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First time to Ireland. Need itenerary help!Country forums / UK & Ireland / Ireland | ||
I will be coming to Ireland in March 15th for 7 nights. From what I understand, it'll be cold and rainy most of the trip? Around 50 degrees? Also, I'm wanting to know if my itenerary is too packed. Day 1 Arive Dublin around 10am and drive to Ennis (how long is this drive and is there time to do anything else?) Is this reasonable? Should We drive from Dingle straight to Kinsale without spending the night in Kenmare? That will give us a 3rd night/more time in Dublin? Any insight, especially with drive times between the cities mentioned would be extremely helpful! Thanks so much! | ||
Try inputting your proposed routes into this site for estimated journey times: It's all doable, though a lot of time driving. Not sure why you are heading for Ennis, my recollection is that it's a rather grim and unfriendly little town and you could perhaps stay somewhere more pleasant in Co. Clare easily enough, say Doolin or Miltown Malbay. But others may disagree - maybe I was just unlucky when I went there. If you are flying out on Day 7 then it would certainly make more sense having another day in Dublin. However, I would suggest eliminating Waterford rather than Kenmare. I've never been to Kenmare but I'm told it's very nice. It's also close enough to Dingle, so getting there doesn't involve too much time, and you get to spend a bit more time in Kerry, which is very scenic. If you want to explore Cork City, you might be better off staying the night there rather than in Kinsale. I would think it would make more sense to visit Kinsale during the day, perhaps have lunch there, and then return to Cork for the afternoon and evening. The AA site suggests you can get from Kenmare to Kinsale in just over 2 hours. | 1 | |
You've got a lot of destinations on this trip and I think you ought to be looking at reducing them. As #1 says, Ennis is not an obviously attractive place. A lot of posters here also suggest that Blarney is an over-rated tourist trap (I've not been there myself but I bet they're right...). Also be aware that the traffic in Cork city can be really horrific and you could spend quite a lot of time getting in and out. Fond as I am of Cork - I prefer it to Dublin personally - I'd actually suggest you drop it from your itinerary here, concentrating on the smaller places for the first part of your trip and getting your urban fix from Dublin at the end. Kenmare is a nice town and worth visiting if you're in the area. | 2 | |
agree with pps. I'd drop Kenmare and waterford..and maybe ennis. | 3 | |
Google MAPS and use the MY-MAP feature | 4 | |
Thanks so much for all the advice! The reason we were thinking Ennis is because it's close the the County Clare attractions and seemed like not TOO horrible of a drive from Dublin. We were wanting to get Authentic Ireland through I drive around the coast back to Dublin, but #3 said it becomes all a little of the same. Is it reasonable to drive straight from Dingle to Cork/Kinsale and spend an extra night in Dublin? We want to enjoy and take in Ireland on our way, but we also don't want to be bored OR rushing our way through the countryside on the way back. So does this sound better AND feasable without spending 6 hours a day in the car? Every website I look at gives me different drive times..and it'll be in March...so...? Day 1: County Clare either Doolin or Ennis I really do appreciate all of your advice and help! | 5 | |
Use the aa website provided, it is a good measure of travel distance and not bad on travel time. However, aa can't take into account lashing rain, a tractor or a biddy in a bitsy Suzuki so I always consider it will take longer and at worst it doesn't. I like your second itinerary far more than your first and Kinsale is a gorgeous coastal town and I think, if Dublin is your thing, you have done the right thing to add more time. Dingle is also a great choice. March is in the colder, wetter, darker six months - on half the days you are here (on average) you can expect rain and there may even be some snow (although this is more likely in higher places). And you can expect one or two of those days to be heavy rain. | 6 | |
Ennis is on the surface a very ordinary Irish town, with not a great deal to see. But people go there because it has one of the very best Irish Traditional Music scenes in the whole country. So only go there if that is what interests you. From one extreme to another, Doolin is tourist resort that those allergic to tourist traps might find a bit too much. It also tends to be a bit closed up out of season, because there isn't much else there. If you want somewhere that is nice for the tourist, but with less of a tourist trap feel, and convenient for the Burren, then I think Ennistymon is really nice. Other options might be Liscannor, Lisdoonvarna, and Lahinch. I agree with the advice #3 gives, but it seems to be a piece of advice many visitors to this forum seem very unwilling to accept. Driving in Ireland is mostly rather slow and you end up spending all your time in the car on itineraries like this, unless you force yourself to stop somewhere a few days. | 7 | |
