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syntheticgerbil

So Much Ireland (Help me plan my trip!)

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So my wife and I are going to Ireland for our honeymoon August 13th to the 24th thanks to the many generous monetary gifts from wedding attendants. We have the flight booked and are arriving and in Shannon. We maybe a rental car sorted out, but we aren't exactly sure what we are doing. We have a travel guide that supposedly will find us the good hotels that are cheaper (apparently there's a lot of bed and breakfast places that will save money) as well as places worth eating at and must see sights, but a lot of times it's hard to distinguish how useful these books are until you get there.

 

Can you thumbs who have been to Ireland or live in Ireland help me? We are looking for maybe more things off the beaten path worth seeing and we have 10 days straight there to drive around. Apparently everyone in Ireland loves driving a manual stick because renting an Automatic is about 150% more expensive. We don't know how to drive stick shifts and that's too much with also having to deal with the stress of driving on the other side of the road. I'm not sure what traffic there is like but I'm guessing this country will seem ridiculously small to me after driving around Texas so much. That is a very good thing though, and has me excited that we can see more with way less distance traveled than we would in Texas.

 

What is good to eat and drink? What are the best sites and hopefully not too touristy? Are there major tourist sites that cannot be missed? A friend went to Ireland once and she keeps repeating Glen Cove a lot. Glen Cove? What is the best way to figure out where to stay over night? Should we book places in advance or just kind of stop wherever at a motel or hotel sort of like in the U.S. on long stretches of road? Any other tips to keep things as cheap as possible without sacrificing safety or some quality?

 

How much will they hate United States citizens, especially ones from Texas? When we went to Paris a lot of the people we spoke to found it extremely bizarre we were there since Texas is apparently this alien place of conservative gun nuts to them. We don't really have southern accents and don't ever really say y'all (guess that doesn't happen much in Houston and the like?)  so we could lie and say we are from another state if prompted.

 

Also what should we expect if we drive in to Northern Ireland? The currency conversion already sounds like a major headache and I don't know if there's some kind of gate on the border to go through or not and if foreigners are even allowed to cross over in to other countries. I mean I'm sure we can eventually research all of this, but I figure I'd ask Idlethumbs first, my most trusted board of directors. :)

 

This thread might just be a thread for Dibs, though. Hello Dibs.

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Hai. I'm at a wedding and a little drunk:) maybe to row, but more likely Monday. Also, one new guy is irish too!

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Not really foodies, we tend to eat bad when we are out of groceries, but we like going out to eat at little diners every now and then. More sightseers I suppose. Natural stuff especially!

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Moo, so, I'm not too badly hungover, so I'll give you a bit of a spiel. I'll probs fill in more tomorrow as i come across or remember things. I'm pretty much entirely West and South biased, as I'm form right down in the SW of Ireland:) SuperBiasedMan may be able to fill you in on the more gentrified parts of the country, though i've heard he is biased.

 

 

Good choice on Shannon anyhow, it is a nice quiet airport, Dublin can be mental!

As for driving, watch your fuel consumption. Unleaded is at the moment around €1.55 per litre, diesel is around €1.48 a litre. Lots of roads are terrible, so your consumption could be a little high. The roads will also not be quite what you are used to. Even in towns, you should expect slow windy roads. There are motorways and whatnot, but if you want to see the pretty scenery, be prepared:P

Also, I suggest when you get an itinerary in mind you start booking some places to stay. Ireland is indeed small, so using Galway, or Cork for instance as a base to go adventuring for a few days is very feasible. Or you can pick a B&B somewhere nice and scenic and stick there.

 

As for things to do:

 

Galway is a lovely city. I would really suggest spending a few nights there. You can go to the beach at Salthill, there is a lovely promenade for a walk. The city itself is huge on culture, and is a really relaxed place to hang out. I would heartily recommend you go for brunch or dinner at a restaurant called Ard Bia, which is in the town centre right by the harbour.

Galway can also be used as a base to explore the Burren. The Burren is a unique limestone landscape in north county Clare. You can take in the Aillwee Caves and  the Cliffs of Moher as well in this region, they are spectacular.

 

You could aslo head north and perhaps visit the aran islands (go camping?). I’ve never been, but everyone who has been loves them.

Heading further south, they city of Limerick has one of my favourite things in the region, and that is the Saturday morning market in the town http://www.milkmarketlimerick.ie/. If you like food and foodie things this market is amazing. It is the thing I miss most about not living there anymore! I still go whenever I can, and if not I get my brother to pick up my shopping for me.

