Help for Ireland Travel

[owl]

My special lady friend is traveling to Ireland for 7 days in Sept. Her birthday is in mid-August, and I'm trying to come up with a comprehensive guide for her.

 

Anyone have any suggestions about places to visit, roads to take, transportation to use, places to avoid?

 

I know that there are some Ireland and UK natives here, as well as some well-traveled folks.

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!11

[jff]

DEFINITELY go to Dingle.

 

Killarney Nat'l Park was very nice. http://homepage.eircom.net/~knp/

 

We wish we had spent one more day in Galway and one less in Dublin.

[remphish1]

I spent time in Dublin and Belfast and I would highly recommend the side trip to Belfast to see the Murals. That is what I was most impressed with on my trip. You can take a black taxi tour which was very informtaive. In Dublin the visit Grafton St and Killoheim?? Jail. I enjoyed the Jameson tour too.

 

[jff]

I enjoyed the Jameson tour too.

 

 

Everyone seems to. We took a double decker tour on new years day 1999. Nobody got off at any of the stops, except the Guinness and Jameson stops. The bus completely emptied at the Guinness brewery, and 90% of the bus got off at Jameson.

[gogo]

I spent time in Dublin and Belfast and I would highly recommend the side trip to Belfast to see the Murals. That is what I was most impressed with on my trip. You can take a black taxi tour which was very informtaive. In Dublin the visit Grafton St and Killoheim?? Jail. I enjoyed the Jameson tour too.

 

Yes, I second the murals in Belfast, and Kilmainham in Dublin. I sent Allison a bunch of links recently, let me cut and paste those from my PMs to her, and I'll be back in a minute...

 

OK, here's what I sent to her, much of which was cribbed from info I sent to Gina last year:

 

Tourist-y things to see' date=' which are still worth it: Kilmainham Gaol ( http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricS...nhamGaolDublin/ ) and the Brazen Head ( http://www.brazenhead.com/ ) for Sunday afternoon music. Oh, and Mom would tell you to go shopping on Moore Street (an outdoor-market scene; for all your bootleg CD needs!).

http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europ...rkets-BR-1.html

Here's just a bit about Moore Street. If I recall correctly it's just behind the ILAC' date=' if that helps at all. You may be seeing some stuff about it in the news, it's kind of in the middle of a redevelopment controversy (which brings out a lot of racial issues as well, since it's now also a high-density immigrant area), and one part of that is a conservation battle over 16 Moore Street, which is another important 1916 site. I haven't been there in a few years, so I'm not sure what state it's in currently, but it's been a main market area in Dublin forever, and it's definitely what my mom remembers as being sort of the "saltiest" part of Dublin, from when she was making trips into the city as a little girl.[/quote']

For places very near by' date=' and good for walking, try Wicklow:

(walking in Glendalough)

(seaside, tour the old Gaol, etc. [yeah, we're big on the jail tours ])

 

In the North:

Belfast: not really scary at all. Lots to see and do.

 

The Glens of Antrim: http://www.ireland-holidays.net/English/Home.htm (so pretty they wrote a song about it!)

 

The West:

Galway: http://www.galway1.ie/sights/ I love Galway. Shopping, music, street artists, etc. Very crowded, lots of fun, and you get to hear Irish spoken! Also, if you get a chance, you definitely need to get out to the Aran Islands at some point:

http://www.arandirect.com/

 

Clare: center of Irish music and dance, lots of remote little towns, and fabulous scenery at the Burren.

http://www.claretouristcouncil.ie/

Try Ennis (a mini-Galway), Doolin, Lisdoonvarna, Ballyvaughan... European tourists love this part of Ireland specifically because it's NOT Dublin; you'll get a whole different feel out there.

> Must sees/dos for me: Doolin' date=' the cliffs of Moher, Lisdoonvarna, Poulnabrone and everything else in the Burren including a hike up Mullaghmore (we did that this past visit, and it was pretty awesome. You can easily get up and down in two hours, and should pack Flakes or Buttons for strength during the hike :-}). For food, Linnane's in New Quay (near Ballyvaughan) is my fav spot, but in a pinch or in Ballyvaughan with no way of getting out to New Quay, then Monk's in Ballyvaughan, as it is VERY expensive now; in Ennis, the Town Hall for a sit down meal or pub grub, or Henry's for good pizza, salads, brownies, and cappuccinos; for guinness, Cassidy's in Carran; excellent food and atmosphere at Moran's Oyster Cottage on the Weir, in Kilcolgoan (which is actually in Galway, and if she ends up in Galway, she should go to Coole Park to see the autograph tree and the creepy Seven Woods ).

