Taking Grand Daughter to Ireland in October,

murphy · Guru

Taking Grand Daughter to Ireland in October,

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan,

I remember some time ago when you told us that your granddaughter was saving up for a trip. How nice that you are finally making it come true. It is never to early to start and this sounds like the perfect age for her to begin.

Bunratty & Cahir Castle are great for exploring and climbing around in. Although Cahir has a great tour (which you should take for the history aspect) once the tour is over you can explore on your own. And of course at Bunratty you can go all the way up to the ramparts where the flag is flying! Trim Castle is by tour only. There are a couple of round towers you can climb up into. Kilkenny and Kildare are two. I think Bob did one in NI.

You are right. A lot more flights into Dublin. If you are interested in a small B&B castle then look at Smarmore. They give my readers a 10% discount. I think they have a room that will hold all three of you. The problem with castle hotels is they are rarely in a town. But I think you can deal with that for a one night treat.

This sounds like a fun trip. Let us know how we can help as your planning progresses

Michele

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

I may be 'Blazing The Trail' for you, this June. biggrin

Our son and (by then) Just turned 9 Grandson will be spending 9 days in Ireland with us. Our trip will be a bit, 'Cousin-Centric', but he has many of the same interests as your Grand daughter. We return home on 3 July, so I'll TRY to have a report finished before you leave . . . hmm hmm

There are THREE Round Towers that can be climbed -- Devenish, Kildare and Kilkenny. Devenish has the only conical cap -- the others have been replaced with 'battlements'. Enniskillen might be a bit, 'Out Of Your Way', though.

If your plan includes Westport, the Round Tower in nearby Aghagower http://www.roundtowers.org/aghagower/index.htm , though only a stunted ruin, has a ground level door (that was added) and you can walk inside, look up, and see construction details. It's in a very picturesque setting, as well. Also near Westport is Turlough, Balla, Meelick and maybe, even Killala. SEE: http://www.roundtowers.org/ or: http://www.megalithicireland.com/ (They have an EXCELLENT Google Map)

Ross Castle, in Killarney, is one of the nicest RESTORED castles that I've visited -- and the Tour there is excellent.

A 'Castle' B&B option MIGHT be Carrigeen Castle, in Cahir. It gets mixed reviews due to its somewhat QUIRKY owner, but the Mrs and I stayed there for two nights, back in 2001 (or, was it 2003??? confuse --- It's tough, getting old! aww ) The building is remarkable and VERY 'Castle-like, at only 40 Euro PPS. http://www.tipp.ie/butlerca.htm

murphy · Guru

Thanks to both Michele and Bob. Great input to get us started! With either Shannon or Dublin, we will probably stick with the south half of the Island so Smarmore castle and Trim Castle probably won't happen. Don't want to subject our GD to too much car/windshield time! I visited at length with the Principal at her school this AM. It was very positive from their standpoint on doing this trip in Oct. The school weighs the educational benefits of the trip with the academic aspects of spending those two weeks in the classroom. There are, however, some stipulations: (1) she needs to have the grades and test scores at a certain level and she qualifies as of now. (2) we will need to give the classroom teacher, the reading group teacher, and the math group teacher ample notice so that they can create a make-up school work packet to be completed during the trip ( no problem there, as we have done this when she visits us in Arizona for a week in Feb the past 4 years) (3) Since the introduction of new math concepts during class time will be missed, they advised a special meeting with the math teacher to aid in doing math homework. I THINK I can handle new math! (4) the school requires that the student puts together a presentation to their classmates complete with pictures. We will need to help her keep a daily diary and also get her a point and shoot digital camera for pictures that she can use for her classroom presentation. Now the next project is to get the passport secured, since I think we need to do that in order to get airline tickets? Or can the passport numbers be submitted after getting the tickets? And the fun begins...... Dan

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

I've bought tickets without giving passport numbers in the past, but my son is using FF miles for their tickets and he couldn't book them without the passport numbers . . .

