I will be flying into Dublin September 19, arriving 530 am. My daughter and I have put together a preliminary itinerary, but I want to really get things sorted out and still need to make accommodations. I am NOT a procrastinator and I think that's why I'm feeling so stressed. So we've decided where we want to visit, but am not sure how many days yet in each place. I REALLY want to try and avoid driving. this might be too ambitious, so PLEASE any input would be greatly appreciated. places we want to visit in order of how we would travel:
Dublin
Wyclow
Kilkenney
Cork
Kerry/Killarney
Galway
Possibly Newgrange
We will be flying back out of Dublin. Is this doable? We've written down what we want to see in each place and I'm afraid it might be too much. Days in each town?
Posted by
southern california
239 posts
kel.mel....I cannot help you as I have never been to Ireland. We are planning our own 25 day trip this coming September. However, I have used this site a lot for help on things and I think you are going to have to be more specific if you want help. How many days will you be in Ireland? What do you want to see and do? It will be hard to comment on how many days you need in (for example) Galway if no one knows what you want/like to do or how much time you have for your trip. This site is wonderful and the folks are very helpful but you need to give them more to go on.
Posted by
OP
60 posts
Good point! We will be there 10 days. Interested in hiking, museums, shopping, bars.
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
868 posts
You will have to be more specific about what you want to see, and why you have picked these particular towns to stop in. At first glance I would say don't miss Newgrange, but I would probably skip Cork. Newgrange is easy to do as a guided day trip from Dublin. Instead of Cork I would go to nearby Kinsale, a small, quaint harbour town known as the gourmet capital of Ireland. Charles Fort is worth a visit here, also. Since you don't want to drive then the easiest will be to go by train, sometimes bus. You may want to investigate a train/bus pass, which is what I did, it's easier than buying each ticket separately, and probably cheaper, too. These tickets give a certain number of days travel within a certain time frame (from the first time you use it). So, for my three week trip I purchased a ticket that gave me 8 days of travel over two weeks (I spent the first four days in Dublin, and the last four in Belfast and did all my travelling in between). From Dublin I took the train all the way to Killarney as that was the longest part of my journey (four hours). From Killarney I took the train back to Cork then a bus to Kinsale. From Kinsale I took the bus back to Cork, then the train to Kilkenny ( I made a detour by bus to see the Rock of Cashel, but that was a little complicated). From Kilkenny I took the train to Galway. From Galway you will have to take the train back to Dublin to fly out, but it is only a couple hours by train to Dublin. If you are going to be travelling by train/bus you may have to pare down your list a bit as this type of travel is more time-consuming than if you had a car. Also, you should investigate what guided day trips are available from each location as without a car this will be the only way you will get to see certain sights. With only ten days you may want to just use Dublin, Killarney and Galway as bases to do day trips from otherwise you may spend too much time on trains and buses.
Posted by
OP
60 posts
Thanks so much! That really helps.
Posted by
Kolkata, India
36 posts
Hi Anita,
were all the travel that you did covered by the 8 day pass--so all bus and train tours.
thanks and regards
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
868 posts
The pass I bought was valid for both bus and train within a certain time frame. Whenever I boarded a bus or train my pass was stamped with the date and that counted as one day travel, but I could get on as many buses or trains I wanted on that day. Go to this website, it explains it well: https://www.dochara.com/tour/save/irish-rail-and-bus-saver-cards/