One Week in Ireland

[movie zombie]

Dublin = National Museum to check out the ancient gold collars........http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/archaeology-and-ethnography-museum.aspx

high karat gold heaven!

mz

 

[Haven]

Oooh, thanks MZ!

 

[Haven]

I have a new question:

Should we skip Connemara National Park (and thus Kylemore Abbey) -or- Killarney National Park in order to thin out the itinerary a bit? If you could only visit one, which would you choose?

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Have fun Haven!!!

I have no advice, except test out some great beers and report back to us!

 

[Haven]

Thanks, MC!

Okay everyone, now I'm juggling two itineraries and I'd like to see what everyone thinks about which one is best.
AND I think we're going to add a day to the trip because it just feels like we aren't giving ourselves enough time.

Here are the updated itineraries. Please feel free to criticize, point and laugh, suggest, or scoff. I'm terrible with these things.

ITINERARY #1:
Day 1: Dublin (stay in Dublin)
Day 2: Dublin (stay in Dublin)
Day 3: Dublin to Galway by rail, evening in Galway (stay in Galway)
Day 4: Aughnanure Castle, Connemara National Park & Kylemore Abbey (stay in Galway) *rent car in Galway
Day 5: Galway to Cliffs of Moher to Dingle (stay in Dingle)
Day 6: Dingle. Just hang out. *This is the extra day, here.
Day 7: Bike or drive Slea Head Drive (stay in Dingle)
Day 7: Killarney National Park, drive to Shannon (or Ennis?) (stay in Shannon)
Day 8: Morning in Shannon, fly home

ITINERARY #2:
Day 1: Dublin (stay in Dublin)
Day 2: Dublin (stay in Dublin) *rent car in Dublin
Day 3: Dublin to Killarney (go via Kilkenny so sister can visit Waterford) (stay in Killarney)
Day 4: Killarney National Park, then to Dingle (stay in Dingle)
Day 5: Dingle, hang out, drink, relax (stay in Dingle) *This is the extra day
Day 6: Bike or drive Slea Head Drive (stay in Dingle)
Day 7: Dingle--Do whatever we please (stay in Dingle)
Day 8: Cliffs of Moher, Shannon in evening (stay in Shannon)
Day 9: Morning in Shannon, fly home

The questions:
- Would we be crazy to skip Galway in the second itinerary? Zoe--I know you love it, which is why I'm so hesitant to omit it!
OR
- Would we be crazy to pack so much into #1?
- Is there some benefit to either driving *up* or *down* the west coast? That could dictate which itinerary we choose.
- The drive from Dublin to Killarney in # allows us to visit some sights we would see using the first itinerary.

What do the experts think?

Thank you!

 

[Haven]

Oops--I forgot to renumber the last few days in my first itinerary. I can''t edit anymore, sorry!

 

[Haven]

Okay, this thread is turning into a running record of my ever-changing mind.

I think I really want to see Galway. DH and I revised #1 and threw out #2.

ITINERARY #1a:
Day 1: Day in Dublin. (stay in Dublin)
Day 2: Day in Dublin. (stay in Dublin)
Day 3: Day in Galway. Dublin to Galway by rail, evening in Galway (stay in Galway)
Day 4: The Burren & Cliffs of Moher Galway to Doolin (stay in Doolin)
Day 5: West Coast drive to Dingle, take all day. (stay in Dingle)
Day 6: Dingle. Just hang out. (Switch 6 & 7 if it''s nice out today)
Day 7: Bike or drive Slea Head Drive. (stay in Dingle)
Day 7: Killarney National Park, drive to Shannon (or Ennis?) (stay in Shannon)
Day 8: Morning in Shannon. Fly home.

So, we''re omitting Connemara and Kylemore Abbey, which is painful for me, but to be realistic we just aren''t going to want to do all that driving, and I did not want to omit the Cliffs of Moher or Killarney National Park. We opted to stay in Doolin after the Cliffs so we could make a day out of the drive down to Dingle.