So -- confuse confuse confuse confuse

My Grand daughter, Just Turned 8, was TOLD that she was expected to give her teacher a FULL report on the trip, once she started 3rd grade -- but, the school changed the teacher assignments over the summer months and GD ended up with a different teacher who never asked. hmm hmm

Several bribery attempts later, I can't convince her to write it . . . furious furious

You will have a GREAT 'Keepsake' of your trip -- I envy you! aww

murphy · Guru

Bob, Sorry to hear that the trip report never came through from your GD. I don't think in this case, it will be a written report as such but more a visual presentation of photos in a format like a power point presentation off the computer, on a large screen, along with a verbal explanation of those pictures. She could work off prepared notes or her diary. She is pretty chatty and I think she can pull this off (even tho she WANTS to kiss the Blarney Stone--but doesn't really NEED to!)

murphy · Guru

Just a brief update regarding some new information I learned today after talking to customer service at scorecard (visa rewards)

1). Their program now allows open jaw flights!!!!! The rep told me that I could book it. just as easily on line. Not so! I was hoping to input the flight numbers on all 4 legs and they insisted on giving me a small group of flights to choose from but not the ones I desired. So will request that on Monday by phone.

2). It is NOT mandatory to have our GD passport number at time of booking....he said! I hesitate to tell Mom & Dad that information so that there is no procrastination on their part. Again, we will see on Monday when I attempt to book the 3 tickets by phone,

So it looks like our best connection are open jaw Seattle-DUB and SNN- SEA. We have 2 choices: thru BOS or thru SFO. Both have 2 hour layovers (my personal minimum).

The Boston connection would have 2 legs similar in length, the over-the-puddle leg a couple hours longer. The San Fran connection would be a short leg and then a real long one! Leaning toward the Boston route as of now. The ultra long flight might get to long for our GD.

Wanted to share the new info and will keep you posted....

Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Friday 18th of April 2014 10:27:17 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Glad to hear you can do open jaw. That will save on back-tracking. Now to sort the other details.

murphy · Guru

Decided to go with a regular round trip SEA to SNN and return, instead of open jaw... which was available. I decided that we needed to limit the amount of driving time with the young one! Had to add a bit more money to the rewards plan for flying into Shannon vrs Dublin. Had to weigh that vrs the time and expense and hassle of driving out of Dublin and across Ireland when most of our touring was going to be closer to Shannon.

We will be trying a different sort of flight itinerary this time. We are going British Air on a 777 (that's a first for us on that type of aircraft, and the first time we have flown over the puddle on the first flight leg.) We depart Seattle at 6:45 pm so our GD only misses a half day of school on Oct 1 and we change planes London Heathrow. The next leg has a BA Flight number but is operated by AerLingus. We get into Shannon at 4:40 PM on Oct 2nd followed by a full 14 days In Ireland! A similar reverse return route will get us back to Seattle on Oct 16 at 4:40PM, a decent time to get GD back home on a school night!

The preliminary plan is to concentrate on a triangular area from Clifden, to southwest peninsula area,to Blarney. (Wanted to spend some time in the South East but DW wants to visit Wales someday and so we will combine the SE with Wales the next trip!) still a lot of ground in that triangle to cover in 2 weeks. So, what do you think about these spots for mostly 2 night stays: 2 nights in Ennis , Clifden, Inis Mor, and one night at a farm house near cliffs of Moher and do the cliff walk that is adjacent to 37 farms, 2 nights in Killarney, 2 at Bantry(or other suggestions nearby) 1 at Kinsale 1 at Blarney, and the last night probably in Bunratty. There are 3 castles: Bunratty, Dromoland, and Knappoque all with in a short distance of Shannon/Ennis. So GD can get her castle fix early on. Will need to research a castle overnight stay somewhere in the triangle and she also wants to see a haunted castle (hopefully not the one we sleep in!) The round tower climb is not going to happen, since 2 will be closed for the season by Oct 1st and the one in Kilkenny requires that she be 12 or older cry
We would like to spend time in Clifden, Killarney, and Ennis for sure as these 3 towns/areas were pretty much just passed thru on previous trips. DW is requesting a revisit to Kinsale followed with Blarney, then to Dromtarrif Parish near Millstreet. Killarney could come after that unless we catch it on the way south from Cliffs to SW corner. I'm torn about one or two nights on Inis Mor?....

