shannon river cruises

noshot9 · Veteran Member

shannon river cruises

Michele Erdvig · Host

Another forum member Wojazz3 (Bill) has rented a boat and cruised the Shannon. His trip report seems to have disappeared from his online blog but here is a little info:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/message-for-bill-wojazz3.cfm

Hopefully Bill will see this and reply.

Here is a book I recommend about it: http://www.amazon.com/Shannon-Sailors-Voyage-Heart-Ireland/dp/0688000975

Michele

tony2phones · Guru

I have no experience on the river recently but have a decent knowledge of towns on its path from Killaloe/Ballina to Athlone.

A trip taken this this year and well reported on Trip Advisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g211884-i1767-k4593962-River_Shannon_boating_TR_portumna_to_carrick_on_shannon-Shannon_County_Clare.html#34195320

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g211884-i1767-k4595864-On_the_river_Banagher_to_Athlone-Shannon_County_Clare.html

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowTopic-g211884-i1767-k4603658-Athlone_Lough_Ree_to_Lanesborough-Shannon_County_Clare.html#34274258

Boat Hire

http://www.emeraldstar.ie/destination/ireland

http://www.shannonprivatecruisers.com/boats.htm

http://www.hoseasons.co.uk/boat-holidays/ireland?pid123

-- Edited by tony2phones on Tuesday 13th of December 2011 05:58:19 AM

Michele Erdvig · Host

I always thought it would be fun in good weather. However, if it was raining and miserable I think being on the water would not be a good experience. That is my take on it.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

Ah the Shannon river cruise. Yes, I've done it and it was a blast, but I will say, it's not for everybody. We certainly got rained on, there were some mishaps, entirely of our own doing and there is nothing really luxurious about the accommodations on the boats.

I actually considered doing one this year, but the time we traveled wasn't great for it. I used Carrick Craft and even going back and looking, I think they are the best deal still and serveice from them was good.

In reading your post, there are a few things to consider. I would not try to do the whole river (Portumna to Belleek). I would pick either south or north and do one part. The boats are way too slow to cover that much. You can either do a round trip or one way if you can manage drop off for it. The north part is maily upper and lower Lough Erne but if you travel through the canals between Carrick on Shannon and Belturbet, you will have to navigate quite a few locks (16) which I think would get very old very quickly. Most of the locks in the canal are self operated so you don't have the probelm of waiting for the lock keeper. Travel time from Leitrim, to Beltubet is shown at 12 hours, which is where you hit the most locks.

I did the south section from Carrick on Shannon to Banagher. We spent five days doing the trip. It was very windy at one point and was recommended that we stay off one of the lakes so we spent one entire day just hanging around Lanesborough. When we finally went for it the next day, it was fine. We took an excursion up the River Suck (yes, that's the name) but didn't venture on to Lough Derg because the timing of one of the bridges was going to make things awkward.

Here are some quick points in general about cruising:

On the upside:

You will see very few other tourists and at least when I was there, the bulk of the folks on the river were French or German.
This is an adventure, not just a vacation (could be a plus or minus )
Approaching Clonmacnoise from the river instead of a road is incredibly cool
Gets you out of a car for a while
We really had some fun experiences in the pubs in the little villages along the river. Quite different from holiday areas.
Very relaxing
If you are a regular boat person, you will handle it with ease. I have never driven such a beast and there were lots of learning experiences

Downside:

Top speed was less than 10MPH so if you are in a hurry to get somewhere, not going to happen.
Photo ops along the river are not particularly dramatic. There are some cool little towns to shoot so things in, but generally, the shore looks the same most of the time.
Don't get the impression that you will be able to hop off at the little islands. Unless they have a public marina (and few have them on the Shannon) you will see them from a distance. The only way to actually visit one is to tie up on the shore and take a dinghy, should you choose to drag on along.
Renting a bike is kind of useless. Most of the towns along the river are small enough to walk, they get in the way jumping on and off to tie up and given the prpensity for rain in Ireland, you won't use them much. We used them only once and could have easily done without.
Again, sleeping arrangements are not luxurious. I loved it, but I tent camp a lot, so this was upscale from that.

