Melissa,

Welcome back from your mid-winter trip. It sounds like you had a great time. I was delighted to help with suggestions and I'm glad to hear all your lodging reservations are now made. That is one more piece of the puzzle put into the Ireland vacation picture.

Irisheyes,

It is perfectly fine to post appropriate links here. I had a look at the CNN article about Blacklion and Belcoo. They are two cute little towns that are off the beaten path. Mostly locals, natives and travel writers make it that far into the countryside.

Michele

Melissa,

Most gold and platinum MasterCards that have a limit of a few thousand and up will cover your CDW insurance in Ireland. There is a good overview on my "Car Rental" page. But you must read the fine print first.

InsureMyTrip.com is good because it gives you comparisons. I don't get it myself because I travel in a very non-traditional way. If I cancel a trip I can get all my money refunded without resorting to travel insurance. So I have no need for it.

Michele

Irisheyes, Bunratty sounds nice and cozy, huh? Jury's Inn has good prices. What time are you checking in there? If you're worried about over-booking, check in as early as you can.

Also, one thing we learned the hard way, in a big hotel, if you check in before your room is cleaned, and they tell you no problem, go enjoy yourself, we'll check you into your room and put your luggage in there while you're gone...don't believe them! They mean well but they can screw it up...that happened to us. When we returned to our hotel they had forgotten us and had given our room to someone else!!! So now I always wait around for that room key.

As for too much family togetherness with the whole family in one room...I can relate! When our kids were tiny we always booked only one room. As they got older I begged hubby for 2 connecting rooms. That was much better, though it cost more, so I tried to book inexpensive rooms.

Also, another thing that works well, if you don't want to pay for 2 rooms, is try to find one extra big room, that either has a double sink in the bathroom, or even better, that has a sink in the bathroom plus an extra sink in the bedroom...really helps a lot!

Hubby was very thrifty-minded, especially in the early days, but even he agreed it was money well spent to get 2 rooms. We were able to relax more as a couple, and talk privately without the kids hearing, and they were able to experience some time without being constantly monitored by their parents. We gradually worked out a compromise...they had to understand they couldn't damage the hotel room they were in; couldn't make noise and upset other guests. But we accepted that if they wanted to throw their dirty clothes all over their room, we just wouldn't look, it was their vacation too, and it wasn't hurting anyone.

Sometimes it's even fun to be all in one room, but if the bathroom is tiny, and especially as our daughters grew into teenagers, having 5 people share one bathroom was just impossible, we had to get 2 bathrooms on vacation. (My poor son has always had to share a bathroom with his 2 sisters on vacation!!!)

When they were kids, I preferred 2 connecting rooms with a door between. When they became teens, we found it was perfectly safe in a small family-owned b&b to have 2 rooms near each other with no connecting door. When my son was in college and very responsible, we even felt comfortable placing his sisters (still in high school) in a room with him in a big hotel down the hall from us, if necessary, with instructions to our daughters that they couldn't go running about without their brother.

Irisheyes, ask me a question and I go on and on! Sorry! I sure enjoy chatting with you. Remind me what age range are your kids in? I'm so glad you are travelling with them and creating memories you will all talk about for years. Also travel is a great learning experience, my kids enjoyed being given responsibilities like reading the map, being the navigator when their Dad was driving, etc. Also had opportunities to teach my daughters about hotel safety when travelling. (We practiced things like knocking on their door...they weren't supposed to open it unless they knew it was us...)

Irisheyes, I can tell you from experience that when your daughters (if you have daughters) are young teens, smaller b&bs are safer than big hotels. In a big hotel it is more likely some pig will target them and try to pick them up! Yep, happened to my daughter, who was head-turning pretty at 13. Some older guy (who we think worked in the hotel) tried to pick her up! Ahhhhhhhhh! I reported it to security. He left a note on her doorknob, which I found, saying something like have the young lady meet me on a certain landing at 10:00 pm. Imagine if your daughter, inexperienced and only 12 or 13, had found that note and gotten curious!!! Anyway the reason we thought it was someone working there is it was written on the hotel's notepads that the staff uses, and it had the correct room number on it (which in this hotel isn't the same as the room number written on your door.) So staff either wrote the note or attached it to the door. Anyway, nothing like that happens in small family-owned b&bs! So I prefer them when travelling with daughters.

You won't have such problems when travelling with grade-school kids. I never have. They never left my sight at that age anyway.

Castlewood Guesthouse in Dingle sounds great from what I've heard! Tell us about it when you return. Okay I'll stop blabbing in your ear!

Isn't it such a blessed relief, and a let-down as well?  Now you've done with that part of the planning, no need to worry about -- but no fun researching it anymore, either!!!   I know how you feel, just did that myself.

For cars, get something IN WRITING from your gold or platinum mastercard if they say they will cover the CDW in Ireland, and bring it with you to the rental place.  Otherwise you may not be allowed to decline it, as not all cards will cover it there.  It's a good savings, so do check if you have those cards!  The best price on rental I've gotten so far is either Dan Dooley or Travelocity (through Europcar and/or Thrifty). 

 

Green Dragon, it's impossible to feel let down right now about having finished booking my b&b's, because I just listened to The Chieftains in concert..."Down the Old Plank Road, The Nashville Sessions"...Wow! It really grabs me, that music... They sing and play with people like Allison Krauss and Earl Scruggs, if you haven't heard that concert, it's great...Paddy Mahoney (I hope I got his name right) looks like such a happy person, he looks like he just loves the music... I also saw Matt Malloy, and we're going to his pub in Westport...(of course he might not be there though when we are there!)

