Reasonable itinerary for Ireland travel?

March 11, 2009 7:05 PM

Is this a reasonable time line for a visit in Ireland? We plan to bus the first four days then rent a car. 4/25 Arrival 8:35am Dublin Castle & Guiness Brewery 4/26 check out sites in Dublin / Cathedral / Kells / St Stephens Park 4/27 Drive west - stop Trim - end in Galway 4/28 Galway - explore Cliffs 4/29 Drive up to Belfast stop in Monaghan 4/30 Belfast - giants causeway - bushmills 4/31 Derry Belfast or drive south to Monaghan 5/1 Monaghan drive back to Dublin 5/2 N+N fly out 11:50am - Museum, Jameson Let me know if I am rushing it too much or skipping anything vital. If you have any cheap accommodations in Belfast or Dublin too that'd be great.
posted by kturner to travel & transportation (11 comments total)

YES! You will likely love it. What a great place to vacation.......and right now the expensive part, fares, can be gotten on the cheap.
posted by caddis at 7:22 PM on March 11

I think that timeline sounds good, but just remember to leave more time than you think you'll need for driving. It can be a bit slow going sometimes.
posted by inigo2 at 7:27 PM on March 11

Your itinerary is a bit compressed. You miss the ring of Kerry, the Blarney stone, western Ireland (not to be missed IMHO), etc. but t all boils down to time. Where you plan to go looks good. Whatever you do, make sure you stop in to some local pubs etc. and meet the locals. It is a great place for that.

leave more time than you think you'll need for driving. It can be a bit slow going sometimes.

For sure. You are driving down the road and then some farmer is crossing a hundred sheep or so while you wait....It's part of the charm.
posted by caddis at 7:31 PM on March 11

I think that is really rushed. I know Ireland is comparatively small, but I don't think you leave much time for even sitting down, with that sort of itinerary.

I think you'll get much more out of the holiday and enjoy the place a lot more if you just slow down. In addition, Ireland may only be a little place, but traffic can often be quite bad - Dublin in particular can get nasty traffic, and driving around the entire top half of it in 5 days sounds like more of a chore than a holiday to me. It's surprisingly slow to get around there, sometimes.

For reference, the last time I was there (my sister lives just north of Dublin), I drove around Dublin and down into Wicklow, and we got as far south as Arklow and had a very pleasant three days looking around. We still, in that time, spent a lot of time in the car - some of it just bimbling around, but also the small roads weren't conducive to high distance covering travel. Just as a data point, it is worth knowing that in that tiny area, there was plenty to see, it wasn't exactly a breeze to get around quickly, and we weren't bored at all. Getting around Ireland is nothing like navigating a similar size area in the US, for instance, or even Europe.

I think you'll come back with only a slight idea of what Ireland is like and end up exhausted trying to keep up with that itinerary, to be honest. I think it'd be a shame to try and do that much in such a short time. Part of the charm of Ireland is slowing down to the pace of life over there.
posted by Brockles at 7:34 PM on March 11

We did a road trip across Ireland last year. One nice perk of my credit card is that they offer free car rental insurance. Just to cover all my bases, I called just to make sure I'd be covered.

"We cover anywhere in the world. Except Jamaica and Ireland."

That was a pretty good preview. Driving in Ireland is really slow and really stressful. We averaged maybe 40 kph overall, and many of our driving days ended with us pulling into town exhausted and cutting short various planned activities.

It's a gorgeous country, and I highly recommend getting out of the larger cities -- Dingle Peninsula was our favorite spot -- but its about three times as big as you would expect by looking at a map.
posted by bjrubble at 8:16 PM on March 11

I would spend less time going and more time being. Going anywhere in Ireland is slow -- don't count on going more than 40 mph anywhere off the freeways. But most of the charm of Ireland is in taking in the countryside. Walking around. Stopping in at pubs. Walking around some more.

BTW, I would stay in B&B's as much as possible. They're cheaper than most hotels, and you get more of an Irish experience. Some are old castles. Some are old estates. Having breakfast with some fellow travelers and exchanging experiences is much more fun than grabbing a donut and running to your car.
posted by musofire at 8:19 PM on March 11 [1 favorite has favorites]

That's totally doable. We did something similar a year or so ago.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:39 PM on March 11

Other than plus-one-ing all the comments above about how every drive in Ireland seems to take about twice as long as you'd expect if you live in a place with a road network constructed after about 1940...

...on an entirely practical level I'd suggest going from Dublin to Belfast and reversing the remainder of your trip, on the grounds that they're connected by a motorway which'll get you from one to the other in 2 hours. That alone may save you nearly half a day in driving time.

Also, check with the car rental place about your intention to cross an international border for over 24 hours in a rental car. Derry and Belfast aren't part of the same nation state as Dublin, Monaghan and Galway.
posted by genghis at 10:02 PM on March 11

Why are you driving everywhere? Particularly as driving in Ireland can be so stressful? Any chance you could take a train (or a bus) to see some of the places you've mentioned you'd like to see?

Ireland has a pretty good rail network - both light rail in Dublin/surrounding areas and trains to places farther afield.

If you wanted to see the Antrim coast, or the whole coast of Northern Ireland, even, you can catch the Antrim Coaster out as far as Larne (also takes you to the Giants Causeway and Bushmills) You could push all the way around the coast from Larne, back round to Sligo, and take the train back to Dublin to catch your flight. Just an example, but it would save you the hassle of driving and give you a chance to actually spend some time in some of these places. (and see some beautiful scenery)

I'm on my first coffee, so perhaps I misunderstood, but are you giving two days only to Dublin? That in itself is not going to be enough time, really. I noticed that the 26th is a Sunday, though. I don't know if it would be your sort of thing, but Shirley Temple Bar Bingo at the George in Dublin is a really good night out. She says on the site to get there early, and she means it - the place was packed last time I stopped in.
posted by Grrlscout at 12:28 AM on March 12

Sounds good, the only really problematic leg is the Galway to Belfast drive, with the new motorways it's probably quicker to do this trip via Dublin (M4, then M1), rather than cross country - if you're aiming for speed at least.
posted by nfg at 3:19 AM on March 12

Nthing the "slow down a little" suggestions, but that is advice I give on any trip.

As for specific-to-Ireland advice -- there's a B&B in Dublin I stayed in that was surprisingly affordable and really nice; Number 31. It was close enough to the center of Dublin that I could walk everywhere when I was there.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:34 AM on March 12