1 week in Ireland?

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I'm looking at a 7 night trip to Ireland. I am thinking I would try to book houses in 2 different locations, 3 nights at each, and then 1 night a hotel in Dublin before flying home. I realize it's kind of a quick trip and would rather see a lot focused in a couple of areas rather than try to make it all over the country and exhaust ourselves. For those who have been, which 2 areas would you choose to focus on? Ideally it would be somewhere we can get to by train, the houses would be in towns where we could walk to shops, and we could book some day tour type trips that would include transportation from each place, so to avoid renting a car. It would be in spring. Thanks!

 

[Mrbones]

Dingle town on the peninsula, gorgeous, lots of shops, amazing views, then I would stay in Galway city, day trip to Connemara and down to Clare in the Burren

 

[eco-muse]

That all depends on your interests.
Do you want to see castles? ruins? historical places? go hiking? go to a beach? Something else?
Are there any specific sites you want to visit (Cliffs of Moher, Newgrange, Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, museums, etc.)?

A week definitely isn't much time, but the more info you can provide on your interests, the better we can help you narrow down locations.

Regarding their train stations, here are a couple maps:

Map 1
Map 2

 

[BadPinkTink]

waving hi, Im from Dublin and I have lived in or visited most counties in Ireland.

I

For those who have been, which 2 areas would you choose to focus on? Ideally it would be somewhere we can get to by train, the houses would be in towns where we could walk to shops, and we could book some day tour type trips that would include transportation from each place, so to avoid renting a car. It would be in spring. Thanks!

You need to base yourself in the big towns or cities.

1. Galway city
2. Cork city
3. Wexford city

A pp suggested Dingle peninsula , however the train ends in Tralee and you would find it very difficult to get around in South Kerry without a car. I have family in Kerry and know that part of the country very well.

The train network in Ireland is not very good. Dublin is the hub.

This the map

The trainline west from Dublin goes to Galway, Mayo and Sligo

The trainline south west from Dublin goes to Cork, Kerry and Waterford

The trainline south east from Dublin goes to Wexford

This is the train website http://www.irishrail.ie/

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Thank you all!

That all depends on your interests.
Do you want to see castles? ruins? historical places? go hiking? go to a beach? Something else?
Are there any specific sites you want to visit (Cliffs of Moher, Newgrange, Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, museums, etc.)?

A week definitely isn't much time, but the more info you can provide on your interests, the better we can help you narrow down locations.

I don't have any particular site I need to visit. Yes castles, yes ruins, yes hiking, yes beach. A little of everything! And a mix of being able to do a lot of things, but also take it easy and relax in the rental house and walk over to a restaurant. I have in mind staying where we see sheep and farmland and could possibly hike right out the door AND be able to walk to a pub or restaurants, but that's probably a tall order to also not have a rental car in such a location. I guess we could always take the train out of Dublin and rent a car for a few days once we are in the location we're staying.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Thank you all!




I don't have any particular site I need to visit. Yes castles, yes ruins, yes hiking, yes beach. A little of everything! And a mix of being able to do a lot of things, but also take it easy and relax in the rental house and walk over to a restaurant. I have in mind staying where we see sheep and farmland and could possibly hike right out the door AND be able to walk to a pub or restaurants, but that's probably a tall order to also not have a rental car in such a location. I guess we could always take the train out of Dublin and rent a car for a few days once we are in the location we're staying.

Right what you need to do is pick a train route from the map I have posted for example Dublin to Galway, the west route. Look at each of the train stops and research that area.

Ireland in spring time, January to April is off season. Many tourist places are closed or have limited opening hours. It is also the coldest and wettest time of year. We usually get snow in February March time. Until about start of April, it's dark from about 5.30pm.

What you are looking for is doable, HOWEVER you would need to be in a town or village outside one of the main cities. You would have to get a train to Galway for example and then rent a car and stay somewhere like Spiddle.

Outside of the main cities like Dublin, Galway, Cork, Wexford, Kilkenny you won't really find that many car hire places.

 

[Luv2Run]

I may have missed you mentioning this, but are you traveling solo or with a loved one? We honeymooned in Ireland, and this is where we stayed:
https://www.imagineireland.com/meath-cottages/ardcath-bettystown-coast-7123
The price for the week came out to be about $540 USD, so it was very affordable. The cottage is about a 40-minute drive from Dublin, fifteen minutes from Newgrange, and 10-15ish minutes to the town of Drogheda, where the train station is. We'd drive to the train station, and ride it into either Belfast or Dublin. Bonus: Bennett's Pub is a lovely little Irish bar literally right across the street from the cottage. The cottage's owner (Colm) is incredible. He gave us tips on where to go, history of the area, what to see, and kept to himself for the most part. He had a fire going in the wood stove and a plate of cookies & fruit waiting on the table for us when we arrived. I would 100% stay there again.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Traveling with family, including kids. That is a beautiful cottage though! Just from a little initial searching I'm thinking the Cork area for part of the time and Galway area for the other. The train map is very helpful!!

 

[BadPinkTink]

Traveling with family, including kids. That is a beautiful cottage though! Just from a little initial searching I'm thinking the Cork area for part of the time and Galway area for the other. The train map is very helpful!!

If you are thinking about Cork, have a look at this http://www.celticcottages.ie/ They are individual old style cottages suitable for a family. The village is about an hour's drive from Cork city. My family has stayed there a few times.

You could get the train from Dublin to Cork city and then rent a car.

Just be careful planning. You may have to come back to Dublin to get the train to Galway.

Or if you had the car you could drive from Cork to Galway

 

[NotUrsula]

In the West of Ireland it's fairly easy (though not super-cheap) to hire and car and driver to take you where you want to go; lots of people do that for tourists, and have for decades. The tricky thing is connecting with them, which is where a good travel agent can help. Best to hire an agent who regularly services the Irish expat community in NYC, Boston, or Chicago; they are more used to moving people around off the beaten path. (The reason such services are fairly common is the large number of older Irish expats who go home to visit family and no longer feel safe driving on the left.)

 

[Erzengel]

I went to Ireland for the first time this past March. We were part of a tour and saw a lot of castles.

But this was the highlight of my trip.

I'd go back just to see the Cliffs of Moher again.

And also to visit here which I didn't get to do.

Aran Islands.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Also I was thinking, you will only have 1 week right? Thats really not enough time to do a 3 location holiday.

• Day - 1 Depart from America. Flights to Ireland are usually over night so you arrive the day after you depart America, due to travel time and timezones
• Day 1 - Land in Ireland after a transatlantic flight. Depending on your arrival time, you really should stay 1 night in Dublin to refresh and acclimatise.
• Day 2 - Travel to Cork - train travel time is 4 hours from Dublin, then add on travel from your Dublin hotel to Hueston Station. When you arrive in Cork Kent Station, add on at least 2 hours to rent a car and get yourself out of the city to where ever you are staying
• Day 3- Full day in Cork area
• Day 4- Full day in Cork area
• Day 5- Travel to Galway. Realistically you are looking at a full day to travel to your next location
• Day 6 - Full day in Galway area
• Day 7 - Full day in Galway area
• Day 8- Travel from Galway to Dublin, stay overnight at Dublin airport hotel
• Day 9 - Depart Dublin in the morning. Flights to America usually leave in the morning or early afternoon. Land in America the same day, due to travel time and time zones
• Day 10- Recovery day before you go back to work

This an 11 day schedule.
It gives you the bare minimum time in Cork, Galway and Dublin and it also allows for travel between each location.

You should also look into flights to or from Shannon airport or Cork airport. That way you would cut out the travel time to and from Dublin