Have to take Tonys advice, put a map on the wall, put in some pins and start measuring distances in between to see where the logical stops are without spending too much driving time on any given day. This is a rough sketch so feel free to chime in with suggestions! Travel insurance will be next followed by rental car. Had a quote from Hertz/Easy Tour for $700 all inclusive for 14 days when we were thinking open jaw DUB to SNN. Then I got a quote from Dooley today, which I saved, for $485.00. Avis.ie says 228 Euros on their websight but would need to add CDW to that and the other 2 included that, I'm pretty sure.
And the planning goes on!

Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Wednesday 23rd of April 2014 08:42:09 PM

-- Edited by murphy on Wednesday 23rd of April 2014 10:50:23 PM

PuzoP2 · Member

I'm flying on BA from Denver to Heathrow, and then on to Dublin, but BA listed that flight as being operated by Aer Lingus. I was able to select my seats on the trip from DIA to Heathrow, but BA didn't give me the opportunity to select seats on the Dublin leg. I thought that was strange. Ended up placing several calls to both BA and Aer Lingus to no avail. After weeks of digging, I asked BA for an Aer Lingus flight record number, and called Aer Lingus back, and was FINALLY able to secure an seat assignment. Sheeeeeesh. Didn't think it should be that difficult, especially using BA?

murphy · Guru

Patti,

I had not thought about seat assignments yet but it would be important for GD to be sitting next to at least one of us (prefer all 3 of us together), so I will put it on my to do list! Thanks for the heads up. Since we used 2 full fare reward credits and one partial fare rewards credit, I was not able to do this type of booking on line with scorecard rewards; but had to do the booking over the phone. Was a long laborious process furious and when we finally got done, I was not thinking about seat assignments. Will call BA and AL soon to get the seat assignments. Have you flown BA before? Has anybody been on a 777? How are the seats layed out in a 777? It will be our first time with BA and will not probably NOT miss the 757's cattle-car 3-isle-3 seat configuration! biggrin

Dan

-- Edited by murphy on Wednesday 23rd of April 2014 10:18:10 PM

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Do you know WHICH model 777? They vary from 3-3-3, 2-5-2 to a mix: http://www.businesstraveller.com/plan-and-book/seat-planner/seat-plans/ba/boeing-777-200

US FFA require a minor to be seated along side a parent / guardian. Might not apply to the Aer Lingus portion from London to SNN. Have you considered an into Cork (ORK), out of SNN -- or the opposite? That might save SOME time / driving?

There is a truly unique Round Tower near Enniskean, Co Cork -- http://www.roundtowers.org/kinneigh/index.htm There is also a nice one at Rattoo, North of Tralee : http://www.roundtowers.org/rattoo/index1.htm and a ruin, near Killarney: http://www.roundtowers.org/aghadoe/index.htm

murphy · Guru

Bob,

Not sure which model 777??? I guess we will find out when we contact the airline to get seat assignments. And you would have to tantalize me with the link showing 777's with fully reclining (flat) seats! biggrin Maybe if I hit the lottery...we could upgrade to that....except you have to PLAY the lottery to HIT the lottery! smile

Will definitely put the round towers on our agenda. Thanks for those links.

As for Cork? Never considered that option but too late for us now as the tickets are all set and would be difficult and expensive to change. disbelief Was happy to hear that rewards tickets can be insured for trip cancel/interruption.

Dan

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

This site is USUALLY accurate : http://www.seatguru.com/findseatmap/findseatmap.php

Michele Erdvig · Host

Dan,

Maybe the time after this one you can use your points to upgrade to business or first and get the fully reclining seats. They are fantastic! My husband can sleep for the whole flight in them. I don't tend to do more than doze even in first or business because I am such a light sleeper. I have to thank my husband for the occasional business or first. He put up with cranky passengers for almost 40 years at a major airline. Maybe that is why he is now certifiable! biggrin

Michele Erdvig · Host

Kinsale and Blarney are only about 40 minutes apart. Why the stay in each place?

The castles hotels on your route would be Ashford, Dromoland and Ballyseede. The least expensive is Ballyseede outside Tralee.

