Ireland land tour itinerary

[eurodl]

Hi everyone,

 

Need your help with first visit to Ireland.  We are cruising 9/1/20 from Southampton and will be stopping at Cork, Dublin, Belfast, among others.  Here is our tentative itinerary for a 10 day tour of Ireland prior to the cruise.. The first option is traveling each day. The second is 4 home base locations. We would appreciate any opinions, tweaks, recommendations, etc. :-)

 

Option 1:

• Dublin - 1 night
• Killarney - 2 nights
• Bunratty - 1 night
• Clifden - 1 night
• Castlebar - 1 night
• Donegal - 2 nights
• Dublin - 1 night

 

Option 2:

• Arrive Dublin - do we get the car at the airport and start driving or do we spend the night and start the next day?
• Waterford (or ?) - 1 night
• Dingle (or Killarney?) - 3 nights
• Galway (or ?) - 3 nights
• Donegal (or Sligo or ?) - 3 nights
• Return to Dublin - 1 night (or 2?) we will be stopping here on the cruise but would like at least 1 full day to take a day trip to Dark Hedges. Or do we do this before the tour when we arrive?
• Ferry/Train from Dublin to London

 

Activities we would like to include: Irish National Stud, falconry, sheepdog trials, Waterford Crystal, Irish dancing (Celtic Steps?), religious/spiritual sites. Let me know if you have any other opinions/suggestions on number of nights and/or location. Also, would you recommend this order or opposite?

 

[princeton123211]

You'll most likely be happier with the home base locations option or maybe a hybrid where you keep moving but spend 2 nights instead of just 1.

 

Driving in Dublin is a miserable chore-- I would pick up the rental car at the airport, skip the city, and drive straight to Waterford if thats your first stop. Get rid of the car outside the city and just Uber back. You'll want at least 2 days in Dublin-- 1 night is way too short. 

 

Also do yourself a favor and fly from Dublin to London like everyone else-- taking a ferry then train is a huge time suck that could be better spent exploring either city in more depth. Its a 3 hour ferry followed by a 4 hour train ride plus at least 2 hours sprinkled in there waiting around. Theres a whole day gone and theres nothing really super interesting along the way. It's a one hour flight with a million departures daily from Dublin. 

[eurodl]

Thanks princeton123211.  The reason for the ferry/train is that my DH doesn't like to fly.  It's going to be hard enough to get him on the plane there and back.  We don't mind taking the time, thought it might be a nice break.

 

Wasn't sure with the jet lag if we should drive after getting off the plane.  Is it best to keep moving or take a nap? 🙂

 

 

[VMax1700]

Have you looked at flying into Shannon Airport (SNN) which is close to Bunratty and starting from there?

Delta, United, American all have season flights from east coast US to Shannon and Aer Lingus fly year round.

[eurodl]

Have not looked into that.  Do they have non-stop flights?  Would I be able to pick-up the rental car at Shannon and drop-off in Dublin?  Do you know if we can take the rental car into Northern Ireland?

 

Sorry for all the questions.

[PurpleTraveller]

I would be inclined to pick up your car at Dublin airport and immediately drive out of Dublin or pick it up after visiting Dublin (depending on if you want to visit Dublin at the beginning or end of your trip). On our first trip we drove to Kilkenny about a two hour drive and stayed the night. On our second we drove to Kingswood just at the start of the N7 which took about an hour. Both times we had flights arriving late in the afternoon and didn't want too far to drive. 

 

My first trip itinerary was

Kilkenny - 1 night

Blarney - 1 night

Killarney - 2 nights

Galway - 2 nights

Dropped car at Dublin airport then

Dublin - 2 nights

(We had to change our itinerary and skip our two nights in Waterford due to my husband being hospitalised in London but we were able to do the rest of the trip as planned and went there on our next trip.)

 

My second trip itinerary was

Kingswood - 1 night

Waterford - 2 nights

Leitrim - 1 night

Letterkenny - 2 nights

Bushmills - 1 night

Belfast - 2 nights

Trim - 1 night

Dropped car at Dublin airport.

 

We had to inform our car rental company (Europcar) that we were going into Northern Ireland and pay a surcharge but there was no problem doing so. 

 

A highlight of our first trip was spending a day trip from Killarney to drive the Ring of Kerry and to the Gap of Dunloe - the scenery was spectacular. Also we went to Blarney Castle late in the afternoon and had absolutely no queue to kiss the Blarney Stone. On our second trip we really enjoyed seeing the Giants Causeway and the beautiful scenery of the north east coast.

 

One thing to note is the roads can be narrow and it takes a lot longer to get somewhere than the distance may look. Also we found we kept finding beautiful places to stop and take photos. We felt that with our itineraries that we had sufficient time to see what we wanted and not feel stressed or rushed. 

 

The scenery in Ireland and Northern Ireland is stunning and the people are very friendly. We loved our two trips there and will return.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by PurpleTraveller

[VMax1700]

21 hours ago, eurodl said:

Do they have non-stop flights?

Yes, from east coast usa.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by VMax1700

[VMax1700]

21 hours ago, eurodl said:

  Would I be able to pick-up the rental car at Shannon and drop-off in Dublin?

Usually, yes, but it really depends on the rental company

[VMax1700]

21 hours ago, eurodl said:

Do you know if we can take the rental car into Northern Ireland?

 

Now that is the 64,000 dollar question!  Have you heard of 'Brexit'?

There might be more clarity in early 2020.  Let's just say that at the moment it should not be a problem to go into N. Ireland with a rental car (subject to rental company's policy) but, but, things are changing with UK (N. Ireland is part of UK) leaving the EU (Republic of Ireland is staying part of EU) and this is leading to possible insurance difficulties.  They should be ironed out by the time you arrive, however presently I wonder if any rental company would give a commitment that it would be ok to cross the new 'border' between EU and UK.

