Mom and teen daughter traveling advice

I know folks on this forum say it all the time, but here goes. I think this is still more driving than I would want to do. You could easily spend two weeks on the west coast and not see everything. I assume you are going to stay at Ashford Castle? Good choice! If this was my trip, I would skip the southwest this time and just do the west coast..........Mayo, Galway and Clare. Less driving will be less stress!

I agree to reduce your driving/travel time. I know the roads have improved but you are still driving on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car not to mention shifting with your left hand. There is no "practice" are at the airport before you head out. Driving times will be much greater than we are used to here in the United States. I am afraid with this schedule you would be stressed and exhausted...

So this was the itinerary for the trip my 16 year old daughter and I did this past Sept/Oct.

Flew into Dublin: 2 nights
Day 3: Rented a car at the airport, drove to Rock of Cashel then on to Kinsale, 1 night.
Day 4: Charles Fort and Blarney Castle (yeah I know, daughter wanted to go, and it wasn't crowded and the grounds are beautiful, spent 3 hours). Drove to Waterville, 1 night.
Day 5: Plans for Skellig Michael cancelled due to gales, drove Skellig Ring and Valentia Island, saw Kerry Cliffs before heading to Dingle, 2 nights.
Day 6: Drove around the pennisula and hit up the Dingle Food Festival in the afternoon.
Day 7: Continued on the Wild Atlantic Way, took the Shannon Ferry, stopped at St. Brigid's Well and Cliffs of Moher. Ended in Galway, 2 nights.
Day 8: Galway City. Did a walking tour for 10 euro each and tea at Cupaen Tea.
Day 9: Up to Ashford Castle and did the Hawk Walk! So totally worth it, highlight of the whole trip. Then unfortunately a mad dash back to Dublin airport to return the rental. 1 last night in Dublin.
Day 10: Fly home

This was an aggressive itinerary and not what I would have done if traveling with my husband. But despite the whirlwind nature, we had a great time. I initially looked at flying open jaw into Dublin and out of Shannon, but that just didn't work for flying in & out of Newark. And I decided that I would much rather drive the width of Ireland than have to deal with JFK.

Kelly, it doesn't look like she is staying in Dublin the day she arrives. She is renting the car right away and off she goes. Jet-lagged and not familiar with driving on opposite side and shifting with left hand etc. Can you say stress? And I agree, some people like whirlwind. Slow travel is not always possible!

Consider staying in Dublin the first night and then renting a car. After a long flight you'll probably be sleepy and somewhat jet lagged. The combination of those conditions with not being familiar with the local road system and driving on the "wrong" side of the road is, in my opinion, a bad idea. Some people are never phased by those things and some are driving somewhat impaired and just don't realize it. And some are complete zombies who shouldn't do anything more complicated than tying their shoes. I hope you have a really good trip and really don't mean to discourage you. Just something to think about.

Thanks for the advice was considering staying in Dublin the first night. Do we have to track back to the airport though to rent the car? That was my main concern
and I think I am going to cut Cork/Cashel out of the equation.

I googled car rental locations in Dublin and apparently there are a number of places in town so you wont have to return to the airport. Perhaps you can get a hotel fairly close to a rental place so you can just walk there the next day. It'll just take some comparing of hotel / rental place locations. Googlemaps.com and bing.com are both very good tools for that.

I had to run out. I most definitely advise staying in the Dublin area the first night. In fact, in the future I plan on booking a room the night prior to my arrival. We arrived by 5 am and were at our B&B by 6 am to drop off our luggage. I know the thinking is to stay awake to combat jet lag. But neither of us were able to sleep on the flight, and while I was able to stay awake, my daughter zonked out on the HOHO bus. I would have liked to been able to crash for a couple hours then freshen up before heading out.

The drive from the airport to Cashel is mostly highway, but it was about 2 1/2-3 hours as I remember. So to get off the plane tired, and grabbing a rental, and figuring all that out on the fly would be very harrowing for me, more so since your traveling companion is not another adult to kind of help out with that. You're the adult and responsible for all, eek!

The Airlink bus to and from the airport was comfortable and convenient, and you save money by pre-purchasing tickets online.

Great. Thank you so much. Inwill look into those options. My only other thought was take the train and head towards the south and rent a car down there. I have some more research to do!

Here is my input on the rental car situation. If you hve not driven in Ireland before you may be better off beginning your trip from the airport where you immediately go to "interstate" type roads. The roads are wider, your interactions with road signs, directions, and other various traffic sign directions will be minimized. I would have struggled if my first driving in Ireland had been from midtown Dublin! And, you will most likely be leaving after your trip from the Dublin airport (if you change yours plans and stay in Dublin on your arrival) so you might be better served by picking up and dropping off the car at the airport, IMO. Also, for my part, I used the Hoho bus and also used a taxi from the airport to Dublin. For $35 bucks the taxi ride ws worth it, you will save using the bus but you can eliminate some of the timing hassles by using the taxi. I will admit the bus does offer you some time to interact with others along the route. Be sure to visit the Cliffs of Kerry, they are not as widely reported but are an awesome sight to see! You might give Google earth street view a look for the routes you intend to travel, including leaving the airport or where ever you decide to pick up your car. I am envious! I want to add that we did not stay in Dublin our first day, we got our car at the airport and headed straight away to the west coast (Cong) and I didn't really struggle with the jet lag, our trip originated in Indiana in the Midwest. This was my second time driving on the left in Scotland and Ireland.

I highly,highly recommend not driving in Dublin. It may seem like a pain to go back to the airport to pick up the car but I think most of us would advise to do so. It is actually quite easy to get to the airport with the Airlink bus system. That is what we did last summer.

If the castle you are staying at is Ashford or even it if is in the vicinity, I cannot recommend the hawk walk enough. We did it and it was the highlight of our trip. The kids still talk about it as the coollest thing we have ever done

I totally agree with the advice from previous posters to spend your first night in Dublin and to return to the airport to pick up your car. We spent our first couple of nights in Dublin. To save time, when we were ready to leave we chose to pick up our rental car in the city rather than head back to the airport. My husband is an excellent driver but that short trip from the car rental lot was the most terrifying experience I've ever had in a car--and I was just the passenger! Learning to drive on the left can be a bit of a challenge (I don't mean to discourage you--it is very doable). However, doing it on big city streets, avoiding oncoming traffic AND parked cars, makes the learning curve so-o-o much steeper. I think you and your daughter will feel much more secure on the road if you return to the airport to pick up the rental car.

Thank you! Yes I am used to driving in NYC but I am sure Dublin would not be for me! I am sticking with picking it up and dropping it off at the airport not going into the city with it!

Phert -

You don't say what you like to do, but if you fill me in I can give you suggestions for the RoK and Cahersiveen area. I live 10 miles from there!

Castles? Hillwalking? Snorkeling? Art? Skellig Monks? Cycling (you can rent bikes at Casey Cycle in Cahersiveen)? Food & drink experiences.....?

Let me know!

Susan
Expat in Waterville