Trip to Ireland .... tips please

traveler.hr

Hello everybody!

I'm from Croatia, and this summer (from 6th till 13th of august) I'm visiting Ireland with my wife for the first time. Plan is to visit Dublin, and then rent a car and take a trip to Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Kylemore Abbey, and Belfast.

I would be thankful for every your advice or tip. What to see, where to stop, turn or go on our way towards west of the country, and Northern Ireland.
Of course every advice related to Dublin is welcome!

THANKS !!!

Sacred_git

traveler.hr wrote: »

Hello everybody!

I'm from Croatia, and this summer (from 6th till 13th of august) I'm visiting Ireland with my wife for the first time. Plan is to visit Dublin, and then rent a car and take a trip to Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Kylemore Abbey, and Belfast.

I would be thankful for every your advice or tip. What to see, where to stop, turn or go on our way towards west of the country, and Northern Ireland.
Of course every advice related to Dublin is welcome!

THANKS !!!

good itinerary there, id maybe skip belfast and head on down into Kerry, cliffs of moher are in clare, so a trip on the ferry across the river shannon will get you to Kerry, far more beautiful than Belfast, plus Belfast is in the opposite direction, personally thats what i'd do if i only had 7 days!! Enjoy, im sure you;ll have a ball

mgbgt1978

Same here...have to agree with sacred.
From galway drive down the coast road taking in Doolin, Lahinch,Kilkee etc and then get Ferry from Killimer to Tarbert.
Next stop Listowel and then head out to Dingle (make sure you take a drive out to Slea Head).
Then a quick look around Killarney (the capital of Irish tourist traps) before driving over Moll's Gap to Kenmare.
Some people would say that you should drive the "Ring of Kerry" (basically a drive from Killarney to Kenmare, but out along the coast) but personally I would prefer to spend the time going straight to Kenmare and from there driving towards West Cork.
you can then explore west cork from Glengariff to Skibbereen to Clonakilty to Kinsale.
Kinsale is only 1/2 an hour from cork city which leaves a 2 3/4 hour drive back to Dublin airport.
Have a look at the Map to make sense of these place names and the best places to stop overnight would probably be Galway, Dingle, Kenmare, Clonakilty and Kinsale.
Apart from Belfast, you would not get to visit kylemore Abbey if you do it this way but you would see a whole lot more:)
As for Dublin the Viking splash Tour is a pretty good way to see a lot of it, or else there are several hop-on hop-off open top tour buses that cover the main sights.

eternal

Im going to go with the great advice above.I think people think because Ireland is small that they can do it all in a few days.
I dont know much about Dublin ,but Galway ,Kerry and West Cork are some of the most beautiful parts to visit.Belfast is a long drive and is basically an English city.Theres nothing wrong with that ,just wouldnt be top of my list.

kingofburt

I'll add a bit of balance to the thread and recommend that you go to Belfast. Yes, it is slightly further than going to Kerry and Cork, but there is arguably more impressive scenery.

From Kylemore Abbey go north and stay in Sligo, Bundoran or Donegal town for a night to break the journey, although you could do it in a day. You could even visit Slieve League, the highest sea cliffs in Europe instead of cliffs of Moher or go for surfing lessons in Bundoran.

Then go to the Giants causeway and the Antrim coast. The scenery is amazing and there is lots to do, such as visit Bushmills, take a trip to Rathlin island or just spend time on some beautiful beaches.

Belfast is a great city, I think it is a bit unfair to describe it as "basically and English city." There is a great buzz about the place and the nighlife is excellent. Lots of good bars and live music venues for all ages and tastes. Plus its got a lot of history, not just the troubles either and has museums and tours that are easy to visit and informative.

While the southern part of Ireland is beautiful, if you want to visit Belfast then definitely do and you can see a lot of the country along the way also.

phog

All of what is mentioned above is well worth a visit, I'd include Newgrage as a must do.

