Ireland Trip

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by timo2 Actually, we missed many castles and such (we did make it to one castle) because we were on a mission to see how actual Irish Pubs compared to the supposed Irish Pubs in the USA. Our intensive Pub study revealed that there were three types of Irish Pubs: the cave type (rare in Ireland, but Fados in the USA is that style); the fancy type with dark wood; and the local house type. Few of the Irish Pubs we visited had curtains in the windows (by contrast all of the London Pubs we visited had curtains. Also, none of the Irish Pubs we visited had a zillion nick-nacks like the ones in the USA have.

While in Dublin, we stopped at the Capstan, which was supposed to be the oldest continually operating pub in Dublin That is DW with the owner

[Finance Dave]

Thanks everyone for the excellent insight! I got the plane booked today and all the hotels. It was a marathon planning session lol. I still have to book a car and then flesh out the activities a bit more...but I think I got the hard part done.

I think I am going to book the falconry walk as someone mentioned.

What is the tipping custom in Ireland?

Also anyone know what the smoking laws are in Ireland?

I will use my credit card for most transactions, but where is the best place to purchase a small amount of Euros...I know the airports are crazy expensive but I live in a small city and no major banks here.

[Cortina]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave Thanks everyone for the excellent insight! I got the plane booked today and all the hotels. It was a marathon planning session lol. I still have to book a car and then flesh out the activities a bit more...but I think I got the hard part done. I think I am going to book the falconry walk as someone mentioned. What is the tipping custom in Ireland? Also anyone know what the smoking laws are in Ireland? I will use my credit card for most transactions, but where is the best place to purchase a small amount of Euros...I know the airports are crazy expensive but I live in a small city and no major banks here.

Not sure that we exactly have one : Nothing if unhappy with service , 5 to 10% would be considered generous if happy with service


Yes



Cash points (hole in wall) in all major towns and cities .... even most minor towns. Use card to withdraw cash (eg debit card)


Oh ... you want to know what smoking laws are ? : No smoking in public places / inside buildings . food eating places. look for designated areas , or just get out into the open. S Ireland was one of first places to ban smoking in bars etc ... seems a long time ago now !

[Fishingmn]

We are fans of slower travel and like to do a minimum of 3 nights in a location. When in Ireland 2 years ago we flew in and out of Shannon and did the following -

Kenmare - 3
Dingle - 3
Galway - 3
Ennis - 3

We really liked the small towns so if doing it over we would have stayed in Clifden instead of Galway. Did pubs and music every night which was quite fun.

Our favorite lodging (B&B's) was Greenmount House in Dingle

Favorite activity was the Cliff Walk Tour to Cliffs of Moher. The guide, Pat, was fantastic - Cliff Walk Doolin | Cliffs of Moher - Doolin Cliff Walks, Ireland

Another favorite activity was a Sheep Dog demonstration. DW got to give calls to the dogs which was great.

Ireland is great - my biggest advice is to not try and fit too many places in. With your 8-10 nights I'd only stay at 3-4 locations max.

[bmcgonig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave Just thought of another question...is Uber available in Ireland?

No. It's not. Taxis only. However there's an app called MyTaxi that is like Uber for taxis. Worth downloading for Dublin.

[bmcgonig]

If you're renting a car at the airport and decide not to use their insurance, which is expensive, and use your credit card instead, here's some tips.

Have a printed out letter from the CC company that states that coverage is valid in Ireland.

They will then put a €5000 hold on that card. I've see some poor folks show up and that particular CC didn't have 5k credit left on it.

Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty will charge you €7/day for the privilege of not buying their insurance. Sixt doesn't. Don't know about the others.

Take photos of every part of the car before leaving the lot. Even if you don't see anything, sometimes you just miss it.

I use Kayak.com to rent cars in Dublin. Always seems to spit out the best prices.

I get the smallest car I'm comfortable in. Country roads are narrow and parking spots are undersized. "Compact" has always been my choice even though I'm tall.

[Ronstar]

Country roads are so narrow that some of the roadside hedges have horizontal grooves in them at car door rear view mirror height. The mirrors overhang the road carving a notch in the hedges.

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Country roads are so narrow that some of the roadside hedges have horizontal grooves in them at car door rear view mirror height. The mirrors overhang the road carving a notch in the hedges.

We followed a bus on one such road...the bus brushed against the foliage on both sides.....I tucked in behind it and let the driver run interference....and the bus was booting it.