I still do want to see Galway, and I know my sister and her fiance definitely want to go there, so I kept it in.

So, this is the latest version. I imagine I''ll have a few more up within the next few days.

 

[movie zombie]

um, i''m going to mention that the Cliffs of Moher is one of the windiest places i''ve ever visited......at least it was the day i was there.

mz

 

[Porridge]

Looks great Haven, you''ll get a lot in with that itinerary.

I''m crazy busy the next few days but I''ll have a nose around for deals and things to do during the time you''ll be here, so keep an eye on this thread over the next week or so!

Am I allowed to post links to hotels/booking sites etc?

 

[sunseeker101]

I think this is a great line-up, Haven. I wouldn''t risk driving across the country on a first go either. The train route to Galway is across the central plain so nothing too undulating to catch your eye. Makes for a pleasant suprise when you get to the coastal areas though

Day 4 is a good, easily do-able set and taking the bike around Slea Head sounds like an excellent idea (in the right weather!). A car window screen can eliminate goodly amounts of the feel of the place; walk down into the landscape as often as you can. The best recommendation I can make generally is to join in with whatever goes on. Go along with it, you never know where you might end up, seriously!

 

[zoebartlett]

Haven, I found the name of the theater I mentioned the other day. In case you're interested, it's called Siamsa (pronounced "Shame-sa" if I remember correctly), and it's a folk theater. I'd highly recommend going to see a show if possible.

Here's some info: http://www.galway.net/galwayguide/showyp.shtml?id=3297 (Sorry, Google Chrome doesn't do hyper-links.).

ETA: I'm glad you're keeping Galway on your itinerary. When we were planning out trip, we could NOT decided on an itinerary, and we must have revised it about 6 or 7 times. There's just so much to see and do and there's no way to fit it all in one a trip such as yours (and ours). So many people kept telling us that there's no right or wrong way to do it -- it's such a beautiful place, and enjoying the drive along the way is half the fun. Everywhere we went, I kept saying to my husband (boyfriend at the time), "THIS is the most beautiful place I've ever seen!" Connemara is definitely beautiful, as is Kylemore (and they have a great gift shop with hand-made pottery), but I know you have to cut something out. Just make plans for trip #2 while you're there!

 

[Haven]

Thanks, Porridge. I''m looking forward to your post!

sunseeker--Thank you for your feedback on the itinerary. It''s so hard to plan a trip where we see *enough* but not too much.

Zoe--I just can''t let go of Galway! I think my sister and her FI will love it, too. I''ve read a couple travelogues about it and it sounds really fun. We''ll definitely check out Siamsa.

Can I ask for lodging feedback now? A lot of you gave me suggestions, so thank you!
Here''s what I have so far. I''d love feedback on the place itself, and the price.

Dublin (2 nights)
- Stephens Green, an O''Callihan hotel: 160E per room total, no breakfast
or
- The Grand: 148E per room total OR 219E breakfast included (Is it worth the extra for breakfast?)

Galway (1 night)
- Ardawn House (has parking)
or
- Petra House
(No prices yet for either)

Doolin (1 night)
The options:
- Atlantic View B&B
- Ballyvara House: No availability! I''m so bummed, Zoe!
- Aran View House (a short walk from town)
- The Shores (more remote but amazing views)
- Cullinan''s Guest House (free parking)

Dingle (3 nights)
- Greenmount House—160 Euro/night total for all four of us (ask for a room in front) (free parking) *I really want to stay here, it has amazing recs all around.

Shannon (last night)
- Bunratty Lodge: 35E each, so 70E total
- The Park Inn (at the airport): 59.25E advanced booking offer
OR
Should we stay in Clare or Ennis the night before our flight? Is it easy enough to get to the airport from either location?

Thanks so much for all of your help! Have I mentioned that I''m excited? EEEEEEEEEH!

 

[Haven]

TGal--Either I just read part of your (hilarious and utterly informative) account of your time in Ireland on the Fodor's forum, or you have a kindred spirit out there.

