Ireland for the first time

Congrats on the honeymoon and on stepping out internationally for the first time! I would highly recommend getting Rick Steve's Europe Through the Backdoor book which is packed with tips, tricks and answers to questions you don't have yet that will make your travel so much easier and more familiar. He also offers a bunch of free information like webcasts and podcasts so find some resources and get some good background information. Secondly I would recommend finding a guidebook (or books) that seem to best fit your interests, spending levels and travel style. Good guidebooks pay for themselves many times over with time and money saved and sights not missed. Finally onto Ireland. Ireland is a largely rural country and it is more difficult than a lot of Europe to see without a car. Dublin and the surrounding area is well covered by transport but the support gets spotty as you move into the country. The good news is that the country is small so travel distances are short. If you state your interests - ruins, castles, music, genealogy, natural wonders - I'm sure people will have a ton of helpful suggestions about where to go and what to see. I like ancient stuff and ruins so Newgrange and Knowth were great for me but your mileage may vary. I also really enjoyed Dingle - you'll find it to be a favorite here on the RS boards - for the small town life, history and great traditional music. There are many tours offered from the cities - especially Dublin and that way be a good option in place of driving. I personally think the charm of Ireland lies in the rural parts and the cities like Limerick don't offer as much appeal for me but cities are easier to reach using trains and buses (coaches). Hope that helps!
=Tod

Some people will disagree but I believe most posters here will tell you that Ireland is much easier to see with a car. Getting from Dublin to Cork on a train is pretty straight forward. It is possible to get to Limerick but I am pretty sure you will need to use a bus for part of the trip. You can certainly check the ROI train and bus schedules. Going by bus will frequently require transfers and possible long waits for the next bus. Some towns may only have a bus a couple of times per day with some not having Sunday service at all. If you want to go this route, I suggest you really plan well. I don't know if you have any other locations to visit in Ireland. The rail lines are best between the larger cities and generally getting from one to another frequently means going back through Dublin. Tod suggested Rick's Backdoor book. That won't have any specific details on Ireland. Rick's Ireland book is good and has public transportation options shown. Unfortunately, he has his recommended spots that he covers. If you are trying to go other places, you are pretty much on your own.

Looks like renting a car is in our future. :-) We're only in Ireland for 5 days getting to Dublin at 8:45am the first day so We'll be staying there the first day. We just want to use the cities as a "home base" so to speak while there and we both want to get out and see the small towns and country side, but aren't really sure what we wanna see just yet. We both like to see the local side of things as tourist "traps" aren't our thing. If it's good enough for the locals, it's good enough for us. If you guys can suggest things to do just outside Cork/Limerick/Dublin or if there are other cities besides these that you would suggest us visit instead that would be great. Being as though this is our first trip overseas we're going at this completely blind. Would you guys suggest us fly in to Dublin, take the train to Cork and rent a car there to drop off in Dublin when we fly out? Are there any specific episodes or podcasts on Ireland from Rick that you would suggest us watching/listening to?
Thank you guys so much for the help.

There aren't that many RS poscasts that you can't listen to all of them to get an overall feel for what is out there. For determining what to see, though, I would look at a variety of guidebooks, not just RS. A car, in my opinion, is the best way to go, particularly since your time is short and you don't want to spend any waiting for a bus when you could be moving on to the next thing.

Only 5 days? You're going to be moving fast to go to Dublin, Limerick and Cork. I wouldn't put Limerick or Cork high up on the "must see" list on a short trip so I'll assume you have other reasons to go there. For your mini-trip, I would recommend three places. The neolithic tombs of Newgrange and Knowth are interesting and just north of the airport. On your way south, there is the early Christian center of Glendalough. Dublin is easily worth two full days although you could hit the high points in one day and two nights. You could do my recommended as day trips with tour companies out of Dublin. It would get rid of renting a car but it wouldn't get you to Cork and Limerick.

Get the car. It's not that big of a deal to get used to driving on the left. I just kept reminding myself, "Stay to the left, stay to the left", and after a few hours it was second nature. And bring along some sort of GPS, you'll be glad you did. The car adds so much more of an opportunity for freedom and adventure. Just don't drive in Dublin. I agree with the above that Cork and Limerick shouldn't be on the top of your list for sight-seeing, so unless you're there to see family or something stick to the northern and western coasts and you'll have a blast.

there is a train (irish rail) that can take you around. there are busses (bus eireann) simular to greyhound. it is possible to get around with out a car. i did the Paddywagon tour group which was great. or rent a car. depends on your budget

I agree Dublin is worth two full days, and part of a third. Renting a car for such a short period would be a splurge, but worth it. (We went to Ireland in 2002, and driving on the left is not so hard but get an automatic.) I would still to the Kilkenny/Newgrange corridor, with a stop at Powerscourt and Glendalough. With such limited time I would not go west unless you are willing to skip Dublin entirely (which I would not recommend).

Our friends only had a short time in Dublin,(business trip), but they took the train to Galway, and came back the same day. They loved it.