Planning a visit to Ireland - what's to do?

wilse

Hey all from across the Atlantic-

I'll be in Ireland from March 15-27 of next year. I've been wanting to take this trip for a long time, and I'm excited as hell for the opportunity to finally do so. However, I want to know ALOT more about the place I'm visiting before I arrive. I don't want to make my plans based on some "vacation guide book" written by people who travel for a living and think spending 10 days in a museum is a great time. Sure, I'd love to see some of the typical tourist attractions, but I'd love even more to learn how to see and enjoy the "real" Ireland while I'm there - the Ireland that folks that live there know and enjoy.

For example, I live in Minneapolis here in America. When my buddies from out-of-state come to visit, we don't spend the weekend touring museums and government buildings! No, we hit up the coolest local bars (not the big, corporate clubs), the best little private restaurants, go check out the most interesting shows and local landmarks that are a little off-the-beaten-path.

I want to arrive and enjoy learning all I can about life over there without being the stereotypical cheesy American tourist. Sure, I'll never blend in as a local, but I don't want to have the same old cookie-cutter vacation that all the people who follow the vacation guides get.

So I thought I'd ask here for starters... keep in mind, my Irish geography is still pretty rough (working on it). Would anyone have some recommendations for what a person like me would HAVE to do with 12 days over there that time of year? Where? Who? What? How? From the MUST SEE tourist attractions, to the homeowned diner on the corner with the best sandwiches, I want to see it all!

This post is a starter to get me going with some ideas... I'm sure that as my plans start to come together more, I'll have more specific questions - any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

slipss

Hey Wilse, I'm not going to post much in response now because it's 3:00am and I'm suposed to be in work in 4 hours so I got to get some sleep now but I'll post tommorow and give ye my advice for places to go, things to do ect, I'm sure lots of other people will to. Just thought I'd say it might be a good idea to give us some info about yourself. Male/female, age, hobbies, music your into, ect cause obviously if your a 54year old housewife you might have a different idea of whats fun than if your a 19year old gay porn star.

DonkeyStyle \o/

I'd say visit Newgrange, the Cliffs of Moher, and of course the infamous Blarney stone
Go to Powerscourt Waterfall aswell, that's a nice place.
Dublin city-center has a lot of history/culture aswell apparently.

MrJoeSoap

You'll be here for Paddy's Day, so the parade is probably a decent idea, and there's always lots to do around those few days, major sessions etc...

Maybe you could spend a day just exploring the city (please don't wear a "fanny pack", you'll stick out like a sore thumb!)

Most of the links on this page are decent - http://www.dublintourist.com/popular_dublin/

I'd advise an early morning walk around Howth town and Howth head, a very special place.

wilse

slipss wrote:

Hey Wilse, I'm not going to post much in response now because it's 3:00am and I'm suposed to be in work in 4 hours so I got to get some sleep now but I'll post tommorow and give ye my advice for places to go, things to do ect, I'm sure lots of other people will to. Just thought I'd say it might be a good idea to give us some info about yourself. Male/female, age, hobbies, music your into, ect cause obviously if your a 54year old housewife you might have a different idea of whats fun than if your a 19year old gay porn star.

damn good idea, heh
well, unfortunately, i'm not a 54 year old housewife (cause we all know how much fun they can have), nor am i a teen gay porn star lol

i'm 25, male - tech saavy in a lot of ways, but when given a choice, prefer live-action to video games - love watching football (american football that is, sorry guys - never seen a game of actual football before, would love to see something like that, honestly), baseball, hockey, and auto-racing. My competitive sports days are over since college, but I still love to play Ultimate Frisbee and Softball with my league teams (does Ultimate Frisbee exist in Ireland? would be so RAD to meet a team from overseas).

Hit the bars on the weekends, like to drink with my buds and gals - not so much the flashy-light dance club places, and more just the good old dive bars with pool tables and jukeboxes and cheap beer. Love playing bar pool, darts, poker (although I usually lose all my money). I enjoy going to shows... I love music and am really open minded, but I have a preference towards more "punky" bands... I saw a band called Flogging Molly at my city's "Irish Festival" last year and really enjoyed em (lead singer born in Dublin, I think!), but have no idea if this was an "Irish" type of band, or just an American band that claims to be Irish.

I do enjoy beautiful landscape, and is one big reason for wanting to visit - I've seen pictures from Ireland that make me jealous of those who get to live there. I'd love to see all the different types of country that I can.

I'll be visiting with my 22-year old sister, who is spending a year in Lille, France teaching English, and she's as outgoing and wild as I am, so we'll definitely be looking for recommendations on great spots to hit to see the real local nightlife.

Thanks again for any info - can't wait to get over there, and I'm sure I'll have tons of questions as plans develop!

MrJoeSoap

wilse wrote:

i'm 25, male - tech saavy in a lot of ways, but when given a choice, prefer live-action to video games - love watching football (american football that is, sorry guys - never seen a game of actual football before, would love to see something like that, honestly), baseball, hockey, and auto-racing.

I had a look for the rugby, but unfortunately the last game of the "6 Nations" tournament that will be played in Dublin is on the 24th of February, so you'll be missing that. Luckily enough for you though (if you can get your hands on tickets!) Ireland are playing Wales in the first ever soccer game at Croke Park, while you are here. Its the biggest stadium in Ireland and one of the biggest in Europe/The World, but until now has only ever been used for Gaelic football. The atmosphere at that would be something else, even if the Irish team are unbelievably hopeless at the moment.