[geoherb]

On 7/26/2019 at 3:29 PM, eurodl said:

Wasn't sure with the jet lag if we should drive after getting off the plane.  Is it best to keep moving or take a nap? 🙂

 

 

 

For me, it's always been best to keep moving the first day to get my body adjusted to the time change better--but I've never driven after flying overnight. A couple of years ago, we found a daytime flight that left Newark in the morning and landed in London around 8:30 p.m. I found it a lot better in terms of my body getting adjusted.

[eurodl]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful suggestions.

[ducklite]

On 7/27/2019 at 10:13 AM, VMax1700 said:

Have you looked at flying into Shannon Airport (SNN) which is close to Bunratty and starting from there?

Delta, United, American all have season flights from east coast US to Shannon and Aer Lingus fly year round.

As does Aer Lingus which are often cheaper and IMHO a nicer option than the US based carriers to get to Ireland.  They code share with Jet Blue and Alaska, and I've heard United but I'm not sure how seamless that actually is.

 

Personally I think you'll be utterly exhausted coming from Ca to Ireland and will want a day to rest.  I agree with not picking up the car in Dublin.  In your shoes I'd probably book a room at the Hilton by the airport, drop my bags and then take the Airlink into Dublin, walk around and have a nice meal and hit a pub, take Airlink back to DUB and walk to the Hilton, and be in bed sleeping by 8:00pm.  Get an early start the next morning picking up the hire car at the airport and then driving onward.

[VMax1700]

16 minutes ago, ducklite said:

As does Aer Lingus

Agreed, but they currently use wet leased B757 for the flights to Shannon, so not quite as good as the EI experience.  

[VMax1700]

18 minutes ago, ducklite said:

and walk to the Hilton

I think you have the wrong hotel.  The nearest Hilton to DUB is 5 Kms  from the airport.  There is a shuttle (not free).  

There are a couple of hotels on the airport campus - Radisson Blu and Carlton and even those I would hesitate to walk to if I had a couple of large suitcases.  They both offer shuttles.  

[ducklite]

8 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

I think you have the wrong hotel.  The nearest Hilton to DUB is 5 Kms  from the airport.  There is a shuttle (not free).  

There are a couple of hotels on the airport campus - Radisson Blu and Carlton and even those I would hesitate to walk to if I had a couple of large suitcases.  They both offer shuttles.  

I could have sworn that the Radisson was at one point a Hilton.  My mistake--but that is the one i was talking about.  It looks like they have a free shuttle, so take that it walking five minutes or so is too much.

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, ducklite said:

I could have sworn that the Radisson was at one point a Hilton

 

I don't think it was a Hilton, but I think it was a 'Great Southern Hotel' in a previous existence.  That group no longer exists.

The walk would be 5/10 minutes but not very pleasant with all the traffic around the airport and all driving in the wrong direction! 

[Priszm]

My partner and I did an Ireland tour last year on our own.  We went to Waterford, but wish we had actually spent more time in Kilkenney.  We did do Waterford Crystal (just the showroom, not the tour) and it was ok.  We found a crystal place near Galway that we liked much more, and had a free demonstration.  https://www.connemaracelticcrystal.com/

 

I second not driving in Dublin; it's way too busy and confusing. Pick up your car when you're done with Dublin.  I would probably do your option 2 for the cities.  Killarney was amazing!  We stayed at the Dromhall Hotel, which is about a 10 minute walk into the city center and right on the road into the Killarney National Park.  

[princeton123211]

On 8/2/2019 at 9:05 AM, VMax1700 said:

Agreed, but they currently use wet leased B757 for the flights to Shannon, so not quite as good as the EI experience.

Id go one step further and say that Aer Lingus mainline service/onboard product has never been fantastic on their own planes and these 757 wet leased flights are a significant step down from that. We flew Aer Lingus from Philadelphia to Dublin on one of these 757s and it was one of the worst international experiences we've ever had. The aircraft is old, seats are worn out, and the food was awful. We rebooked and took a connection through Heathrow on the way home just to fly BA back.

 

I would have booked any of the American carriers that were mentioned vs this Aer Lingus option in hindsight. 

[gnome12]

33 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Id go one step further and say that Aer Lingus mainline service/onboard product has never been fantastic on their own planes and these 757 wet leased flights are a significant step down from that. We flew Aer Lingus from Philadelphia to Dublin on one of these 757s and it was one of the worst international experiences we've ever had. The aircraft is old, seats are worn out, and the food was awful. We rebooked and took a connection through Heathrow on the way home just to fly BA back.

 

I flew a 757 many years ago from Toronto to Cardiff, Wales and it was awful then. The plane is incredibly uncomfortable for a trans-Atlantic flight.

Edited September 13, 2019 by gnome12

[VMax1700]

We mostly fly Dublin to Miami and its a A330.  Aer Lingus will be introducing A321LR single aisle planes on some routes to East Coast USA.  I would sooner fly through AMS, MAN or LHR than fly one of those Trans Atlantic.  Even U.S. Pre-Clearance is not worth that pain!

[ducklite]

On 9/14/2019 at 12:54 AM, VMax1700 said:

We mostly fly Dublin to Miami and its a A330.  Aer Lingus will be introducing A321LR single aisle planes on some routes to East Coast USA.  I would sooner fly through AMS, MAN or LHR than fly one of those Trans Atlantic.  Even U.S. Pre-Clearance is not worth that pain!

We like Aer Lingus as it's a nonstop from MCO that doesn't require us to take a day or half day off work on our departure date.  They fly the A330 on that route, and fly pretty well full due to the holidaymakers coming from Ireland to Orlando.  When we arrive in Dublin the queue to enter for EU passport holders is significantly longer than that for non-EU.