We are flying to Dublin, Ireland on March 23, and we have 7 days before returning home (from Dublin) on March 31.
We are renting a car (though I’m somewhat intimidated, having never driven on the other side of the road).
Looking for your favorite stops, cities, sights, hotels, restaurants, pubs, random pit stops, etc. As well as any advice for helping us have a special and smooth experience.
We love books, music, hikes, theater, history, charming architecture. We are not into big shopping/malls, fancy food or wine (Michelin stars will not impress my rather picky D), sports stuff.
We liked Galway more than Dublin. Enjoyed day trip to the Aran Islands (didn’t go to the most visited, can’t remember why, but it was great just wandering around). Cliffs of Moher. Trains between major cities are fast and easy.
The Dingle Peninsula is lovely and quaint town and college age friendly. If you can get your hands on an old copy of Karen Browns Ireland Inns and Itineraries (make sure it has the itineraries) - it will be a great guide and starting point to plan. Have a great time !
You have to do the insanely scary and scenic drive there: Conor Pass - Wikipedia
Mind you, it was scary because we did it on a foggy day. Very picturesque!
I also like the Berra Peninsula but it’s probably too much of a drive from Dublin.
We do have a car—I used miles to book it through our airline. It did cost a few more miles to get an automatic—but as much as I love driving a manual, I figured it was worth not having to figure that out as well as the opposite side driving.
Love all of these recommendations! Our library just reopened after a big remodel, so I’m going to pop in there today and look for the Inns book, too.
My two favorite pubs, Kehoe’s and McDaid’s, are a couple of blocks apart. If you want the best pint of Guinness in the world though, you’ll need to tour the Guinness brewery and sample a pint at The Gravity Bar on the top floor.
We loved Skellig Michael and the Ring of Kerry more generally when we went many years ago (now of course made famous by Star Wars). Unfortunately it looks like you’re too early in the year for the boats to run. The Dingle peninsula was also good, we climbed Mount Brandon from Cloghane which was a tough hike but had great views. But the weather might not cooperate in March.
Rain is one thing, but I was mainly thinking that the 3000ft high mountains often have snow on them in winter, and the route we went up was very steep:
Having said that, we went for a week in August and it didn’t rain once. Everyone kept telling us it was the first time it had stopped raining all summer!
Do your homework. I recall (in 2002) that the Dingle Peninsula and Ring of Kerry narrow roads had one-way loop. Not sure if was the rule or the convention, but it was a real hassle if one of the many buses encountered a car going the other way.
For others without opportunity to get a rental car deal, I’ll mention that there are advantages to being in a tall vehicle on a bus tour. On at least one of those loops, we enjoyed being higher than the hedgerow bushes, could see the sea vista a views. Plus you don’t have the brain fatigue of being a driver on the “wrong” side of the road. (To me it even felt funny in taxis and bus).
Just want to say that if you rent a car, get the maximum amount of insurance. And your credit card probably will not provide insurance in Ireland. My husband is a great driver but we got pushed into the hedges by a bus and scratched up the side and somehow we lost a mirror.
Thanks for the car advice Re: insurance. I have debated going the bus/train route, but we are people who appreciate spontaneous detours and lack of structure. Keeping track of a lot of departure times, dealing with storing luggage as we go, etc., it didn’t seem like a good set up for us. That’s why I went with the car even though I know it will make me a little stressed out to navigate the driving differences. But I can see the benefits of going via bus/train, for sure
We are considering a few days in Dublin in June as its the layover airport for our trip to Madrid. I am intimidated by driving on the wrong side of the road too! My DH does most of the driving but he has some attention deficit issues when he’s driving and sightseeing.
A few things: it will be cold and wet (likely) at that time of year…come to think of it, it’s always cold and rainy in Ireland! (just kidding…sorta’).
I wouldn’t drive too much in Dublin, as parking can be a pain, and the public transport there (Dublin Bus, the DART light rail, and the Luas tram) pretty much get you anywhere you want to go in the Dublin area. I would leave the car at the hotel where you are staying and use the public transport. You might even skip a car altogether in Dublin and get one when you are leaving to head to other areas.
