Re: itinerary suggestions

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: : : : Hello Pat, : : : : I'm new to this forum and find it a wealth of information. I hope it is alright that also posted this on your itinerary help forum but thought I may get more answers on this forum. I've also made a few changes from my original post. : : : : I am so excited to finally be making it to Europe. My husband & I will be visiting Ireland for the first time to celebrate our 30th anniversary. Your advice to others has been invaluable. I hope you won’t mind commenting or making suggestions to our itinerary. : : : : Day 1: Arrive in Shannon @ 8:30 am; drive 1.5 hrs to Doolin, reservations at the Ballinalacken Castle. After a short nap to relieve jet lag off to the Cliffs of Moher & the Burren. Perhaps dinner at Ballinalacken. : : : : Day 2: Trip to the Aran Islands. Do you recommend any one Island over the other? : : : : Day 3: Doolin to Commemara – Kylemore Abbey 3.5 hr.; any suggestions of things to do or see along the way? Any other recommendations for Doolin? : : : : Day 4: Doolin to Dingle Peninsula via the Killimer - Tarbert Ferry 4 hrs.; reservations at the House of Four Angels in Inch. Anything along the way we shouldn’t miss? Explore Dingle this day. : : : : Day 5: Dingle to Ring of Kerry. Any other suggestions for this day? : : : : Day 6: Dingle to Ballinskelligs 2 hr.; trip out to Skellig Michael : : : : Day 7: Dingle to Blarney via Killareny, visit Muckross House, Ross Castle, Killarney National Park. Torc Waterfall, Gap of Dunloe, Blarney Castle. Too much for 1 day? : : : : Day 8: Dingle to Clogheen, County Tipperary 3 hrs. Reservations at the Old Convent : : : : Day 9: Clogheen to Rock of Cashel 30min.; Cahir, can we plan to visit Waterford this day also? : : : : Day 10: Is it worth trying to make it to Dublin & back in one day? If not any suggestions for this day? : : : : Day 11: Clogheen to Bunratty 75 mim,; no reservations yet. Bunratty Castle for dinner : : : : Day 12: Leave from Shannon 11:30 AM : : : : As you can see there are some days where we don’t have much planned. Do you want to make any suggestions? Any suggested pubs along the way? : : : : Thanks again for your assistance. : : : Dear Elizabeth, : : : Delighted that you have found my Forum and that you are planning to celebrate your 30th anniversary in Ireland. You are very welcome to my web site. : : : The main issue of your itinerary is not that "some days where we don’t have much planned," but it is that on many days you have marked out a schedule with far too much planned! : : : Before I go into exact detail, please tell me when you are planning to do this trip, i.e. what month? Hours of daylight are longer in the summer, but even then, you have day trips that are just too long to achieve. I can give more practical advice, though, if I know the time of year you are traveling. : : : Thanks, : : : PAT : : Pat, : : We arrive in Ireland June 2 and leave on the 13th. I hand a hunch the itinerary needed some fine tuning. All of the literature and web sites can be mind boggling. Now that you have a good idea of what we hope to do and see, your advice is much appreciated. : : Thank You! : Dear Elizabeth, : Now that I know you are traveling in June, at least we know that the days will be long and you can do a lot of driving each day, but the question is do you really want to be on the road so much? The key to enjoying Ireland is time to spend out of the car, in towns and villages and meeting the people. When it cmes to driving in Irleand, less is more The Less you drive, the more you will savor. If you are driving 10 hours a day, Ireland will become a green blur! : My other observation is that you are killing yourselves with driving by making Doolin, Dingle and Clogheen your only bases for most of the time. This is your first visit to Ireand and you do have 11 days, so you can spread out your itinerary, without sacrificing time in places like Galway and Killarney. : Here are my day to day comments. : : Day 1: Arrive in Shannon @ 8:30 am; drive 1.5 hrs to Doolin, reservations at the Ballinalacken Castle. After a short nap to relieve jet