England & Ireland (1 night in Paris?)

Here are some of my thoughts: 1. What are you trying to do on Day 9? I can only assume that you only want to drive through the four towns, because that is all you will have time for. The Rock of Cashel will take at least an hour if you see the site and the museum, more if you see the film that puts it all in perspective. In Blarney, there is the castle, the beautiful grounds, a dolmen, shopping across the street. In Cobh you have the Queenstown Story museum, the Titanic sites, and the cathedral. There just aren't enough hours in the day to drive from Kilkenny to Cashel, from Cashel to Blarney, from Blarney to Cobh, and then back past Cork to Kinsale, if you intend to visit any of the things that there are to see. 2. Day 13 - the drive from Dingle to Doolin will take almost five hours, with no stops. That leaves little time to see the Cliffs (and the Burren is beyond Doolin, so you will be backtracking if you intend to stay in Doolin). And there is absolutely no time to get to the Aran Islands that day. 3. You have a whole day set aside to drive from Galway area to Dublin. This is about a three hour drive, so do you intend stops along the way? In short, you have too much planned some days and not enough on other days. You need to spend some time with www.viamichelin.com to see just how far things are from each other (add about 25% to their time estimates). Think about what activities you want to do in each location. How long will they take? What about lunch stops, gas stops, photo stops?

hi, WOW! im tired from just reading that itinerary. i think i need a vacation now. happy trails.

A couple of thoughts: 1) I would leave Paris off this already busy itinerary. Paris is one of my all time favorite cities I think you're already doing so much in 2 countries adding a 3rd may be a bridge too far. I think it's too much time travelling for not enough time to really see or enjoy the city. 2) Are you planning on taking a rental car on the ferry between England and Ireland? This is not a great idea and is probably against rental company rules. In general I think you have way too much planned here and I expect you'll collapse at some point and may not remember much when you get back. Outside of the big cities of London and Dublin much of country you're looking at is rural and leads a slow lifestyle and to appreciate that you need to slow down to experience it. Places like Italy have big cities you can hit, mark off the list and move on if you want to but places like the Cotswolds and Dingle is not like that. I would recommend dropping Paris spending 3 or 4 days in London - your call either way you gain at least a day - and then maybe train to Salisbury and see the town. Then rent a car and do Stonehenge and couple day to drive in the Cotswolds. Drop off the car and fly or Ferry to Ireland. You can do Dublin either first or last don't have a car in the city, loop the country and fly home from Dublin. Either way allow some time to breath and really enjoy the sights. Just my US$.02, have a great trip,
=Tod

Others have already said it, but it bears repeating - your itinerary looks incredibly busy. Paris is a beautiful, wonderful city, but given everything else you are doing, you might be better off giving it a miss this trip. You can certainly find plenty to do in London for five days. Also, you'll have at least a little jet lag on Day 1. Alternatively, if you only had a limited number of sites you really wanted to see, you CAN do Paris in a very long day trip - though expect to be somewhat knackered by the end of it. Early Eurostar out, late Eurostar back. The train ride is roughly 2.5 hrs (a little more, a little less, depending on which train you take). Dont forget to be at the station at least 30 minutes prior to departure.

Day 6 - Stafford is in Staffordshire, nowhere near the Cotswolds. It has a very nice rose garden opposite the station and a very small greenhouse but most people never visit it.

Nancy: 1. On day 9, we will be driving from Killkenny and stay in the Cobh/Kinsale area. We will do the Rock of Cashel on the way and either do Blarney on day 10 on the way to Killarney or on day 9 if time allows. 2. I show that it takes 3 hours from Dingle to Doolin on mapquest. I always budget for more than what mapquest says. I was thinking that maybe we can do a half day in the Aran Islands on day 14 before we drive to Dublin. I don't know if it is better to see the Aran Islands or maybe the Newgrange near Dublin. Ray: HAHA! Thanks! Tod: 2. We will rent a car on the way out of London and turn it back in at the ferry port. Then, we will rent a car at the ferry port in Ireland and return it when we drive into Dublin and spend the rest of the time in Dublin without a car. Keith: 1. Stratford Upon Avon 2. This is on route to the ferry plus seeing the countryside. I like to do roadtrips. Tom: I was thinking about going to Paris and staying one night. Therefore it would be almost a full day and a half. I just have a few sights I want to see for sure. I just don't know when I will be able to get back to this area and don't want to miss it when I am so close. Nigel
1. Is Stratford Upon Avon near the Cotswolds?

1. Cobh and Kinsale are on opposite sides of Cork, by which you must pass. Being a larger city, there is traffic on the ring road, so you might find it necessary to choose whether to see Cobh or Kinsale, but not do both. 2. Www.viamichelin.com shows Dingle-Doolin as 3h 27m. But since driving is so much slower in Ireland, particularly that part of Ireland, it is wise to add about 25% to that time estimate. That makes the drive just over 4.5 hours with no stops at all. Add a herd or two of sheep on the road, some slow-moving farm equipment, or a pretty place you want to photograph, and you are easily over five hours. 3. I could be wrong, but I don't believe the ferry schedules run so as to allow a half-day trip to the Aran Islands. And you should also be aware that bad weather or rough water could cancel ferries, either leaving you unable to get there or unable to leave. 4. Newgrange might also be problematic in the summer (you don't say exactly when you are traveling). You must take a shuttle bus from the visitor center to the site. During heavy tourist season, tour companies who visit Newgrange often use up many of the available shuttle bus seats for the day. Once the seats are full, no one else gets in. For individual travelers, it is best to get there as early in the morning as possible in order to get a spot, but driving from the west that day will get you there mid-day. It is well worth a visit, but you might need to rearrange your timing to make it happen.

You could fly from Bristol to Cork or Shannon. I just checked - Aer Lingus flies these routes. This would free up more of your time for sightseeing..... .Maybe you should realign your days for Paris and London. One of our trips we flew to London, went directly to St. Pancras and took the Eurostar to Paris. If you did that you could have a jet-lagged lst evening in Paris, then two full days. Skip the Arc, freeing up more of your time for left bank attractions and strolling. Take the Eurostar back to London late on day 3 or early on day 4. Make day 6 another London day. ...For Stonehenge, you might also enjoy seeing nearby Amesbury or Wells or Salisbury Cathedrals.....In Ireland, Killkenny underwhelmed us, but we had already seen York which has far more of the "medieval city" ambiance.....In Ireland, stay in Kenmare, drive the northern side of the Ring of Beara, the south side of the Ring of Kerry ( the north side of the Ring of Kerry is also underwhelming).......I would spend more time in western Ireland, less in Dublin.

1. not especially. Chipping Campden is maybe 30 minutes depending on how you are travelling. Depend on where you are meaning by "Cotswolds", it is a large area. Bath, at the southern limits of the Cotswolds is about 2 hours away on the motorway, 3 to 4 times that long on side roads.