I am helping my niece plan a high school graduation trip to Ireland for herself and her daughter in late May or June. They have 8-10 days to spend and I'm trying to give them a good overview without having themselves run ragged. My niece would like to visit Northern Ireland as well, but I'm not sure whether from a time and distance perspective that's do-able? I thought they could fly to either Dublin or Shannon and leave from whichever one they didn't fly to. Among the places I was going to suggest were Belfast, Dublin, Killarney, Galway, and a night or two at Dromoland either upon arriving or departing. My niece would prefer not to rent a car so I was trying to think of cities they could get to by train and then do day tours or a private guide. Any suggestions on what might be a logical route? What to add/subtract? Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
449 posts
Hi carolsorgan:
I visited Dublin and Belfast about one year ago. Belfast is a 2 hour bus ride from Dublin, and if you limit what you want to see you can do this as a one day - one long day - trip. I squeezed in a black taxi tour of the sectarian neighborhoods with their political murals, a visit to the Crumlin Road gaol, and a visit to the Titanic museum which came after a walk through central Belfast. Those are some of the most popular tourist sites and can be done in one day. Here iw a link to my blog for that day:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/georgelondon/3/1461411333/tpod.html
As you might see, the next day consisted of another tour of a sectarian neighborhood. The point is that Belfast is probably worth only one or two days of a tourist's time.
Please note that my trip to Ireland was to explore the 20th century political history of that island so I missed out on all of the coast lines, villages, castles, pubs.....that a standard tour would take in.
Have a good trip.
Posted by
1172 posts
Would they consider a tour?
When I was researching our Ireland trip last year, I came to the conclusion very early that renting a car would make the whole thing a lot easier and much more efficient time wise. There are so many in between places to stop in Ireland that makes public transportation difficult in my opinion.
That being said, if they do want to be part of a tour and do not want to rent a car, I would consider 2 maybe 3 home bases and then do day trips from there. I would choose Dublin, Killarney or Dingle and Galway
As the previous poster said, they could do Belfast as a day trip from Dublin.
What a great graduation present!
Posted by
3123 posts
The Rick Steves Ireland guidebook has a "Sightseeing Priorities" list (p. 10 in the 2016 edition) tailored to how many days you have to spend. It includes Belfast and the Antrim Coast if you have 11 days -- but your niece might eliminate another destination and swap these in instead.
In my opinion, trying to use public transportation and book day tours is the worst of both worlds. The advantage of a tour is not having to hassle with booking and wayfinding and gauging how much time is needed to go here and there. The advantage of renting a car is not being bound by the schedules and routes of public transportation. Exploring on your own without a tour has the advantage of seeking out those things that particularly interest you instead of being herded to points that appeal to the lowest common denominator. That's just my opinion, of course.
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
933 posts
With only 8-10 days, and using public transit, I would suggest only three places. Dublin, Killarney, and Galway. These three are easy to get to by train, and all will have plenty of options for guided day trips. If they only have 8 days then I would stick to just Dublin and Galway in order to maximise time on the ground seeing the sights. A tour would be a much better option when time is short and they don't want to rent a car. Every time they have to take a train or bus to their next location they will lose a half a day or more whereas if they were with a tour they would make stops at sights along the way.