Need as much input as I can get

fennellkevin · Senior Member

Need as much input as I can get

yesiree · Guru

This would be my likely hitlist...

On the way from Dublin to Dungarvan I would suggest:

Kells Priory - it's a huge monastic ruin in a picturesque setting...so far, it's still off the tourist trail, but more and more people are showing up.

Bennettsbridge - Nicholas Moss and other Irish potters use this area as their base...lots of pottery and traditional craft shops...the Nicholas Moss shop has a "seconds" area.

Kilkenny - I'm a big fan of this town, but you'll need to spend the day there...you've got a lot of great Irish towns on your route, so don't distress if this one has to be saved for next time.

Cashel - perched high over the Tipperary landscape, this is one of those significant historical sites

Athassel Priory, Golden (between Tipperary town and Cashel) - another great monastic ruin. Very few tourists and lots of room to roam.

Cahir Castle and Swiss Cottage - the castle is a favorite of many and the cottage (just a short walk away) is really interesting and beautiful.

Carrick-on-Suir, Ormond House - I wouldn't say it's a must-see, but it's a more real, working Irish village and the house is very interesting (home of Black Tom).

From Dungarvan to Killarney (not sure which route your thinking of taking, I like some of the sites via Lismore and Mallow (Black River Area), but the coast has loads to offer as well and is more on the tourist trail...I'll give suggestions for both)

Ardmore - there is a great walk along the sea cliffs that I highly recommend. There are church ruins, a round tower and several holy wells along the way (it will take about 1.5 hours to do the walk...on a clear day or a day with dramatic weather, this walk is amazing).

Barryscourt Castle (between Midleton & Cork)- this restored castle has a lot of reproduction furniture and items in it that make it an even better tour than, say, Bunratty...and it's not as loaded with tourists.

Dromana Gate, Cappoquin/Villierstown - It's just a really interesting Hindu-Gothic gate and bridge. If you're driving through, you really should stop in and see it.

Lismore - the village is absolutely charming and the Castle gardens are great.

Ballysaggartmore Towers - these towers (gate houses) give a glimpse of what a great estate would have been built on the site...had the owner not run out of money...be sure to follow the path and see both gates.

Killarney - You'll have not trouble finding things to do here. I would suggest a trip to the Dingle.

Galway/Connemara

I haven't spent much time in Galway in recent years so I won't add to that, but the region is absolutely beautiful!

Cong - this is my favorite village in the area...lot's of familiar sites for those who have watched John Wayne's The Quiet Man. Walking the grounds at Ashford Castle is always great.

Achill Island - really spectacular scenery.

Doolin/The Burren

Coole Park, Gort - a really a great stop, the audio/visual presentation was top-notch as was their exhibits...the autograph tree is really cool too.

The Burren Centre, Kilfenora - gives you a great perspective on the Burren...can have a lot of buses...however, they are set up to handle them.

Caherconnel Stone Fort - I actually thought their audio/visual presentation was a good way to visualize what the fort would actually be like (I was reluctant to pay the extra few euros for the presentation, but was glad I did)...it's not a long stop.

The Burren Perfumery - very nice environment with a cafe and shop...no buses allowed here.

St. Bridget's Well, just south of the Cliffs of Moher - it's a very interesting holy well.

Loop Head Drive/Lighthouse - great views

Kilbaha Ark, located in the small church in Kilbaha - tells a story of religious oppression in Ireland...the local priest wheeled the cart to the shore at low tide to hold mass when the landowners wouldn't allow mass on their property.

Bridges of Ross, just north of Loop Head Lighthouse - great ocean views and some interesting natural rock formations.

Ennis - it's a very nice town with lots of shops and restaurants. Local traffic can be trying at peak times, but otherwise it's very enjoyable.

Hope this helps,

Corey

Mark · Veteran Member

Sorry Kevin for not replying I must have missed your post early. I don't think you're being to grabby/greedy for asking input from others. Personally I love talking about Ireland so it is my pleasure.

I've spent no time in County Waterford so I'll skip that part. To tell you the truth if it were my one and only trip to Ireland I wouldn't be going to Waterford but you may have your reasons.

