The wife and I are thinking about taking a trip to Ireland this summer, sans kiddo. Neither of us have ever been. We’d probably spend about a week there sometime in late July or early August. For anyone who cares to share their experiences:
What are the must-see attractions?
Rent a car and drive the island?
We’ve been told the west coast is more interesting than Dublin/east coast. True?
Regardless of above, we’d probably want to spend at least a day in Dublin. How much time do we need to see the city?
Anything else we should know?
It depends on where your interests are. The good news is you can’t go wrong, it is very easy to have a good time no matter where you go in Ireland. Dublin is an interesting small city (by US standards) with good food. In the country the food can be hit or miss. Guinness and Jameson museums are worth a visit in my opinion. Same with Trinity College. Driving is OK outside of Dublin. You don’t need nor want a car in Dublin, as both traffic and parking can be very bad. Depending on the time of the year you could go to the horse racing tracks or watch a Gaelic football game. Personally, I would spend 2-3 days in Dublin then pick 1 or 2 place to hit elsewhere. Both coasts have interesting places to visit. Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Dingle, Galway & Limerick all have something to offer. That time of the year, flying to Shannon is an option you could check, if the flights are better than Dublin for you.
I’d see if I could fly in to Dublin out of Shannon
Dublin; trinity, Guinness, temple bar, national gallery etc
I’d then go west stopping for the blarney, to cliffs of mother, then go down to Killarney, do the ring of Kerry etc maybe go out to Dingle
You have to bear in mind that distance and time for driving in Ireland are completely different to US.
Whilst there’s now motorways east west, once you’re off them, traffic moves a little more slowly 🤣
Everything Andrew said, though I would go to the Cliffs of Moher not mother. 🤣
The one other thing I deviate from his recommendation is that I did not go down to Killarney and Kerry. I went to Dublin, then went up to Belfast, across the north of Ireland to Co. Donegal, then down the west coast hitting Co. Sligo, Co. Mayo, Co. Cavan and Co. Clare. Doing that, you could fly into Dublin and out of Shannon. I very much agree about driving taking much longer.
I haven’t been for a very long time. I would really like to go back.
Went about a year ago with my brothers and aging father for about a week.
We flew in and out of Dublin and drove around the country.
They drive on the wrong side of the street which takes about a day to adjust to, they have a ton of roundabouts and streets are VERY narrow outside of the highway system.
Be prepared for every bar to have the same menu. Fish and chips is very different in each town but they were all very good. The Guinness also varied from place to place but always very good.
Most hotels do NOT have air conditioning or a gym.
Dublin is a city so if you like cities - its fun. Visit Guinness and Jameson, but the beer at Guinness is not as good as the pubs. We think because they pump it from the basement to the bar on the top floor so it was a bit thinner from the pressure.
Galway Bay has a nice little “town center” and the Galway Bay Hotel is very nice (get a water view room). It was the best hotel we stayed in over the week (it did have a gym).
Cliffs of Moher are a “must see” if you do head west as others have said.
Avoid the city of Waterford. Kilkenny was nice.
Fun trip, lots of driving, lots of pubs, lots of walking, some rain but not like advertised.
If we don’t rent a car, is it easy enough to get around between cities by train/bus? Can you get out to places like Cliffs of Moher from Galway without a car?
If you’re a swimmer - make sure to get some good seas swims in. The 40 foot in Dublin is a cultural experience.
If the weather’s nice get a cider at the Pavillion bar by the cricket pitch at Trinity. Poke your head into museum building too (it’s mostly classrooms and off the public radar - but the lobby is one of the most amazing spots on campus https://www.tcd.ie/...ogy/about/museum.php )
If you can get to some horse racing that’s also a great cultural experience. Leopardstown etc. you’ll get to meet lots of locals vs just hanging out with other tourists. If you can ride a horse I have some other great recommendations- but they are not for the faint of heart.
ETA - one of the most historically interesting tours in Dublin is the kilmainham gaol. I have not been in a while- but was always fascinating.
Skip Blarney unless you go off peak. Some of my family did and had no wait, said it was boarderline worth that, but I guess in season can be very long wait’s for not much.
Depending on your finances, there are some wonderful castle hotels.
Did it 20 plus years ago, so wonder what has changed.
Def. rent a car. With only a week, you won’t have a ton of time to see a lot. We spent two weeks basically driving the south coast over to Shannon and up into Connemara and then straight back across. Interesting as you get further into Connemara, a lot of the signs started being in Gaelic only
At that time there was a book I got at the airport that rated all the B&Bs, we’d pick how far or where we wanted to go and find a B&B nearby and ring them up. Probably all on line now.
Things I remember…
Kilkenny and Kilkenny Castle
Powerscourt
Staying in Doolin and going to the pub there
Cliffs of Moher
The Burren and Poulnabrone dolmen and, I think, some caves…
Dingle town and peninsula. Did a great archaealogy tour there.
The northwest - Roundstone, Clifden etc are fantastic. Stayed at a place (“castle”) called Ballynahinch
