My family and I are planning a trip for Christmas and New Years of this year. We are flying into Shannon and renting a car. We will arrive on Christmas Eve. so I thought we should stay one night in the Shannon area. We have one week booked at a timeshare in Killarney. I am hoping to do some day trips from there. We were then thinking about traveling to Galway area for a few nights. Does anyone have any suggestions? From there we are going to stay a few nights in Emeyville where we have some family members living. We are planning on flying out of Dublin after a few nights stay. Are we missing anything special or should we go to Kilkenny area instead of Galway area? Thanks for any advice.
Posted by
Chicago, Illinois, USA
586 posts
We just did a similar trip! Copy and paste for my blog report on our week in Ireland (flew into Shannon, stayed in the west for 3 nights, and then train to Dublin for 4 nights with a day trip to the fishing village of Howth): http://moltogentileitalia.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-week-in-emerald-isle.html.
Be happy to send you our full itinerary if you like.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Besides your timeshare week, how many days do you actually have on the ground (not counting the day you arrive and the day you leave)? "A few nights" in Galway, Emeyville, and Dublin could add up to an additional week or two, and it would be helpful to know how much time you will have. To answer your question, though, the Galway area would give you more flexibility for things to see in the winter than the Kilkenny area would, with th exception of the Rock of Cashel.
Posted by
Chicago, Illinois, USA
586 posts
Have posted our winter Ireland itinerary, with much detail (minus personal id info, of course). Hope it helps! Copy and paste: http://moltogentileitalia.blogspot.com/2010/01/itinerary-new-years-in-ireland-2010.html
Posted by
OP
San Clemente, Ca.
408 posts
Thanks for all the great replies. I will check out Gio's blog next. I am excited to hear about your trip. A lot of folk's think we are crazy going in the winter time. I think it will be fun to see how the Irish celebrate the holidays. We will have 15 nights. My biggest question is which area to go to after Killarney? I'm not sure how much we can see on day trips depending on the weather conditions? The days are shorter also in the winter. Rick's Ireland book does not have the map that shows hour long it takes to travel from each area like the Germany, Switzerland and Austria book.