Note: On the first Wedneday of each month, sites managed by the OPW are free to the public - Newgrange is one such site.

traveler.hr

Thank you all for great advices!
Now that I know much more, I have to sit down and carefully plan each day of our trip.

Thanks once more!

P.S. If you ever decide to visit Croatia, I'll be happy to help.

rossie1977

would agree with others, for a week long stay its too far to travel to belfast, try and keep it in one location, ireland maybe small but the roads especially in the west are bad (extremely narrow and windy) and that adds massively to your journey time

galway city is easily accessible from dublin by motorway so that isn't a problem, you can be there in about 2-2.5hrs, connemara is really nice, as well as kylemore i would recommend a trip to clifden and then the sky road, westport is a great town to spend a weekend in and not far from connemara, its full of bars and extremely lively, just outside of westport is irelands holy mountain Croagh Patrick where pilgrims in their thousands climb the last sunday in july, honestly you could spend the entire week just in the west of ireland, you have achill island, clare island, the aran islands, you have sligo and ben bulben, wb yeats grave in drumcliff

Wolfe Tone

eternal wrote: »

Im going to go with the great advice above.I think people think because Ireland is small that they can do it all in a few days.
I dont know much about Dublin ,but Galway ,Kerry and West Cork are some of the most beautiful parts to visit.Belfast is a long drive and is basically an English city.Theres nothing wrong with that ,just wouldnt be top of my list.

:rolleyes:

Belfast is a great city OP, lovely people too and there is a lot of modern history there too, well worth a visit! I would do Dublin, Galway and Belfast, thats loads and each is a unique and different side to Ireland.

blorg

Dublin, Galway, Belfast? Cities? For the whole visit? I'd skip the lot of them, and head west/south-west into the countryside near the coast. Dublin is not particularly interesting either as European cities go IMO, if you only have a week.

JustAThought

Some great suggestions here but for 7 days the small village of Clonakilty is far too far to drive; be fair!!! Westport is nice but a one street village and very far to go if you've only 7 days and don't want to sit in Molliys pub all day!
There is an app " great drives of Ireland" by theIrish Times that's just out; I think it's free ; download that and have a look!
As far as cities go, you really should visit Belfast and when there do some of the tours; it's an important part of what's been going on in this country as well being a great little city and great people; well worth a day trip.
If you drive from Dublin ( and leave early) there is a fabulous place to visit in the way up; Ulster American Heritage Museum ( I'll check the name and repost; they changed it a while back) . It's a theme park of Irish homes and farms, full of different styles of old traditional houses and you can go inside them all and look around and talk to tour guides dressed as peasants and see them making traditional foods and try them... It's a fabulous spot for all ages and great for families and also very useable if it's raining : ) and not expensive!
On the way after that you can do Belfast and detour to the Giants Causeway, a Unesco world heritage site : )

In Dublin you MUST visit Kilmainham Gaol!!! Its a must- see and great value; an old huge prison with a separate museum, guided tour, video show and it goes a great job of explaining Irish history in an interesting easy way that's very family friendly.

There are also new walking tours of Dublin city that Board Failte have put up on the Internet; you download the map routes and histories before you go and then can self tour ! Or take a guided walking tour either!!!
The previous posters have some great suggestions but it's SO true about the ling drives on very windy bad roads so maybe don't be overoptimistic!!!
I would throw Wicklow, Glendalough, into the bag! It's an hour and a half from Dublin city and has Celtic crosses, round tower ( can't go in) and a small interpretive centre but you can go walking around the lake on on the boardwalk over the marsh if you ve kids and buggies and picnic and play, and be in a bit of the country without having to drive for hours... Accessible if you stay in Dublin for a night ir two.you can also do Powerscourt country home or Kilruddery country home in the way if that's your thing!
Have a great holiday!! Just dont forget to pack a fleece and umbrella!!!

Taltos

blorg wrote: »

Dublin, Galway, Belfast? Cities? For the whole visit? I'd skip the lot of them, and head west/south-west into the countryside near the coast. Dublin is not particularly interesting either as European cities go IMO, if you only have a week.

