ireland blank slate

For getting from England to Ireland, investigate flying on Skyscanner: http://www.skyscanner.com/

Advance purchase on some of these routes is really cheap, and even when you add in the extra fees, it saves a lot of time over a bus.

Couple of thoughts. Excellent choice of country to visit. Ireland is beautiful. Second, 2 days in Dublin is more than enough.
Public transport (trains and busses) do exist and can be used but the BEST way to see Ireland is to rent a car and drive. If you haven't booked flights yet I would suggest flying out of Shannon on the West Coast. Thus, not having to back track to Dublin.
Freeways in Ireland are great. Back roads, tiny and charming. Signage on both good. The drive from Dublin to Dingle is about 4.5 hours. I drove from Belfast to Dingle last Fall in about 5 hours. Small island when you think about it. Tolls can be paid on line. Once you get the hand of roundabouts they're a breeze. Pay for petrol in cash. By September the masses of tourists will have left, weather cooler and grayer with some more rain thrown in (there's a reason it so green), but rates should be lower as it's the off season. Invest in the RS Ireland Guide book. VERY helpful. Dingle is a charming town and a good base for day trips. Highly recommend John and Angela's http://www.cillbhreachouse.com. West coast peninsula is gorgeous. Think Ryan's Daughter and if you never heard of the film find it on Netflix. The locations that were shot over 40 years ago looks virtually the same. I also highly recommend hiking, taking a trap or driving over the Gap of Dunloe and Killarney National Park. Even a stroll along Inch Beach.

Olivia,

Hello. I have been to Ireland five times, though my ancestry is not Irish. I love the country so much that I made inquiries about emigrating there.

I guess Eurolines is an airline. One alternative is to take a ferry between UK and Ireland. I did that once. Irish Ferries (http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/to-ireland-from-britain/) can take you from Holyhead or Pembroke to Dublin. There is also a Liverpool-Dublin ferry (http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/routes_dublin_-_liverpool_routes_-_liverpool_to_dublin.htm). There used to be a Swansea-Cork ferry, but that service has been terminated. I was fun for me to be on the seas between the two islands.

Your itinerary is good, but you have to return to Dublin to fly home. I would suggest flying back to the U.S. from the Shannon, Ireland, airport (http://www.shannonairport.ie/gns/Passengers/Home.aspx). It's on the West Coast of Ireland and thus you would not have to backtrack to Dublin. If you elect this option, you might have to take a flight from Shannon to Dublin and then to the U.S., but that's still better than spending a whole day getting back to Dublin via bus or car. I have flown to and from Shannon numerous times.

Car vs. bus: I have rented a car twice times and relied on the bus three times in Ireland. If you rent a car, be aware that Ireland is like the UK. People drive on the opposite side of the road. You have to remember that the driver is on the left, that left turns are easy and right turns hard, that there are roundabouts to conquer and that you should just drive slowly. The actor Matthew Broderick was once involved in a fatal accident in N. Ireland (http://nypost.com/2002/09/02/brodericks-guilt-actor-to-meet-with-irish-kin-of-fatal-87-car-wreck/). If you choose the bus, I have found the Irish bus service to be excellent. Buses in Ireland go to big and small towns and are efficient. Between the two, I prefer the bus.

Sites: In Dublin, I strongly recommend the Dublin Writers Museum (http://www.writersmuseum.com/), a tour of nearby Glendalough (http://www.glendalough.ie/), and a play at the Abbey or Gate theater. Galway: visit the Aran Islands (http://www.aranislands.ie/) and go bicycling, visit the Claddagh, try to find authentic Irish dancing and music. Dingle: go hiking and bicycling! In 2010, I hiked a 100-mile-long trail called the Dingle Way (http://www.dingleway.com/). It was the best getaway I have ever had.

Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to ask questions.

thank you, Harold, Claudia, Cbarner1.

this wall is really great. 1) as far as renting a car, no more; we will just take the bus as the English way of driving is not comfortable for us; 2) suggestion of Shannon is ok, checked flights, there is one flight to the US; 3) B&B cillbhreac looks really nice, will definitely stay there; 4) all places to visit noted.

while waiting for your replies, checked ferry from cherbourg to rosslare. I didn't tell you that we will be coming from switzerland, paris, bayeux. so there is an alternative route to ireland, if we decide to bypass the UK. from rosslare which is in the south, we can go around through kilkenny, dingle penin, galway and then dublin. there will be no back tracking then. we can probably stay 2 wks in ireland.

now, my question is: is the ferry crossing from cherbourg easy enough or these rough seas? are there buses in rosslare that could take us to kilkenny, then to dingle? am starting to love ireland from all the research.

thanks. olivia

Olivia, a few suggestions-I'd encourage you to consider renting a car for at least a few days while there if you have any inclination to do so. Is driving in Ireland easy?, well, no, but it's certainly doable. If you prepare yourself by studying routes and maps a bit, along with some Google street views of some key transitions-that's a euphemism for a roundabout ;-))-you'll do just fine. My wife is convinced that the harder task is sitting in the passenger seat, whizzing by hedges and rock walls two feet away whilst trying to navigate. The value of driving is huge, in my opinion. If you take a bus you may miss this as you come over the Conor Pass, but you sure won't be able to stop and take it all in. We spent a few days in Dublin then picked up our car the morning we left to drive west to Doolin, then south to the Dingle Peninsula (take the Slea Head Drive!). As Claudia points out, the freeways are good, and you can make good time on them, you will slow down considerably on the backroads, but that's okay, right?
With two weeks, I hope you'll get to Belfast and some other parts of Northern Ireland. Don't miss Kilmainham Gaol when in Dublin-the National Museums are excellent, too. Have a walk through Saint Stephens Green afterwards.
As for the ferry and the weather, that is a chance you take with the ferry-it is ocean dependent. If you really want to have a ferry ride, have at it, I would prefer to fly, myself.
Have a great trip!

Olivia,

Hi again.

You had asked if the Cherbourg-to-Rosslare ferry is easy on what could be rough seas, but it's impossible to predict. I can point to my own experience. I once took an overnight ferry from Cork, Ireland, to Swansea, Wales, and the weather was fine. Your ferry won't go if the seas are rough.

The Irish bus schedule is here: http://www.buseireann.ie/. The site includes a journey planner. It appears that you can go from Rosslare Harbour to Kilkenny.

Oh, man, you're also going to Paris! Suffice it to say, Paris is spectacular! You'll be in my two favorite places on your trip. Paris is my favorite European city, and Ireland is my favorite European country. I have also been to Bayeux, where you should not miss the unbelievable Bayeux Tapestry. See the Bayeux Cathedral at night. If you have time, see the D-Day beaches, but you'll have to rent a car, because they stretch over 80 miles. Fortunately, the French drive on the same side of the road as Americans do, so there is not the same issue as there is in Ireland.

Have the time of your lives on what will undoubtedly be a superb trip! Cheers, Craig.