First trip to Ireland and we plan to fly into Shannon 1-2 days prior to the start of the Rick Steves' tour. We would love to stay in a cool B&B with a private bath that would give us a great welcome and introduction to Ireland.
For others that have done the tour do you think exploring the Ennis area for a day or two before the tour helps or hurts the tour experience? Does anyone know if there is an opportunity to virtually connect with others signed up for same tour prior to the trip?
Thanks!
Hi. Welcome to the forum. I have not been on this tour or to Ennis. Until someone who has responds, however, you might jump start your research a few ways on this site.
Use the large search bar at the top of the page to look for previous comments or reports on Ennis and this tour. Also use the search bar to look for scrapbooks of previous tour attendees. Many folks assemble their photos, including a few days prior to the start of a tour. Finally, though Ireland sounds like a good place to get responses to your query, if no one responds, try re-posting under the Tours forum.
Happy travels. Debbie
Hubby and I took the Heart of Ireland tour last October it was an amazing tour. I was unable to book a room in the hotel the tour starts from, so we stayed a Grey Gables B&B. Recommended by Rick Steves. We had a nice large room with private bath. It was maybe a 10 min. walk from the bus stop, 5 min walk into Ennis. I sent them an email to reserve the room, and she only takes cash. No credit cards. Breakfast was good and included. We met one other person from our tour there, and a lot of others. It was nice, and I recommend it.
We got there Friday night and stayed 2 nights. Moved to the tour hotel Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday morning we walked all over town. Cute little streets that wound in and out. Found the town library on the other side of the river next to the hostel. It was built onto a cute old church. Also walked a few blocks south of town to see the Mohammed Ali monument. Kind of interesting. His great grandfather was from Ennis!
Have fun! We had a blast! Dawn
When we started the tour on Sunday afternoon, we had a local tour guide talking about all the stuff we had walked by, but were able to find out the interesting history. You spend a lot of time at the Ennis Friary, so I suggest not going there on your own. One interesting thing we did was go into the Clare Museum. They are closed Sunday, and close for lunch, so make sure to check the times. Lots of neat stuff there.
As we were getting ready for our tour, I asked on this forum if anyone else was going, but did not connect with anyone.
I also stayed at Grey Gables in 2017. It was a nice B&B and they served a great breakfast. It is an easy walk to downtown Ennis.
I also stayed at and recommend Grey Gables. Poets Corner pub in the Old Ground Hotel is good for trad music and dinner in Ennis.
Our tour started from Ennis and we arrived early, also. We chose to hire a local guide one of the days who drove us to the Burren Walk with Tony Kirby (wonderful and informative hike) and after the hike he drove us to few other sights. The Burren Perfumery is near the starting point for Tony's tours. We didn't go to the Perfumery that time but on another trip and I can highly recommend it. Especially if you enjoy gardens and such. They also have a lovely cafe there.
The other day we took a taxi to Bunratty Castle where there is a great shopping area across from the castle. (Blarney Woolen Mills) We toured the castle and the folk park. Unfortunately, we didn't allow enough time to fully explore the folk park.
When we took the tour RS provided us the names of the participants but not their contact information. Have a great time!
Robyn,
I may be on your tour group, I sent you a PM to find out.
Our first Rick Steves' tour was "Heart of Ireland' in 2017. We had such a good time and we've even talked about doing it again! What a great experience!
We arrived a day early in Ennis and booked a B&B through the AirBnB app. A B&B in someone's home is a way of meeting people and getting to know them a bit. We had wonderful hostess and we exchanged holiday cards at the end of the year. We had researched restaurants near the B&B (less than a mile from the tour hotel). As a result we found a non-tourist family-run restaurant called The Sherwood Inn. It was a little hard to find because it's inside the Ennis Shopping Centre on Francis Street. However the locals clearly know where it is. If we ever return to Ennis, I'm going back!
Garrison