PuzoP2 · Member

Murphy, this is my first trip to Europe, and first time flying BA. I made all my arrangements online. When I recd. my initial itinerary, they gave me the option to select seats from DIA to LHR, and then LHR to DIA for the return trip, but the trip over to Dublin had a note that made it seem like seat assignments would not take place at all, and would be given out when you arrive at the gate. NOT TRUE! So, when you contact BA about your trip, ask for the Aer Lingus record number. It may take some doing. It was a strange set of circumstances. Oh, and we booked out trip from Dublin back to London separately, because we were initially going to take the ferry and train. Could not believe how reasonable that flight turned out to be!
Michelle, I will check into the business class recommendation. Thanks!

Judy · Guru

Dan,

Having traveled to Ireland with our GD 3 times, when she was 5, 10 and 15, here are some thoughts. You can request a kids meal for the flights by calling the airline a week or so before the flight. Also on your return flight "on a school night", forget school the next day, she will still be on Irish time (after midnight) when you arrive home.

Keeping in mind your GD age, I would suggest only one night on Inis Mor. For Blarney our GD had to wait until she was 15 to kiss the stone if that is on your list. GD also enjoyed a pony and trap ride, available on either Inis Mor, around Muckross estate or the Gap of Dunloe. Other highlights for her were Bunratty Folk Park, Muckross Traditional Farms and the very educational tour of Ross Castle. No age restrictions at Ross Castle.

Killarney has a ghost tour, but unfortunately only June-Sept. You would think they would have one around Halloween in October. Ross Castle will probably have a haunted story or two since they are part of the ghost tour. You may want to check Cobh, they have a ghost town tour. www.titanic.ie/tours/cobh-ghost-tour

Other places she enjoyed were, Aillwee Cave in Ballyvaughan and Craggaunowen near Quinn.

This will be your most enjoyable trip, experiencing it through your GD's eyes. Our GD wants to go again next year when she is 18 and can enjoy the night life with trad music and dancing in the pubs.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Last June, our Just Turned 8 grand daughter WAS allowed to Kiss the Stone, but Little Miss, Not Quite 5 was NOT. Now, JT8 IS tall, for her age, while NQ5 is rather small.

I suspect that it may depend upon the Fella doing the holding, the time of day and the mood and weather? confuse biggrin confuse

Judy · Guru

Bob, I guess you are right, it depends on the fella holding. In 06 the guy looked like he was on his "last leg", so to speak. biggrin

murphy · Guru

Bob,

Checked on seatguru.com and I definitely have some homework to do before selecting/booking seats. Some of them have entertainment equipment under them and offer little or no space for feet/personal item.

Also glad to hear that the 8 Year old got to kiss the rock. Since our GD is big for her age, we will give it a go!

murphy · Guru

Michele,

Thanks for the heads up on the close prox of Kinsale and Blarney. Plans very sketchy thus far since we just made the firm decision not to do open jaw. What if we left Kinsale after the earliest bfast seating, had good luck getting thru Cork City, visit Blarney castle, Dromtarrif Church briefly, and on to Killarney or Ballyseede castle for the next night lodging....or reverse the route by starting at Ballyseede castle or Killarney and make the clockwise circuit down to Kinsale for the night?? Or, If we stopped at Ballyseede and Killarney on our way to the Southwest costal route on the way to Kinsale, we could then head north from Dromtarriff toward Shannon for our last night before flying out. Thinking about going to the medieval banquet on the last night...but from Kinsale to Blarney to Dromtarriff to Shannon might be too far in one day and still do the banquet. I don't think we want to do the last seating around 9 if we are to Fly out of SNN at 8:30am.

And that brings up another question: Do we still do pre-clearance at SNN if we are going back thru London or will we now have to clear customs in the USA?

Dan

murphy · Guru

Judy,

What a opportunity for you to take your GD. 3 times and now possibly a 4th! I have a feeling that we may end up the same but want to take both of our Sons too...after we sell our business and retire! Thanks for pointing out all the highlights of your GD's trips. Did you get to see the birds of prey at Ailwee cave?