Going back to continue reading . . .

ETA:
Finished. I'm even more excited for this trip now. Is it bad this your (or your kindred spirit's) account kind of makes me wish I could go it alone?

 

[zoebartlett]

That''s too bad that the Ballyvara House is booked. I wish I could give you recommendations for the places you''re thinking of staying at, but I haven''t been to them. A few of them sound familiar, probably from when we did our research, but I can''t comment on them. Stephens Green is a beautiful park, so if the O''Callahan Hotel overlooks it it could be worth it.

As far as breakfast goes, you get pretty much the same thing every day: fried eggs, bacon, tomatoes (stewed, I think), and usually there''s fruit, baked goods like bread (and jams to choose from), and cereal (and tea/coffee/juice). Some of the smaller B&Bs might not have quite as large of a selection but you''ll be fine. Some places even have black and white pudding, which I, personally, made sure to stay far away from. It''s not pudding. I think my husband tried it and thought it was okay. We were in Ireland for 11 days, and having the same exact thing for breakfast day after day was a little frustrating at times, but not too bad overall.

 

[bee*]

For your two nights in Dublin, I would stay at the hotel in Stephens Green. If the other hotel is the Grand in Malahide, you''ll have a lot of travelling to do to get into the city. You''ll get breakfast in many places beside the hotel.
I don''t know either of those places in Galway. Normally when we stay in Galway we stay at the great southern hotel, although I think that the name might have changed since. It''s right on Eyre Square and only a two minute walk to the Quay (key) or shop street. There is a huge outdoor carpark on the other side of eyre square so you can park a car there for a couple of euro and there''s security there 24 hours a day.
I''ve never stayed in Doolin and normally we stay in Dingle Marina lodge when we''re in Kerry. I wouldn''t stay in Ennis the night before you fly out. It won''t take you long to travel to the airport.
The breakfast that Zoe is talking about is an Irish Fry and is the best hangover cure ever!! They''ll give you sausages, bacon, egg, grilled tomatoes, white/black pudding and sometimes baked beans. Although most places will have pastries, fruit and cereal.
For the Slea head drive, personally I''d drive it as there are some amazing little towns about twenty minutes drive off it and it''s worth driving to those towns, Brandon being the main one. In terms of driving, it is relatively easy to drive around Ireland and I think it''s worth hiring a car as there are so many places that are nice to stop at and visit. Although a lot people say that the Irish view the speed limit as a target rather than a limit so we do tend to drive on the fast side. Also the garda (police) have the power to do random breathalysers so it''s not worth drinking/driving at all as there can be spot checks anywhere.

 

[zoebartlett]

Good advice Bee! I''m saving this thread for when we (someday) return to Ireland.

Oh yeah, I meant grilled tomatoes, not stewed.

 

[Haven]

We have to replace our furnace and our crawl space has standing water, which is probably the result of a foundation leak. The estimates we''ve gotten thus far are in the thousands. We may have to postpone our Ireland trip.

I''m being a terrible, spoiled little baby right now but I''m really upset. We''re calling more people to the house tomorrow to get a couple more opinions, and we''ll be able to decide what to do then. The childish part of me wants to say "We have a lot of savings, let''s go anyway!" but the frugal part of me says "Heck no I''m not spending an additional 4K to go to Ireland after putting more than that into the house."

Okay, pity party over. Thanks, I feel better.

Well, not really. Just a bit.

 

[Haven]

DH says I''m being crazy and we should carry on with our trip as planned.

Can you tell which of us is the spender and which the saver?

He makes a good point, though. The savings is there for emergencies, and a broken furnace and crawl space flooding counts, right? If we don''t go I''ll resent our new furnace, and have plans to draw an ugly face on it and give it an undesirable name. That''ll show it.

 

[Lilac]

Date: 4/8/2010 3:02:55 PM
Author: Haven
DH says I''m being crazy and we should carry on with our trip as planned.