Maybe I was unfair on Ennis. It's one of the few places in Ireland that I couldn't wait to get out of, but quite likely I was just unlucky in my experience of it. Sounds like Iviehoff knows it better, so I'll withdraw my reservation on that score. (Though Iviehoff, is Lisdoonvarna not a tourist trap par excellence? at least that's my recollection, from a brief visit on a school trip.) It really depends on what you want to do. If your main thing is to drive around the coast and you're not bothered about seeing Dublin, then maybe your original plan is OK. Just do bear in mind the varius remarks about how much time you could be spending driving. Also, if you do try and drive along the coast much of the way, which may not always be possible, you'll be on minor roads and the driving will take even longer compared to the quickest routes between the points you have mentioned. The main road between Dublin and Waterford is well inland, and even if you head east from Waterford to Rosslare and Wexford, the main road back up to Dublin (N11) along the east coast is also actually well inland for most of its route, and probably not a very interesting drive, so I'm going to stick to my position that Waterford does not add much to your trip. The night in Kenmare on the other hand would indeed let you spend a bit more time in the countryside without driving around frantically every day. The west Cork coastline on the way between Kerry and Kinsale is very nice. I would suggest seeing if you can get good maps of Ireland and comparing them to what you can see in a guidebook in terms of places of interest, you could map out an interesting road trip, and get an idea of where would or wouldn't be near the coast. Google Maps is not really very convenient for looking at small country roads. Have a look at www.irishmaps.ie . The regional maps available at http://www.irishmaps.ie/productlistingM.cfm?SeriesID=10 might be best for you; the more detailed 'Discovery' series is also available but you would need quite a lot of them to cover the various areas you are planning to visit and it might not be worth your while. If on the day you return to Dublin you have the time, you coulld consider going through the Wicklow Mountains, if possibly stopping at Glendalough and heading back to Dublin via Sally Gap. Very scenic, but it would add at least an hour to your journey if you were coming via the coast and if you're coming all the way from Waterford at the end of a long road trip you may not be in the mood. | 8 | |
New Jersey white kid in his Sunday jeans Sorry, as you were ..... | 9 | |
:) | 10 | |
Certainly during the match-making festival. | 11 | |
Thank y'all so much for all the information! I keep reading and rereading all of the advice. I LOVE the AA travel website for travel times and directions. I'm hoping that the travel time is more accurate than not, because none of it seems too bad. We want to see both sides of Ireland, the country life and the urban part. I think we will use the direct routes between most of the cities we'll be stopping in just to save time. We're doing the Dingle Pennensula and Cliffs to see the coastal aspect. We'll also pull over if we go through a cute, quaint little village to see the authentic Ireland. I think I've decided to do the second itenerary. If the driving times are accurate and there's no lashing rain, we'll use the little stops like Muckross Castle or Rock of Cashel, etc. to break up the drives. Let me ask y'all this... Assuming we land and clear customs in Dublin and are out of the airport by 11am--can we drive to County Clare, do the Burren and see the Cliffs and make it to Dingle that night? Or is that WAY too much? That way we could do 2 days relaxing in Dingle...and then head to Cobh/Kinsale/Cork area? We're flying in/out of Dublin because it's cheaper than Flying in Shannon and out of Dublin. We're going to Waterford because we're staying in the Castle there and it looks like a lovely town. I'm sorry I have so many questions! I hope I'm not being too annoying. :) Are y'all from Ireland, or have just traveled there? Thanks again! | 12 | |
The cute quaint village is increasingly the inauthentic Ireland, but let's not get into that debate. :) You could get to Dingle that night but it would be pretty rushed. Bear in mind it will be getting dark quite early in mid-March. Also, your 11am out-of-the-airport time may be optimistic. How about reversing the sequence of the trip and doing something like this? Day 1: arrive Dublin, drive to Waterford, night there. You could squeeze in a quick visit to Cobh or Cork on the way back to Dublin on day 5. In answer to your final question, I'm not Irish but have quasi-family there (It's Complicated, as they say) and have spent about two weeks a year there for the last dozen or so years. Mostly based in Wexford or Cork city but travelling all over. Edited by: barney_uk2 | 13 | |
Heh you could certainly argue that the authentic Ireland is the kind of sprawling suburban housing estate that I and probably a few of the other posters here grew up in, but who'd want to visit that? Though even so, these days the authentic Ireland may be the sprawling housing estate on the outskirts of a formerly cute quaint village 90km from Dublin! | 14 | |
Agree with Iviehoff #15. | 15 | |
