HI, I and my 3 college age kids are planning on visiting Ireland during their school break. We will be arriving in Dublin on March 14th and returning to the states on March 22. I have read the last 2 months of posts and have gotten alot of really good information (Thanks!) We still have a few questions; We arrive in Dublin at 8:00am-should we stay in Dublin for a few days or travel to 2-3 other areas and spend the last couple of days in Dublin? From the posts we were thinking about Galway and Kerry areas. We are on a tight budget so usually stay in hostels as much as we can and use trains/buses. Any suggestions on good hostels in those areas would be helpful. Any recommendations on which area would be more fun on St. Patricks Day? The guys want to golf a couple of times if possible. Do the courses rent clubs as we are only carrying backpacks? Any suggestions on lesser expensive courses? My daughter and I would like to tour a linen factory if possible, any suggestions? We had read on another site that it is cheaper to stay outside of Dublin, any suggestions for places that are easily reached by the train? Thanks in advance!
Hi there, I'm sorry to tell you that I can't answer many of your questions but I can tell you that I would advise leaving Dublin till the end because in my opinion it only takes one day to see the main sights and Dublin itself is not as charming as other parts of Ireland. I personally love Galway, for me it is the most vibrant of all the Irish cities, coming in March means aswell that you have a relatively good chance of catching a nice couple of days rather than the usual rain which is worse in Galway than anywhere else in the country! Galway also has some wonderful countryside. Also to be considered is that if you were to limit Dublin to a day you would have enough time to see more of the west coast, this of course is just my opinion as I am not a big city person and don't feel that Dublin represents the side of Ireland that I would like tourists to see. Also, I would definately say that if on a budget buses are cheaper, the train lines are also extremely limited. I would also say that Galway is always a good bet for St Patricks day, especially if your children are college age as it is mainly a university city. Anyway I really hope you enjoy your visit to Ireland whether you choose to take my advice or not, good luck!
Thanks for the advice. We tend to avoid the big cities also after catching the main sights etc. Do you have any suggestions regarding golf courses? The boys love to golf and have been golfing since they were pretty young and they can't imagine going to Ireland and not playing at least one course. Take care.
I know there is a golf course in Salthill which is about 5k from Galway city centre, there is a big one near Dublin also which is the K club, a pretty famous one I think. Apart from that I don't know any details about club rental or anything but if you look up www.discoverireland.ie you might be able to find contact details for the courses. Hope that helps!
Dublin isn't a big city. I too avoid big cities when possible but I don't think Dublin can be classed as such. You can pretty much walk across the whole city in under an hour at a snail's pace.
St Patrick's day is great fun in Dublin but its also a great day all over the country. I'd hazard a guess that it might be more charming and more intimate outside Dublin. The city's pubs can get packed to the walls and lose some of their charm in my opinion but they are fantastically rowdy if you find hte right bar, plus Dublin has the big parade.
check out the discoverireland.ie for golf courses. Many are quite famous worldwide, the K club hosted the Ryder cup three years ago.
I know Dublin isn't a big city but it is the only place in Ireland that has the city mentality and thus if you like big cities then Dublin is more for you, if not then other parts of the country would probably suit you better. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that, being from outside of Dublin myself means that I do think of it as the big city although on a worldwide scale it is more of a town. Tis hard to mentally get rid of a lifetime of Dublin being the big smoke!
Thanks for the information. I will check further into the suggested websites. What is the best way to get from Dublin airport to Galway?
I would say the easiest is Citylink bus service, they're the one I generally use and they're cheaper and faster than Bus Eireann. Also they go direct from the airport whereas with most other companies you have to get into Busaras (the city centre bus station) to catch your bus. You can find timetables and fares on www.citylink.ie, also, I may be mistaken but I think to catch the bus you exit the terminal and straight in front of you there is a building with lifts to car parks and such, you go straight through this building and when you exit the other side you should see a yellow citylink bus ahead of you across a carpark to the right. I usually fly through Shannon so hope this is still the case! Hope this helps!
I'd recommend the train to go to Galway if you're going to travel during day light. It'd be a great way to see the Irish countryside and the 40 shades of green. Traveling by train in Ireland is fantastic as it cuts straight through the Irish countryside. Within 30mins of leaving the train station, its countryside with spectacular views of the Irish hills, rivers and lakes.
It's a relaxing journey and takes about 3 hours. Bit more expensive than bus but if you're here for a holiday, totally do the train. The bus can be a pain in the arse with traffic congestion etc.
You can get a direct bus from the airport to the the Luas tram station. And from there it's 2 mins to the train station,
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