First time to Ireland. Need itenerary help!

#19 - sounds about right. And bear in mind that as previous posters mentioned it'll be getting dark early-ish in March. Depending on how long it takes you to get out of the airport and down to Clare, some of your sightseeing might have to be the morning after.

This article gives you details of the motorway network. Dublin-Waterford and Cork-Dublin are good modern motorways. For the rest of the trip you'll largely be on slower roads. A lot of the road network on the west coast is quite hilly and/or winding anyway so you can't do great speeds (not that you'd really want to, since taking in the scenery is half the point).

The slightly tongue-in-cheek point that I was making about "authentic Ireland" is that the country has undergone a quite dramatic transformation in recent decades, with the economic base now much less dependent on agriculture than it once was, and much more on service and technology industries (recent economic problems notwithstanding). I imagine there has been a corresponding flow of population from rural to urban areas as usually happens in such cases, though I don't actually know that for sure. In any case "authentic Ireland" these days is as much cell phones, Mexican restaurants and new-build homes aspiring to Southfork style as it is wizened old men sharing pints of Guinness with their sheep.

#21 - Thanks for the article. I understand what you're saying now about authentic Ireland. It's whatever someone thinks it is and can be found in both urban and country. That's why we're trying to see both aspects. Although -- I really do hope I see "wizened old mensharing pints of Guinness with their sheep." That would be precious, and I would join him and hope he'd share stories with me. :) As much as I love my country, I don't know why anyone would want to travel here. We simply don't have the history or historical sights that Europe does and offer no real hospitatily to tourists like Europe does. Maybe I just love Europe in general too much.

Do the pubs there offer more than just beer? One of my companions doesn't drink beer at all. Do they have other liquors to make mixed drinks, or do pubs have local wines there?

Another question --

How are the trains there? If we do our trip in reverse and turn our rental car in around Shannon or County Clare somewhere, can we take a quick traintrip from Shannon or somewhere close to Dublin and shorten the trip down some? If so, do the trains run fairly often and does anyone know about how much the tickets are?

Yes, you can get spirits (a hot whiskey is one of my favourite treats in Ireland) and wine, as well as beers other than Guinness. In fact, younger people particularly are just as likely to drink European-style lager beers as Guinness. You might have trouble finding wine in the very remotest and most traditional country pubs, though I don't know - it's not something I drink in Ireland.

I don't think there is any Irish wine, the climate isn't really right for viniculture - you'll probably mostly find French, Italian, South American and Australian, maybe some Eastern European too.

Soft drinks are also available, of course. And most pubs serve food.

Wikipedia again, the Irish rail network is fairly rudimentary and I always find it rather slow compared to trains in Britain, where I live. You can figure out times and prices for any particular journey you're considering here. When comparing with the cost of the car, remember to factor in the cost of petrol (gas) and parking - not all lodging necessarily provides this free of charge.

Where are you from that has so little history and is so inhospitable? The Moon? ;)

Edited by: barney_uk2

Edited by: barney_uk2

Thanks Barney :) I take it a "hot wiskey" is literally warmed whiskey? Kind of like what we call a hot toddie here. Can you get mixed drinks like whiskey and coke or vodka and cranberry? (I'm a whiskey girl, but my traveling buddies aren't. They're more fruity drink drinkers). I can do any kind of European wine, so that'll be ok too.

Thanks for the rail info also.

And, in general I was referring to our young country (we're only around 250 years old as I'm sure you know). And, if you ask most American's simple US History questions, they wouldn't be able to answer them. I'm a history teacher (8th grade US), so I love history and culture. I've travelled Europe extensively for my age (32), and am just in love with Europe's history in general. As far as travel, unless you speak English (or now in most places especially in the south, Spanish) tourists are offered little help. Hotels are all of the Holiday Inn variety with very little atmosphere. You can't pull in a town here and meet someone who'll take you home to their B&B like you can in most places in Europe. In my opinion, we have very little to offer tourists as compared to most countries in the world. I think I come off as sounding like I don't like being an American, when I really wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, but given the chance to travel here, or there, I'll take there. :)

And, I live in Houston. We're currently 21 inches below average rain fall and in a horrible drought. It's been over 100 for the last week. Everything is dying and brown. Most of us are walking around with angry faces because the lack of rain and heat are so oppressive. And...it's only June.. Want to come visit? :)

Yes, it's pretty much the same thing as a Scottish hot toddy.

Whiskey and Coke definitely (remember Irish whiskey is a bit different from Scotch...you can get Scotch in Ireland, though, it's not totally banned!). Vodka, definitely, cranberry, I don't know for sure but I presume so.

Have you ever been to a pub in England? Irish pubs are not all that different, really. I mean, there are differences, but they have a lot more in common than, say, a bar in Paris and a bar in Houston.

I see what you're saying about the U.S. As an English-speaker that point about non-English-speaking visitors had never really struck me. But bear in mind that big attractions for Europeans include the scenery (parts of the U.S. do "spectacular" on a scale that we don't really have here). The fact that we're familiar with a (not always very accurate) image of U.S. life from movies and TV, much more so than Americans are with European life, also draws people toward places they feel they already know so well like LA and NYC. And finally, whatever may be wrong with the 24/7, 95-different-varieties-of-unhealthy-breakfast-cereal-in-the-supermarket consumer culture, I have to admit that for a week or two now and again it does make an enjoyable change!

Edited by: barney_uk2

There's an apocryphal but good story about an Irishman who, asked if his language had an equivalent word to the Spanish "manana", pondered awhile before replying "no, we don't really have an expression that conveys the same sense of urgency". ;)

So I think you'll enjoy Ireland...

The motorways in the south are a new concept
and there are only a few service stations i think
throughout the whole country there's only 3 of them
up and running so keep this in mind when your driving.
type in the following into GOOGLE NEWS
" NEW SERVICE STATION OPENED ON M7 MOTORWAY "
If you need to find a garage quickly keep an eye out for the
brown coloured signage before the exit ramps.

for locating garage fuel stops use ...PUMPS.IE /