 

Can I also give a shout out for Loop Head? This is the tip of the peninsula in the most western part of Clare, and is truly stunning. It will take a full day to drive there and back, including pints and crab claws at the Long Dock in Carrigaholt, but the time we did was one of my most favorite days ever sightseeing in Clare.[/quote']

Sadly' date=' I've got nothing on where to stay near Glendalough, as I've only had my lazy ass driven there on day trips from Dublin. But have you discovered the joys of Bord Failte yet? Go into any tourist office, and they can find you a B&B, hostel, whatever, anywhere in the country, and book it for you right there. I've always found them to be fantastically helpful. It's all on-line now too

( http://www.discoverireland.ie/ ), but if you go into an office in Dublin, someone is sure to have a good idea of where to stay in Wicklow.

 

 

OK' date=' here are a few more ideas:

 

Donegal Gaeltacht: the Irish-speaking area in the north. Also, it's on the coast and supposed to be very pretty (I've never been, so I can't vouch for it!). I have been to the Aran Islands, and it definitely is neat to be in a place where people are speaking Gaelic.

 

The Ulster-American Folk Park: this is in Tyrone, it would be a very easy drive from Derry. It's a little cheesy, but kind of cool. It's a series of houses and streets set up as houses would have been in Ireland throughout the centuries, getting progressively more modern and more urban. Then you go onto a "ship", and when you come out the other side, you're in an American town as Irish immigrants would have experienced it when arriving here 100 or 200 years ago.

 

Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh. My sister Mary and her husband (he's from near there) went to these last summer, and their kids loved it. Mary said that there's a very touristy visitors center, but the caves themselves are interesting.

 

Belleek Pottery, also in Fermanagh. We took the tour here a while back (more than 10 years ago, I think!), but I remember it being pretty interesting.

 

Bundoran! We were here on the same trip as the Belleek visit. It's this insane little seaside town, full of gambling parlors and country-music bars and boardwalk amusement parks. The drive getting there was lovely, but unless you're interested in being in a holiday town with thousands of other people, all wandering the streets drunk and gambling at all hours, don't bother. Although, if you're a fan of Las Vegas (or maybe Atlantic City?), this is probably the closest you'll get in Ireland!

 

The Giant's Causeway and the Glens of Antrim: Mary always wants there to be something to do when she gets to a place, so she doesn't recommend these spots. If you're interested in spectacular scenery though, this would be the place.

 

And then in Derry:

The Museum of Free Derry

Free Derry Tours

Murals Tour

 

I can't vouch for any of these specifically, but that's definitely what I'd want to see if I were in Derry (that last one also has bus tours to the Giant's Causeway, hiking tours, etc., so depending on your level of interest in driving yourself vs. having a tour guide, you might want to check them out).

 

And now I'm noticing that no where in any of this did I mention Newgrange, which I also like very much: http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm

[owl]

Mmmmm Jameson. Thanks so far!!!

[alison the wilca]

she must see Connemara. I did it on the Connemara Bus (http://www.galway1.ie/faq/connemara.htm) which was so great. we stopped in small towns, took scenic walks, etc... just a great way to see the area. I hope it is still running, I was there 5 years ago. The bus is vintage and the driver is a true joy. It leaves from Galway, which is a nice little town in its own right. The tourism office in Galway has all the info she would need.

[jff]

Gogo mentioned Ennis. Ennis would be the perfect place to stay for the last day/night before flying home (assuming you'd be flying out of Shannon Airport). We made the mistake of staying in Shannon on our last night. The folks we stayed with were nice, but Shannon was a generic US style suburb with no pubs and only a mall w/ chain restaurants.

[gogo]

If you're not going to rent a car, which we usually do because we're on a pretty tight schedule visiting relatives in some far-flung remote places, check out the bus and train schedules here: http://www.cie.ie/home/

 

There are also day trips and bus tours available there.

 

For only seven days, I would recommend no more than a day or two in Dublin. And maybe a day in Belfast for the murals and black taxi tour, and a day in Antrim for the Giants Causeway and other sightseeing. Then the rest in the west, a minimum of three days for Galway, Clare, maybe even Sligo (Yeats Country).

 

 

Edit: I just checked, and some of the links in my previous post were broken. I've updated most of them now, I think.

[Preferred B]

If you're looking for a place to stay not far from Shannon, about five years ago we stayed at Dromoland Castle and that was very fun. It was included as part of a package accomodations deal, though (one night in a castle and then four other nights in B&Bs of your choice in any city) so I don't really know how practical it is.

[owl]

Thanks, everyone! This is a big help.