Can you tell which of us is the spender and which the saver?

He makes a good point, though. The savings is there for emergencies, and a broken furnace and crawl space flooding counts, right? If we don''t go I''ll resent our new furnace, and have plans to draw an ugly face on it and give it an undesirable name. That''ll show it.

I know nothing about Ireland, so I can''t contribute much to that discussion other than to wish you a wonderful trip!

I am similar to you and would react the same way in your situation (by feeling we should push off a trip if we needed to put a chunk of money into our house) and my husband is the same way as your husband and would insist on taking the trip anyway assuming we had the savings there and could make it work.

In this case I think your husband is right - as long as you have the savings in the bank and can afford to put the money into the house and still take the trip, I think you should still go! That''s why you save the money... for emergencies like this with your furnace. You use the money you had planned to use for the trip, and you use the money in savings for your furnace. As long as it doesn''t cause you to struggle and as long as you *can* afford it, you should still go!

And it would really be a shame to always live with a furnace with an ugly face on it frowning at you all the time.....

 

[ksinger]

Date: 4/4/2010 3:45:34 PM
Author: movie zombie
Dublin = National Museum to check out the ancient gold collars........http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/archaeology-and-ethnography-museum.aspx

high karat gold heaven!

mz

Yeah! I''m late to the party but I''d give my left arm to see the Tara Brooch again! And the Book of Kells at Trinity College. The smell in there was absolutely heavenly. Books. LARGE tomes bound in leather, stories high. Do try to make time for Trinity College in Dublin. It''s as necessary as the National Museum if you''re a book lover. Dublin was full of more stuff to see than we could have done in a month, and Galway was gorgeous. Newgrange is great if you have the time..and you aren''t claustrophobic. It''s a tight squeeze down that passage...


Do some stuff off the beaten path if you can. We hiked through a lady''s pastures (with permission of course) to an ancient Norse and Christian graveyard to find a 10 century Norse gravestone with runes on it. We also hiked UP some other pastures to go in a passage tomb on a high hilltop. "Get the key from Mrs. Basil Balf at the last house on the left down the road". It was an adventure, and the Irish were wonderful to us.

One day I''ll get back there!

Have a great time Haven!

 

[movie zombie]

ah, Newgrange!
http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm
there are actually several of this type nearby and listed at this website.

and the Burren, which is on the way from dingle to galway.:
http://www.burrenpage.com/
http://www.moytura.com/burren.htm
and
http://www.burrenperfumery.com/

echoing ksinger, there are uncharted and wonderful places to see told "by word of mouth".

i know you have an itinerary but beware: ireland will enchant you in places you''ll least expect and disenchant you in places that have become tourist destinations.

eat some local cheese while you''re on the west coast! and as good as it tastes anywhere in the world, guinness does taste better in ireland....have a pint for me, please!

mz

ps i do wish i had seen the Book of Kells........but i spent most of my time in the countryside and on the west coast.

 

[Haven]

Date: 4/8/2010 4:55:56 AM
Author: bee*
For your two nights in Dublin, I would stay at the hotel in Stephens Green. If the other hotel is the Grand in Malahide, you''ll have a lot of travelling to do to get into the city. You''ll get breakfast in many places beside the hotel.

I don''t know either of those places in Galway. Normally when we stay in Galway we stay at the great southern hotel, although I think that the name might have changed since. It''s right on Eyre Square and only a two minute walk to the Quay (key) or shop street. There is a huge outdoor carpark on the other side of eyre square so you can park a car there for a couple of euro and there''s security there 24 hours a day.

I''ve never stayed in Doolin and normally we stay in Dingle Marina lodge when we''re in Kerry. I wouldn''t stay in Ennis the night before you fly out. It won''t take you long to travel to the airport.

The breakfast that Zoe is talking about is an Irish Fry and is the best hangover cure ever!! They''ll give you sausages, bacon, egg, grilled tomatoes, white/black pudding and sometimes baked beans. Although most places will have pastries, fruit and cereal.

