My Ireland Questions

I haven't been to Ireland, but I can help with two things.

Viator does not actually run tours themselves; they resell other tours. Look at the companies who actually run the tours, so you cut out the middleman and more of your money goes to the actual tour operator.

Who is your current phone carrier in the US? When you say "texts" do you mean on the regular text network (same as the voice network) or do you mean via an app such as Snapchat, Whatsapp, etc? And will you need or want to be able to send and receive texts all the time, or only when on Wi-Fi? The answers to these questions will determine if you need to do anything special, and how much it will cost to use text in Ireland.

Den,
Are you staying in Dublin for the whole time you are in Ireland? Are you there just one week? It's quite a ways from Dublin to the Cliffs, and and does not seem to be a good use of your time if you only have a week. What are your other plans for the time you are there? If you give us an idea of your plans and what you're interested in, we can probably help you make better use of your limited time.

The weather in Ireland is as unpredictable as unpredictable gets so 2-3 days out will give you no insight whatsoever :(

As we were told when we were there last summer : "Don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes...." In 30 minutes, we went from having t-shirts and being warm with gorgeous blue skies and sun to the wind picking up and adding a sweater to all out grey skies, thunderous rains and almost hail.. this was in July!

Book the tours for the days that work and hope for the best!

Harold,
I use Consumer Cellular. For texts I mean,, I use a MotoG built in app for messages, called... Messaging! Type in the phone number and send the msg. Receive one back and read it. Pretty basic.

I have noticed several tours all doing what appears to be very similar things. Perhaps the hotel front desk can assist?

Celeste,
Yes, we stay in Dublin the entire time, just being Day Trippers a couple times. A long ride seeing the countryside seems ok to me.

I prefer not dragging bags etc all over, Just headquarter and take Day Tours. We have a couple walking tours we have put together to see city sights. Normal touristy things. What I normally do is lookup walking tours and cherry pick sights that interest me then set up a walk path using a city map. A couple of these usually suffice. I also am interested in their Historic Walking Tour. The Brazen Head dinner and show looks interesting as well.

Cordially, Den

As awesome as the Cliffs of Moher are, I would not spend an entire day from Dublin just going there and back. And I think you're doing your lasting impression of Ireland a big disservice by not getting out of Dublin. I totally get not wanting to move around too much, but staying in Dublin is kind of like visiting any large US city and expecting it to be representative of the entire region in which it sits. Have you read Rick Steves' Ireland guidebook?
If you're determined to stick to taking organized tours, then any of them will probably be fine, but the point about the weather is valid. It changes from one minute to the next, every day. Just pick a day and go.

Google Hangouts is wifi based texting with no fees. Google Voice and Video calling wifi based no fees. We have used several different places in Europe.

Hi Den,

If you are interested in seeing the Hill of Tara, you could also visit Newgrange /Knowth and/or Trim Castle on that day. They are near each other, and worth the trip.

Another possibility might be Glendalough and/or Powerscourt in the Wicklow Mountains. I know you can get day tours to all these destinations, but I can't recommend any because we've always had our own car.

The Cliffs are quite a bit farther, as others have said, but if your heart is set on it, it seems doable to me. 6-7 hours driving round trip, though.

Dublin itself is a great city, and I think you could easily spend 3 days there. So maybe book 2 trips ahead of time, and if you feel like a third, try it if the weather is good. I understand your desire to be flexible.

I'm sorry I can't say if it's necessary to book in advance. I have heard that the literary and musical pub crawls don't need advance booking. Maybe others can correct me if that's wrong.

As others have said the Cliffs of Moher are a long way from Dublin, I would not attempt it. How many days are you going to be there? If you have seven or eight days why not head to Galway for half the time ( a couple hours by train), it would be easier to see the Cliffs from there, as well as a couple of other places. If you do the day trip to Newgrange from Dublin it will likely include some other stops such as the Hill of Tara (the one I was one did) so you can kill two birds with one stone. I'm not sure how busy the tours get in May so you may want to just go to the website for the tour company and see if they are booked up. If it looks like they may book up before you get there then I would reserve now. You don't want to get there and not be able to get onto a tour. Don't use a middleman. The weather is very unpredictable so just take rain gear and go for it.

I purchased a sim card in Ireland, it cost 20£ for unlimited texts and calls (I believe) in Ireland and unlimited data for 28 days. It was through 3 mobile. It was well worth the price - I was able to use google maps and plan the next day on the go rather than wait until I was somewhere with wifi. Your phone will need to be unlocked though.

The trip out to the Cliffs of Moher would be a long day but if it interests you then I'd say go for it. I traveled around the country by bus and enjoyed the countryside quite a bit (its far more scenic then our interstates here in the midwest). I did a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher through Galway Tour Company and enjoyed it. They own/are affiliated with Dublin Tour Company which I believe offers a Cliffs of Moher tour from Dublin. Paddywagon Tours is another tour company which probably runs tours from Dublin (if you don't mind riding in a van or bus with a crazed leprechaun printed on the side).

