Heart of Ireland RS Tour & On Our Own

Posted by Holly (Atlanta, GA) on 02/11/19 02:57 PM

Hello! My family will be spending a little over two weeks in Ireland this May and June. We fly from Atlanta to Dublin on Fri, May 24 and return on Sunday, June 9. From June 2 to June 9, we will be on the RS Heart of Ireland tour.

Looking for recommendations on places we must see and places to stay during our week on our own. Hubby and I will have our 14 year old daughter with us, and we will be meeting our best friends from Southampton, England and their 14 year old daughter. None of us have been to Ireland before (well, hubby has for work but has never been outside of Dublin) and we are very excited.

Thank you!

Posted by Tammy (aka Diveloonie) 🤿

Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️

02/11/19 03:13 PM

3561 posts

Will you have a car?
Are you flying out of Dublin?
What kinds of things does your family enjoy?
Have you gotten some guidebooks?
We need more info in order to help.

Posted by Holly OP

Atlanta, GA

02/11/19 03:31 PM

40 posts

Great questions, thank you!

Yes, we will have a car.

Yes, I have two guidebooks.

Our family loves to do just about anything, really. Hubby and daughter are AVID history buffs but we love scenery, history, cultural experiences, and we love to dig in and get to know people. Oh, and we love food and drinks. :)

Round trip out of Dublin.

Posted by Suki

02/11/19 04:47 PM

11569 posts

I don’t see Kinsale on Rick’s tour, a place we loved by the water. Maybe heading to Northern
Ireland would be a good idea so you don’t overlap with tour.

Posted by edgefield

02/19/19 02:25 PM

135 posts

DH and I did the Heart of Ireland May 2017 and loved it. Brannigan's pub 9 Cathedral St in Dublin was wonderful---snug and the best food. Not fancy but very friendly. Best fish and chips I had in Ireland and the Guinness stew was marvy. We also did Christ Church and St Patrick's Cathedral. For a few extra euros you can climb the bell tower at Christ Church and ring the bells. We did use the big red tour bus (24 hour pass) the first day to get to Kilmainham gaol and get oriented--that always works well for us. We enjoyed the Guinness storehouse but might be boring for your girls and they may have an age limit. An interesting service offered by the Little Museum is the opportunity to spend a few hours with a local (called The City of a Thousand Welcomes). There is no charge for the service unless you choose to pay to go through the actual museum. These are volunteers who will take you for tea or a beer and answer any questions you may have about Dublin or Ireland in general. The volunteers pick you based on your likes and interests. Take good walking shoes and get out and enjoy the city and it's really friendly people!

ps---just saw that it's a 2 person limit on the City of a Thousand Welcomes so no go for your group of 6.....