Ireland!!

We are so excited - We are going to Ireland!

Finally, we are making some headway on our traveling wish list!:gold:

It will be the first time for my husband and myself and we'll be there the first week in June for 9 full days (losing 2 for flying).

We will be staying with friends at their home in Dundalk (Louth) for most the trip. However, we will be flying to Shannon first and will spend at least 2 nights there to explore in our own.

I would love to stay in a castle, but I don't know if this will be financially possible. We're looking to stay somewhere nice, but not $400 a night nice. We will also rent a car, so I better learn how to drive a manual since they seem to be half the price (luckily my husband drives a manual and is a pro at it)!

I really trust all of your opinions on this board, as most of you have proven to be travelers who like to experience as much as you can and have good taste.

So, anything anyone can share would be greatly appreciated. What's a must-see? Any places you stayed that you loved? Any great tips?

1 of the people we are staying with was born and raised in Ireland, so we will have a great guide. But, we tend to be more Type A and are definitely planners so I'd love to have a list prepared of what we'd like to do so we maximize our time

Thanks in advance for your help! :gold:

My family and I are also going to Ireland this summer as part of a England/Wales/Ireland trip. I've never been there before but have done a lot of research. As far as castle stays, they can be expensive in places such as Ashford Castle and Dromoland Castle (fairly near Shannon). There was a castle in Tralee in Co. Kerry we considered at one point called Ballyseede Castle. It's rates are much more reasonable and it looks pretty cool. In the end we decided to stay in nearby Dingle Town, for it's proximity to the beautiful Dingle Peninsula drive.

We only have five days in Ireland, so we will be focusing our travels on Western Ireland. Plans include touring the Connemara region (near Galway City), the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and lots of small villages where traditional music is played at the pubs. We do plan to do the Hawk Walk experience at Ashford Castle's School of Falconry, which sounds fantastic.

A question for you--since Louth is on the east coast, are you flying to Shannon because of good deal of airfare? Just curious. :)

Mfarquar & Beth, I am so excited for you both. I have never been to Ireland but I worked with a women who went about 5 years ago and she loved it. She said it was soooooooo green, but did also say it rained everyday (14 days) at least for part of the day while she was there. So make sure you bring a rain coat. She didn't stay at a castle either because of the expense. She said the people were very friendly and the countryside was very pretty.

Nice! That's all great to hear! Will definitely bring a rain coat and a couple of mini umbrellas!

MNNHFLTX - We decided to fly into Shannon b/c it's about a 3.5 hour drive from Dundalk (where we'll be staying most of the time) to the Cliffs of Moher. We thought it might be nice to spend a couple of nights in a hotel near an area we're interested in to maximize our time, and then spend the rest at our friend's home. It was a little bit cheaper to fly into Shannon (about $25 less a person).

We definitely want to check out the Cliffs. A friend of ours is quite the world traveler (as done almost all of Europe, Russia, and several countries in Africa) and he says they are in his top 3 list of best trip experiences. I have never heard of anyone who did not love them!

We're just doing our research now b/c this was sort of a spur of the moment decision. I am VERY excited to see that you are doing the Ashford Hawk Walk! I was just reading about that briefly when I had a moment at work today. It is right up my husband's alley! I'm glad to see you do not have to be a guest of the hotel to engage in this activity.

If you don't mind me asking, do you know what the cost of the Hawk Walk was? I only looked at the site briefly, but it did not seem to have any prices posted.

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Originally Posted by Mfarquar

If you don't mind me asking, do you know what the cost of the Hawk Walk was? I only looked at the site briefly, but it did not seem to have any prices posted.

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The 60-minute Halk Walk is 70 Euros for one person and 60 Euros for two people. The 90-minute Halk Walk is 105 Euros for one person and 90 Euros for two. Ireland's School of Falconry at Ashford Castle has their own website with a lot more information. If you Google it, I'm sure you'll find it easily. :)

You CANNOT MISS BLARNEY CASTLE. I studied abroad in London in college and made the trip to Ireland twice. The first time was a class trip, so we went to the literature museum and Joyce's tower and spent most of our time in Dublin. The second time I went over I went with friends. We started in Dublin and took a train to Cork. Just the train ride alone was one of the greatest memories. The ride was cold so we tried to sleep. When we woke up there was a RAINBOW (no lie) out the window. By far one of the most magical experiences ever.

Exploring the castle, kissing the stone and walking the gardens was one of the hilights of my semester abroad. Plus, they will take a very cool picture of you hanging upside down over the edge of the castle that is a great souviner.

HAVE FUN AND PLEASE SEND UPDATES.

Oh, and don't forget the Guinness factory :-)

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Originally Posted by lettripp

You CANNOT MISS BLARNEY CASTLE....

Exploring the castle, kissing the stone and walking the gardens was one of the hilights of my semester abroad. Plus, they will take a very cool picture of you hanging upside down over the edge of the castle that is a great souviner.

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We plan to stop at Blarney Castle on the way from Dingle to Cork. But me personally, I will not be kissing the Blarney Stone. The idea of touching my lips to something that a hundred thousand other people's lips have touched--ewww, lol!!! What can I say, I am a nurse and nurses are all a bit germophobic! ;)

Thank you so much for all your helpful posts! It's so wonderful to read about others' experiences/plans!

I am definitely going to check out the Hawk Walk tonight. My husband would just LOVE to do something like that. I think I might be a little intimidated by giant birds, but I think it will be worth it!

Please keep all the great tips and ideas coming and I will keep posting our plans! :)

Great post! My 17 year old daughter is going to Ireland and Scotland this summer, and is trying to put together an itinerary (she is travelling with Best Friend's family - the oldest daughter is getting married there in August - but mom is letting the two young girls set most of the pace). Any further advice on Ireland and on SCOTLAND would be most appeciated!

Ireland is absolutely wonderful! Sorry if this post is a little late to be helpful. I would definitely check out the Cliffs of Moher - they are absolutely breathtaking. Are you going to be having any time in Dublin? While it's definitely important to check out the countryside, there are some fun sights in Dublin as well. Check out the Guiness Storehouse. I'm not a big drinker and still had a great time. We also took a free walking tour of the city that met up right outside the city hall that was very informative and fun. Let me know if you have any specific questions!

Near Dublin there is a place called Glendaloch which I would certainly recommend seeing. If you're staying in any B&B's (which are everywhere, by the way), make sure that they're registered. When I went with my friend we ended up leaving one place which gave us a creepy vibe. Turns out the guy had gone through our car!

Explore places by car. The most interesting things we did were things that we just kind of came across as we were driving.

There are also several places that have castle dinners. Bunratty, near Shannon, had a very nice castle dinner, and a folklore dinner which were very fun. I'm sure there are several others, too, that's just the one that I did.

Certainly visit the Cliffs of Moher and the Buren - beautiful.

I didn't think the Guiness factory was all that great. I was glad that I only needed to pay the student rate, so the free pint of Guiness at the end made it worth it. The tasting room is wonderful, though, 360 degree view of Dublin. Still, if I needed to pay full price I would have been annoyed.

Oh, and if you are waiting for a bus at a bus stop, raise your arm when it comes, otherwise it'll drive right by you. :blush: