driving directly fron Shannon Airport to Dublin. Places to see along the way?

bonniemichelle · Member

driving directly fron Shannon Airport to Dublin. Places to see along the way?

tony2phones · Guru

There is a lump of water between Shannon and Dublin called Lough Derg you have 2 options, south being the shortest option to catch the M7 under Limerick. Thats the easy first hour bit well 40 minutes anyway.. then you have options along the route http://goo.gl/maps/8dWkW of course you could go totally off piste and wander around until jet lag finds you in a ditch (you might get the hint I don't think long drives straight of a redeye make sense)

You don't need a car for Dublin so why not just get between Shannon and Dublin by public transport.. Or take possibly the more sensible (to me anyway) option of reversing the plan thus ending in Dublin, then bus from there to Shannon?

Doing that you can catch some of the http://www.fleadhnua.com/ before heading north in a reverse of something like this 2 page map (2nd page covers Clare - Dublin) http://goo.gl/maps/gl8uv

Sorry missed the Welcome.. and possibly a little harsh for an introduction?

-- Edited by tony2phones on Saturday 10th of May 2014 09:14:37 AM

EHannan · Member

Hi! I agree with Tony, you don't need, and probably don't want, a car in Dublin. If you find another way there, you can take the airport bus when you leave Dublin and pickup a car then. Parking is expensive and the traffic is bad in central Dublin. You can walk most everywhere and use public transport if needed.

Lucky for me, a very smart person convinced me that I did not need a car for 8 days in Dublin last year. Would have been a waste of $ and I would have been paying to keep it in a garage the whole time!

At some point, as you travel between Dublin and the west, I would try to work in a stop at Clonmacnoise. This was one of my favorite places last year. Gorgeous old monastic settlement on the banks of the river Shannon, near Shannonbridge. We did this between Doolin and the Dublin airport on our last full day. Could have spent longer there, and will probably visit again this year. Well woth going a bit out of your way, IMO, but not on the most direct Shannon to Dublin route.

wckc · Guru

Welcome to the forum Bonnie!

Tony is totally correct. You don't want to do that long drive on your first day fresh off the plane from the states.

Our first trip we picked up our car in Dublin city center. We've learned a lot since then - like you don't want to have a car at any time in Dublin city! Tony's thought of reversing your trip and ending in Dublin city is a great idea. That way you can drop the car at the airport, take the bus into the city, and then take the bus back out to Shannon for your return.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Bonnie, I will add my welcome too. What's the rush to get to Dublin? How about easing into the trip with a shorter drive? Shannon Airport is pretty rural and you can learn to drive on the left without contending with Dublin traffic. I usually recommend 2 hours or less drive fresh off an overnight flight. You just don't know how your body will deal with jet-lag. So be kind to yourselves.

You could head NW and hit the obligatory Cliffs of Moher. Perhaps spend your first night on the coast of Clare or - if feeling okay - end in Galway for the first night.

Tony's advice is spot on.

tony2phones · Guru

Unfortunately the link to this forum resulted in my answer on TA forum being removed.. small minded folk over there..

Michele Erdvig · Host

Sorry about that Tony. I hope you didn't post an extensive reply only to have it deleted. I have to laugh if TA thinks I am competition whatsoever. biggrin

I am small fry compared to a multi-billion dollar business. yawn Maybe that is a compliment???? confuse We have more leeway here and are not as paranoid. I know there are other forums and websites out there. There is plenty of room on the Internet for all.

bonniemichelle · Member

Strong opinions here! :>) thanks for the welcome and good advice (and yes - I know driving across is a bit crazy) BUT here are some of my constraints - mostly monetary:

1. had to both arrive to and leave from Shannon - would have much rather arrived Dublin and left Shannon but the diff was $600 per ticket!

2. got the car rental out of Shannon for $160 - was more than double out of Dublin. We have to return the car to Shannon as well. Time is also at a premium so public transport is out. found a b and b with parking so we will arrive and just park the car until we leave in Dublin.

3. We are inveterate road trippers here in the US where 3 hours of driving is nothing.....and none of us jet-lags headed east (coming home is a different story) and 19 year old son has more energy than most 3 people put together....

Sharing this with you all because as we construct our trip you will probably think we're more than a little crazy - but we always manage to have a great tie even if we do over-plan. Often we drop stuff off the plan as we go.

So here's the plan so far

Arrive Saturday midmorning - Bunnratty Castle (hubby and I have already been there and loved it, son hasn't seen it yet). Drive Tony's scenic route and hopefully don't end up in a ditch per his warning :>) Arrive Dublin Saturday evening.

Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday til mid-day - Dublin (and yes I know we could spend a week here - we prefer less time in cities, more in scenery and towns)

Sunday afternoon - Tara - is it always open to the public or do we have to deal with hours? Sunday evening - arrive via fast highway near Belfast. Don't know how long seeing Tara will take - but if its a short meander suggestions in that area would be nice. Haven't planned b and b yet but we're not going into Belfast - small town nearby would be nice

Monday until Tuesday mid-afternoon- North Coastal road; giants causeway, rope bridge, distillery, dark hedges and a castle - so much to see! Walk the walls of Derry and see the Murals.

Then we have Wed, Thursday and Friday......Friday we want to be aroundCounty Clare, see the Burren and Cliffs of Moher. We have been to Galway, Sligo and Dingle (though son has not). I had hoped to have time to see the Aran Islands, or at least spend some time where Gaeltacht is widely used as I'm a linguist - but figuring that may not happen this trip.

Suggestions? Thanks again!!!!

.

tony2phones · Guru

I do not understand the difference in car rental price?? double check what you are getting and details of location charges just to double check. I would also question why a car has to be dropped at the collection point.. Who are you planning to use?

Driving in Ireland is Nothing like driving back home. Car hire insurance is super high for transatlantic visitors because they nudge things.. driving tired on strange roads can be dodgy.. I am not having a go or giving out but be careful..

Dingle is a long way from being the only place in Ireland where Irish is spoken, Just west from Galway is the largest, strictest Irish area (I refused to conduct the purchase of land in Irish so live in east Galway rather than Spiddal) , Achill Island has the largest Irish summer school, Donegal has huge area's of native speakers.. Dingle is like Texas has the biggest, most of, best of.. (comes from all that bull?)

Personally I stick with the reversing on the route making best logistical sense.. and check that car hire because I am getting tingles in the back of my neck on the information your giving..

murphy · Guru

I, like Tony, am curious about the car rental situation? Did you get a flight/car pkg deal that is locked in?

For our upcoming trip I recently had my original reservation with EASYtour/hertz for open jaw pick up at DUB drop at SNN. Changed plans and will now go in and out of SNN. New quote came in $75 less for same company, car and timeframe. I assumed it was the relocation charge being dropped that lowered the price??? I think I would would make a couple of calls (at least Easy Tour and Dooley)
Dan

bonniemichelle · Member

The car charge is quite a bit more picking up in one place and dropping off at another so we won't be reversing the trip. Dublin hotel was also pre-reserved and are the only non-changeable nights on the trip. So is it possible to work within my parameters? Suggestions for the trp post Dublin perhaps?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Yes, we do have strong opinions on traveling in Ireland. Everyone who has answered you either lives in Ireland or has been there multiple times. We only try to steer people (from what we have learned over the years) in the best direction.

Thanks for the additional info, as it will help us help you. Since you have determined what you want to do and parts of it are already written in stone, we must take it from there.

You won't have any problems visiting The Hill of Tara on a Sunday afternoon. If you just want a look at the hill, earthworks and mound it will probably take less than 30 minutes.You will have to go off the "fast highway" aka motorway to visit it.

If you are going to Belfast, might as well stay there. There are a couple of Premier Inns in the city with good rates.

On the Antrim Coast you could choose to stay in Ballycastle, Bushmills or Portrush. This is a gorgeous drive and I highly recommend you detour down to the signposted coves and beaches as well as Torr Road.

If you want to go to the Aran Islands (which takes a whole day) you should consider Wed & Thurs in Galway. Wed would be mostly a driving day to get you there. Thurs would be the day for the islands.

You have been to Ireland before so you know what the roads and driving are like and what you want to do. We only offer our best advice. But the trip is yours and you should do exactly as you please. Having that extra info always helps when offering advice.

Hope you have a great trip. We would love to hear back afterwards. biggrin

bonniemichelle · Member

thanks Michelle and Tony and all who have responded. I know our lock-ins make things a little different than the usual. I'll look forward to posting our trip report after. Michelle, thanks for the Galway suggestion - that makes sense.Please everyone, let me know of any special places you think we should see in Galway. I know nothing about the Aran Islands except that they are supposed to be beautiful. If you had 2 days in the Galway area, what would be your top choices to do?

thanks again

Bonnie

murphy · Guru

Bonnie,
Lock-ins do make a difference. We all have 20/20 hindsight!

As for Galway: we spent 2 nights there in 08. It was a great base for an all day trip to Inis Mor Aran Islands. A shuttle was available from a mid city Hostel to the airport and I believe they made a drop at the ferry too.

McDonaughs is a 5* rated fish & chips place! Yummy!

The Crane bar is well known for traditional Irish music. Best of 3 venues I went to in town, although Tig Coili and Taffes were good too.

We liked the compact downtown area for shopping/restaurants/pubs. There were street musicians performing and this street leads right into well known Eyre Square

A paved walking/bicycle path starts near the Spanish Arch and winds westward along the river towards Salthill

Wanted to go to Sat night Mass at Galway Cathedral highly recommended to see by our B&B hostess. (Got lost and ended up at a nearby church instead!). Next time!

Another venue for next time is the highly rated Celtic stage show "Trad on the Prom".

All in all Galway is a small city and a college town to boot. There is a youthful energy there esp if you are there when classes are in session. Makes the night life interesting if you are into that sort of thing!

Hopes this helps!
Dan

bonniemichelle · Member

thanks Dan!