Hello,

I was referred over here by Irish Fireside. My husband and I will be traveling to Ireland Sept 30th, 2013 to October 7th. We're really looking forward to it, as we'll get to spend our anniversary there. I've been reading through a few topics posted on here and trying to not panic about the rental car. I'm trying to take in each post as extra information and to be aware.

I think I may have made a newbie mistake (yes this will be our first trip to Ireland) and booked our trip through ExploringIreland.net starting in Dublin and spending each day in a different part of Ireland. So far exploringireland.net has been great to work with, for those curious - very knowledgeable, polite, and quick with their responses to any of my questions. Almost everything I have been reading says to NOT drive in Dublin. Driving on the left isn't the greatest concern for us, as we spent three years in Japan for military stationing. They drive on the left there too. However our first hotel that was booked is the Sandymount Hotel in Dublin near the Aviva Stadium. Our second night is in Cork. Sandymount offers free parking, but I haven't asked yet if they offer airport shuttle. Should we drive to our hotel, park and walk or take a bus for our sights in Dublin? Leave the rental car in overnight/long or short term parking for our first night and catch a shuttle or taxi to and from our hotel?  I know our first day is going to be a bit of a blur and once we're outside of Dublin we'll be able to settle into a more relaxed mode for our vacation.

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

Stephanie

Thank you to both of you for the quick responses. Our entire itinerary might be a whirlwind. We spend our first night in Dublin, second in Blarney, third in Killarney, fourth in Doolin, fifth in Galway, sixth in Trim, and last night is back at Dublin, right near the airport.The only sights that are on our "must see" list is Guinness and the Jameson Distillery, more for souvenirs than anything else. I have made a list of things in the areas where we'll be sleeping, but honestly after we get out of Dublin we plan to take it slow. We'll take our time getting from place to place. If we see something along the way then hopefully we'll be able to stop. Even though it's our first time in Ireland my husband and I don't feel an absolute need to see all of the touristy spots. We also plan to have early mornings!

I don't know how much we can change with our itinerary. It is completely paid for (not just a deposit), with our accommodations and rental car booked. Our pace, sites and tours are completely up to us.

Thank you very much Tony for the advice on our hotel. Sounds like we'll probably just drive straight to Sandymount and take public transport from there. Glad to hear it's a fairly easy drive! :)

Cullinan's in Doolin has excellent, gourmet food. I eat there often. Check their website because they are not open every day of the week: http://cullinansdoolin.com/ Tell Carol "Michele" recommended your anniversary dinner there.  You will want reservations if they are open on anniversary night.

O'Connors Pub always has music on.

 

Wow, thank you very much Tony for the suggestions!! I'm definitely writing them down and look forward to trying to fit them in. I know the trip will be a blur but everything we don't see (which I know will be a lot!) will give us plenty of reasons to come back! I greatly appreciate it.

Do you have a suggestion of a good restaurant or even really good pub in Doolin? That will be the night of our anniversary and I'd like to see if we could work something nice or at least different into our budget.

Haha ok. I was thinking Doolin was going to be pretty small. We'll look into your suggestions and stop somewhere outside of Doolin.

Thank you again!

The only reason to take the route by Ferry would be to see the south west of Clare, well worth seeing but you need time to explore properly. So for the two routes I would always include Listowel but for the  Tunnel route call into Adare http://goo.gl/maps/7Q08N add a bit so 4 hours drive plus stops, could also stop at Bunratty.  for the ferry route take in Loop Head http://www.loophead.ie/  and include the coastal borheen to Kilkee http://goo.gl/maps/8GV8h probably 5 hours plus stops

http://www.irelandscape.com/display_location.php?location_id=945

 

Ok so I've roughly worked out our itinerary. Everything is already paid for (plane, car rental, and B&Bs), so it was a matter of what sites we were going to see and working out driving time. I know it's going to be a blur with a lot of time in the car. However my husband really enjoys driving. However our next trip (yes I haven't even gone on this one yet and I'm already planning my second!) we will plan things differently. I've used Michelle's advice on converting the kilometers into miles and dividing by 35 to get more of an accurate travel time. I apologize for the long post. I wanted to break the itinerary down by hours so that we can more accurately judge travel time.


Ireland Itinerary

Monday, September 30th, 2013:

ETA to Dublin Airport: 9:30am, proceed to baggage claim and customs.

~ 11am: Pick up luggage and rental car from Hertz in Arrivals Hall

~ Noon: Leave the airport to get used to driving and to start our drive into Dublin

~ 1pm: Check into Sandymount Hotel (if we can check in a bit early) or at least see if we can park the car there and have lunch somewhere near by.

~ 1:30pm Explore the city

~ 6-6:30pm Have dinner, probably at a pub. Figure out public transport or walk back to our hotel.

~ 8-9pm Crash for the night!



Tuesday, October 1st, 2013:

~ 7am Have breakfast at Sandymount Hotel if available that early. Check out around 8:30am

~ 9am Hit the road. Stop in Cashel which is on the way.

-Cashel stop (this is along our route to Cork, and would also make a good stopping point for a break) ~11-11:30am
-Cashel Heritage Center in center of town. Free admission.
- Rock of Cashel, just outside the town of Cashel. Open from 9am to 4:30pm. Admission is E6. Average length of visit is 1.5 hours. This would be a good place to have lunch.