One night on Inis Mor would free up a night for elsewhere like the hectic mad dash from Kinsale to SNN as I pointed out in the previous post. Looked back to see what the cost of the air ticket was back 5-6 years ago and it was $72 US round trip. Yikes I'm scared to check the price now, but if only spending one night, flying would max out the amount of time and sight seeing on the island. Of course the early sail over and late sail back the next day might be plenty of time for a 10 yr old to be on one small island!

As for the kids meals, were they just a smaller portion or was it totally different menu options?
We were at Blarney in Oct of 06 too! biggrin Took my Parents that first trip and my Dad was the only one who kissed the rock. I may get pressure from GD to do the deed so I better prepare myself! I recall reading in St Steve's blue book: "the best thing about this lame sight is watching a cranky man lower lemming tourists onto their back, belly up and slide them under to kiss the rock while his partner snaps a photo to buy down below, after numerous tour groups have participated in this all day ritual, by this time the rock is slathered with spit and lipstick". Or something to that affect! Guess that little editorial must have made an impression on me the first time around! However, to play along for the GD sake I might do the deed this time....?????if she insists! confuse

Dan

murphy · Guru

Patti,

Congratulations on your first trip to Europe! You chose wisely, selecting Ireland! But I'm a tad prejudice!

I will ask BA for the AL phone number to book the AL seats. Seems like the airline doing the booking generally " calls the shots" so to speak as we found out coming back to the US after the hurricane a couple years ago. We were booked thru on Aer Lingus, and had to rebook the final leg thru them too, even tho it was on a US Airways flight and US Airways said they couldn't see the itinerary on their computer screen and wouldn't even talk to us about that leg. Had to go back to Aer Lingus for all the final rebooking paperwork. Go figure! Aer Lingus did treat us good during the 3 day/nights we were stranded in Dublin paying for all our food and lodging. European based airlines are required to do this. Have heard pretty good reports about BA. The only thing I worry about is a labor strike, and that can happen to any airline.

I'm sure you will enjoy Ireland! Be sure to let us in on all the details when you get back!

Judy · Guru

Dan

The Birds of Prey Centre at Aillwee Cave was opened in 2008, after our visit. We'll have to swing by there again for the show.

We took a ferry boat to Inis Mor, leaving from Rossaveal around 10:30, toured the island and returned around 5:30. The fare was 20 or 25 Euro rt and took about 45 minutes each way.

The kids meal on Aer Lingus was chicken nuggets.

Now, as far as the Blarney Stone, if you get there first thing in the morning, I hear that they sanitize the rock overnight. biggrin Or, take a Clorex wipe with you and as you are lowered down wipe the area completely. biggrin biggrin As you can tell from these BLARNEY comments, I too have kissed the stone. biggrin biggrin biggrin

Judy

-- Edited by Judy on Friday 25th of April 2014 09:11:44 AM

murphy · Guru

Judy,

You do need to swing by and see the birds in action. We saw a similar demonstration in Sligo co. near Tubbercurry/Gurteen a few years back and it was impressive. I think it would be way cool for a 10 year old or any youngster!

As for the rock, if I remember right, they were wiping it from time to time when we were there last time. I am not a germ-a-phobe but 2/4 times I went to Ireland, I came home with a severe head cold. Nothing more miserable than flying on an airliner with full congestion or non-stop running nose!

We take sanitizing wipes along anyway because we wipe down the tray tables, arm rests, seat backs etc on the airlines.

Dan

murphy · Guru

Car Hire

Just visited with Dooley on the phone and their internet quote did not include the 5% discount which brings the quote to $459.00 (316 Euros) payable 30 days before the rental date. I thought this was all inclusive but it only covered CDW which still has 1200 deductible. SCDW also known as "excess" will be an additional 18 a day! Bringing the total to $711 (490 Euros) for 14 days leaving only a $100 deductible. For an additional 5 Euros $7 a day (total $98) I can get walk away insurance or "0" deductible including tires, undercarriage, glass, mirrors etc. When the Dooley Websight said all inclusive when you tick the box to submit, it was not, unless I missed the part about adding in SCDW or Excess! It is advisable and helpful to make the phone call to them. They seem very helpful.

