Good morning. My 78 year old mother has always wanted to visit Ireland, so I am planning a trip with her.
She has never traveled abroad and would much prefer a more "relaxed" type trip, see some iconic sites, but
would prefer to stay in one place ("base out of"). She is healthy, fit and active- just doesn't want to pack and unpack and would like to avoid city crowds. Would also like to be within an hour of the airport and not stay in
a "big" city. The trip would be for a week, which includes the travel days. I have been doing my own research, but was
looking for some more direct input. Thank you!
Posted by
9983 posts
We have visited Ireland and N. Ireland three times in the past few years, the last time Summer 2025.
We did a great 10 day tour (8 if you don't count the first day of travel to and last day of travel from) with Gate 1 Travel.
It was very cheap, around $2500 pp. We didn't go to N. Ireland this time, but visited the very scenic places on Ireland's west coast.
My impression was that driving in Ireland, especially in the more remote areas like the West Coast will be slower than you might think.
Trying to BASE your visit in one place, especially an hour from an airport might be hard. Dublin is the major airport, but I know Shannon is probably another. Not sure where you would base.
Dublin is great, and I recommend three days there. It is not a huge city like London or NYC. Still, you would likely want to take tours, at least day tours, if you didn't want to do an overall tour like Gate 1. You could find those on TripAdvisor.com
I highly recommend the Guiness Brewery for a visit. The beer is excellent. Also, other sites are St. Patrick's Cathedral, The Book of Kells at Trinity University, and Dublin Castle.
https://irelandexplore.com/top-things-to-do-in-dublin/
Other places in Ireland to visit:
Galway and Connemara
The Cliffs of Moher- amazing
The Dingle Peninsula at Ring of Kerry near Killarney
https://www.bontraveler.com/dingle-peninsula-ireland/
The Blarney Castle
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g186591-Activities-Ireland.html
What you could do is split your time and have more than one base. Dublin should be one. Then Killarney for the Ring of Kerry. Perhaps Galway for Connemara and Galway. Limerick is another option for the West Coast, but that is still lots of driving for a single base.
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
1143 posts
Staying within an hour of an airport, and avoiding city crowds may not be possible. The iconic sights in Ireland are pretty spread out. You can narrow down your focus by spending all of your time in Killarney (Ring of Kerry, Dingle, and the national park). Or, spend all of your time in Galway (Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands, Burren,Connemara). But neither of these two areas is close to an international airport, even with a car. Galway is closest, and you can get there by train in a couple hours, or by bus from the airport. If you stay in Dublin, even though it is a big city, you can simply use guided day trips and spend most of your time out of the city. With limited time Dublin is an easier option as you won’t have to use valuable time getting somewhere else, then back again to fly home. You may be able to fly to Cork via London or Dublin, which would put you closer to Killarney, but still more than an hour by car (if you plan to rent one). Galway airport no longer handles commercial flights, so you would have to fly into Shannon and then either drive or take a bus to Galway.
Posted by
2019 posts
Will you have a car? That's the main determiner. If you don't plan on driving then I think you will need to stay in Dublin, Killarney or Galway. I just don't see how you would otherwise be able to stay in one place and see "iconic" sites. If you have a car flying into Shannon and staying in Ennis might be a good choice. It fits the small town, one hour criteria and will give you access to a large section of the Wild Atlantic Way, the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Mohr (although the last item is not what it used to be). When are you planning on going?
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
1813 posts
I recommend Cork, which is a delightful small city with easy day trips by public transport to Cobh, Kinsale and Blarney. You can do a (very long) day trip to Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher or Dingle with Paddywagon (https://www.paddywagontours.com/tours/Day-Tours-from-CORK), but I can't recommend that. Cork is a three-hour train ride (or a very short flight) from Dublin.
If she insists on being within an hour of the airport, to the north is Drogheda, which is a good base for the Boyne Valley, as well as the coastal towns of Malahide, etc. To the south, maybe Bray or Greystones? This is not an area I am familiar with.
If you're able to fly into Shannon, Galway is a two-hour bus ride away and has lots of great day trips.
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
1157 posts
Depending on where you live, Dublin might not be a "big" city.