1. Killarney: Ring of Kerry is a must see. It is without a doubt one of the most scenic drives in Ireland. It is not at all overrated. I did this drive again for the 3rd time this past May and it is still awesome even for a repeat visitor. Took a slightly different route this year though. Instead of going all the way around the ring we took the mountain pass down the center of penninsula and linked up with the ring in Waterville and then drove counterclockwise from there. I must say the road through the mountains was incredible and I would do that again. I would add A tour of the Dingle Pennisula or Beara Pennisula if you have time.

2. Galway: If you are spending 2 nights in the city I recommend using the day in between to take a tour of the Connemara Region. This is my favorite region in Ireland and incredible mixture of mountains, lakes, and boglands with the occassional town or village in between. There is a lot to see here. I could suggest some possible driving routes for you if you want. I will have to have my map in front of me though which I don't at the moment. If you're interested in taking in some traditional irish music in pubs at night then Galway city is a great place to be. At the top of my list is the Crane Bar on Sea Road (make sure you get there somewhat early so you can get a comfortable seat). There are many other pubs in Galway to choose from as well like An Pucan, Lisheen Bar, Taafes, and half a dozen more.

3. Doolin: Cliffs of Moher are nearby and an obvious must see. I would also recommend touring the Burren. From Doolin I would head North and drive around Black Head this will take you into Ballyvaughn on the northside of the Burren facing Galway Bay. Monks in Ballyvaughn is a good place to stop for lunch and a pint and also take some time to walk around Ballyvaughn a little bit to shop, eat, drink, whatever. It is very nice small village. From there I'd probably take the road back into the Burren that goes up Corkscrew Hill (again I don't have a map in front of me so it's hard to give you exact routes) but I head back to Doolin somehow by way of Kilfenora (couple of good pubs in Kilfenora - Linnane's and Vaughn's worth a stop for a pint). At night in Doolin you've got the three pubs to choose from. I prefer McGann's out of the three but overall I'm not a big fan of Doolin since I think its a bit overrated as far as what it has to offer in terms of traditional music and the pubs. Although I must admit one of the best music sessions I've ever witnessed was in McGann's pub about 10 years ago.

If you have more questions just keep posting.

Mark

Melissa5 · Guru

Kevin, I would give you loads of advice if it weren't for the fact that I too am planning my first trip to Ireland!

I do have a word of advice. Great info in trip reports. Print out the portion that is helpful to you, put it in a file folder for that region. I have files for the counties I am interested in visiting. Sometimes I print out the entire trip report if it really speaks to me. Then, you need a big bag of colored highlighters. Use the highlighters to highlight those outstanding comments which really call out to you.

Then in the margin of the paper, jot down the location...such as if you were reading about a great pub in Doolin, highlight that portion, and write "Doolin" in the margin in big letters. Put it in a file with a label, maybe the label will say County Clare trip reports... I actually like to keep my trip report files separate from my hotel bookings, you can do what works for you.

This way when you review your printed-out pages, you won't feel so confused. I have gone over my trip report files, all highlighted already, with the locations printed in the margin, several times.

It might sound like a lot of work, but it's far less confusing than trying to hold all this stuff in your brain alone!

That's how I planned our trips to Italy and Costa Rica, works great for me. The files are important, otherwise you will have a huge disorganized pile of white paper staring at you.

Then, I branched out to buying more plastic...those little plastic Hanging File Boxes on wheels which you can easily wheel around. One for each trip.

Then you can add rooms to your house to hold all those plastic files...
Good luck, have a great trip.

Okay I'm kidding but the rest was serious!

Mark · Veteran Member

Melissa,

I swear you must be the most diligent trip planner I've ever seen. And I thought I was. In fact my wife calls me Clark Griswald because of the way I plan trips but you've got me beat.

Mark

-- Edited by Mark at 17:27, 2006-01-11

Melissa5 · Guru

Mark, I hope your wife appreciates your well-planned trips...I think the highest praise I have received is from my young adult son and daughters, who, even though they are in a totally different generation, say that I plan the best trips! My hubby appreciates my planning too, although he doesn't always appreciate my habits...such as when I'm on the computer at night at odd hours... I'm trying my best to become a morning person!