+1
If you want a more traditional Irish experience get out west away from the cities. Dublin is your typical european city with all that entails... Not that large, very busy, and not always that pleasant. Don't get me wrong I love it - but not as a tourist destination especially after seeing cities like Paris, Budapest or Boston.

Head out the country and have a good time - most folk are generally friendly though be prepared for not being able to understand some of our accents - looking at the guys from Waterford, West Cork and West Kerry here .
Personally I love Kerry - would move there in a heartbeat if I could find a job - some love remote spots and great scenery - though to be honest can say that about many other counties. One I did not see above here is Donegal - again lovely people, some cracking scenery.

Just take your time driving, there are some crazy folk here as in other places and the roads are not always the best - unfortunately for some of the best views the small roads or bohreens are your only way to go... Sheep and cows have right of way down these
Also if you are going in swimming pay attention to warning signs - most beaches are safe but there is one in Kerry that I know of that has lethal rips - you do not want to go in the water there - weird as just around the headland is one of my favourite beaches.

It all depends what you are looking for - do you want to expand a bit more?
eg Beaches / surfing - the west
Mountains (not in the class of your country) - again west (south & north) as well as some midlands.
Historic sites - all over eg Wicklow
Scenery - Glendalough (historic also) as well as the many Coilte forests

Either way hope it goes well for you.

JustAThought

... Just checked!
The Ulster American Folk Park
The website makes it look a but twee but it really dosnt do it any justice!

Nobody mentioned Bunratty Castle and folkpark in Clare, or the Burren!!! The UAFP is the same style and content as Bunratty which is also just brilliant!! And if you go down there don't so both they're the same day out almost in different locations; one much closer to Dublin!!!
If you re down at the Cliffs of Moher make sure you go to the Burren and try and do the walking tour from their interpretive centre; well worth the effort! You can take a tour bus from Galway for the day that will cover the cliffs, Burren, and a few other spots...

And for Irish Music ( free) upstairs every night in Oliver Synge & Gogartys in Temple Bar while you re here!!!

Have a great holiday : ) enjoy!

Daisy M

In fairness westport has more to offer than just one street, its a beautiful village and westport house and gardens are well worth a visit. The house really tells a story of Irelands history. Now I have to agree that Bunratty park is probably the best day out you could have. You could probably spend the day there, bring a picnic!! It gives great insight as to what a village in Ireland was once like and the castle is amazing. If you want to plan routes try using aa routeplanner, it will give you times on how long your journey should take and best route to take. Enjoy your hols!

keithclancy

If your renting a car i'd use this crowd:
http://www.autoeurope.ie

http://www.carhire3000.com are sometimes good as well.

Used Autoeurope around 13 or 14 times now all around Europe.

For your dates their showing 242 euro inc airport pickup fee (important as booking directly they don't usually include this)

Checkout the fully refundable excess aswell with Autoeurope, its usually much cheaper than the option with the Car Hire Company.

Their just a broker, but they've always been much cheaper than going direct with Hertz/Europcar/Sixt/Irishcarrentals etc.

Just and idea .. maybe have a comparison check yourself

Just be aware you need to factor in about an hour extra dropping the car back as the drop off isn't in the Airport, its about 3-4 KM's away from the Terminal with a shuttle bus that comes every 20 mins.

Also, drop back the car full !! and don't fill up in the Airport if possible, its a rip.

With regard to the barrierfree toll on the M50:
https://csc.eflow.ie/myaccount/payUTT.aspx

You have to pay by 8pm the following day, so best thing to do is when you get the car from the rental company and have internet access somewhere, just pay in advance for how every many trips you'll take crossing it (basically whenever you use the M50 Ring road around Dublin to go North to South or vica versa)

Theres also 'Safety Vans' in Ireland now as well, update your tomtom to let you have some warning where they are, the Rental company will just bill your card + an admin fee if caught.