Anyway, I know what you mean, just before I book my last b&b, I find myself taking forever, putting it off...because I don't want to be done! But once it's done, I move on to other exciting things.

You have reminded me, there are also some not-so-exciting but important things...we haven't booked our car yet!

I've got to buy this Chieftains concert. This one is rented. I'm going to see which other ones are for rent.

Melissa,

You've got to get a copy of "An Irish Evening" by the Chieftans.  It is one of my two favorites by them.  It is a recording of a live concert by them in Belfast with Roger Daltry of The Who as a guest singer.  My other favorite is "Water from the Well". 

Mark

 

Irisheyes,

Glad to be of help. It looks like everyone is on a roll with tying up their reservations. What places are you considering in Killarney? I think you will enjoy Alcantra. I stayed there myself a few months ago.

Michele

Irisheyes,
Michele couldn't be more right in recommending Alcantra B&B in Kilkenny. The home is large, airy, spotless, has both a guest lounge and conservatory, breakfast fit for a king (or queen), and Brigid and Liam are two of the nicest and accommodating hosts you'll ever meet.

Melissa5,
I noticed you've changed your itinerary yet again , and it no longer includes a stay in Dublin. Does this mean (hopefully) you plan a return visit to see Dublin and maybe Kilkenny? I was in both locales last week, had a great time and only had to re-pack once.

Michele,
I tend to lurk a lot more than post, as Melissa may be aware from another board, but I just wanted to stop by and say hi and thank you for your informative site.

Al

LifeTimeNewYorker, nice to chat with you. Yes, I did have to let go of Dublin, as Michele mentions, in order to concentrate more on Northern Ireland. I realized that Ireland is already calling me back for a second trip, even while I'm still planning the first trip. So I figured I might as well get all the way up to Giant's Causeway and Antrim coast, since I'm already going to Belfast.

Dublin will be easy to add to a second trip, because the plane flies into Dublin! I sure enjoyed a nice long arm-chair trip to Dublin on the fodors travel talk forum, where many people gave me fascinating details about visiting Dublin. I feel like I've already been there, so when I step my foot in Dublin eventually someday, it will be my "second" trip to Dublin!

It was important to me to include Northern Ireland, because that's where my favorite Irish grandmother came from.

So our first trip to Ireland will include Dingle Peninsula, County Clare, County Mayo (with Westport); Northern Ireland (Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Antrim coast...); and 1 final night near the Dublin airport.

My second trip to Ireland MUST include Dublin and interesting areas south of Dublin which I missed on this first itinerary! Rock of Cashel...Kilkenny...Cobh...Kenmare and Skibereen...

Where did you stay in Dublin, Al? What did you enjoy there? I like your idea of only having to repack once on your trip. I must plan that way someday.

Irisheyes, it's very cool you're taking your kids to Kilkenny, the home of your great great father...it's their great great great grandfather! Just tell them he'll turn over in his grave if they touch those antiques!

Actually, don't worry, your kids are old enough to learn how to handle themselves around antiques and nice things. It's a good learning experience. When my 2 daughters were around 12 and 13 years old, I took them on a girls-only weekend visit to San Francisco, where we spent 1 night at the Ritz, and 1 night at someplace more moderate that had a spinning restaurant on its roof.

I talked to them ahead of time about what type of manners were expected at the Ritz. I told them people were paying a lot to stay there, and they didn't want to hear loud arguments, etc. They were very very good, and we talk about the experience to this day. The manners displayed at this particular Ritz were very high-class manners, and it produced an interesting discussion for us! In fact, we voted unanimously NOT to go into their little cafe for tea, because even the child we observed in there had perfect manners, it was like she was plucked out of an old movie filmed in Great Brittain in some high-class tea parlor...We weren't sure our manners would be up to snuff so we avoided the tea parlor!

We also enjoyed staying at the more moderate place, where we could "let down our hair"!

So, enjoy the antiques, talk to your kids about them before you arrive.

Irisheyes, I'm not a teacher, unless you count all the time I've spent volunteering in classrooms, and teaching my own three kids about life. But thanks for the compliment.

I finally had a chance to see Sasha Cohen skate last night...she's an ice-fairy, unbelievably graceful and artful in her skating! I thought it was inspiring the outstanding performance she gave even after falling, that really takes a lot of inner determination...I hope I can learn something from her. I had missed her short skate and was glad to catch her long program.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to catch up on life here, so that I can return to the fun of planning Ireland details. Ireland beckons, like a shimmering green field of shamrocks in the distance, with the smell of a hearty Irish breakfast wafting out of a cottage...(Wait, Michele, are there fields of shamrocks?! Reality clashes with dreams... ) Anyway I'll be back with more questions on Ireland to post soon as I catch up here.

Good luck with your trip planning, Irisheyes.

I will settle for a field of grass with flowers and clusters of shamrocks, as long as you throw in a few leprechauns. I want real leprechauns, not plastic ones. I will also settle for a flock of tiny Irish fairies with transparent wings. Michele, your Emoticon supply seems to be a little short on Irish fairies.

Michele,
You are OVER the top today. What a good laugh I had! Thank you!

I'm getting a quote for $170 per night in Killarney for a three day weekend for a family of 4. It's including a discount, so they say. It's a nice place ( I'd rather not name it) but isn't that TOO high? Or does Killareny run higher for a weekend in JUNE?

Michele, wow, thanks for the Irish fairies! Just what I needed.