Good luck! Do you have a big pile of guidebooks like I do? Do you feel like 1 or 2 books ought to be enough certainly, but somehow, by the time the trip date arrives, you seem to have accumulated more than 6...or 8...10 even?!

In fact my favorite new collection is of picture books of places to travel, I look for them on sale in the bargain table of bookstores...so far I have two for Ireland and one for Scotland. Also I have a book of castles around the world...All great coffee table books...dear me, now I need to build a room addition for all those coffee tables to show off my coffee table books... A whole additional house would be nice, I have been begging hubby to let us build one like a castle with a moat around it and a drawbridge, but for some reason he thinks it impractical...

Michele Erdvig · Host

Kevin,

Glad to see you re-posting your questions. I knew you would get many more responses after the holidays when everyone would be back to begin planning again. Good responses from everyone. I have to chuckle at our resident obsessive/compulsive trip planner Melissa. She has such a good sense of humor and plenty of good tips on how she organizes her trip planning. It may be infectious!

Please don't feel that your questions were "greedy". The forum is here to help everyone with whatever they need. As you notice, if questions are too general I always try to pinpoint the facts first, which helps greatly in giving a correct answer. So sometimes questions just generate more questions until all the info is gathered.

What would I not miss on my only trip to Ireland?

Dungarvan: Vee Drive (very different inland scenery than you will see on the rest of the trip), Cahir Castle (one of Ireland's best), Rock of Cashel (if you have seen photos of it you will know why). Swiss Cottage (in Cahir) only if you have time (I'm a sucker for romantic fairytale places!) On the drive to Killarney: Ardmore, Queenstown Story at Cobh & (dare I suggest it?) Blarney Castle. Okay, Blarney is about number one on the touristy list but even if you never set foot in the castle, the grounds are lovely. You might let the weather determine if you stop in Blarney because it is all outside. If your wife is into shopping you may never pry her loose from Blarney Woolen Mills.

Killarney: Muckross House & Gardens, Muckross Abbey, Ross Castle, a jaunting car ride through Killarney National Park (yes it's touristy but great fun), Cherry Tree Walk & Deenagh Cottage, Aghadoe (great views), Gap of Dunloe. Day trip to Dingle and definitely Slea Head Drive.

Galway: The city, Connemara, Kylemore Abbey, Cong Village, Cong Abbey, Ashford Castle gardens.

Doolin: Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Loop Head Drive (I actually prefer this to the cliffs), Kilmacduagh.

Now with all the choices presented to you from many different people you may just have more trouble choosing!

Michele

fennellkevin · Senior Member

Thank you everyone for your advice and thoughts! Please, anyone reading this, add your comment; even if you feel you'll be repeating suggestions others have already made. In fact that is part of my purpose: I'd like to see where people most agree when they say what are the one or two things in each vicinity that they would not want to miss if it were their one time passing through. I promise that when we go, I'll simply enjoy the things we do experience, and not worry about what we may be "missing." Just want to know people's feelings about the "must sees." And the members of this forum have so much feeling about Ireland, what you recommend means a lot. Thanks, Kevin.

Mark · Veteran Member

Melissa,

My wife definately does appreciate my trip planning. She teases me about it but she also admits that on our trips to Ireland and Scotland we would be lost or wouldn't have had as good a time without the preparation I've done.

I'm not a guide book kind of person. I have maybe two altogether on Ireland. I do most of my research over the internet. I am an insane Google searcher. I have literally spent hours just researching a single region, town, or village in Ireland over the internet. It's amazing that even after being in Westport 3 times I still learn something new about it each time as I plan the next trip. Also these days when I plan the next trip to Ireland (should be October of 2006 this time) I try to find some semi-remote place that we can visit that we haven't before. Usually it is somewhere that is well off the main tourist routes and typically it will be a place that has some really cool pub (or 3) with the a good chance of catching a traditional music session. Last May it was Feakle in East Co. Clare that turned out to be the hidden gem. I think this next October it is looking like a visit to Teelin/Carrick up in Co. Donegal is in order. A goal in life before I die is to write the ultimate, detailed guide to pubs in Ireland based on personal experience of course. This will be a website so that it can be kept up to date and have nice pictures. This is something that is sorely missing IMO. There are a couple of good websites out there that provide some of this but they are typically out of date (updated infrequently), exclude a whole lot of great pubs, and aren't very detailed. This project will, of course, require that I make many, many more trips to Ireland.

