We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 older teenagers) and we are flying in and out of Dublin for 15 days. We have tickets to the Olympics and have our hotel accomodations in London for days 4-8, then we are taking the Eurostar to Paris, spending a few days in Paris then heading back to Dublin. Any suggestions on a good 3 day tour of Southern Ireland? Is getting to Limerick, killarney, Cork/Blarney and Cashel realistic if we are renting a car in Dublin at 9am on day1 and have tickets to an Olympic event in London on Day 4 at 8 pm. Also - what's the quickest/cheapest way to get to London, and would it be easier to take a train/ferry to Rosslare (and then to Dublin) from Cherbourg or just take the Eurostar back to London again and go back to Dublin the way we came? Please Help:)
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
Day 1 will go like this: Arrive in DUB at 9 am (probably), collect bags, do rental counter paperwork, maybe hit the restrooms or grab something to eat, wait for the shuttle to the car lot, check out rental car and get on the road. By then it will be closer to late morning, so you basically only have the afternoon of Day 1. You will also be tired, and will not want to drive far the first day. Day 4 will mostly be consumed with getting to London, getting settled there, and getting to your event. That leaves you Day 2-3. It, of course, depends on what you want to see, but I personally would skip Limerick. You could head toward Cashel on Day 1. You could see it that afternoon, or the morning of Day 2, then continue on to Cork/Blarney. Then on Day 3 you could head toward Killarney. You would have to set out early on Day 4 to head back to London. Given the time constraints, I would be more tempted to just stay around Dublin and do a couple of day trips to Glendalough and Newgrange, but one or two of the places you mentioned could be doable in the time you have if you keep moving.
Posted by
Goleen, Co Cork, Ireland
69 posts
You could take a flight from Cork or Shannon to London. Did you want to go back to London after Paris? You could fly back to Dublin from Paris to save time. Driving to cashel first day makes sense then pick a base for 2 nights. You can see Blarney on the way to Killarney and stay there for 2 nights and tour from there.
Posted by
OP
Hilliard, Ohio, USA
9 posts
Thank you Sherri - we are gonna fly back to Dublin from Paris - it really is the cheapest way to go (and the least hassle) - we are gonna hit limerick, killarney and cork on the front end and then stay in Dublin our last two nights - thanks for the tips.
Posted by
OP
Hilliard, Ohio, USA
9 posts
Thank you Nancy for the details - I am still debating about flying back from Paris - I posted another reply in the "to the west" blog as well as this one because I really want to see more of france and england than I've set about so far. Any info. is helpful and I appreciate all replies.