Visiting Ireland's Hot Spots from Central Location?

[fritters]

Hi! I'm mostly a lurker here, thanks for all of your travel tips! My DH and I are planning on visiting Ireland in March or April of 2015, and would like to stay in one central location. I found a few great AirBnb cottages in or around Limerick, but I want to make sure that it's close enough to drive to the popular sights (e.g., Ring of Kerry, County Clare, Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle). Most of the things we'd like to see are in or around the Southwestern part of the country, near County Clare, Ring of Kerry, and the Dingle Peninsula. Hoping that Limerick is close enough! Has anyone been that can attest to the drive? Is there anything else in that area I should add to my itinerary? I should say that DH and I do not mind driving, in fact, we like the idea of seeing the countryside by car.

Any thoughts on whether or not mid-March is too cold? We don't mind a little chill and some rain, I just don't want it to be unbearable.

Thanks so much!

[frlcb]

You could certainly stay in one spot but I would probably choose a couple locations if you guys don't mind driving. We just did Killarney, Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin. The problem is that while the distances may not seem great some of the roads are narrow and curvy and it could take longer than it seems to go those distances.

[Susie]

I have gone in May and June, and enjoyed those times. Not peak season crowds (or airfare) yet, but nicer weather. March would be a little early for me. April, maybe, but if you could wait until May I think your odds of nicer weather will be better. Especially since sightseeing by car, visiting the Cliffs of Moher, etc. is less fun in the rain. It POURED the day we drove from Doolin to Dingle, and that was a long drive in the rain. The southwest is my favorite part of Ireland, but I've done each of my trips by moving around from one B&B to another every couple days. Location wise, I would want to find a place that's walking distance to a good pub. Relaxing in pubs in the evening with a Guinness and preferably live music was awesome.

Sights wise - Dingle is great, Cliffs of Moher are iconic. Ring of Kerry I skipped in lieu of Dingle and spending time doing other, different types of sight seeing. The Burren is neat. Blarney Castle I have skipped each time. If you can get a ferry to the Aran Islands, that's cool too, I've done that twice to two of the islands.  I have also really enjoyed driving around Connemara. It's different from the southwest, but also beautiful. I'm guessing you will fly into SNN instead of DUB? That is really easy for rental car pickup and driving out of the airport on the opposite side, if you are not accustomed to that. Unless you want to drive a manual (we did), be sure to reserve an automatic well in advance.  Automatics are not the norm there like they are here.

[Deleted]

We went to Dublin in April of this year and it was low to mid 60s and drizzling off and on while we were there. It's cool and a little rainy, but not unbearable by any means.

Also, I would not recommend staying in Temple bar in Dublin. We made that mistake. while it was a great location there are just too many belligerently drunk people to deal with, at all times of the day.

[mdgirl]

We moved around every night. I think you'll limit yourself doing 1 location, and you'll probably see more if you're willing to move once or twice. We were there in mid-March (of 2002) and we had great weather -- chilly but lots of sunshine. But everyone kept telling us how lucky we were with the weather!

[fritters]

Oct 23, 2014 12:26:14 GMT -5 Susie said:

Sights wise - Dingle is great, Cliffs of Moher are iconic. Ring of Kerry I skipped in lieu of Dingle and spending time doing other, different types of sight seeing. The Burren is neat. Blarney Castle I have skipped each time. If you can get a ferry to the Aran Islands, that's cool too, I've done that twice to two of the islands.  I have also really enjoyed driving around Connemara. It's different from the southwest, but also beautiful. I'm guessing you will fly into SNN instead of DUB? That is really easy for rental car pickup and driving out of the airport on the opposite side, if you are not accustomed to that. Unless you want to drive a manual (we did), be sure to reserve an automatic well in advance.  Automatics are not the norm there like they are here.

We'll be flying into Dublin and driving out to the West/ Southwest side of the island. We looked into flying into Shannon, but we got a great deal flying into DUB. We'll only be in the country for five days before we drive back to Dublin and fly to Paris. We'd plan on renting a car as soon as we land in DUB. Thanks for the info! I was wondering if Blarney was worth it.

[fritters]

Oct 23, 2014 13:05:08 GMT -5 mdgirl said:

We moved around every night. I think you'll limit yourself doing 1 location, and you'll probably see more if you're willing to move once or twice. We were there in mid-March (of 2002) and we had great weather -- chilly but lots of sunshine. But everyone kept telling us how lucky we were with the weather!

Oh, this is so great to hear! It has to be March or April for us, work-wise. Thanks!

