Hello--We are planning a trip to Ireland with twin boys. We have 9-10 days, using 1 day as layover in Amsterdam to do a quick/fast city tour while awaiting plane to Dublin. Renting car to tour at our pace. Would love a cycling tour in Galway, Dublin, Belfast and Giants Causeway. Want out of the way scenic areas but easy access for newbies. Will be using manual transmission a bit worried if we can figure it out because its on the left side? How do we split our days Dublin, west coast then Northern Ireland and back to Dublin for return to USA. JUne 4 is our departure day from US return June 15 or 16
Posted by
1172 posts
I think that you are trying to cover too much in a 9 day time frame. We had 14 days this past summer and only did the South ( Dublin down to Kilkenny, over to Killarney, Dingle, Galway, Connamera and back to Dublin to fly out) We had to drop things from our itinerary due to time constraints ( it takes A LOT longer to drive in Ireland than it does on North America) and were on the go pretty much all the time.
We paid the extra to get an automatic transmission car and were very happy that we did. If you do not drive a standard at home, I would not recommend trying to do so in Ireland.
I cannot comment on cycling tours as we only rented bikes in Killarney National Park ( which I strongly recommend) but we did see a lot of people cycling in Killarney and in Dingle.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Even if you DO drive stick at home, driving on the "wrong" side of the road is a big enough adjustment without having to shift left-handed. Pay for the automatic transmission. (I spent a week driving around Britain with my daughter reminding me "Left! Drive left!")
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you both ---yes I am a manual driver but the left hand side driving does seem daunting. I have been watching you tube videos. I now need to decide where to focus our time. I am a coastal gal at heart and love the scenary of the coastline. Also option to take train from Dublin. Is car rental easy from the other points like Galway or Belfast? As far as Galway will that be a good point to go to Dingle area?