Also checkout:
http://www.pumps.ie/

For cheap fillups (theres an Android app)

Dont bother with an International Driving License, waste of money, your Croatian license is recognised in Ireland.

Checkout
http://www.citydeal.ie/

For some deals on restaurants and activities.

Alcohol and Cigarettes (around 8.50 euros) are expensive in Ireland, bring your own with you from Croatia:

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/travel_to_ireland/customs_regulations_for_travellers.html

Check under the:

Alcohol and tobacco allowances for travellers to Ireland from EU

Accomodation wise heres a 10% off code for hotels.com:
HCSUMK6

Also the www.tui.de are selling a bunch of Hotel rooms at below cost so do a comparison

Have fun .. you'll love it !!

traveler.hr

Thanks to all!!!
You've helped me alot!
:):)

karolbyrne

kerry is a must..dont forget rock of cashel in tipperary

zenno

you should also check out the Aillwee caves in the Burren In County Clare absolutely amazing I have to say. I was only down there 6 months ago. well worth a look.
http://www.aillweecave.ie/aillweecave.html

Aillwee Cave welcomes you to its underground surprises. Expert guides will accompany you through beautiful caverns, over bridged chasms, under weird formations and alongside the thunderous waterfall. Marvel at the frozen waterfall and explore the hibernation chambers of long-extinct brown bears. Explore Europe's largest rock garden - follow the trail up Aillwee Mountain and discover the ecological wealth and diversity that the Burren has to offer

kippy

Great thread - good to see whats on offer here and people praising it.
There's a lot more that hasnt been mentioned but I think Galway/Clare/Kerry and Cork have some of the most scenic spots and you'll need a bit of time to get around to them all.
Mayo (Achill Island, Westport), Donegal (Coastline) are also really nice areas.
7 days is very little to be honest so stick with places near enough each other.

I've been to Croatia myself and have to say it was one of the best holidays I was ever on so I hope you enjoy your time here.

wingnutbond007

Hi. If you're in the west if ireland for any part of your trip you could rent a classic car from heritage sports cars in Co. Limerick. We have used them twice now and it is a great experience. We have rented a Jaguar E-Type and a Ferrari from them on separate occasons and it makes for a great few days touring. I think the rates are really reasonable for such classy cars. The website is www.heritagesportscars.com .

traveler.hr

kippy wrote: »

Great thread - good to see whats on offer here and people praising it.
There's a lot more that hasnt been mentioned but I think Galway/Clare/Kerry and Cork have some of the most scenic spots and you'll need a bit of time to get around to them all.
Mayo (Achill Island, Westport), Donegal (Coastline) are also really nice areas.
7 days is very little to be honest so stick with places near enough each other.

I've been to Croatia myself and have to say it was one of the best holidays I was ever on so I hope you enjoy your time here.

I'm happy you had a great time in Croatia! :):)
I'm sure that my holidays in Ireland will be the same!:);)

Bizi

I'm glad to have read this thread and the advice.
What car did you end up renting (which rental company)?

We're off to Co.Clare this week and then Co. Kerry next week, so hopefully we all get some great scenery, driving and fun.

wingnutbond007 wrote: »

Hi. If you're in the west if ireland for any part of your trip you could rent a classic car from heritage sports cars in Co. Limerick. We have used them twice now and it is a great experience. We have rented a Jaguar E-Type and a Ferrari from them on separate occasons and it makes for a great few days touring. I think the rates are really reasonable for such classy cars. The website is www.heritagesportscars.com .

I am very interested in this; wish I'd seen it earlier.

How was the Ferrari? I'd be tempted to try the 911 around Co Clare.

traveler.hr

Just to post a short feedback.

Ireland is magnificent and we have decided to return as soon as possible.
We have visited Dublin, Rock of Cashel, Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Connemara national park, Wicklow, Belfast, Giants Causeway, Carrick a rede.

Everything was perfect. Irish people are very kind and friedly.

Next time we'll visit Killarney, Kilkenny, Dingle and Cork.

Thanks once again to all.

:):)