anyone been to Ireland?

DH and I are planning to vacation in Ireland at the end of April.

I have done some preliminary research online, but I was wondering if anyone here has 'insider' info as to where we should go, places to stay, sights to see ...
i figure we'll be there about 7 nights/8 days ..

thanks in advance!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I was there when I was 13 years old, so I won't be of much help! But I'm curious what people have to say, DH and I are thinking of going this summer (my dad was born there, have some relatives there, we'll probably stay with my cousin for a few days at least.)

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

Last year we went for 18 days in the summer. It was the MOST amazing experience I have ever had. We used CIE tours. We wanted a tour because my DH was afraid to drive. I have traveled a lot and Ireland by far was my favorite!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

If you want the 'party town' that would be Galway. IMO you can't go to any county in Ireland & not be in awe. It's beautiful!!

A fun thing you can do is just drive from county to county & stay in B & B's. My friends & I did that one year it was fantastic.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

7 or 8 days is not enough! just kidding, ok not j/k

My favorite is the west of Ireland. I would start in Galway (stay for 2-3 days) and take a side trip to one of the Aran Islands take the ferry from Connemara to Inishmore.
Also visit Spiddal we did this part of Galway on a tour bus, which was great because the driver narrated alot telling us what we were driving through, history etc. If we were self touring would never have learned half the stuff. So this tour was good. It also went to Clifden, Kylemore Abbey, Maam Cross, Rossaveal, etc.
Driving south through Clare you must stop in Doolin for traditional Irish Music, have a pint at Gus O'Connors (Milltown Malbay has a fantastic trad music festival but I think its in July) Then the Cliffs of Moher would be your next stop not to far away. We only spent about an hour tops here, it is beautiful but sooo windy!

If you don't want to go through Limerick there is a ferry that will take you from Clare to Kerry. Depending on what time it is you may want to stay right here in Listowel overnight. Then on to Killarney. I would set up shop here for at least two days, so you can do Killarney and the Ring of Kerry or I highly recommend a day trip to Dingle Bay At this point you can either check out Cork. I hear Kinsale is lovely, though we neve made it down there. We started to head up Dublin continuing to make stops along the way, ie Cashel in Tipperary

I could go on, there were other small stops in between. If you want B&B recs, basically we started with the one in Galway and then most of them called ahead to other friends they knew in the places we were going. All were Bord Failte approved and as long as you see the sign you'll be ok. (they have a B&B directory you can order)

If I can think of anything else I'll add it later. Irishtracy... anything to add?

Have fun!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

Definitely hit County clare and see the Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty castle. Ennis is a pretty good town, lots to do. You should see the Rings of Kerry too. Be prepared to spend a lot. A soda is about $5! It is cheaper to buy beer!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

awesome ... thanks!

do you suggest a self driving tour, taking a full out tour, or just perhaps some tours here and there in certain locations?

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

We did 7 days in Ireland last Sept. We rented a car and drove around ourselves. We landed in Shannon and drove to Galway our first day - I wouldn't recommend much of a longer drive on day 1. You'll be tired from the flight and driving on the other side of the road is nerve-wracking at first. We LOVED Galway. After that we drove down the Coast to the cliffs of Moher and some golf courses. I forget exactly where we stayed. We then spent 2 days in a little town called Dingle in Kerry. Then we spent our last night in Bunratty which is convenient to drive back to Shannon to fly home.

It was a great trip. I'd recommend not trying to pack too much in - if you try to see the whole country, you'll spend the whole trip in the car. Pick an area you really want to see and concentrate on that area. We stayed along the western coast - never got near the east side or Dublin.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

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Posted by Miro127

awesome ... thanks!

do you suggest a self driving tour, taking a full out tour, or just perhaps some tours here and there in certain locations?

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We wanted the freedom to travel on our own watch, so we self drove. But we took a tour bus excursion while in Galway, I'm pretty sure this was the one, Its the same itinerary Galway Tour if we were driving ourselves we wouldn't have gotten to learn about most of what we were seeing. So it was worth it.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I'm totally biased because I lived in Dublin for a year and all my family in Ireland moved from the West to Dublin - and I'm a city person.

But Dublin is the best! It has such great restaurants, museums, art galleries, theatre, nightlife. It's a european capital city and has so many great cultural offerings.

See the film About Adam - out in 2000 with Kate Hudson - set in Dublin - makes the city look beautiful, I think.

I didnt like Galway city much - I thought it was too much like a college town and there wasn't enough to do - but there is a great theatre there - the Druid Theatre company and the Macnas theatre company - definitely check them out if you get the chance.

Tours are easy - but they're generally full of American tourists (that was my experience). Go around Ireland on your own.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I loved about adam, I have never known another person who has seen it.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

If you are only going for 7 days, I would stick with the West Coast of Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher are awesome as is the Burren and the Dingle Pennisula (Not as crowded as the Ring of Kerry). There are tons of castles all over Ireland. I would stay in B&Bs and rent a car. Also, driving will take long as there aren't a lot of major highways and the roads are narrow and very curvy. DH and I have been living in Dublin for a year now. You could see all of Dublin in 2 days. However, if you want to go to the West from Dublin it is about a 6 hour drive.

