Self-catering in Ireland and Scotland

Doolin! It's considered the center of Irish music in the west. It's a short drive from Shannon airport and is very near the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Galway is also not far.

For Scotland, I'd suggest you check out where there will be festivals during the time you will be there. Then check with the National Trust. They have many self-catering properties that they rent out. All are of historic interst/value and usually in lovely settings. You might want to check back issues of In Britian magazine. They have good articles and a nice resource/ad section at the back.

Personally, I love the Aviemore area if you want rural. And the Caringorm hotel has a nice resturant/pub where I local muscians play everytime I was there (maybe someone there could put you in touch with locals- or try the Aviemore forum on TripAdvisor). If you prefer city- Inverness is my favorite.

I agree that Doolin would make a good home base. We stayed at a self-catering for a week there this summer. The town itself is quite small, but there's 3 pubs known there for their music. The one that's separate from the others (can't remember the name, sorry) had better music, IMHO. From Doolin, it's easy to get to the Cliffs, the Burren, and the Aran Islands. It's an hour drive to Shannon, so you can also take a day to go down there and see Bunratty Castle, and it's about an hour or so to Galway, too.

We stayed at Doolin Holiday Homes. They were very nice and quite reasonable. The family that lives there in one of the cottages takes care of the homes, so if there's any problems, it's easy to get the caretaker there to fix it. The cottages have 3 bedrooms and either 2 or 3 baths, plus a kitchen and living room with a TV, and a washer and dryer. There's a small store across the street, but for most groceries you have to drive to Enistymon, about a 20 minute drive. Do a Google search and you'll find their website.

We are planning several self-catering spots in Ireland this summer - most for only 4 nights. I found if I could contact the owner/manager directly rather than through an agency, they were very open about making adjustments to the normal Sat to Sat plan. I've been using irelandexpert.com for a lot of information, since Rick's books don't do so much with self catering (we're also traveling by bicycle, which is different than most). Pat is totally Ireland focused, which is nice. The website has an "Irish links" (down left side) to recommended self-catering websites. I've found most through homeaway.com and some others - and have checked out all of them. Once you decide on one location, check these websites.

To help find a self-catering place, you might try vrbo.com in addition to the sites others have suggested. This past October we rented two homes (one week each) through vrbo and were very pleased. The website allows you to search by county. If staying close to Shannon is important, you might want to limit your search to Counties Clare, Limerick, Kerry (north) and Galway (south).

As for sights in the general area, I'd skip Bunratty Castle, but would recommend the Burren in general, Ailwee Caves, Cliffs of Moher (though in July the lines might be really long), Aran Islands (you can take a boat from Doolin), and day drives anywhere your instincts take you.

Ireland and Scotland are both beautiful. In Scotland, I suggest the west and the north, generally speaking.

I found vrbo to be a bit expensive with finding self-catering. I did a search just with "self catering county clare" and got quite a few places that were rented directly through the owners.

Thank you so much for the information. Do you think a day trip to the Dingle Penninsula is out of the question? I realize that driving distance means nothing over there because of the roads. Doolin sounds good. We wanted a small village where a few pubs with music were available rather than a large center. Does anyone have any experience with Ryan Air? Should I book the flights from home myself? Its not something that a travel agent does is it?

You should be able to book the flight yourself. A travel agent could help- but you'd pay for it unless you are a AAA member and use their services. Just be aware that Ryanair and other small European airlines are VERY VERY strict about size and weights of carry ons, check-in times, etc. Pack LIGHT and be early!

Toni is right about the music festivals. Check out this link for folk and music festivals. http://www.folkandroots.co.uk/festivals.html One of the more notable ones is the Hebridean Celtic Festival http://www.hebceltfest.com/. It's in the west, the way west and so could be challenging to get to. But what a wonderful trip it would be.

There are some other places where I've listened to music. In Dunkeld there is the Music Bar. It's in the middle of Perthshire and is a lovely little town with a bar that has music sessions most nights. They would surely welcome you. In Edinburgh itself, Sandy's Bells has music sessions. Also, in Inverness there are some places that have music nightly--Hootenanny for example.

Also, check out this web site http://www.musicinscotland.com/ It may have other suggestions. You'll want to check it a little further along or maybe email the webmaster for suggestions. Look to see what is playing at the Festival Theater in Pitlochry. Aly Bain often plays there.

Also, BTW, Glasgow is quite the city for music as well, so you should look into it as well if you decide to go for a city experience.

Pam

We have spent a week in self-catering in Westport, Co. Mayo. A bit north of Shannon--google maps gives me three hours' driving. But Westport is home to Matt Malloy's pub, which is totally dependable for good music anytime, and attracts a ton of local talent. (And is welcoming to guests also!) We also visited Knock, Croagh Patrick, Clare Island from there, and day-tripped up to Galway City. Try to get the cd "Music at Molloy's", which is THE most atmospheric "live" recording I've ever heard.

That said, we also spent a few days in Doolin, coinciding with a festival, and enjoyed it quite a lot. But for no-fail good music and good time, we can't wait to go back to Westport.

Good luck figuring it out! What a fun quest.

(Sorry, daytripped DOWN to Galway!)