lag off to the Cliffs of Moher & the Burren. Perhaps dinner at Ballinalacken. : COMMENTS: This is fine and easy to do since the Cliffs are adjacent to Doolin. : : : Day 2: Trip to the Aran Islands. Do you recommend any one Island over the other? : COMMENTS: Inishmore has more to offer with regard to choice of pubs and shops, but Inishere is closest to Doolin and many people favor it because it is quiet. : : : Day 3: Doolin to Commemara – Kylemore Abbey 3.5 hr.; any suggestions of things to do or see along the way? Any other recommendations for Doolin? : COMMENTS: You would be hard-pressed to drive from Doolin to Kylemore Abbey in 3.5 hours. You would need to spend at least two hours at the abbey to enjoy it and have lunch. Then it's another 3.5 or more back to Doolin. And this doesn't allow you any time to enjoy The Burren en route, see more of Connemara, perhaps to Clifden, Roundstone or Spiddal? This trip is too far for one day. You would be much wiser to spend a max. of 2 nights in Doolin and then at least 2 nights in Galway for touring in Connemara etc. : : : Day 4: Doolin to Dingle Peninsula via the Killimer - Tarbert Ferry 4 hrs.; reservations at the House of Four Angels in Inch. Anything along the way we shouldn’t miss? Explore Dingle this day. : COMMENTS: The trip to Dingle via the ferry (25 min. ride) is fine from Doolin or Galway in one day. Inch has a lovely beach but little else. I think you would find it much more fun to stay in Dingle town. You have not really allowed any time to tour the Dingle Peninsula. : : : Day 5: Dingle to Ring of Kerry. Any other suggestions for this day? : COMMENTS: probably you should use this day to tour the DIngle Peninsula out to Slea Head, Ballyferriter etc. : : : Day 6: Dingle to Ballinskelligs 2 hr.; trip out to Skellig Michael : COMMENTS: You probably should get an early start and depart DIngle for good, and then drive as early as possible to do the Skellig Michael trip, weather permitting. Then, afterward, continue with the Ring of Kerry drive (since you would have already travled half-way around) and end in Killarney and spend 2 nights in Killarney. It will be a very long day, but made sensible by not going back to Dingle. : : : Day 7: Dingle to Blarney via Killareny, visit Muckross House, Ross Castle, Killarney National Park. Torc Waterfall, Gap of Dunloe, Blarney Castle. Too much for 1 day? : COMMENTS: In one day, you can do the Gap of Dunloe trip, or you can do all the other Killarney area attractions in the Naational Park. Forget Blarney as a day trip today. : : : Day 8: Dingle to Clogheen, County Tipperary 3 hrs. Reservations at the Old Convent : COMMENTS: Depart Killarney, stop at Blarney and then go on to Clogheen, as planned. : : : Day 9: Clogheen to Rock of Cashel 30min.; Cahir, can we plan to visit Waterford this day also? : COMMENTS: Waterford is a bit of a stretch, but you can do Lismore and the Glen of Aherlow instead or just drive on to Waterford and do not return to Clogheen. : : : Day 10: Is it worth trying to make it to Dublin & back in one day? If not any suggestions for this day? : COMMENTS: No, it would be madness to do Dublin as a daytrip as the drive into Dublin is difficult, and yu need a lot of time there. Use the time to enjoy Waterford and perhaps Kilkenny. Overnight a second night in Waterford. : : : Day 11: Clogheen to Bunratty 75 mim,; no reservations yet. Bunratty Castle for dinner : COMMENTS: Go from Waterford to Bunratty, you have all day since the early banquet is not until 5:30 p.m. : : : Day 12: Leave from Shannon 11:30 AM : COMMENTS: OK : As you can see, you will do youselves a big favor if you re-vamp your itinerary to look like this: : Day 1 & 2 - Doolin : Day 3 & 4 - Galway : Day 5 & 6 - Dingle : Day 7 & 8 - Killarney : Day 9 & 10 - Clogheen/Waterford : Day 11 - Bunratty : 4-night accommodation stays can be very relaxing but not when it is your first visit and you have mapped out so much territory to cover. You should confine your driving to no more than 100-150 miles per day. : Hope this makes sense to you. If not now, then it will when you get there! : PAT

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