Ireland / Northern Ireland trip report

[erbear]

We just got back from just over two weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland with DH's family. We have two kids, 14 and 12; his mom (80) and her sister (77) came along, along with his sister and her husband and their two kids (10 and 12). 

We took an overnight flight from Philadelphia to Dublin on Aer Lingus. It was nearly 3 hours late, so that kind of sucked. We arrived in Dublin the next morning at 11am, rented a car, and headed to a hotel near the airport for a 2 hour nap. Normally, we would just push through, but we were driving to the west coast that day and I didn't want to drive on no sleep. After the nap, we got in the car and drove to County Kerry to Sneem (on the Ring of Kerry) via Cashel. 

Sneem: is a cute little town. We were there a week. We stayed at Parknasilla, which was a resort with restaurants, 3 bedroom houses, a pool, tons of hiking trails, a teen hangout room, and a playground. It was a great place to stay. We were close to Kenmare, which we hit for dinner a couple of times. The town itself is small - a couple of restaurants and pubs, a little store, some souvenir shops. Very cute. We enjoyed the music in the pubs. From Sneem, we did day trips -- one day to the Sheeps Head Peninsula, which was really cool with some hiking, one day to Killarney to bike around, one day around the Ring of Kerry. We were scheduled to do a boat trip out to Skellig Michael, but it was canceled due to weather, which was a bummer.

From Sneem, we drove 4 hours north to Doolin. We rented an AirBNB there with everyone, which was nice. In Doolin, we took a boat out to the Aran Islands (which was awesome -- we rented bikes and tooled all around), visited the Cliffs of Moher, went up to the Burren. 

Then, we split and my small family drove north to Northern Ireland. We stopped in Derry (walked the walls of the city and did the murals...very cool if you know the history), then ended up near the Giants Causeway. OMG. So amazing. This was probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen, with a quarter of the crowd of Ireland. Highly recommend. We spent 2 days here just hiking, did the Carick bridge, went to Belfast, did the Titanic Museum.

Then we drove to Dublin to meet up with everyone again. We did the Guinness tour (a must -- it was really fun), a Hop on-Hop off bus, but mostly just walked around, ate, drank, and enjoyed the craic.

Driving -- difficult bc you're on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car and shifting with your left hand. And OMG the tour buses coming right at you on tiny roads. It took some getting used to but it was ok. FYI: credit card companies no longer include Ireland on their coverage so we had to get (pretty expensive) rental insurance and this was unexpected.

Food -- amazing. Seriously, I have been to Ireland before and I don't remember the food being good. Everything we had on this trip was delicious -- lamb, seafood, cheese, pasta, Indian food. Everything was good. My niece has Celiacs and there were lots of GF options (she is so picky and didn't eat any of them, but they did exist!). 

We had such a good time. Happy to answer any questions

[mrsd2006]

That sounds amazing. We did Ireland a few years ago, but not Northern Island. Def want to go back for that.

[jinkies]

Thank you for the report!

If you had to choose either ring of Kerry and Aran islands, or northern Ireland, which would you choose?

My son will be 16 when we go next year-- we have to spend 4-5 days in Dublin for my work, then will have time to go to either south/west Ireland or Northern Ireland. I don't think we would be able to do both.

I have been to Ireland, but we drove a loop through the middle so didn't see anything south or north.

[jinkies]

One more question, was your rental an automatic? 20 years ago, I remember it being much more expensive and difficult to find an automatic rental car, so we got a manual.

This trip will be just me and my son, and I can't drive stick (even on the right side of the road!). Wasn't sure if automatic is more expected now or if it is still mostly manual. That will have an effect on where we end up going since we would be tied to bus/train options.

[erbear]

Jul 13, 2023 7:15:04 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Thank you for the report!

If you had to choose either ring of Kerry and Aran islands, or northern Ireland, which would you choose?

My son will be 16 when we go next year-- we have to spend 4-5 days in Dublin for my work, then will have time to go to either south/west Ireland or Northern Ireland. I don't think we would be able to do both.

I have been to Ireland, but we drove a loop through the middle so didn't see anything south or north.

Tough call. Ring of Kerry was just so crowded, but there is much more to do and see. The Aran Islands were amazing and not crowded. I guess for a first timer with teenagers, I'd say that, but I loved Northern Ireland so much that it's hard for me to say definitively.

[erbear]

Jul 13, 2023 7:35:08 GMT -5 jinkies said:

One more question, was your rental an automatic? 20 years ago, I remember it being much more expensive and difficult to find an automatic rental car, so we got a manual.

This trip will be just me and my son, and I can't drive stick (even on the right side of the road!). Wasn't sure if automatic is more expected now or if it is still mostly manual. That will have an effect on where we end up going since we would be tied to bus/train options.

You can definitely rent an automatic. It's more expensive but not significantly so, I don't think. I like a stick shift

[jinkies]

Jul 13, 2023 9:27:57 GMT -5 erbear said:

Jul 13, 2023 7:15:04 GMT -5 jinkies said:

Thank you for the report!

If you had to choose either ring of Kerry and Aran islands, or northern Ireland, which would you choose?

My son will be 16 when we go next year-- we have to spend 4-5 days in Dublin for my work, then will have time to go to either south/west Ireland or Northern Ireland. I don't think we would be able to do both.

I have been to Ireland, but we drove a loop through the middle so didn't see anything south or north.

Tough call. Ring of Kerry was just so crowded, but there is much more to do and see. The Aran Islands were amazing and not crowded. I guess for a first timer with teenagers, I'd say that, but I loved Northern Ireland so much that it's hard for me to say definitively.

Thank you! I would be sad to miss it, but I could theoretically send him on a guided bus trip to giants causeway on one of the days I'm busy with work. There seem to be several full day trips from Dublin.

Then we could do Ring of Kerry together. It will be mid- July next year, so plenty of time to look at options.

[midwestmama]

Sounds like a great trip! DH and I were just talking about going to Ireland, so thank you for sharing your trip report! My coworker was also just telling me about the Giants Causeway and that it is a must-see. I had never heard of it before, so I definitely will put it on our list if we are able to do a trip to the UK, Ireland, & N. Ireland.

[osumelissa]

What a wonderful trip! I really enjoyed Northern Ireland when I went solo in 2017 - Giants Causeway was gorgeous and I thought Derry was a really nice city with lots of history. The murals were so moving.

[dutchgirl678]

What a wonderful trip! We were debating between Ireland and Iceland and decided on Iceland this year, but Ireland is still very much on our list. The resort you mentioned sounds great, I will check it out. And now I'm thinking we want to add the Giant Causeway and Northern Ireland into our itinerary as well.

[Pibs]

Your trip sounds fantastic! We did a similar one several years ago and Northern Ireland is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I'm bummed you didn't get to go to Skellig Michael! Were you going to do a landing tour?

[erbear]

Jul 31, 2023 18:24:14 GMT -5 Pibs said:

Your trip sounds fantastic! We did a similar one several years ago and Northern Ireland is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I'm bummed you didn't get to go to Skellig Michael! Were you going to do a landing tour?

Yes

[Pibs]

Jul 31, 2023 19:16:18 GMT -5 erbear said:

Jul 31, 2023 18:24:14 GMT -5 Pibs said:

Your trip sounds fantastic! We did a similar one several years ago and Northern Ireland is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I'm bummed you didn't get to go to Skellig Michael! Were you going to do a landing tour?

Yes

Awww, I'm so sorry!  

[mrsukyankee]

Sounds like a fabulous trip!