The nature of my job is such that I work insane hours for most of the year, and then suddenly find out that I have a good chunk of vacation time coming my way with little idea of when it’s going to be and little time to plan for it.
That’s happened again, and I’ve got over two weeks off at the end of this month (September). I’m trying to visit all the places that I’ve never been to; last year I went to Japan. The other place I’ve always said I want to visit is Ireland, so I’m wondering if a sudden trip to Ireland would be worth the money & effort. And I’m soliciting opinions.
I’ve never been to Ireland, and I’ve spent exactly one hour in Gatwick Airport in London, when I was 12 years old. Other pertinent info: I’m American, I’d be travelling alone, I’m 32, and I’m horribly out of shape (see the beginning of this message) so would be mostly sticking to the cities instead of hiking or camping.
– Is two weeks enough time to see enough of both England (London in particular) and Ireland (around Dublin) to make it worthwhile, or should I just concentrate on one or the other?
– Is Dublin the best starting-off point for a vacation in Ireland?
– Is it possible to get a taste of both the cities & the landscapes by starting in Dublin?
– How should I divide my time? That is, how long in London as a tourist is “enough”? I’ve always heard that vacationing in Ireland is a very leisurely process, so I’d assumed I’d want to spend the most time there.
– What are the absolute must-see things in London and in the Dublin area?
– How feasible is sightseeing around Ireland without a car? Would it be foolish for an American to try renting a car there? Or necessary?
Any opinions or info would be much appreciated. I’ve checked the Rough Guides website, but IMO it caters more to hiking/hitch-hiking travellers, and it assumes you have a vague idea of what you want to see. The only thing I’ve got in mind is “see Ireland.”
Well since you have little time try Sceptre Tours, I got a deal through them for May. It includes a car and B&Bs, though good luck finding a B&B close to Dublin, I ended up staying about 20 minutes out plus a 15 minute walk from the DART.
You could see both Ireland and England in two weeks. There would be a lot to see but it could be done. It really depends on what you want to see. I saw a good bit of Ireland in 10 days, though there was stilll more to see. However I had been there before so it didn’t matter as much.
I’m not sure if Dublin is a good starting point or not. I’ve always come out of Shannon. The country is small so it’s really only a few hours driving/bus/train across.
Again Ireland is small so within a bit of a drive you can get to the mountains etc and see both the large city and landscape of Ireland. However, Dublin is a big place and not like the smaller towns.
I’m not sure how you sould divide your time. I’m not much of a museum type person and can take or leave big cities. I can get what I feel is the most out of a city in a day or two.
If you are in Dublin then Newgrange, about a hours drive north of the city is a must see. It’s an old passage tomb that’s 5000 years old. You get to go inside as well. There is also Stonehenge that’s near London. As for other places to see I don’t do the tourist type things, I didn’t see the Guiness factory nor did I ever see the changing of the guard in London. I personally just like to wander around the city, walk though the parks and colleges.
You can either rent a car or not. Parking is hard in both London and Dublin, though they both have public transportation. You can also catch buses into the outside of the country and I’m sure you can get to places like Stonehenge by bus as well. Driving is not that bad and staying on the left side of the road is pretty easy, or it is for me, as traffic is all going the same way. If you don’t want to then you don’t need to. However I know that when I got my car I was not allowed to take it to England from Ireland so if you were going to do both you will need to ask.
I wouldn’t recommend Stonehenge. It’s difficult to reach by public transport and is a good three hours by car from London, if I remember rightly. It’s also generally overrun with tourists.
The Tate Modern is an interesting – and mostly free – modern art gallery in London. There’s also the British Museum (Rosetta Stone, etc, free but donations appropriate), which is enormous, and the National Gallery (free), and places like Camden Market, Primrose Hill (views over London), Notting Hill Market, the Observatory at Greenwich etc… Day trips to Oxford/Cambridge are quite straightforward too.
I did London and Ireland last spring for two weeks. We spent a weekend in London, and the remainder in Ireland. A weekend in London wasn’t enough, we did one day shopping, one day sight seeing. Not nearly enough time.
We drove around Ireland in a rented car, starting in Dublin and driving around the southern part of the country clockwise. That was nice, but still not enough time to see everything. We did manage to see Dublin, Glendalough, Cobh, Blarney Castle, The Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, Newgrange, and did lots of shopping. We also drove through a lot of other cities, but not enough time to stop.
I’ll say though I don’t really enjoy large cities, so the western part of Ireland was definitely my favorite, and next time I go I’ll probably prefer to skip Dublin entirely and just visit the western and north parts of Ireland.
Having just spent two months over in Cork, I’d have to say that I’d second Boscibo in saying that I enjoyed my time in the western part of Ireland more than I did in Dublin (or Cork, for that matter). A car isn’t really necessary, I think, since Bus Eirean is pretty good, but it’s no big deal if you don’t mind narrow, ill-paved roads. With that in mind, understand that everything in Ireland takes longer to get to than you’d think it should, based on the distance.
Were I you, I’d take maybe 4 days in London and the rest in Ireland, flying into Shannon.
You… friggin’… lucky… bastard!! You come in here and start “talking” your talk about your vacation plans to England/Ireland without any sense of what it might do to the rest of us??? OMG, man, have you no SOUL???
You’d better take me with you (hint-- large suitcase, LARGE!).