Ireland Pros

[Taylor]

My wife and I are strongly considering a week-ish long trip to Ireland in 2024 (sans the kids).

We haven't booked anything yet. Any pro tips? Travel, must-see things, hidden gems, etc.

We'd stay in Dublin the whole time, and rent a car to get around.

[Jason]

Cals will recommend to leave the wife at home too. 

[katie]

Spend some nights on the west coast. When I went we did Dublin and Sligo. 

[katie]

If I could get to my DMs from the old board circa 2010 I could tell you all the advice Bruce gave me. 

[Blarg]

13 minutes ago, katie said:

If I could get to my DMs from the old board circa 2010 I could tell you all the advice Bruce gave me. 

Go someplace sunny?

[katie]

10 minutes ago, Blarg said:

Go someplace sunny?

I just looked at my Ireland album on Facebook and I’m wearing sunglasses in all my outside pictures haha

 

I also took Joe Mauer on a stick! 

[Skram]

I'm not an expert, but did vacation there a few years back. Not to dump on your plans, but staying in Dublin the whole trip is exactly the opposite of what I would recommend. We booked 3 days in Dublin and by day 3 I was looking for somewhere else to go, so we booked a day trip to the Wicklow Mountains, which I did enjoy.  On the west coast of Ireland is what they call the Wild Atlantic Way and was definitely the most impressive scenery. We really enjoyed Dingle, and a driving around what they call The Dingle Loop. (I would definitely recommend that one over the much longer, and I thought less impressive Ring of Kerry Loop.) After coming up from Dingle, we stayed in Galway, which is the 2nd largest city, not a lot to see in the city outside of an impressive pub/music scene, but it is a good launching off point. Unfortunately, when we went to Cliffs of Moher it was completely fogged in, so missed out on that. We did spend a day in the Connemara region, which was also quite drivable from Galway and I loved that drive and scenery.

If you do the Jameson tour, try to do the one in Midleton, which is the actual distillery, I had read the one in Dublin was more of a touristy thing.  There is a distillery in Dublin, Teeling whiskey, so I would tour that one instead. We enjoyed that. We did the Guiness Tour as well,  I enjoyed that.

So we did basically a loop to the south, we stayed in Dublin a few days, then kind of looped through Cork, Killarney (we opted for a smaller coastal town named Kenmare, which I liked), Dingle, then Galway. I believe it was about a 4 hr drive back from Galway to Dublin, stayed the night then flew out the next day. It was about as much as we could hope to see on a 10 day trip, which means basically 8 days with a travel day in and out.

The locals were full of suggestions, which is awesome, they love their beautiful country, but I was convinced there weren't really any bad choices, I wasn't let down by any area. I was just limited by time.

Driving was pretty insane there, not because you are on the wrong side of the road, which you are, but you get used to it quickly.., its insane because off the major highways the roads are insanely small and hilly and winding and they still put a 100 KPH (60 MPH)speed limit on it. I couldn't drive over 35 on some of those roads and was just like.., "well, the local can pass me because I think they are crazy driving that fast!"

 

[Tank]

the blarney stone is nothing but a tourist trap. don't go out of your way to see it.

[notherhalo]

Damn its a great place to drink

[cals]

I can give you some advice Taylor: don’t go.  The Irish will hate you and tell you to grow a sack.  Sorry, but it’s the truth.

[cals]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:42 PM, Jason said:

Cals will recommend to leave the wife at home too. 

Correction, they’ll suggest he should have left HIS wife at home.

[katie]

15 minutes ago, cals said:

Correction, they’ll suggest he should have left HIS wife at home.

So you want to go with Taylor and leave both your wives at home?

[Jason]

5 hours ago, katie said:

So you want to go with Taylor and leave both your wives at home?

That’s hot!!

[Skram]

7 hours ago, Tank said:

the blarney stone is nothing but a tourist trap. don't go out of your way to see it.

Yeah, I skipped that one when I went!

[T.G.]

I recommend going to Belfast and discussing religion.

[Skram]

22 hours ago, T.G. said:

I recommend going to Belfast and discussing religion.

What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

[ten ocho recon scout]

Head north to Belfast... my personal take. 

 

You can't go wrong in Ireland, at least to me. But it also depends on you, and what you want to see and experience...

Rent a car. If you're there for a week you can see more than you think.

[Skram]

On 1/9/2024 at 3:06 PM, ten ocho recon scout said:

Head north to Belfast... my personal take. 

 

You can't go wrong in Ireland, at least to me. But it also depends on you, and what you want to see and experience...

Rent a car. If you're there for a week you can see more than you think.

Belfast is one of the parts that I missed since I mostly went south. I definitely want to go back and see the many things I missed. I agree with your statement that you can't go wrong in Ireland, beautiful country.