Ireland in 2 weeks alone
Nov 15th, 2010, 03:05 PM
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Ireland in 2 weeks alone
I am traveling to Ireland in May for two weeks. I will be traveling alone. Right now, I am planning on spending some time in Dingle, Galway, and Dublin. I was wondering if I can travel by bus or if it would be best to go ahead a rent a car. I was also wondering if anyone had good ideas on any other places to visit while I am there!
Nov 15th, 2010, 06:23 PM
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In my opinion, it would be best to rent a car except for the time in Dublin. Dublin is a nightmare for driving; parking very limited and very expensive, a lot of one way streets. But for Dingle and the Galway area, it would be hard to get to many of the well known sights and even harder to get to some of those wonderful out of the way places.
The Connemara area suggested above is near Glaway and has lots of wonderful places to visit--castles, craft shops, scenery. The Aran Islands are in Galway Bay and Rosseveal is the jumping off point for ferries to the islands. You can't take a car on the ferry but there are plenty of minivans to meet each boat and show you the sights (for a fee, of course). Or you could rent a bike. You could spend the night on the Inish Mor which gives you a taste of the place when the daytrippers go back to the mainland.
If you have two weeks and fly into Shannon, the following might work for you.
Land at Shannon and take a bus to Galway for four nights.
There are some tours which you can book through the tourist office. These would cover some of the areas in Connemara.
Take a bus to Rosseveal for ferry to Inishmor for one night.
Return to Galway and pick up a rental car and drive to Dingle.
On the way to Dingle, stop at the Burren and Cliffs of Moher unless you did this as a day trip from Galway. If you have already done this, you might stop at Adare, or Cragganouwen, or Bunratty.
Three nights in Dingle to explore the area.
Head to Kilkenny with a stop at the Rock of Cashel. Spend two nights in Kilkenny. (See St. Canice church with its round tower, walk the medieval streets, eat at Dame Kettler's pub, etc.
Head for Dublin, with possible stops at Glendalough and/or Powerscourt Gardens. Ditch the car at the airport and settle into Dublin for the rest of your trip. Fly home from Dublin.
If you are flying into Dublin, you might spend your first few days there. Then train to Galway and pick up your car there and then to Dingle and back to Shannon for the trip home.
Both of these scenarios have you spend a day or so without driving to get your feet on the ground and take your bearings.
there are many others here who can give you more info and will have other ideas for itineraries. The ones I have suggested make for only a single one night stand, but perhaps you like to be on the move more often.
The Connemara area suggested above is near Glaway and has lots of wonderful places to visit--castles, craft shops, scenery. The Aran Islands are in Galway Bay and Rosseveal is the jumping off point for ferries to the islands. You can't take a car on the ferry but there are plenty of minivans to meet each boat and show you the sights (for a fee, of course). Or you could rent a bike. You could spend the night on the Inish Mor which gives you a taste of the place when the daytrippers go back to the mainland.
If you have two weeks and fly into Shannon, the following might work for you.
Land at Shannon and take a bus to Galway for four nights.
There are some tours which you can book through the tourist office. These would cover some of the areas in Connemara.
Take a bus to Rosseveal for ferry to Inishmor for one night.
Return to Galway and pick up a rental car and drive to Dingle.
On the way to Dingle, stop at the Burren and Cliffs of Moher unless you did this as a day trip from Galway. If you have already done this, you might stop at Adare, or Cragganouwen, or Bunratty.
Three nights in Dingle to explore the area.
Head to Kilkenny with a stop at the Rock of Cashel. Spend two nights in Kilkenny. (See St. Canice church with its round tower, walk the medieval streets, eat at Dame Kettler's pub, etc.
Head for Dublin, with possible stops at Glendalough and/or Powerscourt Gardens. Ditch the car at the airport and settle into Dublin for the rest of your trip. Fly home from Dublin.
If you are flying into Dublin, you might spend your first few days there. Then train to Galway and pick up your car there and then to Dingle and back to Shannon for the trip home.
Both of these scenarios have you spend a day or so without driving to get your feet on the ground and take your bearings.
there are many others here who can give you more info and will have other ideas for itineraries. The ones I have suggested make for only a single one night stand, but perhaps you like to be on the move more often.
Nov 16th, 2010, 07:27 AM
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irishface thanks so much for the suggestions. I thought the car would be the best way to do my exploring. I am planning on spending the most time in Galway and Dingle. I was also thinking about stopping in Kilkenny,and based on your suggestion it will be a good place to spend some of my time. I was thinking about flying into Dublin and renting a car on my way out and driving to Galway. I like the idea of taking the train to Galway and renting the car once I get there!
Dec 2nd, 2010, 04:29 AM
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You can book VERY cheap bus fares from Dublin airport to Galway on www.citylink.ie: some advance fares only cost €1, also sometimes www.irishrail.ie do promotions so you may be able to get very cheap trains ("free" - just pay booking fee). It's on at the moment but you can only book up to 28 days in advance
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