Heading to Ireland later this month for our first visit there. Half of my ancestors (everyone on my mother's side) came from there.
I've read every thread on here about Ireland and learned a great deal, so thank you to everyone who contributed over the years. Now that the trip is actually upon us, I thought I might prevail on you to pass on any quick tips that weren't mentioned before.
We're spending nearly a month there, because I want to see as much of the country as possible. Of course, that will still be an overview, so we can learn about places we may want to visit next time. Flying into Dublin, we'll rent a car and spend nearly a week in counties Kilkenny, Waterford, and Cork.
Then we'll go to Killarney, drop off the car and join an OAT tour that will take us through Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal, then on to Londonderry and Antrim, and back down to Dublin. So essentially a complete counterclockwise circuit of the island, both countries. We'll finish with several days on our own again in Dublin before coming home.
I've used all the usual trip planning online resources, but I'd love to hear of things you particularly loved over there. If you have been there in the last couple of years, please pass on your knowledge. Thanks so much.
We were there earlier in the year in February. Our trip was only 9 days. We spent the bulk of it in Dublin, but did rent a car and went up to Northern Ireland for 3 days.
Some of my takeaways
1. We're planning to go back. We've been to a lot of places, but Ireland ranks very high, and we wish we had more time to see more places.
2. We LOVED Northern Ireland. Make sure to take the time to visit there, especially given the Brexit issues and murmurings that there may be some border trouble on the Ireland Island in the future (don't know how much truth there is to that though). Oh, and when you're in Northern Ireland, the Giant's Causeway is a must, as is Dunluce Castle. And if you're a Game of Thrones Fan, that was mostly filmed in Northern Ireland, and there is a ton to see from the show if you're so inclined.
3. The Trinity Library was probably my favorite single thing to see in the country. Eventually my wife had to drag me out. I could have stayed there for hours. I'm a bit of a nerd, and I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie. lol
4. Do the Guinness tour. Very cool setup. You'll get a certificate certifying you to be able to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. Stupid gimmicky thing... But my wife and I framed ours and have them hanging in our basement bar above our taps. This was one of the last things we did there, but wished we would have done it earlier. At the end of the tour, they take you to the sky bar, which is the highest bar in all of Dublin. It's round with glass all around and you get a wonderful view of the city. Do this early in your trip.
5. Don't rent a big car. If you've never driven on the left hand side of the road, it can be quite challenging at first, especially through Dublin traffic. After a couple of days, we weren't terrified at all times, and almost got comfortable, lol, but it was a very cool experience. We rented a little tiny VW Polo, and were glad we did. I'd hate to have a big luxury car there. Oh, and rent a manual transmission car to make the left hand driving experience all that more complete!
6. The country roads are crazy narrow! See point number 5. Some of the roads are barely wide enough to hold one car, let alone two in opposite directions. You've been warned!
7. Dublin is a very walkable city. We never used public transportation once... It also helped to keep the vacation weight down, because the food there is rich.
8. You always have to ask for your check in restaurants. They'll never stop by and ask if you're ready for your check, even if it's painfully obvious. It's just not how they do it. It's minor, and something I never thought about, but when we first got there, it struck us as odd.
9. Enjoy the pubs! Every one makes you feel like you've gone back in time a bit... And don't just drink Guinness. There are a lot of other Irish beers that are on tap that are fun to try. If you're into high ABV big American IPAs, you'll have a hell of a time finding them. Most everything is low to moderate ABV, and they're expensive. If you like drinking beer on vacation, I hope you budget it in! lol
Enjoy! We had a hell of a time, and are looking forward to eventually going back (after knocking a few other places off our list).