Southern Ireland advice

Hello all,

I have some kind of complicated questions, so thanks in advance for your help!

We are planning to be in Southern Ireland for about 10 days. Our desired itinerary is as follows:
1- Dublin
2- Dublin
3-Dublin to Galway
4-Galway
5- Cliffs of Moher, to Dingle
6-Dingle
7- To Killarney via the Burren
8- Kenmore
9-Killarney
10- Dublin

I am wondering about a variety of things...

1. We aren't sure if we are going to rent a car or try to do it by public bus. Has anyone ever done a trip like this just by public transport (not tour bus). Is it possible to get to these places? Is it possible to see the Ring of Kerry, Burren, Cliffs of Moher, etc by bus?

2. If we rent a car, we need to rent an automatic. Has anyone done this? If so, how much did you pay? Do you have a recommendation for a company to rent an automatic through? I have seen really varying prices (some outrageous), so any advice would be appreciated.

3. What have people found to be the best way to attain a GPS? Purchase in advance? Rent with car? Download a preloaded map into a smart phone?

THANK YOU!

The first thing I would say is that most people wouldn't refer to 'Southern Ireland'. You would normally refer to Ireland (and most people would presume you mean the Republic of Ireland; most when referring to the republic plus Northern Ireland would say 'the Island of Ireland') or The Republic.

You haven't mentioned when you are coming but the public transport timetables have winter and summer versions. It would be tough on the better summer timetable and even worse on the lesser winter timetable. You can do it on public transport but it will be more time consuming. IMO rent a car to make the most of the money you have already invested. You can get to the Cliffs of Moher by public bus from Galway and then continue on but the RoK and The Burren would probably require a tour bus for the best results.

In terms of the GPS I wouldn't recommend it. There are lots of little roads and so on which GPS can treat badly. Ireland, for the places you are targeting, is well signposted and I think a road atlas is a better option. But I do recognise that I am old school.

I haven't rented an automatic in Ireland but have in other countries and Hertz has always treated me well. Under your plan you could always pick up the car on day 5 if you got a train/bus to Galway.

Surely the most logical thing would be to visit the Burren when in the Galway / Cliffs of Moher area.

If you go for public transport try http://www.journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie/nta/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en . Note that even in summer there are limited services to Cliffs of Moher and that you may need to be flexible elsewhere especially on Sundays and public holidays. Principal operators will include Bus Eireann and Irish Rail. Also see Getting Around section of your Ireland lp.

R

Day 7 does not make sense as Rodway has pointed out .Dingle to Killarney is 1.5hour drive going via Tralee, alittle longer if you cross the mountains. To go via the Burren you would have to go north via Limerick and then into Co Clare. And then all the way back again. Re-arrange days 5 and 6

it is more expensive to rent an automatic in Ireland, so could you learn to drive a manual before you come for the trip, I had a GPS when I travelled Ireland but it was my own, and I found it useful, I still had a basic map as well just to plot my route, and its better to get off the main roads and see more interesting things,

Ireland is not that big a country that you'll need a GPS plus it's expensive to have. If you have an iphone, you could just google map it or use a map. Not many car hire companies will have automatics as once again, it's not that big a country.

Re. the itinerary, are you staying in a different place every night or basing yourself in a place for a few nights and then doing the sights from there??

Thanks everyone! We plan to spend a night or two in each place. Thanks for pointing out day 5/6. I knew it was somewhere in there, but yes, I'll switch the days. I think we will try to rent an automatic and hope for the best. Thanks for your input!

getting from Dublin to Galway on public transport is easily done, there is a great bus service by a company called GoBus, leave every hour and use motorway non stop to Galway, takes about 2 and a half hours and ticket costs €10. check out their website www.gobus.ie. from galway you can easily go on a bus tour taking in the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. You could also then use train or bus to get from Galway to Killarney, both trips take about 5 hours and have early morning services. For Kerry i would suggest hiring a car, it is a beautiful county and restricting yourselves to being stuck in towns would be a waste. to get back to dublin with bus/train from Kerry can be easily done.

Thanks ger_power for the suggestions. Can you rent a car in Kerry, for only a day or two?

Do you have any info about the bus tour from galway for the burren and cliffs of moher? They would both be in one day?

I am having trouble finding the bus times for when busses leave and arrive in destinations. Does anybody know about these bus schedules:

Galway-Dingle
Dingle- Kenmare
Kenmare- Cork

Also, if staying in Cork, what are the options for going to the Blarney castle? Are there busses that go from the city to the castle?

THANK you!

http://journeyplanner.buseireann.ie/jp/bin/

Just plug in your destination towns there and it should give you the timetable for that day. There might be multiple stops for each town, so just pick the Bus Station for each one.

The number 215 Cloghroe bus will take you from Parnell Place bus station in cork and will drop you next to Blarney Castle. It leaves regularly

im sure its easy to hire a car in Kerry for a few days, just look it up on the internet. as for tours from Galway there a few companies that do one day tours taking in the Cliffs of Moher & The Burren like the Galway Tour Company but again do some internet research to see which one suits you best