[frlcb]

Oct 23, 2014 13:38:57 GMT -5 fritters said:

Oct 23, 2014 12:26:14 GMT -5 Susie said:

Sights wise - Dingle is great, Cliffs of Moher are iconic. Ring of Kerry I skipped in lieu of Dingle and spending time doing other, different types of sight seeing. The Burren is neat. Blarney Castle I have skipped each time. If you can get a ferry to the Aran Islands, that's cool too, I've done that twice to two of the islands.  I have also really enjoyed driving around Connemara. It's different from the southwest, but also beautiful. I'm guessing you will fly into SNN instead of DUB? That is really easy for rental car pickup and driving out of the airport on the opposite side, if you are not accustomed to that. Unless you want to drive a manual (we did), be sure to reserve an automatic well in advance.  Automatics are not the norm there like they are here.

We'll be flying into Dublin and driving out to the West/ Southwest side of the island. We looked into flying into Shannon, but we got a great deal flying into DUB. We'll only be in the country for five days before we drive back to Dublin and fly to Paris. We'd plan on renting a car as soon as we land in DUB. Thanks for the info! I was wondering if Blarney was worth it.

I have been to Blarney 3 times, I think it is worth it. It is cheesy, of course, but it is a cool castle and very pretty grounds. 

[Deleted]

I really don't think you can do one central location. The mileage between places seems doable, but the roads are windy country roads and it takes much longer than you would think. On one of our legs, we literally got caught behind a herd of cows on their way home and it delayed us by 30 minutes. I understand not wanting to jump around too much, but I think you will be miserable doing that much driving each day. You also need to build in some leisure time for hanging out at pubs listening to music!

We did 2 nights Dublin, 2 nights Kilkenny, 2 nights Dingle, and 2 nights Galway. I think at most you can cut it down and do Dublin and Dingle as your bases.

You'll have a great time! Ireland is so beautiful and fun.

[rubytue]

I'd suggest picking 2 or 3 locations to base yourself. So rather that one place for 5 nights, 2 places for 2 nights and then maybe a 3rd place or a 3rd night.

We did 1 night in Tralee, 1 in Catherdaniel (bottom of Ring of Kerry), then 2 nights in Killarney and 3 in Galway (final night by airport in Shannon). I thought this worked really well.

Also, please don't over estimate your ability to drive after the overnight flight. We weren't that concerned bc H can sleep anywhere anytime. Well, until the guy a couple rows in front of us decides to treat the flight like a night at the pub, and drink the whole flight while partying with the two rows around him. OMG! And if you are on Aer Lingus, they didn't friggin dim the cabin lights until 5 hours into the 6.5 hour flight. H and I took a car nap in the Bunratty parking lot.

[mbcdefg]

I went with my family in August 2010. We flew into Dublin and stayed there for two nights: www.ashlinghotel.ie/

Honestly, after two days in Dublin I was ready to move on ... and most Dublin visitors I've talked to have said the same thing. Lovely city but IMO the countryside is the big draw.

From there we rented a van and drove west, staying overnight in Kinsale, Killarney, Spanish Point, and we stayed one more night near Shannon before flying home from there.

I would just plan out a route and then pick a few places to stay.

[starryfish]

I was just there last month....our route was: Dublin, cliffs of moher (can't remember the city name there we stayed at), Killarney (ring of Kerry), two nights in Kilkenny where we did lots: Kilkenny castle, smithwicks tour, rock of cashel, Waterford. And then back to Dublin airport.

[KKD]

If you are really set on staying in one location, it looks to me like Limerick could be a good choice (though I've not been there myself). When we visited Ireland, we traveled around but stayed in Kenmare (Co. Kerry) the longest and enjoyed everything we did while there (including Skellig Michael, Killarney, Dingle, Mount Eagle, Cork, Kinsale, and Mizen Head). It took us a day to drive there from Dublin (with a stop in Kilkenny along the way) and a day to drive from there to Galway (with stops at Cliffs of Moher and the Burren along the way).

We did three nights in Dublin, four nights in Kenmare, two nights in Galway, and one night in Adare before departing from Shannon.

I highly recommend visiting Skellig Michael if you're not afraid of heights - it was a highlight of our trip. We also really enjoyed our trip to Inishmore in the Aran Islands.

[EmilieMadison]

fritters We stayed for 6 nights in Adare (just outside of Limerick) and it was the PERFECT location for going doing day trips to Dingle, Kilkenny, Rock of Cashel, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, etc. I loved not having to pack everything up every day or so and move on. It was a very comfortable home base and the perfect central location for everything we wanted to see. I HIGHLY recommend that area.

We then spent 3 nights in Dublin in the Liberties neighborhood at a VRBO and we loved it. We walked everywhere and it was quiet but still vibrant. A few days in Dublin was enough, though.