We spent the month of May in Ireland, making a large circle around the island. I picked up many tips and ideas on this forum and particularly want to thank Robert in Colorado Springs, epltd, ewewoolknit and rca whose past Ireland posts were very helpful.
BACKGROUND: We are in our early 60’s, retired, fairly well traveled, but this was our first trip to Ireland and our first time to be gone for a month. We like scenery, short hikes, ruins and interesting architecture. We view food as fuel, so not looking for “experiences" and expensive restaurants.
ITINERARY: Landed in Dublin on a Wednesday, picked up our car and drove immediately to Kilkenny.
- Kilkenny—3 nights , Mena House B&B
- Killorglin (Ring of Kerry)—7 nights--Sykes Cottage rental
- Lahinch (Burren/County Clare)—3 nights--Craglea Lodge B&B
- Clifden/Connemara—4 nights--Air BnB
- Dunkineely (near Donegal)—7 nights--Sykes Cottage rental
- Dervock, NI (near Portrush)—4 nights--Air BnB
- Swords—final night near Dublin airport--Old Borough Inn
ACCOMODATIONS: combination of B&B’s, Air BnB, and Sykes Cottages (thanks Robert in Colorado for that tip). Average cost per night was $72. We stayed a bit out of the town center in most places which helped keep costs down, but everywhere we stayed had wonderful, helpful hosts and was comfortable and spotlessly clean. In the Air BnB’s and cottages, the main feature I looked for was washer/dryer and wifi. If anyone is interested in specifics, PM me and I will share more details.
LUGGAGE: We each had 21” roll aboard suitcases, one backpack (him), RS Euro Flight Bag (me, my purse was inside) and my husband’s golf clubs. He wanted to play golf a few times, and this turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for him. The golf clubs were his “checked bag” on Delta, everything else we carried on. No baggage charges.
TRANSPORTATION: Due to the hefty cost, I agonized over this part of the planning more than anything else. In the end I booked an automatic transmission through Auto Europe with Alamo/Enterprise. I did not take the Super CDW but only the basic CDW that was offered. We decided to self-insure for the rest of it. Our experience with Alamo was excellent. Friendly helpful counter staff as well as the attendants in the rental lot, on both the front and back end of the rental. Two things to watch out for—1) cost of taking the car into Northern Ireland, which was included in our rental cost. Some companies charge up to $150 extra for this. And 2) Auto Europe capped the additional driver fee at 10 days. Most companies charge from $8-$15 per day. For a 30 day rental this adds up quickly. While driving was interesting, we never had any real issues with the opposite side of the road, just go slowly and take your time. It helped that we were rarely locked in to having to be anywhere at a certain time.
NAVIGATION: Two years ago I had a less than stellar experience using google maps offline in France, but after reading this forum I decided to give it another try. It worked perfectly! Did we take some sheep paths? Yes, but only once did we take a road I wished we hadn’t and that was after we had missed a turn and “recalculated.” I had an AA Ireland atlas and Michelin map as backup and, although we did not pay for it, our car had sat nav which we used occasionally.
MISCELLANEOUS: I debated about getting a SIM card but in the end, we used the Verizon Travel Pass option ($10/24 hour period) and only had to turn our phones “on” for data/calls a few times. It worked for us. Wifi is everywhere and we used Facetime/WhatsApp to stay in touch with family in the US. We lucked out with weather, with only a couple of days out of 28 where it rained most of the day. Highs ranged from 58-70 in the daytime. A few nights were in the low 40’s and we built a fire. We used a Capital One 360 debit card and Capital One Visa (no fees). They were accepted everywhere.