[big-papa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar Country roads are so narrow that some of the roadside hedges have horizontal grooves in them at car door rear view mirror height. The mirrors overhang the road carving a notch in the hedges.

Indeed - the whole time I was driving down those roads, I kept saying "Use the Force Luke", then I pretended to launch the missiles. My wife just rolled her eyes...

[gailwinters]

I highly recommend a visit to Inis Oírr. It was my favorite part of our trip. We did the horse and cart ride around the island and got a lot of info from the driver. The ferry ride back offered a spectacular view of the Cliffs of Moher.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave ..... I will use my credit card for most transactions, but where is the best place to purchase a small amount of Euros...I know the airports are crazy expensive but I live in a small city and no major banks here.

Hopefully your credit card does NOT charge foreign transaction fees.

As for debit, open a schwab account, they do NOT charge fees on ATM withdrawals and will credit you if the ATM charges you.

I keep a few thousand in the account just for traveling, so I can take out money in any country from an ATM. My bank wanted 1 week notice, a horrible exchange rate and a fee of about $15 to mail the foreign money to me. Turns out they don't have any in the bank.

That's when I took advice from folks here.
I got my schwab card and tested at my bank, it's a bit funny as I took out $5.00 and my ATM charged a few dollars fee. Schwab credited me, and i guess they have a minimum as I made a $1 profit on the transaction

I've since used it in a few countries and it worked great !

[The Onceler]

Lots o’good info up top. A few pragmatic suggestions:
1. Unless you really like driving, I’d consider limiting your trip to the Dublin, Kilkenny, Dunmore East (Waterford), Kinsale, Dingle, Galway, Shannon “U”. Otherwise you’ll be in the car a lot more than you might think. Ireland has improved its motorways but still not high speed friendly in many places and you wouldn’t want it any other way.
2. The above above “U” lets you see plenty of great sights/towns.
3. I’d suggest you consider the following:
Galway (1 night)
Cliffs of Mohr
The Ring of Dingle (I prefer to Kerry and seems shorter and less crowded). Be prepared to back up on the cliff’s edge. There is an “over the mountains” route that takes you from the Cork/Kinsale area to Dingle area. Longer drive but really out of the way and awesome. Be prepared to stop for sheep.
Slea Head - if you hike it don’t get blown off (same with Mohr).
Kinsale (not Cork) — a side trip to do a little bit of walking out to Old Head it is truly beautiful (can’t get to the golf course unless you play but there is plenty of space for regular tourists). The Spaniard pub. Some really nice restaurants.
Dunmore East — truly charming little town. Easily reached by leaving Dublin and stopping for lunch in Kilkenny the arriving Dunmore East. The Strand hotel/pub is moderately priced and you’ll have an ocean view and there is a protected swimming cove with sand beach there. I’d stay here and forget Waterford unless you really want to see the crystal factory. The drive from Dunmore East to Passage East and Cheekpoint or reverse is very pretty. Also a scenic route from Dunmore East toward Kinsale.
Jack Mead’s flyover pub (near Waterford city, which in my view deserves a flyover too).
Kilkenny (pretty well preserved city)
If you can see some GAA (Gaelic games) in Dublin at Croke Park or elsewhere consider it. Very very safe and foreigners can order tickets unavailable to the locals. (Used to be that way, anyway).
Dublin in my view is a two-nighter, having stayed there more than 30 nights (about half on business)

Gooser’s pub near Limerick (and hence Shannon) is nice and picturesque. On the Shannon River.

Have a great time and don’t forget that if you don’t have your insurance ironed out in advance when you arrive everyone in the US will still be sleeping so a phone call to your agent won’t work.

Actually on your itinerary I would take the nice train from Dublin to Waterford, and rent a car in Waterford. Dublin traffic can be challenging. Google the Red Cow Roundabout.

Good luck

[timo2]

oh..I forgot to mention: the street signs to find a particular bed and breakfast are better than the actual street signs.

[PaddyMac]

I'm from Dublin, and got back fairly regularly. They charge Americans an arm and a leg for renting an Automatic car, as they are not that popular in Ireland so not much demand for resale. My tip is to rent a Prius (make sure you know how to turn it on though!). It may seem pricier, but we drove all around Ireland for a week on one tank of petrol.

[Octogirl]

I stayed in Dublin with friends and we walked or took easy public transportation everywhere. for 5 days. Then DH met me and we drove in Ireland from Dublin to Galway then Shannon. July 2017. We loved it !! We had our $$ and car insurance before arrival.