 

If you then head west and a little south, you get to Kerry which is where I am from! The Ring of Kerry is absolutely spectacular. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Kerry Might be worth getting a bus tour instead of driving, as at points the roads are like this…and go downhill from there

If you are driving, go off the main path and head to Strawberry Field Pancakes.  Nomnomnom

 

Killarney would be the hub here, but it will be insaneo busy that time of year. If you have a car you can for sure save some money by heading a little out of town for accommodation. There is loads to do there, it is a really touristy town, but it is also very very pretty and situated right on some lakes. We sometimes rent bikes and cycle around Mucross lake.

There is a tea shop right at the furthest point if you are amature cyclists like me and my family. The whole of Mucross park is just beautiful. You can also lock up your bikes and take a short hike up to Torc waterfall (or a longer hike to get much higher) which is inside the park. Or if you are feeling more leisurely, rent a horse and trap and get driven around the park.

 

Dingle is another awesome hub in Kerry (and also extremely busy). You will get some amazing scenery (bring your shorts, you can go swimming at the beach) driving west out to the end of the peninsula, and boat trips out to the islands etc.

 

Anyhow, that’s enough for today. Tomorrow we will tour Cork and further afield, as well as answer your reader mail.

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Thanks for all the recommendations! Probably can't go camping because it requires extra gear and we are limited on what we can bring. We will kind of have to sift over a lot of these for the next couple of months. Seems like Ring of Kerry is a must so far. Awaiting the rest of your recommendations.

 

Are you saying to joining a tour bus for the whole trip or just for around the Ring of Kerry? Because those gas prices are fucking insane. I thought paying $3.50 for a gallon was high. Hopefully the car we rent is fuel economical. I imagine it will be way tinier than what we are used to going by that road you displayed. Sounds like we should map out everything in advance so we don't wander. Probably need to figure out our GPS situation too. Not sure if we should buy one here or rent one there with the dealership. We used to have one but I think our old awful duplex neighbors stole it when my wife left her car unlocked.

 

If you're going to really appreciate the experience you should first play A History of Democratic Process in Eire.

What I've read about the history of Ireland already gives me a headache. It is literally thousands and thousands of years of fighting. This flash game just gave me more of a headache.

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Ya, just thought i'd warn you! I think i saw a thread somewhere recently where an American tourist was horrified by British prices, and i think we are even higher. Ireland is an expensive place in general!

 

You can probably do pretty well eating if you plan well. B&Bs will furnish you with a mighty full Irish hopefully. After that, if you look out for Aldi or Lidl shops, you should be able to pick up some picnic items at really great prices. Grab some bread, cheeses, meat and some fruit and find a cliff somewhere to perch on. Do some research for your evening meals to see where is good. I can recommend some places in some of the towns in the SW and Dublin before you head over (I like eating, nomnomnom).

 

Anyhow, down to Cork, which is where i live now.

 

Cork city itself is great, i really like it here. You can use it as a base to explore west cork, which is where all the scenery is at. They city is great for music and gigs and always has a mighty buzz (and me if you want a howdy:D). Heading out of the city, you could travel SW and end up in Baltimore to take the ferry across to Cape Clear. Never been myself, but its on my own list of places to go. You could pick up a B&B in Clonakilty on the way back and stay there to go to the beach the next day at Inchadoney or somewhere else close by. Kinsale is another very pretty tourist town in West Cork.

 

After this, my knowledge of tourism takes a nosedive i'm afraid. For sure Dublin is worth a visit. You can do the brewery tours and see the capital. Probably lots of history and museum stuff to do there too.

 

Specific questions:

 

> Apparently everyone in Ireland loves driving a manual stick because renting an Automatic is about 150% more expensive.

Wait till you see the roads before passing judgement:P

 

>We don't know how to drive stick shifts and that's too much with also having to deal with the stress of driving on the other side of the road. I'm not sure what traffic there is like but I'm guessing this country will seem ridiculously small to me after driving around Texas so much. That is a very good thing though, and has me excited that we can see more with way less distance traveled than we would in Texas.

Ya, Ireland is definitely tiny compared to even Texas. Traiffis isn't too bad. Don't try and enter or exit cities at rush hour and you should be fine. Worst scenario is you get stuck behind a tractor on a road where you can't pass. The main cities (Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Belfast) are linked for the most part by motorways, but sometimes even big towns can have absolutely terrible roads between them! GPS would be very handy, check your car rental though, it might be standard.