Croker:

Hit the bars on the weekends, like to drink with my buds and gals - not so much the flashy-light dance club places, and more just the good old dive bars with pool tables and jukeboxes and cheap beer. Love playing bar pool, darts, poker (although I usually lose all my money). I enjoy going to shows... I love music and am really open minded, but I have a preference towards more "punky" bands... I saw a band called Flogging Molly at my city's "Irish Festival" last year and really enjoyed em (lead singer born in Dublin, I think!), but have no idea if this was an "Irish" type of band, or just an American band that claims to be Irish.

Definitely an American band that claims to be Irish! There are plenty of those types of bars around, and there are gigs regularly around the city. Temple Bar and the surrounding area's in Dublin are the best for those types of gigs.

I do enjoy beautiful landscape, and is one big reason for wanting to visit - I've seen pictures from Ireland that make me jealous of those who get to live there. I'd love to see all the different types of country that I can.

The Wicklow mountains just south of Dublin have some great views, though you'll need to travel further to see the proper Irish scenery of Kerry, Clare, Galway and Donegal on the west coast. Will you be renting a car?

A personal favourite place of mine is the little fishing village of Dunmore East in Waterford, well worth a visit if you are nearby. Small, friendly and picturesque.

Thanks again for any info - can't wait to get over there, and I'm sure I'll have tons of questions as plans develop!

Keep the questions coming, I've nothing better to be doing! Need some sleep now though, I'll be back tomorrow!

mikedragon32

If you want to get in touch with some Ultimate players give this forum on Boards a go:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=516

There's a pretty good following for it here and they're a really nice bunch of people too.

On St. Patrick's day, it's not obligatory to see the Parade, but it is worth a look as a visitor. After that there's a couple of options, if you'd like to see rugby. Ireland play Italy (in Rome) in what could be the Six Nations decider and that will be on in just about every pub in Dublin. There are plenty of pubs around the Ballsbridge area where plenty of fans will gather to watch the game. Or, while that's on TV, you could go to see what many regard as the showpiece of schoolboy rugby, the Leinster Senior Cup. The standard is usually quite high and the passion on the pitch is unquestionable. That's on in Lansdowne Road in Ballsbridge.

If you want to see an Irish American Football team in action, you could go along to a training session of the Dublin Dragons or the Dublin Rebels, although given my username, you can guess where my loyalty is! They both train on Sundays and you can pick up info on the links.

I'm not an expert on where to go at night in Dublin but http://entertainment.ie/ will provide some ideas as to what's on. One thing I like (but don't know if it still exists) is Battle of the Axe in the Ha'penny Bridge House, on the Quays next to Temple Bar. It's not always good, but it is "different"!

Have a blast.

MrJoeSoap

mikedragon32 wrote:

the Leinster Senior Cup... That's on in Lansdowne Road in Ballsbridge.

Won't Lansdowne be gone by then?

mikedragon32

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Won't Lansdowne be gone by then?

Oh yeah! Good point. Will it be Donnybrook Beach then?

MrJoeSoap

I'd imagine so yeah, doubt it'd be Croker anyway!

unir1916

hi wilse as most of the replys said ur comin over for paddys day so u will have plenty of things to keep u goin the festival last a week now a days.Have to recommend a tour of kilmainham jail as a must,this is were the leaders of our rising were held and shoot after 1916.If ur travelling down near kerry try get to see the ring of kerry,tours run every day and it will blow u away.As for sport, on patricks day(17th march),the All Ireland club finals are played on that day in croke park,tickets on sale outside on the day,and you get to see hurling and irish football on the same afternoon.Now the important stuff...the drink if ur lookin for cheap drink in dublin ur ****ed..sorry,my only advice dont stay in temple bar every night,great and very lively,but very expensive.Anyway hope i gave u some ideas and have a great time.

wilse

Great great great info so far, folks - I really appreciate it!

Sorry if I'm a little slow to reply, its a lot to process! I will definitely be renting a car to drive while I'm there, so I'll have access to anywhere a person can drive to, although I'd like to minimize my driving time, and maximize my time spent... not-driving.

I really like the idea of catching the club finals on St. Patty's - also watching a rugby game in a local pub would be killer.

I'll need to post on the music boards, would like to learn about the local music scene and check out some bands, in advance, that I could potentially see live while I'm over there.

I'll definitely be visiting Kerry and I plan on Dunmore East as well (loved the look of the place). The Kilmainham Jail sound fascinating, but I'll need to brush up on local history in advance, I think. Will definitely want to check out the Cliffs of Moher, as well, so that adds Clare to my list.

In the Dublin area, mainly... although any suggestions across the country are welcome - are there any restaurants/pubs that people absolutely LOVE and you'd recommend to a traveller like me?

How about cool places to stay... maybe starting with the Dublin area, as I imagine most of my nights will be spent there. I know around here, if you look hard, you can usually find a small interesting inn or bed&breakfast to stay in, rather than the big corprorate hotels. Any ideas on this?

And again, thanks so much already - this info is already helping me shape this trip into something extraordinary!

bringitdown

Climb Lugnaquilla for some great scenery.

Dart to Bray -> Walk around Bray head to Greystones -> Dart back

blue banana

Definetly go to the club finals in Croke Park on Paddy's day, a great day out, I hope it's not as cold as it was last March though, cos it was freeeeezing! After that get out of Dublin:D get in some of West Cork, Kinsale down to Crookhaven and the Kerry coast, some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland. Enjoy

MrJoeSoap

I'd second Kinsale, some great restaurants down there and its a lovely little town.