Wayyy to much. Allow about 4 hours from airport to Burren. What is "doing the Burren" for you anyway? Driving along some scenic little roads? Going on a walk through the unusual landscape to see it close up and proper? Going to see some of the stone age sites? It's mid March, it's going to be getting dark at 6.30. | 16 | |
I haven't thought about reversing the trip. It's probably quicker to Waterford/Wexford from Dublin than to County Clare and we could relax a little more. Between most of the places I've mentioned, are there major motor ways I can use? I'm sensing that I might be looking in the wrong place for "authentic Ireland." :) What should people that come to Ireland see or where should we go to get a good glimpse of it? And, #14, what is the name of this "formerly cute quaint village 90 km from Dublin" you mention? :) | 17 | |
I think there is a motorway all the way from Dublin to Waterford now. Certainly most of the way (M9). There is a motorway all the way from Dublin to Limerick. The AA website will tell you the quickest routes in any case, but as a general rule national primary roads (numbered N1-N33) will be the quickest, followed by national secondary roads (N51 and successive numbers), while regional roads (R numbers) will be smaller. However, if you want to see the more scenic parts of Ireland (especially getting between Clare and Waterford or vice versa), you'll probably have to trade down on speed. As anywhere else, motorways are unlikely to be interesting.For these sections you might want to plan your route using a map and a guidebook. The AA route planner will give you the quickest routes but I don't think it has an option for the route with best scenery or most interesting stopping points en route! As for authentic - well, I guess it's the same in any country. Which is more authentic in the US, the Appalachian mountain backcountry or New Jersey? (I should admit that anything I know of either of them is only from films and TV!) But I think your plan to see plenty of rural Ireland and the coast is a good one, and county Kerry and west Cork are very pleasant and scenic places, and as authentic as anywhere else in Ireland! Edited by: fear_rua | 18 | |
#15- I'd like to do a little of both. Drive through it, and walk around also (assuming the weather will permit). As far as the Cliffs, I think a little bit of looking at picture taking is about all you can do there, right? So an hour tops at the Cliffs should do that, right? And then a few hours driving/walking around in Burren? So with 4 hours to get to Burren area from Dublin, We'd need to spend the night somewhere in County Clare. | 19 | |
#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. | 20 | |
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 | |
#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? | 22 | |
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? | 23 | |
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 | 24 | |
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? :) | 25 | |
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 | 26 | |
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... | 27 | |
The motorways in the south are a new concept | 28 | |
for locating garage fuel stops use ...PUMPS.IE / | 29 | |
Re #22 and #23 - as Barney suggests, rail travel is rarely going to be much quicker than road in Ireland. However, there are reasonable train services from Ennis, Tralee, Killarney, Cork and Waterford to Dublin. These days almost all Irish pubs offer a very wide range of drinks. Whiskey (being an Irish invention...) is available everywhere, though it's pretty unusual to mix it with Coke in Ireland - more commonly with lemonade. Cider is very widely available (though the quality is pretty dire), and a wide range of spirits as well as a smaller range of generally mediocre wines is available in pretty much every pub. As well as alcopops, if your friends want to stick to the fruity flavours! So your beer-adverse friends shouldn't have any difficulty. | 30 | |
Excellent! Whiskey and lemonade? Wouldn't have thought about that! Do I just order a "whiskey and lemonade?" Another question for yall! Which area of Dublin should we stay in? There will be 3 ladies and we want to be in a safe area close to the main attractions we need to see? But I have no idea which area that is? | 31 | |
For the most part, unsafe areas of Dublin don't have hotels of note. You haven't mentioned budget but the Shelbourne Hotel is very nice, very expensive and close to attractions. D4 hotels are a bit further away from the attractions but very good quality and quite inexpensive at the moment. Also check out Jurys Inn Hotels - but take a look at the maps, the actual hotels are a good five or ten minute walk Temple Bar/Trinity College areas which some people might regard as the area of the 'main attractions' of Dublin. | 32 | |
Agree with Mark. The areas of central Dublin that you would probably be better off staying away from are, very roughly speaking, north-east (between Gardiner Street and Amiens Street) and south-west (everywhere west of Patrick Street, except the main road along Thomas Street-James Street). But there aren't any hotels there that I'm aware of. A couple of hotels have opened recently in areas where you might feel a bit less comfortable walking around at night: Smithfield Market and Granby Row (Maldron Hotel). There are a lot of hotels on Gardiner Street, which is kind of downmarket but not in any way dangerous. By and large any address in the Dublin 2 or Dublin 4 postcodes should be fine, as well as on the main streets or shopping areas in Dublin 1. Also Dublin 3 if you are willing to go a bit further out (the advantage being that you might find somewhere near the sea). | 33 | |