[CHBinFL]

This site has some great places to stay. Some friends and I stayed at the blackhead lighthouse about 10 years ago. Peat fireplace was great. View was amazing.

https://www.irishlandmark.com/properties/

[Cortina]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHBinFL This site has some great places to stay. Some friends and I stayed at the blackhead lighthouse about 10 years ago. Peat fireplace was great. View was amazing. https://www.irishlandmark.com/properties/

Blackhead ... eh ?? ... about 1 mile from me !! (Coincidence)

[RoxyM]

We made a similar trip 10-day trip in April-May 2015. Was the best trip (out of lots) in our lives! We flew to Dublin, stayed 3 days doing touristy things, then rented a car to go south and west. Do you have places to stay? I highly recommend bed & breakfasts, booked on your own instead of through an agency. There are so many B&Bs, and the owners of the ones we stayed at were so wonderful to us. In Dublin we stayed at a historic hotel across the street from Oscar Wilde Park and near Trinity College. Also we booked a 2-night stay at Ballyseede Castle in Tralee. That was so beautiful!

From Dublin's south Hertz office, we lucked onto a very scenic road to Kilkenny (past Wicklow Mts.). Stayed at a B&B in Kilkenny - go to the pub where the witch statue is and watch the trad musicians and dancers. During our stay we explored the area (Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Leap Castle (!!!), Waterford), then traveled to Tralee. We skipped Blarney and Ring of Kerry, but wow - Dingle Peninsula was the bomb. We followed Rick Steves' recommendations for that tour. We had booked a trip to Skellig Michael, but was unable to cross because of weather.

Do me a favor - go to Skellig Michael and let me know how it is? I want to go back and climb those 600 steps to the top!

From Tralee we traveled to Doolin because we wanted to visit Aran Islands. I don't think I would go back there again. Crossing the Atlantic was long and kind of like a roller coaster. From Doolin, Cliffs of Moher were awesome.

From Doolin we drove back to Dublin to stay at an airport hotel (very nice one). On the way we stopped at Birr Castle, which was super interesting. Castle itself isn't open to the public (the family still lives there), but the gardens are absolutely beautiful and the giant early telescope is really something to see.

Tips on driving: the back roads are tiny compared to what we have here in the states, but it's worthwhile to drive them sometimes for the scenery. You get used to them, and sometimes have to pull off to the side to let oncoming vehicles pass. In all the towns are round-abouts every block or so. They're great! We had fun driving everywhere.

If you can, stop and sight-see unplanned. If you see a crumbling abbey, or castle, or caves - go for it! Those things we did made the whole holiday extra special for us. Let us know any other questions!

[Finance Dave]

Thanks everyone! I had planned much of the trip before some of you posted those last comments...so sadly some are not included. However, here are a few notes:

1) I will call my CC company and try to get an insurance coverage letter.
2) Yes we are getting a small car...but not a Prius. I have driven on the left side of the road about 5 times in England and Germany. I would not say I find it "easy", but I can do it. And yes it's been a manual transmission (I have musclecars and drive mostly manual transmission vehicles in the US as you can see in the photos below).
3) We are going to stay in 4 "hubs". 1) Swords (north of Dublin slightly) 2) Kilkenny 3) Cobh 4) Shannon (we will be there 4 days, seems lots to see around there)
4) I booked a Falconry activity
5) We have some physical limitations, so cannot do the 10km walk on Moher...we'll need to find something where we walk about 1 mile or less
6) I have not used my debit card in years, and we have ours through a tiny credit union...so I may have to buy a small amount of Euros at the airport. I know that's not the most cost effective way. We will use our CC for nearly everything we can, and no they don't charge foreign transaction fees.
7) We fly into Dublin, and out of Shannon
8) We leave May 28th, return June 8th
9) Can't do Skellig Michael...see limitation comment above

Thanks again everyone, I'll post up when we return!

[Finance Dave]

And as far as insurance, I'm confused. Are you all talking about the "collision damage plan" or some other type. The agreement we have says "your rental may have mandatory local insurance requirements". It also says "liability insurance may be required in some areas".

Some of you said the insurance is "expensive". What do you call expensive? Is $99 expensive to you? Because that is what they quote for the collision coverage. I don't consider that expensive.

We are picking up the car "off airport" south of Dublin on the day we leave Dublin. The cost for 7 days is only $143 (not including the insurance noted above).