For the Slea head drive, personally I''d drive it as there are some amazing little towns about twenty minutes drive off it and it''s worth driving to those towns, Brandon being the main one. In terms of driving, it is relatively easy to drive around Ireland and I think it''s worth hiring a car as there are so many places that are nice to stop at and visit. Although a lot people say that the Irish view the speed limit as a target rather than a limit so we do tend to drive on the fast side. Also the garda (police) have the power to do random breathalysers so it''s not worth drinking/driving at all as there can be spot checks anywhere.

Thank you so much for your advice, bee*!
We definitely want to stay right in the middle of Dublin when we''re there. I''m glad you mentioned that, as I was just operating under the assumption that "Dublin" hotels were right in the middle of things. I''ll check out the Galway hotel, too. Thanks for the rec!

Do you think we should drive straight from Galway to Dingle in one day? Is it too long of a drive?

And, when you say it won''t take too long to get to Shannon, do you mean it won''t take long to get there from Dingle? Do you think we could stay in Dingle our last night and drive to the airport on the morning of our departure? I would *love* to add another night in Dingle to our itinerary! (That way, we could bike Slea head one day, and drive it the next. I''m really glad you posted that about driving, I hadn''t thought of what we''ll miss by biking.)

The breakfasts sound amazing. I''m the type who could eat the same thing every single day of my life and love it if it''s good, and a hot, heavy breakfast is my favorite. I''m very excited for the breakfasts!

Thanks so much for all of your advice!

 

[Haven]

Lilac--Thank you for reassuring me on this. I was so bummed when I found out about the furnace, and I''m so tight with money that my first reaction was to tell myself that we''d just reallocate our Ireland funds to the furnace. I''m glad to know I''m not alone there! DH and my sister thought I was nuts.

ksinger--I''ve added both the National Museum and Trinity College to our "Must visit" list for Dublin. I actually looked into staying at Trinity College, but it''s expensive and well, I don''t want to pay a lot to stay in dorms. But I''m very excited to visit the Book of Kells.
I love your story about your hike and ancient discovery! That''s wonderful. That''s one reason I''d like to keep our itinerary less cluttered--so we can do a bit of wandering and see where we wind up. I''d like to share your story with my travel companions, if I may. It sounds wonderful.

MZ--Cheese and Guinness, mmmmm. I''m so excited for the Guinness, but I hadn''t thought of the cheese. I LOVE cheese, and now I''m even more excited for our trip. (I even have a foam cheese hat, if you can believe it.)

Thank you for all of the links, I''m going to check them out when I''m done posting here.

I really like what you said about itineraries, too. I think I need to hear that, as I now find myself bogged down in the details of our itinerary despite the fact that I began planning for this trip committed to traveling slowly! I just need to know where to book our lodging each night, and then I''ll be good to go.

Big, sincere thank yous to everyone for your help and advice. I feel so lucky to be making this trip at all, and even luckier for the wise wisdom of my PS friends as I plan it!

 

[Haven]

OHHHHHKAY, I''ve fiddled with the itinerary again. Thank you to anyone who is *still* willing to look at yet another itinerary and give me advice. I''m having such a hard time because we''re traveling with my sister and her fiance, so with four people it''s much harder to cut things out because everyone wants to see something different.

Here''s the newest plan, what do you think?

Day 1, Sat: DH & I Fly into Dublin
- Stay in Dublin
Day 2, Sun: Sis & FI Fly into Dublin
- All stay in Dublin
Day 3, Mon: From Dublin to Dingle****
- Stay in Dingle
- Take rail from Dublin to Killarney? OR Drive from Dublin to Dingle?
- Visit Killarney National Park?
Day 4, Tues: Slea Head Drive
- Stay in Dingle
- Bike or drive Slea Head Drive
Day 5, Weds: Dingle
- Stay in Dingle
- Drive Conors Pass
- Enjoy Dingle, relax
Day 6, Thurs: Dingle
- Stay in Dingle
- Another day in Dingle!
Day 7, Fri: West Coast Drive to Galway****
- Stay in Galway
- Visit the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren on the way
Day 8, Sat: Connemara/Kylemore Abbey
- Stay in Galway
Day 9, Sun: Husband and I fly home to Chicago, Sis and Fi to Dublin
- Stay in Dublin (Sister and her fiance only)
- Sis & Fi take rail from Galway to Dublin
Day 10, Mon: Sis & Fi fly to Tel Aviv from Dublin