 

>What is good to eat and drink?

Fooood. There are some awesome restaurants all over the place, maybe once you figure out a bit of a plan i can let you know more. You have to try black pudding, and get a proper good full irish breakfast somewhere (i kinda think they are way too much, but you gotta try). Try some irish cheese and some irish beer and whisky and do whatever you want after that.

 

>A friend went to Ireland once and she keeps repeating Glen Cove a lot. Glen Cove?

I have no idea?! Give us some clues. Glen Cove?

 

>What is the best way to figure out where to stay over night? Should we book places in advance or just kind of stop wherever at a motel or hotel sort of like in the U.S. on long stretches of road? Any other tips to keep things as cheap as possible without sacrificing safety or some quality?

Check out yelp or trip adviser for reviews of places. There isn't really any motels here. There is cheaper hotels like Travel Lodge and Quality Inn. B&Bs are great if you find a nice one, and you are pretty much guaranteed a good breakfast in the morning (Again, reviews). Book ahead! All the touristy places will be jammers all summer. Since you have a car, you will get away with traveling a bit to get better prices. If ye both feel like having a few drinks, just get a taxi back. Safety shouldn't be any of an issue if you stay away from certain parts of the cities. Let me know if you are looking and i can advise (mainly north side Dublin, north side Cork). If you are going without bookings, then find the tourist office in a town and they should be able to help.

 

>How much will they hate United States citizens, especially ones from Texas? When we went to Paris a lot of the people we spoke to found it extremely bizarre we were there since Texas is apparently this alien place of conservative gun nuts to them. We don't really have southern accents and don't ever really say y'all (guess that doesn't happen much in Houston and the like?)  so we could lie and say we are from another state if prompted.

Not at all, you might get a few eye rolls if you are having trouble interacting with a waitress or if you are expecting things to work like they do in Texas, but they will do that to anyone! Accents in places can be pretty thick, but it is English I swear!

 

>Also what should we expect if we drive in to Northern Ireland? The currency conversion already sounds like a major headache and I don't know if there's some kind of gate on the border to go through or not and if foreigners are even allowed to cross over in to other countries. I mean I'm sure we can eventually research all of this, but I figure I'd ask Idlethumbs first, my most trusted board of directors. :)

(I removed the bit about crossing the border, Irish people can just pretty much drive through the checkpoint, but i have no idea of non EU citizens).

If you are heading north, then Belfast is meant to be lovely. My parents went to the Titanic Exhibition there and were very impressed. Further afield the Giant's Causeway is the thing to see (my parents were unimpressed, but they went in the driving rain, so probably didn't have the best time, other people have told me it is amazing). No guns or bombs plz.

 

 

>This thread might just be a thread for Dibs, though. Hello Dibs.

Hai. I also pmed the other two irish people who pop up on the forums every so often, perhaps they will chime in.

 

Also, i know you asked for off the beaten track things, but I'm useless for that sort of stuff. Best just sit back and take it easy and see what happens as you wander.

 

 

 

 

On a side note, i just found this on the list of things to do in Clonakilty on a rainy day:

 

Cyber Cafe:
Surf the web or send those long overdue emails

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Also, re bus tour: I meant for the Ring of Kerry only. That said, if you have a car you can stop at your leisure. It is 180km around, so it might be nice just to take a whole day and stop for a walk every so often.

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The Giants' Causeway in Northern Ireland is worth seeing. It's a very strange, naturally formed but artificial looking formation of rocky ground by the sea. A big area, not just some rocks.

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Be sure to wish everyone "top of the morning". They'll really appreciate it.

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I can respond to this soon, but right now I've just flown back to Ireland to start a new job and find an apartment to move in with my girlfriend who also started a new job today.

Though I am a terribly untouristy person who hates to eat out (because I'm cheap) I will offer what I can, but mine will mostly be about things in Dublin, Kilrenny having castles and cathedrals and a couple nice beach towns if the Irish weather gods favour you with a day of sun.

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Also, if you do go to Belfast there's a Game of Thrones exhibit thing where you can get a photo of yourself on the iron throne. Even if you're not a fan you can make friends who are jealous. (sorry about double post, some forum buttons just can't be clicked on my phone)

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This is all very good info Dibs. I don't know what Glen Cove is. I asked my friend again after google searching and finding nothing. She is not even sure now, so she probably has the wrong name. Sounds like we should definitely get all our places to stay sorted out (and paid for?) ahead of time.

