Week two of our trip began with a short train ride from Galway to Ennis and walk from to the Old Ground Hotel. This is the major hotel in Ennis, and lots of tours use it as a one night stop because of its proximity to the major sights and big bus accessibility. There was an Odyssey tour group there when we arrived. The hotel grounds are beautiful. Our room was fairly hotel-uniform, but definitely larger, more up to date, and more comfortable than the typical RS tour hotel room.
I have mixed feelings about Ennis as a place to spend 2 nights. On the one hand, it is on the rail line and an easy drive to the Cliffs of Moher, Burren, etc. Plus the trad sessions at the pubs were excellent both nights, which was fun. But there’s not much to see in the town once you’ve strolled the central shopping area (which boasts an inordinate number of barbershops).
On our full day we did a private taxi tour with Trevor from Scenic Ireland Tours. There were multiple stops but the highlights included the Cliffs of Moher (we lucked out with blue skies, a slight breeze, and visibility for miles— the kind of day they take pictures for the postcards. Also for some strange reason it was not at all crowded.) We had a fantastic time hiking the length of trail still open. While closure of some of the trail is a huge disappointment for those wanting miles of hiking, there’s actually a decent amount of trail still available and we loved it.
I can’t say enough good things about our guide Trevor and if you’re looking for a private driver/guide I really recommend Scenic Ireland Tours. Trevor was knowledgeable, personable, entertaining, and his organization skills enabled us to make the most of our time. When he found out we liked seafood he called ahead and made a late lunch reservation at Monks in Ballivaughan which was wonderful.
We next traveled to Killarney, where we spent 4 nights. Rick dislikes Killarney so much he doesn’t include it in his book, but it’s a convenient base for the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula when traveling by train, and we found several very good restaurants there (I especially recommend Bricin for boxty and Porterhouse for beef). We stayed at the Killarney Royal Townhouse which was lovely—we had a spacious room with separate sitting area. Would definitely recommend the hotel.
We had originally booked a full day Rabbies small bus tour to the Dingle Peninsula but a few weeks prior to our trip Rabbies cancelled all Dingle tours for the month of May. So instead we took a private cab/driver tour with Killarney Executive Tours. This was the only really disappointing excursion of our entire trip. DO NOT book a private car/driver with them! The best part of our day was spending an hour hiking near Slea Heas in the pouring rain (we had all our rain gear and stayed dry throughout). It was breathtaking and due to the rain not at all crowded. The Dingle Loop drive was beautiful as well. But our guide knew none of the history and couldn’t answer any of our questions. She wasted time on an overpriced tourist trap stop to visit famine cottages (which oddly included feeding sheep en route). Afterwards she told us she’d never actually stopped there before and knew nothing about it. Our visit to the Blasket Center was rushed and by the time we got to Dingle town it was so late in the day that a lot was closed. I’m glad we at least got to experience the drive and Slea Head, but would want to return to actually experience more of the area.
We spent the entire next day in Killarney National Park, which was fantastic. We did the short hike to Torc Waterfall, then walked to Muckross House and farms, where we enjoyed the picnic lunch we’d packed. Muckross farms is an excellent open air museum and we enjoyed touring the house as well. Next we hiked to the ruins of Muckross Abbey. I highly recommend spending time in the national park!