Together with my wife we are thinking of going to Ireland early October next year. I need some help as we do not like driving abroad, I even hate driving while in my country. I'm thinking of making 3 bases, 1 of them should be Dublin, and do easy day trips from there either via bus or train or may be some tour companies. May be the other bases will be Cork and Galway? Any idea or help please? We love museums, medieval castles, scenery, food and culture. Help is appreciated.
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
It would be nice if you would delete your duplicate posts. Ireland is tough to do without a car. Some places are totally inaccessible and others are just seriously inconvenient. Dingle can be reached without a car but it would require a train ride and two busses. Once there, you'd be very limited in what you can see. However, you can have a great trip without a car but you'll just have to pick and choose more carefully based on your available time. Dublin is, of course, an excellent base. It's worth 3 days alone. Excellent day trips can be done to the Boyne Valley which includes Newgrange/Knowth (not to be missed!). Day trips can also be done to Glendalough. Dublin for 5 days or more. It is easy to get to Galway by bus or train from Dublin. Trips to the Aran Islands, Cliffs of Mohr and Connemarra are available. That can consume 5 days or more. Other options would be to go to Killkenny, Cork, Belfast or whatever else strikes your fancy. I'm not sure what day trips are available from there. What you will find is that all trains seem to radiate out of Dublin so I think that to go to Cork from Galway requires a trip back to Dublin. Busses are available but you'll have to get others to comment on these.
Posted by
OP
Malta, Malta
42 posts
Thanks for the reply and sorry for the posts..didn't know about the duplicates.
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1265 posts
Reuben - I would recommend Dublin, Belfast & Galway for 3 possible bases. Here is a link to Bus Eirann, it should be helpful in planning your travel.
Posted by
OP
Malta, Malta
42 posts
Joel, have you done them Dublin, Belfast & Galway?
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1265 posts
Reuben - Actually we did Maynooth, Belfast, Galway, Dingle and Dublin. We were picking up our daughter, who had been studying at NUI Maynooth. In Belfast we stayed at Camera Guesthouse. We had them book us a Black Cab tour and a tour to the Giant's Causeway. In Galway we stayed at the Amber Hill B&B and used Galway Tour company for tours of the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Also did a tour of Connemara & Cong Tour. I would highly recommend Galway Tour Company. In Dublin we stayed at the Waterloo Lodge. It met our needs quite well. There was a bus stop right out the front door that took us into downtown Dublin. All the places we stayed met our family's needs quite well.
Posted by
OP
Malta, Malta
42 posts
What do you think of Killarney instead of Galway, as I found some Viator tours from Killarney that looks nice...What I was thinking is this..arrive in Killarney and spend 5 nights, doing 1 day to Cork, 1 day around Killarney and 2 day trips, then off to Dublin for 6 nights, 3 days around Dublin and 2 days side trips, then off to 5 nights in Belfast.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32206 posts
Joel, Given your time frame of two weeks, you could also consider the RS 14-day Ireland tour. You'll get an incredible tour of the Island, learn lots about the history and you won't have to do ANY driving at all. (*BTW, Malta is on my list of places to visit. It looks incredible). Happy travels!
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1265 posts
Reuben - Ken makes a valid point that I had forgotten all about. You may want to look into the Rick Steves Ireland tour. Good catch Ken.
Posted by
Mission Viejo, Calif., USA
1010 posts
My husband and I did a two week Ireland tour with TAUCK tours, in June of this year. It was beyond fabulous.