Don't get sticker shock when you are booking your trip, Ireland is very expensive especially with the $/Euro exchange rate. If you have any questions, please feel free to FM me. B&Bs can run from 35 to 55 Euro per person per night. Also, we have done a lot of road trips around Ireland so I could recommend a few B&Bs as well as restaurants.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

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Posted by Janice

I loved about adam, I have never known another person who has seen it.

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i lived about 100 yards from the bookstore where a number of scenes were shot and my roommates were extras in the fim - I saw it in the theatre in Dublin.

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

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Posted by Kate

7 or 8 days is not enough! just kidding, ok not j/k

My favorite is the west of Ireland. I would start in Galway (stay for 2-3 days) and take a side trip to one of the Aran Islands take the ferry from Connemara to Inishmore.
Also visit Spiddal we did this part of Galway on a tour bus, which was great because the driver narrated alot telling us what we were driving through, history etc. If we were self touring would never have learned half the stuff. So this tour was good. It also went to Clifden, Kylemore Abbey, Maam Cross, Rossaveal, etc.
Driving south through Clare you must stop in Doolin for traditional Irish Music, have a pint at Gus O'Connors (Milltown Malbay has a fantastic trad music festival but I think its in July) Then the Cliffs of Moher would be your next stop not to far away. We only spent about an hour tops here, it is beautiful but sooo windy!

If you don't want to go through Limerick there is a ferry that will take you from Clare to Kerry. Depending on what time it is you may want to stay right here in Listowel overnight. Then on to Killarney. I would set up shop here for at least two days, so you can do Killarney and the Ring of Kerry or I highly recommend a day trip to Dingle Bay At this point you can either check out Cork. I hear Kinsale is lovely, though we neve made it down there. We started to head up Dublin continuing to make stops along the way, ie Cashel in Tipperary

I could go on, there were other small stops in between. If you want B&B recs, basically we started with the one in Galway and then most of them called ahead to other friends they knew in the places we were going. All were Bord Failte approved and as long as you see the sign you'll be ok. (they have a B&B directory you can order)

If I can think of anything else I'll add it later. Irishtracy... anything to add?

Have fun!

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WOW!!! What a flashback you gave me!!! That was such a great trip!!! AHHHhh the good ole days!!!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I'm actually from Ireland (my family lives in Galway, although we've lived in the North, and I was born in Dublin). Galway is a lot of fun - there's a really great pub called the Kings Head on Quay Street in town - its very cool inside and if they have a concert on that night its definitely worth going up to - the stage is set around an organ and its just so cool looking. There are loads of things to do in the Galway area - the Aran Islands are gorgeous. Kate gave a really good review of whats around there to see so i wont repeat everything!! The Cliffs of Moher are breathtaking, and Dingle is just lovely too.

The East coast has a very different landscape than the west. Much more refined whereas the west is more rugged. Dublin is a blast! Temple bar has lots of fun pubs. There are lots of museums and places like Dublin Castle and St. Stephens Green are nice to see - and the Guiness Brewery and Jameson Distillary are always hits with the guys! Wicklow is absolutley lovely country too - just outside of Dublin.

You could actually do the Galway area and Dublin in a week. You could fly into Shannon, drive to Galway (or take the bus) and spend a few days there. Then, there is a train that leaves from the center of Galway that takes you to the center of Dublin. Dublin is really easy to get around on foot or by bus - I would recommend NOT having a car there as traffic is a nightmare! Then at the end of the week you could fly out of Dublin. Ireland is expensive though, so do keep that in mind.

I say do Ireland on your own and forget the week long tour - it will be much more intimate for the 2 of you and you'll discover so many things you'd miss otherwise! Good luck and have a blast!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I've been there a few times. Took some classes in college at The UCG in Galway. Galway is my absolute favorite part of Ireland. My grandmother is from there and we all love it. Kings Head is a great bar. HAve fun!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

I went there after I graduated from college with 2 of my friends and had the best time! We all loved Dingle.. you have to go.. it's a small town on the Dingle Peninsula on the southern shore.. it's a wonderful town!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

thank you all so much for the info .. all of it is very helpful! i'm thinking we'll focus on the west coast. wish we had more time ..

what is interesting me is that many of you are saying Ireland is pricey ... it looked to me that B&Bs were rather inexpensive .. but i guess i was wrong!!

are there any castles in particular you recommmend staying at? (i figure we'll do 1 or 2 nights at a castle .. they seem pricier).

has anyone flown Aer Lingus? if it's anything like Al Italia i'll stay far away, but they seem to have rather fairly priced flights (looks to be about $350 pp round trip).

thank you!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

We went there about four years ago. The West Coast was our favorite place; when we go again we'll fly to Shannon and avoid Dublin altogether. Dublin is nice, we just loved the West.

I am very partial to a little town in Limerick called Ballingarry - my mom's family is from there. There is a GREAT restaurant there (great restaurants are rare in Ireland) called the Mustard Seed. It's also a hotel but very $$$$$.

As others have said, def go to Galway and the Connemara area.

Have FUN!!!!!!

Re: anyone been to Ireland?

We missed Galway as well. We left our tour in Dublin and headed to to Killarney in County Kerry for a wedding. By far, Killarney was my favorite city besides Waterford (and not for the crystal)

Bunratty castle was fun because of Diry Nelly's. That pub was fantastic! Oh, I wanted to retun in Feb. but DH wanted to go on a cruise, he won! UGH!!!!