My wife and I are planning a 10-12 day trip to Ireland for next May. We will be bringing our daughter with us who will be 14 months old at that time. I am looking for itinerary suggestions and family friendly locations to visit. We like to hike and see the more hidden and unknown parts of countries. We have to leave at least the final two days for Dublin, we have a wedding to attend. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Rick's general article at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/kids-in-europe has a few links to more baby/toddler-specific travel advice, but then planning for Ireland is still a separate step. I would start planning your trip using Rick's Ireland guidebook, although it won't have much kid-related advice. My first thought was to avoid the Cliffs of Moher (no guardrail) and cliffs in general. I assume that you'll rent a car for your time outside Dublin; we usually do that even without a child along.
Posted by
12 posts
You can rent a self catering apartment in some areas. You usually have to rent it for 7 days, starting on Saturday. We did that in Cork near Kinsale. We got a beautiful new 2 bedroom place with a kitchen, washer and dryer. That way you can move out when you can, but have a comfortable place to stay. I would think that the Kenmare area would be a good place to look, or Galway as well as Cork.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
There is no reason to avoid the Cliffs of Moher! The visitor center is completely enclosed, and the walk up to O'Brien's Tower has a stone railing. In any event, you aren't supposed to be anywhere near the edge (last time I was there, there was rail fence some distance back to keep people away). And I would think that parents of a toddler would not let her run loose in a place like that, anyway.