Going to Ireland....I need HELP!!!

So, I have officially started my senior year in Nursing school....YAY! To celebrate my graduation, a few of my girlfriends and I are planning a trip to Ireland. Probably about a week long. Current plan is to fly into Shannon and then go stay at a little B&B called Fergus View for 36 euros a night.

This will be our first trip overseas, so we're a little nervous. But, we figure that we deserve this and are definitely looking forward to the adventure.

Anyway, we're looking for things to occupy our days and I wanted to ask my fellow DUers for ideas. So, any ideas??????

out of Galway which I think is the best way to go. Also, you should visit the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren if you can. Galway is a great city with some wonderful bars.

Connemara is a hauntingly beautiful place where you can actually see the potato rows that the Irish peasants abandoned after the great famine.

Have a wonderful time!

The trip itself is a bit of time away, but every last one of is pretty anal about having a plan. LOL.

I will definitely keep that place in mind.

I gotta say that any "plans" you make will be shot to hell by the second day. My way is to book a flight and maybe the first night, then wing it from there. Off season? Nowhere civilized will you not be able to find a room or a way to get around.

You will, of course, have the list of cultural atraction, museums, show, and such. Maybe some special restaurants and bars... You will almost immedaitely realize that the list largely sucks-- some of the places are better than you could imagine, but some just blow. And your well-made planns will change.

Ireland I admit I haven't been to, but I have been to Scotland, England, and most of the continent. From everything I've heard, it's the same in Ireland-- you find a friendly spot and the locals will bend your ears about the great places to go and things to do. They will tell you the history of that silly looking pile of rocks opver there and of the the cathedral falling apart just outside of town. And they will tell you the best place to eat.

And, if you are all under 26, you might want to look at the youth rates for a week's rail pass for Ireland. Usually, the point-to-point fares are cheap enough to not make the pass worth it, but you never know. Specially if they include busses and ferries.

Oh, and don't forget to stop in at the local tourist offices-- every country in Europe has a network of them and they are usually great for info and discoutns.

the place is, well, mystical! The twilight was violet...simply one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen! :-)

Have a fabulous trip!

and there are amazing things in fields, old turret castles, stone walls everywhere. A good tour book will give you an idea too.
Standing stones.

I went into Shannon on my honeymoon and we spent a week in the southwest quadrant of Ireland. Very rural and beautiful.

The Dingle peninsula is very pretty, and people actually still speak Gaelic there in some places vs. English.

I've thought that if I ever go back, a bicycle might be the way to go though. There is so much history in every farmer's field it seems.

It's a beautiful country, green as they say it is. I'd google the area you are staying and see what sights are there. Shannon is on the west side of Ireland as Dublin is on the East. we didn't go to Dublin, but that is another place to go.

Also there are some more recent castles (more than medieval times) Of course the Blarney stone, Limerick, gosh, it is just so full of possibilities depending on what you are looking for.

:hi:

Are they available anywhere??? Never been on one before, much less a subway. We don't have those around here.

I believe that the place we want to stay is about an hour from Galway, about 1/2 hour from the Cliffs of Moher and 1 mile from the Burren(?). We're definitely planning a couple of day trips, Dublin and Waterford for sure. Waterford is about 3 hours and Dublin is about 5 hours from our "base".

Here's a link to where we are wanting to go: http://www.fergusview.com

It looks like a really lovely place, just what we want and need.

The only real problem I'm having difficulty with is how to transport all my purchases home. :)



Thanks for replying! :hi:

It looks fairly remote and you likely will need a car to get there. Having a car would make it easy for you to get around the country, as long as you like stick shift, driving on the wrong side of the road and some narrow roadways.

Have fun. Ireland is a beautiful country. And I agree with Raven about seeing Connemara.

I'm still trying to figure out how everything connects. It's about 45 minutes from the airport to the house though. We've talked about renting a car, but if we can get around it -through bus and/or train use-we'd rather do that.

I've ridden buses on the West Coast of Ireland (years ago) and there were lots of places that were inaccessible except by car. Often, on weekends, there were no buses at all.

But the Irish Rail website should be of use. http://www.irishrail.ie/home/

by going along to carry your bags.

and spend nights in dingle and elswehere. the burren is gorgeous, but also barren and sad. there are lots of cheap b + Bs and it's a small country - try and get around.
enjoy!

check out their forum the Thorntree here: http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/

tons of good travel info/advice to be found (no I don't get paid a cent, darn it)

Cruise the small towns and hit the pubs. You'll find the friendliest people in the world. (It helps if you know a few American folk songs).

I doesn't get any better or more authentic



more info: http://www.doonbeg-ireland.com/services/walshs/music.htm

I have got to share all this with my girls. There are 4 of us, ranging in age from 26, 30, 39, 40-ish. LOL. We're a really tight group, even though we're all pretty different.

Right now the plan is to try and take off sometime in September. A lot will depend on finances, but we do know that we need to go before October. That's when the B&B we want to stay at closes. Also figure that we'll miss a lot of the tourist stuff around then.

The biggest thing, for us anyway, is the annual Tulla Music Festival. We saw a little blurb about that and well....we took off planning. Plans may get shot to hades withing 48 hours, but hey...at least we tried. LOL.

Thanks again for all the info....keep it coming!!!!

It will answer questions you didn't know you had.

For a real teaser, get a copy of the Insight Guide to Ireland. The Insight Guides are full of beautiful photographs and essays on various aspects of the country or region's culture.

I've bought the Insight Guides before going to England, Taiwan, Hawaii, China, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and I have not been sorry.

Listowel Races (Listowel, Co. Kerry) Great place to meet men

Rose of Tralee Fest (Tralee, Co Kerry)

I'll do some research on each of those places. Going to the races sounds like it might be fun. I'll pass that on to the girls.

Thanks for the tip.

There's three days occupied right there