This was a really fun trip and I will certainly do it again. If you go into it prepared, you will have a great time. I'll find some of the rough draft trip reports I had and try to post them here.

Here is the link to the Irish Waterways website. There are some useful maps here though when you rent, you will get a navigation map.

http://www.iwai.ie/waterways.html

Bill

-- Edited by wojazz3 on Monday 2nd of January 2012 12:15:24 PM

DarrenA · Member

Hi Michelle - long time no see.

Anyhow, I agree totally with what Bill says, but just to give a perspective on the Northern half.

My wife and I have rented boats a couple of times now at short notice for long weekends (3 or 4 days); due to this we've always ended up with a boat which is far bigger than we actually needed, but at a very nice price. I would add that though cruising is most definitely NOT the cheapest way to holiday in Ireland.

We went with Carrickcraft both times from Tully Bay. Since we're from N.I., it's obviously the easiest base to get to. We had planned to go with Emerald Star from Belturbet the second time, but due to extremely heavy rain the week before, the water level in Belturbet was too high and they had to cancel our reservation at short notice. The water level on Upper Lough Erne was also very high, which rendered some of the jetties unusable, but there was still more than enough to do on Lower Lough Erne. This does however mean that we've never had experience of going through the locks on the Shannon-Erne Canal.

Renting a bike on the Northern half may be slightly more useful, as for some of the time you may be mooring in places where there is literally nothing at all nearby, so you can spend the evening out on your bike cycling the country lanes. That's entirely up to yourself though.

A large number of the islands on both Lough Ernes DO have public jetties, and many of these allow overnight mooring, so they are much easier to visit. White Island and Devenish Island, both on Lower Lough Erne, are particularly interesting.

Regarding sleeping arrangements on the boats - well, you get what you pay for. The bigger the boat, the more space you have, although as Bill says, it could not be regarded as luxurious. I would compare it to staying in a touring caravan (no idea whether you U.S. folks have any equivalent), albeit one which floats and has a shower and bathroom.

Cooking facilities are also reasonably basic, but perfectly adequate. Again, it feels like cooking in a caravan, and that is part of the fun of it. Bear in mind also that, depending on where you moor, you may be eating out occasionally anyhow.

As Bill says, wind and rain can be a problem. If the wind is particularly high, you obviously won't venture out on to the larger lakes, but it does give you time to just chill out.

Bring plenty of things to keep yourself occupied - good books, an iPad, or whatever floats your boat (sorry). You most likely won't have a TV, and even if you do, the channel selection and picture quality will be poor. But you don't go on a boating holiday to watch TV anyhow surely?

To conclude, if you want a holiday which takes you around all the sightseeing spots of Ireland in 2 weeks, don't choose a cruising holiday. If you want a totally relaxing time filled with plenty of new experiences and the chance to sit outside in the evening with a glass of wine in the middle of nowhere watching the river go past (assuming the weather holds up!), there is no better holiday to choose.

Two final points:

When boats are passing on Lough Erne, everyone (and I mean everyone) waves. That should give you an idea of how relaxed everything is.

By all means choose the largest boat you can afford, but don't attempt to tie up a boat meant for 6 people when there are only 2 of you on a windy day. And most definitely don't let go of the mooring rope. Oops....

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bill,

Thanks for the overview.

Michele

Michele Erdvig · Host

Darren,

Long time, no see indeed! Hope all is well with you. Thanks for letting us know about the northern reaches of river cruising.

Michele

wojazz3 · Guru

Darren:

Thanks for the update on the northern half. I haven't cruised up there and was aware that some islands have jetties which is nice. Maybe someday I will do that but not via the waterway

. Tully Bay sounds like a good start. Enjoying a glass of wine is definitely a nice way to spend relax and watch the water drift by.

DarrenA · Member

Having just received Carrickcraft's brochure for 2012, it appears they are now offering limited cruising on the Lower Bann (from Lough Neagh to Coleraine). I would say that things would be nowhere near as advanced as they would be on the Erne or Shannon, it would definitely make for an unusual place to cruise.

Although having grown up not a million miles from there, it wouldn't particularly interest me.