~ 2pm Be back on the road.

~ 3:30/4pm Reach Cork City/Blarney. Check into Maranatha Country House Have dinner in Cork City

~ Evening. Walk around the town of Blarney.

~ 9pm Crash in bed.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013:

~ 7am Be up and have breakfast.

~ 8:30am Check out. Head to Blarney Castle. Should be fairly close to our B&B

~ 9am Blarney Castle opens. Try to be here around opening. Admission is E12. Cash only! Plan about 1 hour - 1.5 hour for seeing the castle and grounds.

~ 11:30am Hit a grocery store or deli and grab some sandwiches. Head to Killarney National Park (about 2 hours from Maranatha Country house). Take the rest of the afternoon walking around the park to see Ross Castle, Muckross Abbery, House, and Gardens. Have a picnic in the park if the weather is good.

~ 4:30pm Check into the Woodlands B&B in Killarney.

~ Evening. Have dinner in Killarney and do some shopping.

~ 9-10pm Crash in bed.


Thursday, October 3rd, 2013:

* This will be a long day of driving so we need to be up early.

~ 6-6:30 Wake up. Have breakfast as early as possible.

~ 8am Be on the road.
- Drive to Tralee, then to Tarbert, take the ferry to Killimer Harbor, drive along the coast to Doolin. (roughly about 6 hours)

~ 2:30pm See Cliffs of Moher

~ 4:30pm Check into Nellie Dees. If there's still daylight try to see a small bit of the Burren.

~ 6/7pm Dinner

~ 9/10pm Bed


Friday, October 4th, 2013:

*Another long day of driving.

~7am Breakfast

~ 8:30 Be on the road.
-Drive from Nellie Dees in Doolin, to see where our B&B is in Galway but check in later (Four Winds Lodge), continue on to Maam Cross, then on to see Kylemore Abbey, return to Four Winds Lodge. (about 8 hours for driving and sight seeing).

~ 4:30 Check in to Four Winds Lodge

~ 6/7pm Dinner

~ 9/10pm Bed


Saturday, October 5th, 2013:

~ 8am Be on the road.

~ Drive to Trim (4.5 hours)

~ 2pm See Trim Castle, Hill of Tara, and Donaghmore round tower and church

~ 4:30/5pm Check into Crannmor Guest House

~ 6pm Dinner and shopping

~ 10pm Bed


Sunday, October 6th, 2013:

Check out of Crannmor Guest House, drive to Dublin aiport. Drop off car and check into Carlton Airport Hotel as early as possible. See more of Dublin, via public transportation.

Monday, October 7th, 2013:

Be at the airport round 7:30am for customs. Depart at about 11:15am.

I have a quote that usually prefaces all my planned itineraries ---

"No Battle Plan survives first contact with the enemy".

A few more:  When God made time, He made plenty of it." -- An Old Irish saying.

Bob

I like that way of thinking Tony! :) However the clocks get in the way when sites close at specific times and then the time to check in or out of your accommodations.

And great quotes to follow, Bob!

You will have a good time, but I doubt hardly anything will stay in tandem with that proposed timeline.  Not in Ireland!  I laughed at this one:  ~ 6-6:30pm Have dinner, probably at a pub. Figure out public transport or walk back to our hotel.  You might not even get waited on in a pub in 30 minutes, no less eat there, have a drink, figure out how you are getting back to your hotel.

I will look forward to your trip report following your moment by moment plan...

 

Oh no Geno, I dind't expect to have full dinner at a pup in a half hour. It was more as in "around 6 OR 6:30 let's have dinner".

Again, my husband is in the military. He's also the one that tends to go to bed super early He agreed to this trip as long as I provided him with an itinerary. The itinerary might be conveniently forgotten prior to departure though.   I'm hoping that once we're over there and the beer is flowing in the pubs that he won't care what time he goes to sleep.

 

I changed the itinerary a bit to see Loop Head Lighthouse...  Is the visitor center at the Cliffs of Moher worth stopping into, since we'll basically be driving along next to them?

The road is 150 yards in and down from the cliff side. Do you want to see the Cliffs or the visitors centre? The cliffs as said don't close and if you are down in Doolin anyway just pop up before sunset. better still take the Cliffs Cruise and see then from below.

Loop Head takes a little longer then you might expect the roads are really narrow down there but the place is well worth seeing as it is before Clare Council ship in a million tons of earth and make the lanes into highways in the name of the tourist god. Given time people wanting to see Ireland as god made it, will be just too late.

How does Ireland feel about tourists climbing over a wall on to private property to see some ruins? I've noticed many incredible castle and abbey ruins are located on private property. When looking at places, there does not seem to be any mention of No Trespassing signs. Here in the states you would most likely be chased off by a large dog or in some places, depending on the part of the country, you would be chased off with a shotgun.

 

For example, I would like to try to see the Athassel Priory Ruins in Co. Tipperary. They are however on private property. Would I be okay in climbing over the wall by the road to walk into the ruins to take some photos?

-- Edited by smshowalter on Thursday 2nd of May 2013 02:05:26 PM

Good to know. Thanks Michele! :)