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looking for feedback for next month (let's try this again)

Posted by (issaquah, wa) on

i will not edit the title for a missing word again.. i will not edit the title for a missing word again.. (previous post disappeared when i did that but says it's still here :D )

ahem, so my son and i are heading over next month for a little over 2 weeks as a reward for him finishing up high school early (woo!) and i'm trying to figure out our home bases. i've been over a few times, but this will be his first. he's mostly interested in seeing the country, ruins, architecture but not a lot of specifics outside of a couple things he's seen pics of (giant's causeway, Brú na Bóinne, Dún Aonghasa, trinity library) .. all in all way more mature than i ever was at that age (whereas my priorities for my first trip involved the guinness storehouse.. )

what i'm looking at so far - right now i only have dublin booked on the bookends so we're flexible .. i kinda took rick's suggested 16 day list and reversed it just because for whatever reason every other time i've been there i've gone clockwise - not scheduling things down to the wire because we tend to work better with a more fluid exploration plan (some of the better things my wife and i found before were just random using the heritage map that happened to be near we were driving)

  • day 1: arrive in dublin at noon, try and stay conscious at least until 7pm
  • day 2: dublin 
  • day 3: dublin
  • day 4: leave dublin for night in belfast - hit bru na boinne and possibly a few other things on the way 
  • day 5: hit titanic museum before leaving for portrush for night
  • day 6: carrick-a-rede, giants causeway, a castle or two, spend night in portrush
  • day 7: spend day driving down to galway, hit anything interesting along the way, night in galway
  • day 8: clifden/kylemore abbey/cong loop, night in galway
  • day 9: inis mor -- unsure if we may spend the night or try to shove it into the day (wife and i stayed last time we went and the silence after the day trippers leave was wonderful)
  • day 10: either leave inis mor or galway if there, head toward dingle, not sure ¯_(ツ)_/¯
  • day 11: sleep dingle/do the things around there for a few days
  • day 12: sleep dingle
  • day 13: sleep dingle
  • day 14: sleep kinsale/do the things around there for a few days?
  • day 15: sleep kinsale
  • day 16: sleep kilkenny?
  • day 17: thinking of endingwith glendalough, maybe powerscourt before heading to airport hotel to spend night before flying out in the morning

thoughts/warnings/questions of my sanity?

Posted by
741 posts

We found Portrush to be nearly a ghost town. Our B&B was in a string of boarded-up homes/B&Bs - apparently, the UK restoration grants have encouraged dereliction over repair because the grant is larger.
Indian restaurant was the only place open. I'd pick another spot. Between Portrush and Galway you're missing Donegal, Westport, with some gorgeous coasts and cliffs.

Galway to Dingle might deserve an extra night in Doolin or Ennis to shorten the drive and do some hikes in the Burren etc.

Posted by
417 posts

We stayed in Bushmills in 2018 and loved it for accessing Giants Causeway, even a day trip to Derry. The Dun Luce castle ruin was fantastic.
If you're going next month, you need to nail down your accommodation and make your reservations for Trinity, Newgrange, probably Titanic, as well. If you're down around Kinsale, you might to follow up Titanic with a trip to Cobh to see the related sites there. Similarly, EPIC in Dublin and the Cobh Heritage Center make a good pair of visits. All likely require reservations in July.

Posted by
33 posts

Hi Robr,

We live in Howth (outside of Dub) and overall your itinerary looks pretty good! I like the fact that you aren't doing 1 nighters (for the most part). A couple of comments:

  • Agree with the comments about Portrush...you can book either there or Ballycastle for all things in the North and be in easy drives from the big ticket items. We took the ferry to Rathlin Island where you can do hikes and/or see the puffins at the top part of the island. Dunluce castle is interesting and of course the rope bridge/Giants causeway. I would almost consider doing a couple of these, spend the night and then finish up and head to Derry (not far) for the 2nd night).
  • You will be going right past Clifden, Kylemore and Connemara Natl Park from the North to Galway. Highley recommend staying there, vs getting to Galway and doubling back. Diamond Hill in Connemara is well worth the hike with amazing views.
  • Westport is definitely a fun town, and our fav thing to do is rent ebikes and do the 46k greenway from Achill island back to Westport. Amazing views, sheep on the paved path, and just a great way to spend the day. The bike rental place is in Westport and they shuttle you to Achill and you ride back. Even in the rain it is worth doing!
  • From there I don't have much commentary..,there are so many options, it is hard to choose!

Feel free to PM me with any questions,

JB

Posted by
2 posts

thanks for the input everyone - due to the relatively last minute-ness of this i ended up having to flip stuff around but everything is booked so i have that stress out of the way :D

final route(nights):

  • dublin (3)
  • kilkenny (1)
  • kinsale (2)
  • portmagee (1) (in theory heading out to skellig michael the next morning)
  • killarney (2) (yes, i know, commercial, but it was the area we could find lodging)
  • galway (2) (will include some connemara exploration)
  • inis mor (1)
  • bundoran (1) (to break up drive since will be dependent on when we get back from inis mor)
  • portrush (2)
  • trim (1)
  • dub airport (1)

ended up cutting out belfast, since the titanic museum was the main draw and my son decided he'd rather see more castles/ruins .. not entirely thrilled with the number of single nights we ended up with, but because of availability and where he wanted to see, we'll make it work! either way it'll be nice to get back over there after 15 years :)

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