Vacation in Ireland?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve searched about and found a couple of old threads, but nothing very recent.

My mom and a friend and I are planning a trip to Ireland. It’s just in the early planning stages so we’re not even sure yet exactly when it will be (maybe this fall or next spring - depends on when the air fare is cheap!), or where we’ll go. We are starting to look through guide books and Web sites and such, but I know there are a lot of Irish Dopers and non-Irish-Dopers-who’ve-been-to-Ireland so I thought I’d ask as well. Any suggestions or recommendations on where we should/shouldn’t go and what we should/shouldn’t see? We are interested in everything - particularly archaeological sites and pubs!

Is it better to fly in to Dublin or Shannon? We’ll probably spend a couple of days in whatever area we fly in to and maybe a few overnight trips elsewhere.

2

I’ve been there a couple times and this is what I enjoyed the most:

Glendalough

Newgrange

Aran Islands

Dingle Peninsula

Connemara

Cliffs of Moher

Horseback riding on the beach (Ring of Kerry)

Killarney National Park

Giant’s Causeway (and the drive to it, along the coast north of Belfast)

I’m not a city person so I didn’t enjoy Dublin, Belfast, or Cork that much. Galway and Donegal are neat towns. Dingle Town is one of my favorites, and there are great little pubs there. I prefer the western part of Ireland.

3

Didn’t we just have a thread on this a month or so ago? I know we’ve had one recently.
When we went several years back we flew into Dublin, circled south through the country, and left via Shannon. I didn’t see any noticeable difference between airports.
We saw Newgrange (prehistotric megalithic tomb sight)

Dublin (Book of Kells, Graftobn St., George Bernard Shaw House, etc.)

Russborough House (18th century manor with lotsa art)

Glendalough (Medieval Irish Monastery with lots of still-extant stone buildings

Waterford (Tower, Viking ruins, and the Waterford Crystal Factory)

Rock of Cashel (ancient capital of Ireland, still-standing impressive castle and church)

Dingle peninsula (less crowded, we thought, than Ring of Kerry, with stone forts, huts, and church)

Logh Gur (Iron Age site, with Stone Circles)

Be advised that if you rent a car and drive everything’s on what is, to an American, the “wrong side”, and you have to drive on the left. Also, since automatic shifting is much rarer and more expensive, you ought to be prepared to drive a stick shift. We didn’t have any problems, but some folk do.

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My comments are less than a year old, so feel free to read my thread about my trip there.

Things you MUST see:

The Rock

Ned Natterjacks, a pub in Castle Gregory on the Dingle Peninsula. We had a riot!

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I’d say fly into Dublin spend a day or two here. Museums, Trinity College, Kilmanham Gaol(jail), Guinness tour etc. then get the fuck out and see the real Ireland.

There are places like Newgrange ( built around 3200 BC) that may interest you.

Get to the west coast. I love Galway and the area around it. The Ring of Kerry is highly recommended.

One thing you really need to do is find a little pub somewhere in the country that has a ballad/music session on a Sunday morning. Hopefully there is a light drizzle when your walking to the pub and it has a open fire going.

Sitting drying yourself by a peat fire, seating over a fresh pint of Guinness with some tradition music or ballads in the background is the perfect ‘Irish’ experience :slight_smile:

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Oh and as js_africanus will testify to the Dub Dopers are generally always available for a bit of drinking and direction giving IRL as well. If you’re into that give us a shout closer to the date :slight_smile:

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Our visit in 1995.

Good set of links related to Irish travel.

Exhaustive collection of Irish related links here.

Have fun!

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I’ll do a search again - I thought the most recent thread was last summer - but I admit that I was in a hurry and didn’t look as carefully as I ought. I’ll check again. If I did miss a more recent thread, than my apologies for dragging the subject up again.

Newgrange sounds really interesting as do most of the other places mentioned here.

I don’t know yet whether we’ll rent a car or not (might have to if we do overnight trips - how is the train system, or is there one?) but I can drive a stick shift and we’ve been to England enough times to be prepared for the whole wrong-side-of-the-road thing.

West coast, eh? The whole in at Dublin out at Shannon makes sense too.

I know it’s probably hokey, cheesy, touristy (and every other adjective you can think of), but I really would like to find some small pub somewhere with the traditional music as yojimbo suggested.

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Most places have pubs that have music but in Dublin there are a lot of tourist traps which I wouldn’t spit on.

Outside in the country you’ll find a lot of pubs have ‘sessions’ on Sunday morning and some week nights. Ask around when you get to places and you’ll be told were the good ones are.

These are generally just a few people in the corner with a fiddle, tin whistle and a selection of other instruments just playing. The pub usually gives them drink but sometimes they just do it for the craic(pronounced crack) which means fun.

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Oh and while the train services to main population centers are OK the system is pretty shite in general and a large section of the country isn’t even covered.

A car would be a very good idea IMO.

You also should consider going up North. It’s not dangerous any more, no bombs or troops on the streets due to the IRA ceasefire. It’s got some of the nicest people and countryside on the whole Island up there.

There’s also Donegal which is in the North West of the Island but is part of the Republic. It is IMO the finest and most beautiful area of Ireland. A trip around the Irish language (Gaeltacht ) speaking area is great. Close to the Bushmills plant as well which has a tour and some free whiskey :slight_smile:

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Strange…I’m having trouble locating the recent threads, too…
Anyhow: good suggestions so far. Definitely do as yojimbo suggests, and head north (train from Dublin to Belfast, then hire a car). Derry is worth a visit, and I’m also of the opinion that Donegal is the most beautiful part of the country. It’s also not too touristy, and an excellent place to find good music. From there, you could slowly work your way down the west coast.

