Hi Everyone!
My husband and I are finishing our Europe trip with a week in Ireland (Late Oct). Our plan is to rent a car at the airport and start driving towards Wicklow after that I am not sure where to go, or where to stay.
I have read so many of Rick's books that I am still feeling overwhelmed. We would like to stay at B&B's along the way but it seems that a lot of them close because it's their off season.
Any suggestions or advice would be most appreciated!
Jill
I did Ireland in 97 just before the big economic boom. It was in October and though a few TI's were closed I never had a problem finding a place to rest my head at night. Unless it's all changed in a decade all B&B's have light tan signs posted along the roadside. So as you drive into a town or city you'll see plenty of the signs.
I would drive into a town before night fall and look for a place. I'd park, knock on the door, ask for a room ensuite and would pay for the night. Never turned away.
Lovely hosts and hostesses. Comfortable beds and good breakfasts. If the TI's are open you can ask for a room for the night and they will suggest one or two.
I'd check out Rick's Graffiti Wall for recommendations and email them to see if they'll be open.
Lovely country. Just lovely.
In my experience, most B&Bs that close for the season don't do so until at least the end of October. And it seems that an increasing number are staying open all year. The last time I was in Ireland, it was the last week in February. I had the Irish Tourist Board's B&B guide with me, which lists which B&Bs are open yearround. I didn't book anything ahead. I would just knock on the door and ask if they had a single room for the night (I was traveling alone). I was the only guest in half of the places I stayed. I wouldn't worry about finding a place to stay.
What our plan for the moment is to pick up the car in Dublin and drive to Wicklow spend the first night there.
Day 1 Drive to Wicklow spend the night.
Day 2 I know its backtracking a bit but to go Kilkenny, then drive to Waterford, and then on to Cork stay the night in Cork
Day 3 Explore Cork and drive on to Killarney stay the night in Killarney
Day 4 Drive from Killarney to Limerick explore and stay the night. (Is it possible to drive from Killarney to Galway instead of staying in Limerick?
Day 5 Drive to Galway spend the night
Day 6 Drive from Galway to Dublin
Day 7 Explore Dublin
Day 8 Explore Dublin
Day 9 fly home
We have no idea of what we want to see, we just show up and whatever interests us that day is what we do.
So if anyone has any recommendations or alternative route suggestions we would appreciate it!
On our first trip driving around Ireland (April) we booked as we arrived through the TI's. I suspect the TI's are open year round and still offer the service. travelling off season (which we like to do) means less difficulty finding space even late in the day. Good luck. George, Pittsburgh
Jill, my husband and I were in Ireland in late April/early May and we stayed in B&Bs everywhere.
I have a feeling you'd have to check with the individual B&B owners to see if they're open then. That doesn't seem to terribly off season, though.
Do you have any idea what cities you'd like to see? Our favorites were Dingle, Kinsale and Galway. We also liked Althone and Cobh, although we didn't sleep in either city.
Our favorite B&B was the Stirabout Lane B&B in Rathdrum, a small town in the Wicklow Mountains.
Let me know if you'd like any more recommendations.
Tourist Information offices in outlying areas are not open all year, so don't count on finding one wherever you are. I once stopped in one in early April, and the woman there apologized for the mess the office was in, saying they had only just opened for the season the day before. Because I travel in shoulder and off season, I generally see more closed TI offices than open ones.
Instead of spending the night in Limerick or trying to get to Galway that day, why not go a bit west of Shannon Airport and stay in Lahinch or Liscannor? Both are on the coast, just a few minutes from each other, and the Cliffs of Moher are right there. There are several B&Bs open in Lahinch yearround (I would hesitate to recommend the one where I stayed not because there was anything really wrong with it, but I know there are nicer ones). And in Liscannor, five minutes from the Cliffs of Moher, is Moher Lodge. I don't know if it's yearround or not, but I know they were open in early April. Limerick is a rather unlovely city with not a lot to see except traffic.
If you are coming from Killarney, you can take a ferry across the River Shannon at Killimer/Tarbert which will cut 80 miles off of going around through Limerick.
You can drive from Killarney to Galway in a day, but it will be a long and tiring day. Driving in Ireland is slower than driving at home, and you can't just go by the distance when estimating the time. Assume a speed of maybe 35 mph on average.
In May, we went to Ireland and I went on imagineireland.com and got a great deal on a house .......in County Limerick .... we used it as a base and toured the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Pennisula, the Shannon and Limerick areas....and the Cliffs of Moher. the cost of the rental was $800 and we had three bedrooms, washer, full kitchen and a beautiful setting in the country!
There are lots of places to rent all over Ireland on this website .........
keep in mind that some of the places you want to see may be closed that time of year....
I say this because Irish tourism is impacted by fewer Americans traveling to Europe right now -- but this could be a good thing too...they are offering incentives to travel in Ireland.
Have fun...we LOVED Ireland.
We went to Ireland last year. I have never seen so many B&B's, I think it is the B&B capital of the world. We traveled from Dublin, Cork, Blarney, Killarney, Gallway, All around the west and back to Dublin. Saw Newgrange. Every few miles there seemed to be one so I don't think you'll have much problem finding places to stay
You'll be absolutely fine! I was there over Christmas in '06 for 3 weeks and the last week was spent just driving around and stopping where we liked and we had NO problem finding a B&B anywhere.