One thing that you might want to consider doing when you are in Dublin is to get a day pass on the DART and visit all the towns and villages on the Irish Sea in the Dublin area. Howth, Malahide, Dun Laoghaire (pronounced “Dun-Leary”), and Dalkey are just some of the fabulous villages on the DART line. You could start in the morning and work your way from North to South all on DART. It’s cheap, saves time, and you get to see some of the best parts of Dublin. The views are pretty fab too.
Stop off in one of the many lovely seaside villages and have a “carvery” lunch or dinner at a pub, which is usually a great value. It’s not all you can eat (thankfully), but you will be quite satiated after a carvery meal.
And if you do make it down to Dalkey, check out Finnegan’s Pub. It’s Bono’s (from U2) “local” and he’s been known to be seen there quite a bit.
We rented a car in Edinburgh many years ago and the trickiest part was getting out of the rental place and dealing with the first roundabout. Driving on the other side became more comfortable pretty quickly(husband was driving) to the point that after 17 days of it in Scotland, it felt a little strange the first time we drove when we got home. I’ve been to Dublin but with my sister and no driving there. Enjoy!
You might want to get a standalone GPS with Irish maps, either as a purchase or from the rental company.
Unless you have international data coverage on your cellphones, Google Maps etc won’t really be ideal, as it will be super-expensive on roaming. Also, cell coverage may be spotty. Things are tough enough driving on the “wrong side of the road,” so you may not want to be distracted at looking at maps.
On driving on the other side, you probably will hit the inner curbs in roundabouts. Just keep in mind where you are, and maybe put a few post-it notes in the cars telling you which way to go/turn.
We used to spend time in Ireland and did a lot of driving in the country. Keep in mind that the Motorways (our version of the Interstate) can go right through a town, resulting in journeys taking much longer than you might think.
And, always keep in mind the possibility of an “Irish traffic jam” outside larger cities:
If you do the Ring of Kerry counter-clockwise, then you are traveling in the same direction as the buses, so you will not encounter them coming in the other direction. Buses are required to go CCW on the Ring of Kerry.
I can still picture a very eldery guy decades later with sheep all over the road in rural Scotland. We just waited until they passed and he said something to the effect that they go where they want to go!
Don’t pick up your car until you are ready to leave Dublin. You really, truly do NOT want a car in town. Get a taxi or take one of the inexpensive & comfortable busses to get into town, then plan to walk / taxi / hop-on hop-off bus around city centre. It is very walkable.
Seriously consider a day trip to Newgrange and/or Glendalough. For Newgrange, you can go back out to the airport and pick up your car, then drive on to Newgrange, and keep heading west. Newgrange is 100% worth it, but it takes some planning- you have to go to the Visitor Center, and then take their bus to the site.
Unless you are flying back through Shannon, I think a week from Dublin to Kerry and back is a real push. Consider heading west to Connemara, either on the fast road to Galway, or the scenic route to say, Leenaun, then work your way south, through Galway, maybe an Aran Island (that’s a full day outing, or even an overnight), down along the Cliffs of Moher (look for info on “The Wild Atlantic Way”), maybe ducking inland for the Poulnabrone Dolmen and the Burren (if you are very lucky the flowers may be beginning to bloom while you are there), and down into Limerick. Visit the Folk Park and do the banquet at Bunratty Castle- it is both more authentic and more fun than you might expect for something so tourism focused. You are then set up for an easy run back to Dublin to get your flight!
re: the DART- if the weather is fine, the ride out towards Bray is lovely. Dalkey is the prettiest & easiest place to figure out what to do once you get off the DART. The other option is to go the other way, out to Howth- also pretty, the DART puts you out pretty much in the village, good restaurant options, and a pretty easy climb up the hill of Howth gives a great view.
Phones: you can get a pay as you go SIM card quickly and cheaply. Much easier than in the US & absolutely worth it. If you are anxious about the doing of it, call into any of the main phone stores (Vodafone, Three, Meteor) and ask them to sell you a sim card & set up for you. If you are comfortable doing it yourself, they have them in the little shop on your left as you come out of baggage claim at the airport.