****We can bet on driving all day on these days, is it worth it? Is there a better way?

So, in short:
- Dublin (2 nights)
- Dingle (4 nights)
- Galway (2 nights)

You''ll see that Galway and Connemara/Kylemore Abbey are back in the plan. Are we doing too much driving? What''s unreasonable?

Is it reasonable to believe that we can get from Galway to the Shannon Airport to make a 1:15 PM flight?

THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping me, and for putting up with all of these changes. I really appreciate all of it.

 

[bee*]

Yep that itinerary looks good. Two days in Dublin is fine. It will give you plenty of time to see most things but if you''re intent on seeing quite a few things it won''t leave you much time to potter around. I''d definitely try and do the hooley night on the night that you are all there.
I''d drive to Dingle. We drive from Dublin a couple of times a year. Plus to get used to driving on the other side of the road, these are probably the easiest roads to drive on. If we go straight there it takes us just over four hours. The actual drive there is quite easy and the roads are good. You will miss so much of the countryside if you take the train there. Once you hit the M50 which is our motorway, all you have to do is follow the signs to Limerick and then the signs for Cork/Kerry. Stop in Adare for lunch. It''s such a gorgeous little town with lots of thatched cottages. You''ll come into Tralee and then take a left hand turn for Dingle. The roads get a bit windy as you''re coming into Dingle but they are wide so it''s a nice drive and the views of Dingle are fantastic as you''re coming into it. There are cars pulled over on the side of the road with people taking photos of the views as every time you go around a corner the views get better.
Killarney national park in my opinion is only ok so I''d probably only do it if I had plenty of time.
I''d personally drive the Slea Head drive, purely so you can go off the beaten track and just keep driving and wandering around without the worry of getting tired or trying to get back by daylight. There are many little cafes around that you can stop in for a tea. Also you are in the Gaeltacht area (Irish speaking area) so quite a few of the cafes will have patrons speaking Irish which is nice to hear, especially in Ballyferriter. Also Dingle is referred to a lot as An Daingean (On Dan-ghin) and there was war a few years ago when they tried to change many of the signs to Dingle as the Irish speakers wanted the Irish signs to stay put.
Day five sounds good. This day you can actually head into Tralee if you want to have a look around it. Start the Conors Pass in Dingle. It''s easy to get onto and once you take the turn for it you drive for a few minutes until there''s a fork on the road and you take the right and head up the mountain. It''s a fantastic drive and the views are unreal. There''s a pull in at the top of the mountain on the left hand side where you can take photos. Then the road is very twisty and turns one way in a couple of spots so keep driving there and then there''s another pull over on the right where you can pull over again. After you drive through Conors Pass, there is a sign for Cloghane and I would recommend driving through Cloghane and onto Brandon. Go to Brandon Pier. It''s a tiny little pier that has a pub on it and it''s gorgeous. Get a pint of Guinness here. They are just little authentic Irish towns. The locals are so friendly. Then go back to the main road you came off and keep going and you''ll come to a cross roads and you can take a right turn for Tralee. Don''t do Conors Pass if it''s foggy-you won''t see the views at all.
Day 6 in Dingle-I''d probably try and visit Inch Strand. There is a nice restaurant here and the food is delicious. I adore Inch. After that just drive around some more towns in the dingle peninsula. Ventry and Annascaul are another two places to visit. If you are fish eaters, there is a restaurant in Dingle called Out of the Blue which serves only the fish they catch that day. The fish is phenomenal. If they have the squid rings on the menu get them. I have never ever tasted squid as nice as theres. Unfortunately it wasn''t on the menu when we were there last time. Also you don''t have to dress up for a night out in Dingle at all, even in that restaurant. The majority of people are in hiking boots! There are some great pubs beside it and live music is played in a couple of them. One of them has just a couple of the locals playing together and it can turn into quite a sing-song when everyone has a couple of beers. You''ll see them sitting at the window of the bar ( I can''t remember which one it is). There''s a hotel just as you''re coming into Dingle and you can park in their car park and walk along the waterside also and this is a great place to see Fungi the dolphin. Personally I don''t like the boat rides as there are usually about five boats surrounding him and so we usually walk to the lighthouse and observe from there. You have to cut through a farmers field which is fine so long as you keep to the side of the field, obviously don''t go near the cattle/sheep and close all gates behind you.
Day 7 I would head off early in the morning to make sure that you get to do all of that. It will probably take about 2.5 to 3 hours to get up to Cliffs of Moher and then you can drive through the Burren. In Galway, Cuba is a good place to go for cocktails. There''s a bar on the bottom, a nightclub on the second floor and live music on the top floor. Salthill is about a fifteen minute drive away and is nice to have a walk around. Kylemore abbey is gorgeous also and I think it''s definitely worth a visit. Get a cake in the visitors center- delicious! One of the places that we adored visiting was the cnoc suain (kunuk sue in). It was a great place to visit so if you have time I''d try and fit it in.

