Hello Ireland experts,
We are 4 adults who will be traveling to Ireland for 7 nights in mid-February, flying into and out of Shannon.
Considering the weather that time of year, what do you suggest going to see? We’d like to keep the pace leisurely. If possible, we would love to stay in charming cities or quaint villages that are centrally located where we could use as a home base to take day trips from. How many nights do you suggest staying in each, and what is the best way to reserve B&B’s?
Would renting a car be our best mode of transportation even though we are not experienced in driving on the opposite side of the road?
Thank you for taking the time to give your advice,
Anne from New York
Posted by
Land of La
8667 posts
Please ask Santa for a Rick Steve’s Ireland guidebook. Chock full of insight that would assist your research and help you create an itinerary.
Ireland is best seen by car. Road’s can be small so rent the smallest vehicle you can taking out every bit of insurance.
Pack as light as you can bringing clothes that can be layered as it will be cold to the point of freezing in February.
Many BNB’s will be closed in February but you can look at websites like booking.com, AirBnB, as well as contacting places listed in the RS guidebook to check availability.
Clifden, Westport, Doolin, Sligo, Dingle, Cobh and Kinsale meet your criteria.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3226 posts
What Claudia said. Or you could search this forum, this question has been asked dozens of times. Top box on left of page.
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
Plan for rainy and short days. Consider it a pleasant surprise if you see sunshine. I'm thinking cliffs, ferries, and/or outdoor hikes may be hard to count on. Traditional music sessions and indoor activities may be your best bet.
You should be able to find traditional music almost any night at local pubs. Just ask around, at the TI or at your lodging for help finding one.
Bunratty castle and folk park might be a good visit, some people think it's too touristy but I enjoyed it. The castle tour is indoors. If it's not too bad out, you can wander around the traditional homes that have been moved there from around the country. With an umbrella, it would work even if it's wet. They're open 9-5:30 daily right now, but it may be shorter hours in Feb. They might have a medieval dinner while you are there, I've never been but it might be a fun evening.
Posted by
TN, USA
2114 posts
Annie,
Brad gives good advice to visit the Bunratty Folk Park. As my cousin in Ireland told us when she recommended it, "it is perhaps the best portrayal of what life was really like when your grandmother was a little girl." While it is a tourist attraction, it was also genuine at the same time. We loved meeting the Irish Wolfhound there, and the little houses, shops, etc. give you a chance to dash inside for a warm up, too. Some little shops and restaurants are also available outside the gates....all decent.
We visited Ireland in late August a few years ago, and it was very windy and chilly most of the time, so February will likely be even more so, and as Brad cautioned, with shorter daylight in the days.
If you would like a little splurge, book two nights at Ashford Castle in Cong, about an hour's drive north. Ashford is the original home of the Guinness family (as in the beer), and it is truly grand.....a real castle and now one of the top hotels in the entire world. It has changed ownership since we were there, and prices have gone up. BUT, I just checked their website and they have some incredible pricing for advance winter bookings, as in E306 with breakfast included.........grab that...seriously!! To stay there is a life-time special experience.
Ashford also offers a Hawk Walk thru the School of Falconry on the grounds (you can Google Ashford School of Falconry to see various YouTube vidoes people have posted), and it is truly a lifetime experience. Each person receives a hawk, after an orientation,and learns to launch and land the hawk....safe and fun. But, check www.tripadvisor.com and also the Ashford Castle website to see photos of this lovely place.
Galway is north of the Shannon Airport, and Cong is just north of there. A drive thru the Connemera region on the way to Cong is a truly lovely experience, and you can stop in at Kylemore Abbey. The road in the Connemera region is listed in National Georgraphic's 500 Journeys of a Lifetime Book.
Cliffs of Moher are good to see, but bundle up and be prepared for lots of wind. Its visitor center is indoors, so a quick warm-up is available.
Renting a car gives you the most flexibility, but you can also hire a private driver for all of some segments. We hired a driver, and then friends of ours hired him on our recommendation, and we were all super pleased. But, he typically heads to the US during the winter. If you are interested, though, you could email him at tonyscabdoolin@eircom.net to see if, by chance, he may be remaining in Ireland this year. The winter is definitely the slow season in Ireland. But, in addition to allowing both of us to enjoy the scenery along the way, Tony also surprised and delighted us with stops at places we would not have known about, along with telling us about what it is like to live in Ireland. At that time residents were facing the potential of beginning to pay for water service, and we were like "what? your water is free? no way." His reply: "it falls from the sky, why should we pay." It was like having a local friend take us around. He used to manage McGann's Pub in Doolin, which is a great place to stop, too. And, he is an expert on local music, if you like that.
Another pretty drive is south thru Dingle, taking in Connor's Pass, and that is where it is extra nice to have a local driving.
The Rock of Cashel is a nice place to see, but it would likely be very, very windy up on that hill....but you could see how the weather is on any one day and then decide.