Ireland trip--suggestions please

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martini girl
Posts: 329
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:29 pm
Location: Pennsylvania

Ireland trip--suggestions please

Post by martini girl »

Hi all - - I just booked two tickets to Ireland for my 18 yr-old daughter and me for her high school graduation present, flying into Shannon airport at the end of this month. While my entire family loves St John, she has always wanted to see Ireland, so I am looking for suggestions on "must see" sights, villages, towns etc. I am planning on renting a car and will most likely be keeping our travel to the west/southwest part of the country. A definite on our list is the Cliffs of Moher, but other than that, we are open to suggestions. Any recs on accommodations are welcome too. We will be there for a week. Thanks so much!
Kathyzhere
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Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:04 pm
Location: Cape Cod & SW FL

Re: Ireland trip--suggestions please

Post by Kathyzhere »

Hi,

My experience is from back in the 90's but we flew into Shannon as well. We stayed in Killarney at a family member's timeshare. If you want to stay in one place and do daytrips I would suggest this area and drive the Ring Of Kerry. Beautiful area and many places to see. I was in absolute awe of all the gorgeous shades of green and even a few palm trees here and there.

Some of the highlights; Muckross House, Blarney Castle, Dingle peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, Ross Castle, Killarney National Park, and one of my fave places was the Gap Of Dunloe. I loved the scent of peat burning, which I am pretty sure you will experience. Check TripAdvisor as well, I love the wealth of info found there!

Have a fabulous time!

Kathy
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Pat
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Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:16 am
Location: Delaware "The First State"

Re: Ireland trip--suggestions please

Post by Pat »

We flew into Belfast for a wedding then drove to Dublin for sightseeing. Hubby and I loved Dublin. I would recommend seeing Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Must see in Dublin is The Book of Kells at TrinityCollege. The tour at Guinness
Brewery is not worth the time but the beer at the top bar is great and provides a 360 degree view of Dublin. We stayed at the Shelbourne Dublin which was luxurious and great location for walking. Also recommend Dublin Hop On Hop Off bus. In N. Ireland we stayed at a castle. Hope this helps.
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shoosh
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Location: Marlton,NJ

Re: Ireland trip--suggestions please

Post by shoosh »

We went to Ireland last August. Cliffs of Moher is a definite must do. Of course it's a tourist spot but a beautiful place and I would go back here in a minute. The views are awesome. We stayed nearby at Bunratty castle hotel. Good location near Shannon . We also stayed an extra night at Dromoland castle and this was an incredibly great experience. Expensive but well worth it. As the previous poster stated check trip advisor.com.We also really enjoyed the town of Killarney. We also loved Dublin, we stayed at radisson st helens a little outside of dublin but a
beautiful hotel. Ireland was a great trip for us and I would most definitely spend a vacation there again. Ireland exceeded my expectations....Have a great trip and make memories in a beautiful place.
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NYBB
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Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:57 pm
Location: NY

Re: Ireland trip--suggestions please

Post by NYBB »

We spent 2 weeks in Ireland this past August. It was never on the top of my "must go" list but it turned out to be one of our best trips ever. Amazing scenery, amazing history, amazing food, and especially amazing people. As you are only there for a week, you shouldn't push yourselves to cover too much ground or you won't be able to slow down and really savor the beauty. Assuming you will be sticking to the SW and want to spend some time in County Kerry to explore the ring of Kerry, the absolutely lovely town of Kenmare is ideally situated as a base, and it's filled with quaint shops and restaurants. I would recommend staying at a small hotel named the Brook Lane for a couple of nights. Terrific! If you have time to see some of County Cork (and want to kiss the blarney stone at the blarney castle), the seaside town of Kinsale is a great place to stay and play. Up north into county Clare, I would suggest Doolin as a base to explore the area. The small town has a couple of pubs that are world renowned for the traditional Irish music sessions. If you're lucky, the locals will be up and dancing when you're there. It is certainly something to experience.You will smile so hard your face will hurt. We spent a couple of nights at the Hotel Doolin. Really great place. Highly recommend. From here it is 2 minutes to the Cliffs of Moher. NOT TO BE MISSED! If you are somewhat fit, you can walk the cliffs long past the crowds (you have to climb over a small fence and you will be on private property) and have the beauty and photo ops all to yourselves. Head left when you get to the water and keep going. We walked for hours and the views get better around each turn. But this is not for the faint of heart. At some points, the "path" is only inches wide and its a sheer drop hundreds of feet down. Even if you don't hike for hours, do continue walking past the crowds and a half hour into the illegal area you will be rewarded. I'm around if you have an questions or want any details.Have a wonderful time and please give a trip report when you return. I hope you are as blown away as we were!
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