Hey. So I have never been outside of Canada, and me and my friend are planning a trip to Ireland. I am already signed up with airlines to get emails about travel, my problem is wanting to see TOO MUCH in 2 weeks. My plan (loosely) was to travel by bus (we're students) and do about 4 days in dublin, 2 days in killarney, 4 days in cork (venturing out to blarney, limerick, and then a whole day to explore doolin and the Cliff of Moher). Bus back to dublin, then to belfast. Spend 4 days in belfast (branching off to the glens of antrim, giants causeway, and dunluce castle as well) Then back to dublin airport and home. Does this sound UNrealistic. Or is it do-able?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Can you be a little more specific about your timing? Do you have two weeks on the ground, or does the two weeks include your travel days coming and going?
Posted by
Atlanta
1358 posts
I'm assuming that you'll be staying in Doolin the day that you're exploring there? Doolin's a long way from Cork.
Posted by
Boston, MA, United States
1806 posts
Flying open jaw makes better use of your time instead of circling back to the Dublin airport.
Posted by
OP
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
4 posts
ok, so the plan has been revised, here is exactly it:
arrive to dublin on day 1, stay there over night
spend 4 days and 4 nights there
bus to kilkenny on day 6 and spend the day, night 6, day 7, night 7 in kilkenny.
on day 8 bus to cork. explore cork shortly. spend the night.
day 9/night 9 cork- bus tour to blarney maybe, thats the big event for ths day
day 10: bus to doolin, stay the night
day 11: see the cliffs of moher and explore doolin
day 12 is travel day cause i really wanna see Antrim, so we will travel from doolin to dublin, to belfast (unless there is a faster way?) and spend night 12 in belfast.
Day 13: belfast, im not really interested in the actual city, so probably bus tour early, then spend the day at the Glendariff (sp?), the glens of antrim. I heard that one is filled with waterfalls and such. night 13 in belfast.
Day 14: see giants causeway and dunluce castle. spend another night in belfast.
day 15 head to dublin to catch a flight home.
More info: we want to do CHEAP, lol, so we are students and we were thinking buses, hostels, and cafe's/pubs. I am willing to but a day in dublin if I have to, but ANY suggestions would be amazing.
I have looked into the open jaw ticket, and it does sound good.
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2776 posts
Amanda, I think your schedule is do-able. My only question is Day 12 -- it might be tough to cooridnate the buses to get from Doolin to Belfast in one day. I don't know anything about the buses in Ireland; I have rented a car when I've been there. Also, Day 15 -- a lot of the flights leaving Dublin for North America leave very early, so you may not be able to count on leaving Belfast and getting to the Dublin airport in time for your flight.
You are covering a great deal of ground. You may want to consider dropping Belfast and spending more time in the south or west coast. It would eliminate a lot of bus travel, which may get tiresome. As I said, I think your itinerary works if those are all places you feel you must see. But I think you could come up with an itinerary that might be more relaxing and just as fun with less bus time.
Posted by
OP
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
4 posts
Thanks! Im not too sure about the buses either. I thought I read somewhere that it would take: . And to be honest, the big thing on my mind right now is giants causeway OR cliffs of moher. Because they are on opposite ends of ireland. so maybe I could cut the west side, cause I was only going to limerick and doolin to fill time and see the cliffs of moher. But maybe I could just do dublin, kilkenny, cork and belfast. Im still not too sure.
Thanks again
Posted by
New York, NY
319 posts
Amanda,
I think we'll be able to be of better assistance to you if you tell us what your priorities are and why you're planning to go where you're going?
For example, you seem to be more excited to see giant's causeway and other sites in the north than doolin and the cliffs. In which case it would make more sense to drop the west than the north.
What made you choose Kilkenny and Cork? Many people enjoy these cities, but they wouldn't be first on my list. A little more info would help us give you a sense of what's available in each location, and whether it will be what you are looking for.
One overall note: I would extensively research the buses before finalizing your plans. Public transit outside of Dublin and Belfast is not that extensive. You'll want to make sure that not only do buses run the route that you'd like to take, but that it will fit your schedule.
Best of luck.
Posted by
OP
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
4 posts
ok, well I have always wanted to see the "SIGHTS" in ireland. I am all about architecture, castles, natural beauty, and history. After reading up on Ireland, I have compiled a list of the things I really wanna see just based on preferece. So these are the places I chose because of those preferences:
Dublin: of course. music, sights, culture.
Kilkenny: from what ive read its the medieval place of ireland. castles, abbeys, cathedrals.
Cork: I want to visit Blarney and I figured this was a good spot to make camp and venture out. I also thought their markets and city just sounded nice to venture into for shops and food.
Belfast: mainly antrim because of the glens, giants causeway and dunluce castle.
Now I agree with you guys, and I think Im gonna drop Limerick, Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher.
I have been looking at the buses because that was my main concern and the only bad thing is the trip from Kilkenny to Cork which is about 4 hrs. Otherwise everything else isnt too bad. That was the first thing I researched cause we will be relying on it heavily.
This is helping SO MUCH. I used to be so set in seeing everything, but cutting it down is making me feel better.
Thanks!