Edited by UNI4MER on Sunday 31st of July 2011 11:46:25 AM

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

-- Edited by UNI4MER on Sunday 31st of July 2011 11:31:43 AM

UNI4MER · Veteran Member

Melissa5 Thank you so much for your great advice. We are going to skip Monaghan and try to concentrate in the south and west. Your concept of staying multiple nights at one BB sounds like its the way to go and since we only have 7 nights. We are not the big city or museum types as we like rural scenic areas to explore during the day and would pefer to return to the BB to freshen up then to a local (not fancy) pub for a casual meal and a little music.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bruce,

Glad things are coming along.

Michele

Melissa5 · Guru

UNI4MER: Have fun choosing your "bases" in Ireland! The south and west of Ireland are wonderful. Two bases where we stayed for several nights in Ireland were Dingle in County Kerry and Westport in County Mayo. There were plenty of interesting day-trips using these towns as bases. Also there are fun pubs and good music in both Dingle and Westport!

Also County Clare was one of our favorite counties in Ireland. But County Clare is mainly made up of little villages. I wish we had stayed in a little village in County Clare which was within walking distance to a fun musical pub. We had to drive to the pubs from our b&b in County Clare. It wasn't a far drive, but I just found myself wishing that we could have walked to a pub...a nice relaxing evening walk is so pleasant. Our b&b in County Clare was very central for great day-trips, but it just wan't within walking distance of a pub with music. Keep that in mind when you are making your choices.

The bigger towns generally have music every night...such as in Westport and Dingle. But the smaller villages may only have music on 1 or 2 nights per week. Since hearing traditional music in pubs was important to me, I planned my itinerary around this. Michele can give you some web-sites which have more details about music sessions if you are interested. Also Rough Guide has a lot of details on which nights various pubs have music sessions...HOWEVER as you know these things can change as soon as they are put into print in a guidebook!

Have a wonderful trip. We like to have a lot of things planned with a full well-researched itinerary...but we are always flexible, and if we choose to skip something and replace it with a spontaneous experience, we are always open to that.

Michele gives excellent guidance on itineraries. You are in good hands! aww