I would recommend a tour of Kilmainham Gaol while you are in Dublin if it interests you. It's a historic jail which truthfully doesn't sound that interesting but in reality is fascinating as you learn about the jail's occupants and their role in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War. Tickets are limited (and timed) so it is strongly recommended you purchase them online ahead of time (I got lucky the day of because April is just the start of the busy tourist season).

There are lots of places in Ireland that, while not totally comfortable, are doable in the rain/fog. I did not think that Cliffs of Mohr was one of them. While I can say I've been there, I can't actually claim to have seen much of them. And that was at the end of June. Others may feel differently, but I would seriously take weather into your decision. On the other hand, conditions were about the same for Rock of Cashel and I thought it gave an authentic feel to what it must have been like to live there. That could be a day trip. Really enjoyed Bru Na Boinne, Kilmainheim Gaol,and Glasnevin Cemetary (where all the notables are buried). If you book Trinity Library/Book of Kelly's on your own, try to get it early.

We did one Pub Crawl/Music tour. It pays to sit close to the front as it can be hard to hear if you stand towards the back.

When we wanted to do the musical pub crawl 5 years ago we did not book it ahead of time and found it to be full on the night we had hoped to go. Luckily that was not our last night in Dublin so we were able to get a reservation for the next night. Unfortunately it happened to be on a free museum Friday night and pubs were all overcrowded--we only got to visit two rather than the usual three pubs on the crawl. It was still fun, but I think trying for a night early or midweek would be preferable.

One concern I have in taking the day long tour to Mohr is the bus seating. Some folks claim a seat a "mine" for the entire trip which can lead to bickering. I have seen this. So wonder what others have experienced? To me, it should be "first come" every time a bus is re-boarded.

I am aware the weather can be fickle. If the forecast says 40% or more rain then I'd delay for a day or so. I'd take a chance if it was 10 or 20%. Which is why I was asking about days in advance booking. Is one or two adequate?

How long a ride is it from Dublin to Mohr? I'm thinking 5+ hrs. One way. Getting back around 21:00. I console myself in thinking I will see much more on the ride than just highway and road signs. (I hope) Oh,,, is there an onboard toilet!!

If you're using the Messaging app, your texts are going over the same cellular network as voice calls. Unless Consumer Cellular can be made to roam in Europe (you'll have to check with them, but I doubt it), you'll need to do something else to use text in Ireland. If you can be limited to texting when you're on Wi-Fi, you can use an app like Snapchat or Whatsapp - as long as the person you're sending to has it too. Or, you can get an Irish phone (or just use an Irish SIM in your phone, if it is, or can be, unlocked). However, this gives you an Irish phone number, so you have to tell your friends/family how to send to your new phone number.

To learn more about the terms and ideas I threw around in the paragraph above, read the links in this page of Rick's: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/phones-tech

From my experience with day tours people maintained the same seats on the buses with a few exceptions. I never saw any altercations related to changed seats - if someone moved into a spot then the previous person moved to another available seat. Some people left their belongings on the bus either because they didn't want to carry whatever it was with them or maybe to save their seat. I prefer to maintain the same seat typically because I like to sit in the front so I can hear the driver better.

I'd encourage you to contact the tour companies about length of the drive, toilet availability, etc. I was on one bus with a toilet but a different bus without one. I imagine the bus will stop between Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher/Doolin at least once so people can use the toilet, stretch their legs. I found tour companies pretty responsive to my questions about the tour, stops, etc

When traveling on a National Geographic tour we were told "if your seat is not in the seat, it is not your seat"!!!!

Response to Wardmj7
I prefer to maintain the same seat typically because I like to sit in the front so I can hear the driver better.

You just hit the problem nail on the head! That is the problem! Someone gets on and gets a great seat then they want that seat for the rest of the tour. The person with the not so great seat is suppose to just suck it up. This then leads to "problems". I have witnessed this and thus reluctant to take but tours. To me, there should be NO ability to claim a seat. Items left on the bus at a stop are a way of saying, this is MY great seat, I get it for the entire tour. Go sit in the back.

I understand it's frustrating if you end up in a seat you don't like, its happened to me. I acceted it rather than try to take over another seat - Some tour companies allow you to purchase priority seating and others have assigned seating to avoid any confrontation.

I'll add - from my experience most people do not leave things to "save their seat" but rather because they don't want to carry everything off the bus for every stop. I don't need my coat when the weather suddenly shifted and went from 50 to 70 so yes I leave it in my seat whether I'm at the front of the bus or the back.

If this is an important issue to you then I encourage you to contact tour companies regarding priority seating or consider driving.

We did a bunch of music viewing while in Ireland and we did do the music pub crawl in Dublin. It was laid back and we enjoyed it. It started early which was a plus and we met at the Gogarty Pub. We had the same two performers at all three of the pubs and they were great and provided real traditional music in an otherwise often non traditional Temple Bar area. You go to separate rooms for the each pub and it is laid back and fun. You still are set up for the evening late pub music gigs if you want to stay out later and the guys provided directions to trad pubs that were going to be rolling later that night. I would give the music pub crawl a thumps up. We saw music in many venues during our two weeks in Ireland and all different types of pubs and still found the music pub crawl a fun night in our last night in Ireland.