 

Also SuperBiased, that sounds good about the Game of Thrones picture. I don't know anything about the show except that it has a lot of fisting, thanks to Griffin repeatedly saying so on MBMBaM, so maybe I will make a gesture based on that.

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Sounds like we should definitely get all our places to stay sorted out (and paid for?) ahead of time.

 

Also SuperBiased, that sounds good about the Game of Thrones picture. I don't know anything about the show except that it has a lot of fisting, thanks to Griffin repeatedly saying so on MBMBaM, so maybe I will make a gesture based on that.

 

Do. For instance, i was trying to book a room in Clon for 2 weekends away and the best I can do is 10km outside the town! (I'm ending up on a fold up bed with my band, so thats ok).

You will have the car, so don't fret too much if you want to leave a few days unplanned - you just might not get as ideal a location as you wanted!

Hotels will generally take your CC info as a security, but you won't be charged until you are leaving. Most will let you cancel up to the day before you arrive, but check the T&C to be sure. B&Bs i'm not sure, but my guess is you just pay when you turn up.

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Ok, time for my long overdue response. I should probably note before I start that I haven't ever gone to the North so my recommendation for the Iron Throne is all I know about it. I grew up in Kilkenny and currently live in Dublin, so I'm quite South East biased (though we definitely have the best weather :P). And another caveat that I'm a cheapass and a vegan so I don't really bother eating out that often and won't bother trying to recommend any specifics about that to you. So here we go.

 

My hometown of Kilkenny is worth a look, particularly as your stay overlaps with the local arts festival that may be of interest to you:

http://www.kilkennyarts.ie/

Buuut, if that's not of interest I'd specifically avoid that time as there's gonna be a lot more tourists around. Either way, the town has a very open castle for tourists to go through, 2 cathedrals and a bunch of other historical buildings you can see. I recommend going to St. Canice's Cathedral and going up to the top of the round tower, it costs you something like €5 each, but the view you get of the whole town around you is well worth it. Rothe House is also a good look for the historical stuff.

 

If you have no interest at all in the history, I still recommend visiting and looking around. Just walking through the mix of old and new buildings is quite nice, and Kilkenny is tourist focused so you can still find a lot of nice places to eat and many B&Bs. It's quite a small town though, so you could realistically see it all in a day or two unless you're into a lot of the arts festival stuff.

 

Nearby to there is a nice seaside town, which is basically where my family holidays usually went. It's called Tramore, in County Waterford, not far from the town of Waterford itself. Basically it's got a big huge beach, but as back ups it also has a constant... amusement park? Mini theme park? I'm not sure what name translates to Americans. But basically it has a small rollercoaster, bumper cars and a ghost train. That kind of stuff. And just next to that is also a street full of arcades. This might be more enticing to a bored irish child/nostalgic adult but if you want a beach day at all it's worth it, though there will be tourists. If you want an emptier beach experience, Curracloe in Wexford is good but has little in the town other than the beach. I recommend keeping on eye on the weather regularly. It's changeable as hell.

 

Now, for Dublin. A great tourist spot to look around is Temple Bar, but don't eat or drink there. The main areas you'll walk around for shops and such are O'Connell Street (you'll see it easily because of the big metal spike in the middle of it, the Spire), Henry Street, Dame Street and Grafton Street. Your guidebook no doubt will point these out, but I'd mostly recommend taking a slight detour to a parallel street if you want to find a pub or a restaurant, it'll make a significant price difference cause it costs a lot to be on one of those main roads. Course that doesn't matter for Starbucks or Subways (of which you can find three along O'Connell street).

 

For shopping, mostly you'll be on those streets as well as in the Jervis and Stephen's Green shopping centres (which are on those streets). But if you're interested in second hand or vintage clothing then there's a ton of places you can do that in the temple bar area too.

 

As far hating americans, I think you'll be fine. There's a stereotype of bad tourist but being american has little to do with it, more the idea that a tourist is demanding or loud and obnoxious would be a problem. As long as you don't enter a room, declare you're from Texas and fire some rounds into the air I think you'll be fine.

 

Ok, that's my spew done for. Hope it helped anyway, and have a good holiday!

