Your comments on my Ireland itinerary?

Hello Before I make all my hostel reservations for my 15 night gig in
Ireland, I wanted to get your opinion for improvements on my Irish
itinerary. Here's the scoop:

Fly into Shannon
2 nights with
relatives in county Galway
3 nights in Galway City, day trip to Aran
Islands, Burren/Cliffs, and maybe Connemara
3 nights Dingle Peninsula
and sights in that area
2 nights Cork, day trip to Blarney castle (is
this worth it? - Cork and/or Blarney Castle?)
2 nights Kilkenny, day
trip to Rock of Cashel
3 nights Dublin, day trip to Newgrange


The above is my plan right now. If the two nights with relatives
don't work out, I'm going to add a night each to Galway and Dingle.
Does this itinerary seem reasonable to you? Any suggestions for
improvement?

Is 2 nights in Kilkenny worth it? Should I
skip Cork and see Killarney instead? Or otherwise rearrange my trip to
see Killarney? I know it's very busy and touristy, but I hear the
national park is gorgeous and I like to hike and enjoy natural wonders.


I think I'm going to skip a day trip of Ring of Kerry because of the
overload of tour buses, and instead I'll ride a rented bike around
Dingle Peninsula.

I prefer not to do one night gigs in cities because
I'm traveling by train/bus so I'm minimizing difficult travel.

Thank
you very much for any advice/comments/opinions you would provide.


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

imagination wrote:


Hello Before I make all my hostel reservations for my 15 night gig in
Ireland, I wanted to get your opinion for improvements on my Irish
itinerary. ...

I'll start with your last paragraph. If you are using public
transport, I think you are right to keep the travelling down.
Personally, I would take it down one point further, and cut out one
stopover. Remember, two nights in a place gives you only one full day.
Every place you mention is worth seeing, but if you like hiking and
scenery, I would suggest that Kilkenny least closely meets that aspect
of your brief.

Personally, I think Blarney Castle is not worth much.

I would far rather stay in Cork than in Killarney. It's a lively city
with plenty of character, and you can look for bus trips out to west
Cork, which is very scenic (if you are on a tight budget, check out
scheduled services rather than tour buses). I don't much like
Killarney as a town, but that's me. The scenery around it is stunning,
some of the best that Ireland has to offer. Plenty of good
walking/hiking possibilities.

While the Ring of Kerry is good, I think it overrated. There are other
routes I would prefer.

Cycling around the western tip of the Dingle peninsula could be a very
good trip if you are fit enough to do 20-30 miles, some of it hilly
(well, just about all of it hilly, but when you follow the coast road
the slopes are generally less challenging -- and sometimes the slope
is with you).

Enjoy.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Hullo,

If I were you I'd skip Blarney (and knock Cork city down to a day).

Reduce Dublin to 2 days (and see Newgrange on the way there).

a little more time around Galway.

Best Regards


O'Donnell

(O'Donnell Tribunal) wrote:

If I were you I'd skip Blarney (and knock Cork city down to a day).

Reduce Dublin to 2 days (and see Newgrange on the way there).

On the way there from the south, using public transport?

a little more time around Galway.

Not a lot wrong with that in itself, but the OP might want to see a
bit more than one place.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

Well, far be it from a Canadian to weigh in after you received advice from
two people with vaguely Irish sounding names (!), but......

I've been through and around Connemara a couple of times, and find it to be
stunningly bleak and beautiful, all at once. The sense of open space and of
time is otherworldly. Dingle is highly touristed, but hell, it's for a
reason. Try to get off the beaten path (and you can). Get a locally written
walking guide to help you seek out some of the more interesting ruins, etc.
I would skip Cork altogether, and Blarney is not worth your time. There is
so much more to do in Ireland that will leave you with much stronger
memories.

Bob

--

Travel and Astronomy Photos
http://www3.sympatico.ca/bomo




"imagination" wrote in message
...

Hello Before I make all my hostel reservations for my 15 night gig in
Ireland, I wanted to get your opinion for improvements on my Irish
itinerary. Here's the scoop:

Fly into Shannon
2 nights with
relatives in county Galway
3 nights in Galway City, day trip to Aran
Islands, Burren/Cliffs, and maybe Connemara
3 nights Dingle Peninsula
and sights in that area
2 nights Cork, day trip to Blarney castle (is
this worth it? - Cork and/or Blarney Castle?)
2 nights Kilkenny, day
trip to Rock of Cashel
3 nights Dublin, day trip to Newgrange


The above is my plan right now. If the two nights with relatives
don't work out, I'm going to add a night each to Galway and Dingle.
Does this itinerary seem reasonable to you? Any suggestions for
improvement?

Is 2 nights in Kilkenny worth it? Should I
skip Cork and see Killarney instead? Or otherwise rearrange my trip to
see Killarney? I know it's very busy and touristy, but I hear the
national park is gorgeous and I like to hike and enjoy natural wonders.


I think I'm going to skip a day trip of Ring of Kerry because of the
overload of tour buses, and instead I'll ride a rented bike around
Dingle Peninsula.

