itinerary suggestions for may 2011

I'm sure your son is under medical supervision for his anxiety problems but be sure you consult with his physician re jet lag, time changes vs. meds etc. (You're probably way ahead of me on this.) That said your post sounded fine to me as long as you're flexible taking into account your son's fatigue factor as it impacts his anxiety and physical limitations etc (and again I'm sure you're way ahead of me on this). B&B's and self catering options are probably ideal for your situation. Best of luck and happy travels. You, your husband and your son are blessed to have each other even though it is really really difficult at times (said as one who lives it with her son).

Carol: Just a small suggestion. My wife and I have found that flying daytime to Europe, arriving about 10 pm, checking into a hotel and going to sleep (taking an ambien just to be sure) has meant we start with no jet lag at all. The night flight is very difficult to sleep on for me, and I think for many people. United/Continental fly from Dulles to London, and I think there are a few other similar flights leaving from other US cities. You could always spend the night at a London airport hotel and fly a budget airline to Dublin the next day. Of course this may not fit in with your plans at all, but anything that helps overcome jet lag might be useful to you. Have a great trip!

Thanks for the encouragement. As far as the flying, I already bought nonrefundable tickets round trip Orlando to Dublin. Our son gets claustrophobic and is nervous about flying so the idea was to minimize the time in the air. If this trip goes well, we do plan more trips so the idea of trying to go through London may be worth trying. It is a concern about trying to sleep on the plane and arriving in the morning. We may just have to paln on not getting much done at all that first day and just crash at the B&B.

Hello Carol, We are planning on visiting Ireland again, hopefully next summer, and I recently spent time in a bookstore checking out the Ireland travel section. I would like to suggest you buy a book, Thomas Cook Drive Around Ireland, which has very detailed itineraries for 24 driving daytrips. It is especially helpful for the Kenmare and Kinsale area. Amazon has the book. If you would like to see what parts of the Beara Peninsula look like, check out the movie Ondine which was filmed around Castletownbere. Are you skipping the Connemara-Aran Islands-Galway area? It's one of the most scenic. I think you could visit some of the Kinsale destinations from Kenmare-that might free up a few nights for County Galway. Although it is touristy, we really enjoyed the Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet. There are two other castles in County Clare which offer similar events. We haven't been there yet, but the Hunt Museum in Limerick is supposed to have a superb collection of ancient Irish artifacts. Have you explored the website Irelandexpert.com? You might find it helpful, especially since you have concerns about accessability issues.

thanks, Cynthia,
You had some good suggestions. I will take a look at the the Thomas Cook driving suggestions. At this point we are not planning on going up to Galway/Connemara. We do plan on keeping our minds open, though, it just depends on how it goes with our son. I don't want to lock ourselves into too much driving until we know how things will go (our son is near 300 lbs and cramped in a car is not his favorite way to spend the day). If we don't make it up to Galway (I would like to see the Cliffs of Mohr) this time, we'll do it next time. I did find the Ireland website you mentioned also and find it helpful. thanks

If your son gets feels cramped in, try working with airline to see if you can possibly get a bulkhead seat which would give him a little more room and not have anyone in from of him.