Have any of you heard of The O'Callaghan Davenport Hotel near Merriorn Square? That's where our travel lady is wanting to put us, but some of the reviews I've read aren't great? Is it in a good location? (I don't know postalcodes or areas of Dublin to know if Merrion Square is good or not). | 34 | |
I don't really know much about hotels in Dublin, but I'm pretty sure the Davenport used to have a good reputation. Merrion Square is a pleasant and very central area. As Mark said, most Dublin hotels, and probably all the hotels in that price bracket, are going to be in good areas. | 35 | |
What about Ballsbridge area? | 36 | |
That's ya D4 hotels #37. | 37 | |
Yes, absolutely fine, though obviously less central. I think any 4-star hotel should be in a pretty decent area, except for the Maldron hotels on Smithfield and off Parnell Square as mentioned above. Even the one off Parnell Square is basically fine, though getting into a rather down-market area. | 38 | |
In Ballsbridge try the SANDYMOUNTHOTEL.IE / | 39 | |
I wish I could pack you all in my suitcase and take you with me. :) Ok...I'm thinking of changing my route again....let me know if I'm crazy! I keep hearing spending a hole day and night in Waterford might be a waste of time. Sooo...I was thinking of going straight from Dublin Airport to Kinsale. How long is that drive? Spend 2 nights in Kinsale and do short trips to Waterford, Rocks of Cashel, etc. from Kinsale. Then we'd drive from Kinsale to Dingle (how long is that drive?) and spend 2 nights in Dingle. I think I like basing for 2 nights instead of schlepping our crap in and out of a different hotel every night...so it would look like this... Day 1 Dublin to Kinsale | 40 | |
Many moons ago in post #1 you were given a route planner. Use that to measure time and distances. | 41 | |
You could plausibly drop in to Cashel on your drive from Dublin to Kinsale. | 42 | |
I think if you want to go to Waterford anyway, and you've found somewhere nice to stay there, then it makes sense to spend the night there. Kilkenny would be a possibly sight-seeing stop en route from Dublin. The Rock of Cashel is quite a long way from Kinsale for a day trip. I agree with Iviehoff that if you are driving between Dublin and Cork, that would be a better time to see it. Also, Kinsale is quite far south from Cork city and on the west side of Cork harbour, so not the best base for day trips north or east of the city as you'd basically have to go through Cork to get to such places. On the other hand, there are plenty of nice spots west of Cork which you could see from Kinsale. | 43 | |
Kilkenny or Waterford? Which is a better place to stay? I really don't care about crystal, but am interested in seeing the Rock fo Cashel. I was told Waterford was a neat little coastal city to see. I've not heard that much about Kilkenny. Is it pretty close to ROC? | 44 | |
Waterford is nice, like anything coastal, nicer in the sunshine than the rain. In terms of closeness, again see the routeplanner. You've looked at that right? | 45 | |
46 - yes. I have it as a favorite. I just find it hard to trust measurements in terms of miles when that doesn't tell me road conditions, etc. Just like to get a feel for it from people who've actually done the drive. :) sorry... | 46 | |
AGGIEMANDI, | 47 | |
I repeat you will not find authentic Ireland on the inside of your Toyota Corolla. Your schedule gives me the heebie geebies and dare I say it...it represents the stereotypical american idea of visiting a country. I lived in Texas, travelling around Ireland is NOTHING like travelling around Texas, so multiply the distances by 10 to get the vibe. Doesn't matter where you are go to the pub and chat with people. | 48 | |
I agree with #49. Less driving makes for a more memorable trip. When some friends and I visited Ireland, we stayed at one friend's relative's inherited cottage in rural Co. Longford. While it was great saving money on lodging and seeing the Milky Way at night (no light pollution at all), driving country roads was stressful and kept me from fully enjoying whiskey distillery visits. Consider locations that are more accessible by train to eliminate the need for a car (http://www.irishrail.ie/home/company_information.asp# , for an inter-city rail map). I found the inter-city trains to be very nice, at least for Longford-Dublin and Athlone-Galway. If you want Authentic Ireland, go to small little-known towns. Athlone has a nice riverside castle and the world's oldest pub, Sean's Bar. Clonmacnoise has amazing monastic ruins, Bru Na Boinne organizes tours of awesome neolithic burial mounds. But none of those are along your planned route, sorry. Edited by: lsalomon | 49 | |
Kilkenny/Waterford - I'd tend slightly toward Waterford though they're both nice enough. Kilkenny has a fine castle (and, if it's still there, a terrific canteen-style place to eat in the crafts-centre-type-place across the road). Waterford is prettier, perhaps. | 50 | |