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As one who wants to go…sometime, how long a stay do y’all recommend? I want to be active, but not pressed.

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I’d say a minimum of two weeks. Any less and you’ll feel that you’re missing out on things, rushing them, or just spending too much time in the car.

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Heh, heh, heh. I didn’t mean to dis the Dublin Dopers—I guess I assumed that Dublin would be on the agenda. Definitely get together w/ the Dopers in Dublin. Not only are they a lot of fun, it is also an education that you won’t get anywhere else.

Based on some replies to my thread about my trip, I think that if you can figure out an itinery (sp?) well in advance, there are Dopers all over the country that you may be able to meet (IIRC).

The Rock of Cashel (sp?) and Cahir Castle are both must-sees. Seriously. The Dingle Peninsula is amazing. The Crag Caves are super cool. Glendalough is great. The Avondale House is neat.

We went at the very end of last April & the beginning of May. We flew into Dublin and spent two nights and then drove south and followed (sort of) the coat—making a giant U. We flew out of the Shannon airport.

There is an interior ministry of some sort that maintains historical sites. I can’t remember what it is called, but their sites are the ones to go to, IMO.

When in Dublin, take the bus and START EARLY. I would even suggest two full days in Dublin, because you’ll want to stop and see the sights along the bus route and you don’t want to run out of time.

Please be advised: DON’T DRIVE IN DUBLIN. Okay? We’re from the Detroit area and we are not shitty drivers. When we asked someone for directions, he literally said, “I don’t even know how you got here, this isn’t a road!” Take a shuttle (or cab or whatever) from the airport to the city and then take a shuttle back to the car rental when you’re ready to leave Dublin.

I think that you can plan to fly into Dublin, have a middle point at Cahir Castle & the Rock of Cashel, and finish by driving the Dingle Peninsula and drinking at Ned Natterjack’s. (You’ll have to have an extra day to get to someplace near the Shannon Airport.) In between that, you can almost just wing it—ask people along the way or get suggestions from where you are staying. You can’t swing a dead cat without seeing something fantastic in Ireland.

FWIW: We were warned strongly to avoid Limerick (the city). It was sold as something along the lines Euro-Flint, except they have knives instead of guns.

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I’ve only actually ever been through Limerick but I think those warnings are a bit overstated. Yes, there are some problems with violence but if you aren’t a member of one of the feuding gangs or families you are unlikely to be a victim.

As for things to see I would recommend the Cliffs of Moher (County Clare) and the mummies at St. Michan’s Church (Dublin). And avoid the Guinness Factory; it’s just not worth the extortionate entry fee.

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Can I recommend Crutchs Country House Hotel in Castlegregory? A genuinely bonkers slice of Irish hospitality that won’t break the bank. It’s on the Tralee side of the Conor pass, just off a side road. Very handy for Dingle.

It’s an actual hotel with ensuite rooms, a bar and a restaurant, but isn’t exactly the Ritz, lest you think I’m sending you to some godforsaken cowshed in the middle of nowhere. Run by Mr Ronald McDonald (no, really) who will cook whatever you want for breakfast and allow your input into the evening menus. When I stayed there with some friends a couple of years ago we stayed up late playing Pictionary in the bar (which has a turf-burning open fire, of course), and as Ron wanted to go to bed, he left us the keys and a notebook to write down what we drank, so we could settle our bar bill in the morning.

You could arrive in Dublin, drive up to Belfast, see the Giant’s Causeway, go round the coast to Donegal, down through Yeat’s country to Galway, then head down to Connemara and Kerry, finally leaving from Shannon. You’d see most of the good stuff that way.

In case no-one else mentions the weather, bring everything from sweaters, waterproofs and umbrellas to shorts, t-shirts and swimsuits. You never know.

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Don’t bring too many sweaters, though, since a locally-made sweater (or three) is one of the souvenirs you’ll want to take home.

I concur with everything in Boscibo’s post. The cities didn’t hold too many charms for me. I preferred the countryside, the small towns, and the western coast. Galway is the only city I enjoyed. I especially recommend the Dingle Peninsula, Galway, the Aran Islands, and the Cliffs of Moher.

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In Dublin, AVOID Temple Bar if you can. It hasn’t been the same since someone ncked that statue of four tractors piled on top of each other. There’s bugger all there, anyway, except a few pubs and restaurants.

Take a DART out to Howth instead.

Elsewhere, from personal experience I’d recommend a trip out to Inishmore.

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Visit the Glens of Antrim! We won’t shoot! :smiley:

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I’ve lived in Limerick and managed never to get stabbed or even see any trouble. I’d along with what ruadh said. Limerick has had a bit of a problem with its reputation, but it’s not some lawless hole, with mobs of hooligans running about stabbing random people at will, just for kicks. Like most places, if you go looking for trouble, you’ll find it.

And if you do decide to fly in or out of Shannon, you’ll most likely have to go through Limerick, and if you have the notion that Limerick is going to be hellish, then it might prey on your mind and spoil your holiday.

Has anyone recommended Westport in Co Mayo, yet? It’s a great spot and you’ll be able to take your pick of pubs with traditional music.