Will need to check with my Hertz Franchise people now.
Thought I would share this info for those who might be new to this forum!

Dan

murphy · Guru

Update

Booked a car yesterday with Easy Tour for 438.80 euros all inclusive. For them that includes glass and mirrors but not tires or rims. They insisted that nobody in Ireland covers tire or rims so am curious about Dooleys walk away insurance plan if you came back with a bulge on a tire or a bent rim?!

The price figures out to about $625 (today's exchange rate plus 3 percent conv). That leaves us at the mercy of the $ value of the Euro. Dooley would be locked in $'s and payable 30 days before (Easy Tour is payable at the time of the rental)

Ennis Lodging appears to be fairly busy those first 2 nights so we are reversing the trip clockwise around the triangle. I have booked a triple room in Bunratty at the Bunratty Manor Hotel the first night. Finding a little less availability on triples vrs doubles. With a 4:40pm arrival, we won't have time or feel like doing anything but grabbing a bite to eat, & crash. It has a restaurant/pub on sight so won't have to drive anywhere that first night. We can do the Bunratty castle first thing in the morning before heading south. (That will put us in Ennis the last 2 nights so we can take in the folk park & castle banquet the first afternoon/evening in Ennis).

Plan to head to Dromrarriff then Blarney for 2 nights, already booked at The Whitehouse B&B. Will do Blarney castle first thing the next morning before the tour busses arrive, and then will do a day trip to Kinsale. Won't stay in Kinsale since it is a weekend and lodging in Kinsale appears to be scarce and pricy! From there, the tentative plan is to head west. Plan to book 2 nights in Glengarriff (instead of Bantry)want to take the Beara loup since it is our all time favorite scenic drive, and this time we will leave early enough to catch the Dursey Cable Car--think GD would like that! Then 2 nights in Killarney. I have booked 1 night at Balleyseede Castle Oct 9(our splurge for the trip). I will try for 1 night at the Doonagore Farmhouse B&B owned by Patrick Sweeny who leads the 5k scenic walk near Doolin/cliffs of Moher, 1 night Inis Mor, 2 nights in Clifden, and the final 2 in Ennis .

Around 600 miles total if I figured correctly. The longest drive will be 125 mi from Bunratty to Blarney(about 4 hours driving time)....hope that isn't foolhardy after a transatlantic flight the day before. Will make a few stops along the way to walk around and get some of that good Irish fresh air!

For lodging and overnight stops, nothing really set in stone since I mostly use booking.com to nail down a reservation early on. So far the three places I have booked have no penalty for cancellation ranging from 24 hrs to 48 hrs to 5 days prior. After that you would lose the 1st night total. I book places that I can live with based on rating, price and location. Then if I find something better I have an option to change. When I booked Ballyseede there was a 4 euro non-refundable booking deposit.

-- Edited by murphy on Saturday 26th of April 2014 07:22:07 PM

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

I used to make the drive from Shannon to East Cork, on day of arrival, so Day 2 shouldn't be too bad. Once you get into County Cork, the road 'thins down' quite a bit -- Dunno WHO the North Cork TD's ticked off -- but they seem to be pretty powerful people. Hasn't seemed like much of any improvement to the Cork portion of the N20 in over 15 years! hmm hmm

Traffic usually 'bogs down' a bit through Charleville -- that will give your Grand daughter a nice glimpse of a real. Irish 'working' town.

The detour for Dromtarriff is an easy one. You could also jog North from there for Kanturk Castle. It's only a few kilometers away.

http://www.travelmania-ireland.com/place.php?id=189

http://www.askaboutireland.ie/learning-zone/primary-students/looking-at-places/cork/moments-in-cork-history/kanturk-castle/

Michele Erdvig · Host

You are right not to do Kinsale on a weekend. It can be crazy and crowded especially if the weather is nice.

In Glengarriff your GD might enjoy the boat trip out to Garinish Island and the gardens (she will see the seals basking on the rocks). The Glengarriff Park Hotel is nice and has good food.

Ballyseede is out in the countryside so you will have to drive into Tralee for dinner or book at the castle.