I prefer not to do one night gigs in cities because
I'm traveling by train/bus so I'm minimizing difficult travel.

Thank
you very much for any advice/comments/opinions you would provide.


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

The first thing you do is go down to your library and get Tony
Hawks' book "Round Ireland With a Fridge" and read it.

This fairly recent book can be also bought for $3US (used) on
Amazon.

Tony gives an excellent travelogue, we pretty much followed his
route except we had a car. He's funny and I recommend this book
to everyone I know who is planning a trip to Ireland.

Travel is personal and I would disagree with a few other
comments. We did like the Blarney castle and, quite frankly, how
can you say you went to Ireland and didn't kiss the Blarney
Stone? Of course, we had a car and we did not stay in the area,
just visited the castle which is mostly ruins.

You can read about our trip and see some photos at my web site.

Have a good time.

--
John Vittoe
"Chance Favors a Prepared Mind."
Louis Pasteur
www.vittoe.com

"John Vittoe" wrote:

Travel is personal and I would disagree with a few other
comments. We did like the Blarney castle and, quite frankly, how
can you say you went to Ireland and didn't kiss the Blarney
Stone?

I agree that travel is personal, and if you liked Blarney castle,
that's fine with me.

I have actually stayed in Blarney, I didn't kiss the Blarney stone.
Some of us need no aids to loquaciousness.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED

imagination wrote in message ...


Is 2 nights in Kilkenny worth it? Should I
skip Cork and see Killarney instead? Or otherwise rearrange my trip to
see Killarney? I know it's very busy and touristy, but I hear the
national park is gorgeous and I like to hike and enjoy natural wonders.


I think I'm going to skip a day trip of Ring of Kerry because of the
overload of tour buses, and instead I'll ride a rented bike around
Dingle Peninsula.


If you like natural wonders, I'd suggest eliminating Cork and Blarney
Castle and spending more time in Dingle. I'd also suggest leaving
some room for the "happy accident" -- be a little flexible. I'm not
sure if you are aware, but there are small group biking trips that
provide support vehicles, and are a wonderful way to bike in Ireland.

Judith

Hi Thanks so much everyone for your comments and suggestions. They are
really helpful!

After I posted, I thought "now why is it I want to go
to Cork?" and then I figured it was for the blarney stone and castle,
but now I think I'll spend my time somewhere else.

Padraig, thanks
for all your helpful info/advice which is very useful. I think I will
cut it down a city, though I'm not sure exactly how yet...

JohnV, I
just ordered that book from the library.

Lola, what do you mean by
"happy accident"? You mean I like a place so much I want to stay
longer? My flexibility depends on the hostels -- I don't want to end
up without a bed, hence reservations that can be changed per my whim. I
think I could go for a hiking tour, though not really a biking tour
(personal preference). I hope I'm in shape enough to cycle around
Dingle!

Here's what I was originally thinking after reading these
posts:

Fly into Shannon
2 nights with relatives in county Galway
5
nights in Galway City, day trip to Aran Islands, Burren/Cliffs, and
maybe Connemara or overnight on Irishmore
4 nights Dingle Peninsula and
sights in that area
See Rock of Cashel en route to Kilkenny
1 night
Kilkenny
See Glendolaugh en route to Dublin
3 nights Dublin, day trip to
Newgrange

But then I found that it's not practical to see the Rock of
Cashel en route from Dingle to Kilkenny -- too much travel time. And
the problem with seeing things "en route" is I'll have my big backpack
with me -- not too much fun.

So now I'm thinking of staying at a town
in between Dingle Town and Cashel to break up the long journey, but if
not Cork, then what? Kinsale, Blarney, Killarney, Cork seem to be the
obvious answers. Perhaps Killarney because of the gorgeous national
park to hike in?

Is there a good place to stay near Killarney that's
close to the base of trails? I'll have to check into it.

I'm also
considering doing part of my travels by a hop on, hop off tour bus (I
know, I know...)

Thank you again everyone, I'm getting closer and
closer, step by step... :-)

I really appreciate all your ideas! If
you have any others, please post!


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

imagination wrote in message ...
Hi Thanks so much everyone for your comments and suggestions. They are
really helpful!


Lola, what do you mean by
"happy accident"? You mean I like a place so much I want to stay
longer? My flexibility depends on the hostels -- I don't want to end
up without a bed, hence reservations that can be changed per my whim. I
think I could go for a hiking tour, though not really a biking tour
(personal preference). I hope I'm in shape enough to cycle around
Dingle!


Yes, if you like a place enough to stay longer, have enough built in
flexibility to add a night; find out what cancellation penalties may
apply to accommodations down the road.

Walking tours are in two varieties: free-style, or vehicle supported.
The former you need a good ordinance map and need to suss out the
places to stay, and book in advance. You need to know how far you can
walk in a day, too. Vehicle supported you pay in advance, they
pre-book accommodations, you are with a small group of like-minded
individuals. It's actually a great way to meet people.

Judith