My husband is celebrating a milestone birthday on March 17, 2015. I want to take him to Ireland but I have never planned an overseas trip before. I would like to stay in a centralized area (one hotel) and take public transportation one whatever to do a pub crawl, see a castle, and whatever else we can fit in in a week's time.
I have no idea where to start and would appreciate any advice/help.
Thanks in advance.
Debbie
Start with this Ireland summary online, but then fill in the details with Rick's Ireland guidebook. You'll find pubs all over, and castles are also widespread; there's even one in Dublin. You could spend a week in Dublin with a couple of side trips to get out of the big city, such as to the prehistoric sites at Newgrange and Knowth. But most of us would want to include a B&B stay in at least one smaller town, to get a better feel for the rural charm of Ireland. (Dingle is idyllic, but the transportation is not ideal, an 8-9-hour bus ride from Dublin.) Dublin is not the only airport; you could certainly fly to Shannon, Cork, etc, and focus on destinations closer to those. If you're able to make the trip more than a week, I'm sure you would not regret it.
Following Deb's thread as I'll also be doing Ireland (well, Dublin, mostly) in late March/early April 2015 -- still waiting to catch that perfect airfare before finalizing dates :-/
Right now it looks as if we'll only have three days there (April 3-6, probably), so any suggestions for things to do/places to go would be appreciated!
Eileen
Belfast, Northern Ireland is an easy day trip from Dublin, and is very worthwhile: Black Taxi tour, the beautiful City Hall, a really lovely city. We arranged for our Black Taxi driver to pick us up at the station in Belfast. We took the train-left Dublin O'Connell station 9 a.m. and were back in time for dinner, had a great day.
Thanks to all that replied. Looks like for our first trip, I'm going to stick with Dublin. If anyone has a "this was an awesome hotel" suggestion, I would be interested in hearing about it. And of course, I am always open to any other ideas/suggestions people might have.
One other thing, since we would be traveling in the "off season," will we miss out on a lot of stuff (e.g., castle tour, pub crawl, etc.)?
Have a great Thanksgiving all!
Deb
You can do your own pub crawl in Temple Bar in Dublin. One of my favorite things to do was the Literary Pub Crawl. Book a few days in advance as they sell out.
Deb, we did not use a hotel in Dublin, we stayed in a B & B, and were so glad we did. This place was perfect in all ways:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186605-d263269-Reviews-Tinode_House-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
Just a few things to recommend in addition to what the others have said.
1) The highlight of our 2 days in Dublin was the Irish House Party. It was the most fun. It's dinner, music and dancing in a family style setting. http://theirishhouseparty.com/
2) I too would highly recommend staying at a B&B and taking the bus or train into the city centre.
3) If you are there for the St. Patrick's Day parade, it typically starts at noon. About 11, go all the way to the starting area. It's less crowded and you get great street views.
4) Also on St. Patrick's day, everything is closed except the Pubs. Temple Bar is your only sightseeing that day.
5) There are tours that will take you to Newgrange - a definite must. Newgrange is to the north.
6) Powerscourt Estate is to the south of Dublin amount 30 minutes. It is in the Wicklow mountains. Gorgeous estate and golf course.
7) I would recommend one night in Cashel so you can see the Rock of Cashel and Hore Abbey. It is about a 2 - 3 hour drive from Dublin.
8) Not to downplay Dublin but after 3 days, you will be done. The real Ireland is in the small towns and villages - Cashel, Dingle, Donegal, Clifden, Westport, Doolin, Ennis - just to name a few of our favorites.
Finally, you won't need a car in Dublin. But driving the countryside and stopping in all the small towns and villages is very easily done. And this is from somebody that never had driven on the "wrong" side of the road. I would definitely get RS' guide book. It is definitely a valuable resource. Just remember - it will take multiple trips to really enjoy all that Ireland has to offer. AND if you do drive, you will probably learn as I did that you will sometime everyday "get lost".
Have a blast!!!
Well, Debbie, your husband is going to have a glorious birthday on St. Patrick's Day! Make sure you get some information on the celebration of that holy day in Dublin. You will want to be prepared.
My darling wife and I stayed last May at Ariel House, which is a highly rated B&B in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin, right on the edge of the embassy district. The breakfasts there are legendary, and it makes a good choice for a single hotel stay in Ireland.
You will be one block from a train station that goes into the city center or to the south along the east coast of Ireland. This opens up a few opportunities for day trips out of town to places like Wexford, etc.
The Ariel House is also withing walking distance of downtown Dublin, perhaps a 30 minute walk to Trinity College.
For castles, you can take a trip down to Cashel on a bus. That's a fine place. Plan to include a visit to the Palace Bar on Fleet Street. It's a quiet, classic pub. There are more raucous places in Temple Bar. You can also pre-purchase a on/off bus tour, which is a fine way to get to know Dublin and visit some of the places that are a bit out of the way like Jamesons and Guiness and the sad old prison.
You can also take a bus up to Trim and the HIll of Tara. Trim has a divine castle and is a fun little town, and the Hill of Tara was the headquarters of the Irish Kings.
Best wishes for a delightful location. Dublin is full of many surprises and treats. You'll not be bored.
We're going to Ireland for my March milestone birthday also. We'll be staying in Co. Clare. Please stay in the B&B's. Take the train to Galway & amaze the Irish that you've traveled so far. If you decide to only stay in Dublin, try the Literary Pub Crawl, use the Hop-on Hop -off bus. Eat your main meal at lunchtime and pub grub for the evening. Seeing a performance at any of the theatres is a grand experience.
Happy Birthday to your husband.
Talk to strangers and have lots of craic!
Dawn
Many thanks to all who replied and most recently Dawn. I found out about the Hop-on Hop-off bus which sounds like a great way to take advantage of the short time we have. Although we're not staying at a B&B this time, I'm sure after our first trip we'll be back for more and feel more comfortable.
I know the weather isn't going to be spectacular, but that's never stopped us before. Is there an easy way to find out what kind of temperatures and such we can expect a few days before we actually travel?
Thanks again and happy early birthday to Dawn.
Debbie