To answer your questions, I don''t think you''re doing too much driving. It''s probably daunting looking at the map of Ireland and seeing that you''re travelling right across the country but it takes four to five hours max. When we drive to Dingle we usually try and leave at 7am so we can avoid rush hour traffic on the roads. Once you get outside of Dublin, there is rarely a traffic jam unless there are roadworks. We usually make it down to Dingle by about twelve and that includes stopping for lunch and letting Amber have a toilet break.
You will definitely be able to reach Shannon Airport from Galway. It would usually take just over an hour so just give yourself plenty of time.
One good website to use while you''re trying to estimate times is the aaroadwatch route planner. They tend to overestimate the times a little but generally it''s a good site to use.

route planner
Can''t think of anything else but give me a shout if you have more questions.

 

[ksinger]

Date: 4/9/2010 7:43:59 AM
Author: bee*

To answer your questions, I don''t think you''re doing too much driving. It''s probably daunting looking at the map of Ireland and seeing that you''re travelling right across the country but it takes four to five hours max. When we drive to Dingle we usually try and leave at 7am so we can avoid rush hour traffic on the roads. Once you get outside of Dublin, there is rarely a traffic jam unless there are roadworks. We usually make it down to Dingle by about twelve and that includes stopping for lunch and letting Amber have a toilet break.
You will definitely be able to reach Shannon Airport from Galway. It would usually take just over an hour so just give yourself plenty of time.
One good website to use while you''re trying to estimate times is the aaroadwatch route planner. They tend to overestimate the times a little but generally it''s a good site to use.

route planner
Can''t think of anything else but give me a shout if you have more questions.

Bee, when we were there, it was so sweet - everywhere we stayed, (B&B''s) they would of course inquire where we''d just driven from etc, and when we told them how far we''d driven - even if it was only an hour - the proprietors would simply fall all over themselves fussing over us, especially when we''d driven from Galway to Navan in a single day: Oh my! You must be exhausted! Sit! Tea! Biscuits! It was lovely, but where I''m from, a 4 hour drive is a little morning trip to Dallas. It''s just funny how the size of where you''re from impacts how you view distance. We also had fun talking to some boys - about 11 - 12 years old. They were complaining about "the heat" to us - it was September and about 75 degrees (17C? My Celsius sense is not so good) and glorious - not a drop of rain for our entire trip actually. So we talked to them about OUR heat. It was really fun comparing notes. Everyone we met there was wonderful to us. I''d go back in a heartbeat.

