A friend and myself will be traveling to Ireland March 2013, I am thinking 10 days and 2 for traveling to and from, 12 total. We are now getting things together to see and do while we are there. Any suggestions?
The plan as of now is to fly into Dublin and fly out of Shannon....other than that we are open. We will not be booking anything until April 2012 so we are working on a game plan.
We didn't want to use a tour company. Not sure about public transportation or car rental is better. Leaning towards car rental. I was told to book lodging in advance, which was not our original plan. We were not sure how long we were going to stay at any town.
They are not in any particular order. Since it was a top 10 list I had to number them. I think they are all worth seeing and it is actually up to people to pick and choose, depending on their own interests. Even though I have described the Cliffs of Moher as nature dressed in a clown costume, it is still spectacular nature. (I prefer Loop Head though!) As long as people know what they are getting I think they are able to make decisions made on facts. For instance, many describe Blarney Castle as a tourist trap. It is one of my favorite "tourist traps" because there is much more to see and do than kiss a stone.
Perhaps it would be fun to come up with a Top 10 Obscure Things to See in Ireland list. I might have to work on that. Maybe we can have a contest!
Will you post your own Top 10 List? That would be fun. It would also be fun to have a Top 10 for each county.
Currently working (slowly) on my 1st project, west from Galway. there must be more than 10 things on there already. There are also probably more than 10 places I used to love a few years ago that I just cant get to any more. Loop head and Blarney castle would be on the top 10, give me something to work on when I'm home alone next weekend.
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Two rules for Ireland, Take your time & bring a sense of humour
Carrigaholt castle and loop head, sky road in Clifden, the backside of Conner Pass (love the old stone walls truely old Ireland), the gardens at Blarney Castle, farmers market Galway,(the smells and sights just drive your senses crazy)the stacks of peat drying along the road in the bogs on the way to Connemara, cemetary in Kilmurry McMahon, court yard of the Brazen head (Dublin)just think of all the history there and the people that might have been there. Maybe even a distance relative or ancester. The wild stag (deer) of Killarney national park
Land in Dublin March 15th am(stay over night)...travel to Glendalough (stay over night)...travel to Kilkenny (stay over night)...travel to Waterford...travel to Cork (stay over night)...head to Killarney & Ring of Kerry (stay 2 nights)...head towards Clare County (stay 2 nights)...travel towards the Cliffs of Moher & Galway (stay 3 nights)...Fly out of Shannon on March 26th.
Nothing is set in stone, this was just based on things to see and according to the distances from one place to another it doesn't seem that far to drive from spot to spot. Hoping I am not planning a "blur tour".....stop me if I am :)
You do have a lot of one-night stays at the beginning of your trip, but I think they are okay. You slow down a little and have multiple-night stays halfway through your trip. You will have to let us know which half of your trip you enjoyed most.