By the way you're sense of humour combined with your obsessive trip planning make me laugh. Can't wait to read you're trip report when it finally happens.

Mark

Mark · Veteran Member

Oh Melissa I almost forgot to mention one more thing. Since you like picture books of Ireland one of the things I've found is pretty cool and another good way to stay up until 3am wasting time on the computer is to look at picture websites of other people's trips. You may have done this already but if you go to www.pbase.com for instance and type in a Search for Ireland you will get returned to you hundreds of pbase sites of other peoples trips with loads and loads of pictures of various places in Ireland. Some people have really taken amazing pictures.

Now that I've admitted to this you can see that I've really gone over the deep end and need to get a life. Oh well.

Mark

Melissa5 · Guru

Yes, everyone please tell Kevin what not to miss for each region in Ireland, if it was your one and only trip, because I want to know too! Good luck, Kevin.

Everyone always says, don't worry, you'll be back...but when you're planning a trip with other family members, they may vote to return someplace else...so you never know if you'll be back or not, there is so much of the world to see... Kevin, if you imagine it's your last chance to see everyplace,

it's a lot harder to narrow down your itinerary...I should know, I think I have perfected the art of endless planning...I'm the ultimate planner, then re-planner, then change the re-planned trip, then alter the changed re-planned trip, then massage the alterations of the changed re-planned trip...

But Kevin, I think maybe you will have a second trip to Ireland, and a third...that's why you are hanging out on IrelandYes.com where we ONLY talk about Ireland, Yes?

On Michelle's web-site, you may not get a great quantity of replies, but they are top-notch in quality! You can go on fodors and get a long list of replies sometimes, but here you may have just 1 or 2 Ireland experts write you a nice focused reply, and sometimes it is very long and generous.

Also here the atmosphere is always welcoming and friendly, no head-butting is allowed, right, Michelle? Also you can always mercilessly pick the brains of the people who reply to you here, until they hide when they see you coming (I'm talking about me, not you...and I'm kidding, I hope nobody hides from me!)

Melissa5 · Guru

Mark, so you are an insatiable googler...confession is good for the soul. Where else can we obsessive planners come without being picked on? That's what I love about your web-site, Michelle!

I am intrigued by your method of trip-planning...all internet.

I rely about 50% on guidebooks (a pile of them) and 50% on various internet sites. For Ireland, I must say without hesitation that Michelle's Best Little Guide to Ireland and her web-site here are the best 2 tools I have found. Not to mention the cool people I've met here...

Okay those are portraits of the cool people I've met here, see if you can find yourself everyone.

I must say also that Rick Steves guidebook for Ireland doesn't have nearly enough info on the hotels, and Fodors guidebook is fat and tasty, I also like that one. But Michelle gives her book the personal touch and I love the fact that she has personally visited (and re-visited) the places in her book, which gives it a consistency rare in the guidebook world.

Mark, can you share links to any of your favorite internet web-sites for Ireland that you've found...or even cool articles on Ireland? (But hey, don't forget everybody to come back here to Michelle's web-site after you explore Mark's suggestions, we would miss you!)

Well Mark thanks for the tip I plan to check out www.pbase.com. Oh boy, another way to get addicted. I'll be back soon!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Melissa,

Thanks so much for your kind words and endorsment of my site, forum & book! Looking back, we have never really had the bickering problem that can surface on some other forums. Everyone is entitled to their personal opinions (and are free to post them here) but they are also considerate of other's opinions. Perhaps it is my own attitude that permeates the forum or maybe we just have a bunch very nice people frequenting the forum. I think it is the latter! Of all the people I deal with (readers, clients, those in Ireland, etc.) 99% are great. The other 1% I just consider have had a bad day.

Michele