And Haven, use away. I didn''t tell you that when we went down that road to get the key to the passage tomb, the house in question had HUUUGE German Shepherds and we wimped out on going to the door. We went back to the parking area in frustration, only to find that some other intrepid souls - Germans in fact - had obtained the key to the tomb, so about 8 of us hiked up to the tomb - past big placid cows and big placid cow PATTIES, and finally got there only to find that NO ONE had brought a flash light. So we go in, and one guy had a lighter, and we''d synchronize and he''d flick and everyone else would try to snap pics. It didn''t work so welll. Flick. Click. Flick. Click click. S***! this thing is HOT!! Flick! OUCH! It was pretty hilarious actually. Fun stuff.

 

[bee*]

lol ksinger-we do moan about the weather a lot! We had 15 degree C the other day and everyone was saying how warm it was!! We''re just not used to warmth over here!! It is crazy that we can drive across Ireland in a couple of hours while you can just drive in the same state.

 

[movie zombie]

another part of the equation is that petrol is expensive in ireland, so the locals don''t drive long distances w/o staying overnight...and a long distance for them is like 2 hours.

it just is not that big a country.

if i remember right there is a cheese place in The Burren.

do not be locked into having to be places by a certain time! some places are going to fascinate you...and locals will tell you of another place and you''ll want to go exploring. other places you really are going to find have been over-hyped and are now set up for tourists...once being great little backroad places but now, well, not so much.

driving is easy there. if off exploring, respect the local ways on narrow one lane roads should you find yourself on one: pull over at a wide spot and let them pass, whether they''re coming towards you or behind you and wanting to move forward. they will appreciate this and it will mark you as "in the know". near newgrange i learned of a site being excavated by an archaeology team and went in search of it down some interesting lanes. the locals loved that i found it and them and i got my own personal walking tour with one of them. its these types of experiences that make ireland "special".

i had a great itinerary for france when we went: in three weeks we never got out of the northeast corner or as far south as lyon. we had to sprint back via the main thoroughfares to get the car back to amsterdam on time.....where we spent another week, a city that i love.

what i''m trying to say is that i always want an itinerary but i never keep it. i find there is always something interesting, that calls to me, and is well worth not sticking to the itinerary. the itinerary for me is merely places i''d like to see or be, not something written i''m having to do and keep to. it helps one to explore areas to have one, it helps in case nothing does strike one''s fancy to explore to have somewhere to move onto.....but having to move on takes away from the joy of the discovered place.

but keep that itinerary for future use for another trip to ireland!

mz

 

[Haven]

bee*--Thank you so much for the very detailed information! I''m going to print out your post to carry with me on the trip!

ksinger--Your story just keeps on getting better. What a cool experience. Thank you for sharing!

MZ--I hear ya. I''m definitely more of a "go with a plan, but plan to break it" traveler. My biggest concern about the itinerary is really just about planning our lodging. I''d like to book before we go, because it sounds like you end up paying more if you just show up places and pick a place to stay. Is that incorrect?
SO, assuming that we''re planning on doing what strikes our fancy in each place, do you think it''s reasonable to say we''ll stay in Dublin the first two nights, Dingle the next four, and then Galway the last two nights? And then we''ll just go where the wind takes us in each place?

I am so looking forward to this trip, and everyone''s advice, stories, and insight are so very helpful. Thank you!

I''m off to the library to get some good Irish literature to read. I''m not sure I can read Ulysses again, but I am a bit sad that we''ll be flying out just ten days before Bloomsday. That would be really cool to experience, I think. We''ll just have to make another trip next summer, right?

 

[bee*]

Date: 4/9/2010 1:21:31 PM
Author: movie zombie
another part of the equation is that petrol is expensive in ireland, so the locals don''t drive long distances w/o staying overnight...and a long distance for them is like 2 hours.

Petrol here at the moment is roughly 1 euro 30 cent per litre so it''s definitely pricey. Fill up in Dublin as it tends to be more expensive in the country.