I agree with Nancy on scraping the plans to spend the night in Limerick or try to make it all the way to Galway. Spend some time in a small, west coast town. It's much more enjoyable than being in big towns the entire time. I would take the Cliffs of Moher over Limerick any day. We spent our last night in Limerick as we were flying out of Shannon the next day. It wasn't horrible, but i t wasn't exactly memorable, and I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone.
This route, "Day 2 I know its backtracking a bit but to go Kilkenny, then drive to Waterford, and then on to Cork stay the night in Cork," is going to take you an awfully long time, especially if you want to explore Kilkenny and Waterford. I'm not sure it's really feasible. You might want to scrap seeing one of those cities, and find a more direct route, if it's possible. We didn't go to Kilkenny (we couldn't fit it into the day we wanted to), but from what I've heard, I'd pick that over Waterford. If you do want to go to Waterford, I'm guessing for the crystal factory, see if you can get a reservation before hand. My husband and I stopped on our way out of Waterford, since we had free tickets, and the next tour wasn't for almost two hours. We didn't want to push back making it to wherever we were going next for the tour.
Jill,
My wife and I spent two weeks driving around Ireland in May. A few thoughts:
As others have noted, driving in Ireland takes a lot longer than it does in the US. It's also a lot more exhausting.
You're current schedule will have you spending most of your vacation in the car and very little time seeing Ireland. What you do see you will sleepwalk through because you'll be so tired from all the driving! As Nicole noted, Day 2 is basically impossible. To go from Wicklow to Kilkenny to Waterford to Cork in one day would require you to drive all day without stopping. I'd choose either Waterford or Kilkenny to see on the way to Cork. I'd recommend Kilkenny unless you have your heart set on the Crystal Factory (which it doesn't sound like you do).
It's good that you're flexible about what you see. This will allow you to make changes on the fly if you find that things aren't going perfectly for you.
I'd recommend at least one day somewhere on the west coast. It has some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. Driving either the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula is highly highly recommended. It would take up about a day and a half when you factor in getting there and getting to your next destination, but it's worth it.
I don't think you'll have much problem finding places to stay, although as someone else mentioned I would find a place before nightfall. It's no fun driving around in the dark trying to find somewhere to stay.
Best of luck with your planning. Enjoy your trip!
Ok with everyone's great advice I have revised our trip. Now my question is once we are on the west coast of Ireland what is the quickest route back to Dublin so we can spend the last few days of our trip there?
Here is where we are tentatively planning. I google mapped the point to point locations I assumed we would be driving about 35 mph from everyone's advice.
Day 1 Arrive in Dublin drive to Wicklow explore and drive to Kilkenny spend the night.
Day 2 Drive to Cork/spend the night in Cork
Day 3 Drive from Cork to Killarney/spend the night in Killarney
Day 4 Drive from Killarney to Dingle/spend the night in Dingle
Day 5 Drive from Dingle back to Dublin??
Our last night needs to be in Dublin to catch an early flight home, but I am open to spending the first part of our trip in Dublin as well so we don't have to rush back.
Also my husband wants to have lodging confirmed before we go, he thinks it might be a bit stressful trying to find a B&B open at the end of October. Does anyone have any recommendations in any of the towns I have listed? I know from other posts on here that the Milestone in Dingle sounds fantastic, its just everywhere else I haven't planned.
Thanks!
Jill
If it works, I would suggest spending that first night in Dublin, or very close to Dublin, if you can manage it. Coming off a long flight and being in a new place, you likely won't feel like being in a car for a long period of time.
Also, while this itinerary looks better, I think you're still going to feel rushed, You're covering the entire southern part of the country in just five days. My husband and I did just about this same circle in twice the amount of time, and we felt rushed. It might not seem like a lot now, but when you get there and start drivign to all these places, it will likely feel like you're in the car a lot or feel rushed--that's how we felt anyway!
I understand wanting to fit in as much as you can, but with only five days, I would just stick with one part of the country--probably more of the east or south central part since you're flying in and out of Dublin. On your next trip, try flying in and out of Shannon, so you can cover the west.
We are actually flying in from Scotland. Our days are flexible because we actually start our trip in London on Oct 19th and we will make our way up to Edinburgh and then fly into Dublin on the 26th and we do not fly out till the 2nd of November.
I started thinking about the time we would be spending in the car the other day. I would like to at least make it to the Dingle Penisula.
I also haven't bought our tickets to Ireland yet. So I could buy them and fly into Shannon because when we leave Ireland we fly out of Dublin. So we really could start our trip in Shannon.
But do the car rental companies charge more for returning the car in another location?
No, they don't charge any more to rent in Shannon and return in Dublin. I have done that several times, going both directions. Flying into Shannon and out of Dublin is a much better idea.
I would definitely then fly into Shannon and out of Dublin. We found the west coast to be more enjoyable and scenic than the east coast, so I would definitely recommend it. For a west coast itinerary, I would suggest Dingle, Galway, the Burren and/or the Connemara if you can fit it in. Those were some of our favorite areas.
I think you'll be much happier not spending so much time in the car!
Sorry if I had not clarified our dates of travel, but we have 7 nights and 8 days in Ireland. That was just a tentative itinerary.
Unfortuntely I am a graduate student, work full time, and so does my husband so we don't really have the luxury of adding more time to our trip. The fact we get to take this trip at all is awesome. So we will make do with what we can.
Thanks for the advice.