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Hey all, late to the party mostly because I'm really bad at recommending touristy stuff. The Game of Thrones exhibit would be one to see, a few friends have loved it. I'd also recommend the Burren, Aillwee Caves and Giant's Causeway. I'd also recommend Blarney Castle (although fair warning it has been turned into a totally American-focused tourist trap, but it is still a lovely castle and grounds), and Carlingford, which is just a gorgeous town :) Also as SuperBiasedMan says don't eat or drink in Temple Bar, there are regularly shock 'This is what we are charging tourists for a pint' reciepts posted on twitter and the like :P If you are in Dublin and looking for food you could do worse than Crackbird on Dame St, or a few restaurants on South William St. 

 

Hope these help!

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If you have no interest at all in the history, I still recommend visiting and looking around. Just walking through the mix of old and new buildings is quite nice, and Kilkenny is tourist focused so you can still find a lot of nice places to eat and many B&Bs. It's quite a small town though, so you could realistically see it all in a day or two unless you're into a lot of the arts festival stuff.

 

What will happen is I will read up a little to get some idea of Ireland's history and then forget all over again. If there's some kind of good summary that's much better than wikipedia, I'd be thankful, because I would like to explore some of the historical sites, we have 10 days there.

 

For shopping, mostly you'll be on those streets as well as in the Jervis and Stephen's Green shopping centres (which are on those streets). But if you're interested in second hand or vintage clothing then there's a ton of places you can do that in the temple bar area too.

Oh I should have noted, we probably won't want to do much shopping besides maybe a couple of souveniers, just because of weight and size restrictions on baggage and how much we will have to stuff in our packs in order to make it. I'm guessing car space might suck too, since I think of every European vehicle as the size of a smart car.

 

As long as you don't enter a room, declare you're from Texas and fire some rounds into the air I think you'll be fine.

Haha, it's that fucking Rick Perry, he never stops uttering public idiotic things as part of some kind of half assed political stance.

 

And thanks a ton for your responses, we are ruminating over all of the suggestions and it sort of looks like our only trips up north at this point might be for the touristy stuff, especially I would like to see the Giants' Causeway. Also in terms of natural beauty it seems like I should not miss these Ailwee caves you guys are mentioning. The pictures look spectacular!

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I've never been to Ailwee caves. We always went to Crag Caves as my cousin's cousins lived near to it. I was always jealous of everyone else getting to go to Ailwee:/

 

Try here for some historical site type stuff. I see Scattery Island on the list - my family too our boat there last year and it was really cool. This tiny island with old ruins on it. We got to explore by ourselves as there were no tours on that day.

 

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/media/Heritage%20Map%202013.pdf

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I've never been to Ailwee caves. We always went to Crag Caves as my cousin's cousins lived near to it. I was always jealous of everyone else getting to go to Ailwee:/

 

Try here for some historical site type stuff. I see Scattery Island on the list - my family too our boat there last year and it was really cool. This tiny island with old ruins on it. We got to explore by ourselves as there were no tours on that day.

 

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/media/Heritage%20Map%202013.pdf

 

I would say Ailwee and Crag Caves are bout even but Ailwee is in the Burren which is worth seeing. Also Cliffs of Moher is required viewing by law.

 

The irish history museum and the irish military history museum are worth checking out history wise. If the weather is decent Phoneix park is a nice place to walk around and you can see where our leprecon president lives.

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This is all you really need to know about Ireland.

 

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More thinks you should know about Ireland. Currently, the biggest crisis crippling the country is whether the 5 Garth Brooks concerts will go ahead or not.

2 were announced, which ballooned to 5 because demand was so high. 400000 tickets were sold.

Unfortunately, there is an agreement in place with the residents near the stadium that only 3 concerts per year were to be held (it is a soports grounds). There has already been 3 1Direction concerts this year. A compromise was reached where 3 of the 5 could go ahead, as Aiken seemed to have left it till the last minute to apply for permission and were not granted it. Now Garth Brooks has now chimed in saying he will only play 5 concerts or none at all - "like choosing between his children".

 

The country waits with baited breath.

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I don't know what to take away from that Crystal Swing video. Why do you guys like Garth Brooks? I thought everyone stopped caring about him late 90s. I thought maybe he had quit music. Why?

 

You guys also brought everyone U2 and One Direction. Do you hate music in Ireland?

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You guys also brought everyone U2 and One Direction. Do you hate music in Ireland?

 

We just hate everyone else so we export those people.

 

 

Also I realised on the topic of historical irish things, definitely look up Newgrange. It's a super old temple (or something like that, there's debate over what) that predates stonehenge and was basically built specifically so that on the Winter equinox the sun would fill the chamber with light at an exact time of day. It's a pretty cool place and an example of very early advanced architecture.

 

Plus it involves druids, and they're cool.

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