Itinary?
Hi,we will be in Ireland for 2 weeks in late july, early august. It seems, that we need to book accomodation in advance, so we need to have an accurate plan. We have this so far (note that there is a day to spare. The first day is not planned. We choose to skip Dublin, since we will save this for a long weekend later).
Our interests are culture, historical sights and nature. We rent a car to get around.
1. ???
2. Galway via Clonmacnoise
3. Galway
4. Doolin
5. Limerick
6. Limerick
7. Dingle
8. Via Ring of Kerry to Kenmare
9. Clonakilty
10. Cork (via Clonakilty to Skibbereen)
11. Cork (visit Cashel)
12. Waterford (via Ring Peninsula)
13. Wexford (via Wexford, Irish National Heritage Park and New Ross)
14. Glendalough
15. Dublin
1
If you do decide to go to Cashel, make sure you stop at Cahir Castle as well (Exit 10 on the Cork Dublin motorway, Cashel is Exit 9). Cahir Castle is one of Ireland's best preserved medieval castles.2
Hi,thanks for your reply. We are very uncertain about booking in advance. We would like not to do so, but on the other hand, we would like to avoid spending to much money by arriving in the last momient., .Also, we are afraid to spend to much time driving around to find a place if everything is fully booked. Do you know, how booked B&B's and hotels are in late july, early august? Is is possible to finde Pub's that provide accomodation?
We would look into changing the itinary.
3
Maybe if you book the large touristy areas in advance and the big cities e.g. Galway, Dingle. Most Irish towns are fairly compact so you can park up somewhere central and check out a few hotels. Guesthouses (B & B) tend to be located on the approach roads into towns.Late July, early August is peak time but half the fun in Ireland is staying longer than you expected in places or deciding to go to somewhere completely off your itiniary based on a local recommodation. I understand your hesitation though. Some pubs have accomodation over them alright. If you're driving you can also stay in cheap 'motels' on the edge of cities as well e.g. Aspect Hotel in Kilkenny.
Maybe the solution is to book a few of the nights and leave the rest open. So you could book your 2 nights in Galway, the night in Dingle (I recommend www.castlewoodhouse.ie) and the nights in Cork. I think one night in Limerick is probably enough and it would give you an extra day in Cork/Kerry.
4
Thanks. Another question - is it worth spending a 2 days in Northern Ireland? Derry is quite far away from the rest of our trip, but maybe it would be interesting to learn about the history in Northern Ireland. Castlewood house looks very nice, but at 140 Euro it is a bit to much to us.5
Well you could skip the Waterford and Wexford legs of the trip and spend that time in Derry/ Donegal instead. In that case I would go straight to Derry and then on to Galway after that. Also I'm not sure if you'll need a separate visa etc for northern Ireland, depends on where you're from of course.7
If I was doing this I'd want to see Northern Ireland too. How about the Antrim coast, all the way up to the Giants Causeway, too far? Loads of beaches and castles.Just a suggestion.
John.
