Take a Vacation

[Northwestcoug]

Pull the trigger!

Done. 7 day trip, not including the travel. Details are being hastily arranged.

[Bo Diddley]

Done. 7 day trip, not including the travel. Details are being hastily arranged.

I'm totally jealous! Looking forward to a report.

[Commando]

Done. 7 day trip, not including the travel. Details are being hastily arranged.

Awesome. I did Ireland several years ago and, like most places, I definitely planned on returning soon but haven't. Ireland is one of those places where it's totally worth it to do a cheesy tourist bus tour. Or several. I arrived in Dublin, walked the town and saw everything I needed to see (yes, it's very walkable) and hopped a bus to Galway which is a very cool, festive little town on the west coast. From there I did a bus tour of Connemara, where I saw the countryside, the bogs, pubs nestled in the tops of wind swept green hilly pastures, etc. It's just cool-- you can't go wrong. Also kissed the Blarney stone, saw the cliffs of Mohr, visited the sea at Ballybunion, and just generally enjoyed it. I also went up to Northern Ireland/Belfast (which has a distinctly different, almost South American vibe about it. Definitely not as safe as Ireland.) and did a black taxi tour and checked out the Titanic museum, located at the docks where it was built.

Overall, I would rate it a very domestic feel for an international trip.

[Northwestcoug]

Awesome. I did Ireland several years ago and, like most places, I definitely planned on returning soon but haven't. Ireland is one of those places where it's totally worth it to do a cheesy tourist bus tour. Or several. I arrived in Dublin, walked the town and saw everything I needed to see (yes, it's very walkable) and hopped a bus to Galway which is a very cool, festive little town on the west coast. From there I did a bus tour of Connemara, where I saw the countryside, the bogs, pubs nestled in the tops of wind swept green hilly pastures, etc. It's just cool-- you can't go wrong. Also kissed the Blarney stone, saw the cliffs of Mohr, visited the sea at Ballybunion, and just generally enjoyed it. I also went up to Northern Ireland/Belfast (which has a distinctly different, almost South American vibe about it. Definitely not as safe as Ireland.) and did a black taxi tour and checked out the Titanic museum, located at the docks where it was built.

Overall, I would rate it a very domestic feel for an international trip.

Are you reading my wife's texts???

Our tentative plans resemble that. Arriving in Dublin, driving to Galway for a day, seeing the cliffs of Moher, seeing Killarney national park, Ring of Kerry, and back to Dublin for 2 days. We did see that bus tours are a good option, but we are probably going to rent a car.

[Omaha 680]

Are you reading my wife's texts???

Our tentative plans resemble that. Arriving in Dublin, driving to Galway for a day, seeing the cliffs of Moher, seeing Killarney national park, Ring of Kerry, and back to Dublin for 2 days. We did see that bus tours are a good option, but we are probably going to rent a car.

Ireland is my wife's favorite place in the world and she has been around 4 times (I lost count). She regularly asks for us to move there. I have a summary and suggestions on this board somewhere and may try to find it. But here I will say in spite of the beauty of the Republic of Ireland, we like Northern Ireland the most. I agree with Commando that Belfast is dirty and not the greatest, but you have to get out of Belfast and head up to Portrush and beyond. If you do make it to Northern Ireland, Giant's Causeway and the Glens of Antrim are a must. Antrim rivals and might exceed the beauty of the Ring of Kerry. I also sampled more fish and chips than I ever should have in Northern Ireland so I know all the best spots circa 2013.

I agree with renting a car. It will be more stressful but save you a ton of time as you move at your own pace and see what you want. I assume you have left side driving experience; either way the roads in western Ireland around Galway and north will keep you on your toes.

[Commando]

Are you reading my wife's texts???

Our tentative plans resemble that. Arriving in Dublin, driving to Galway for a day, seeing the cliffs of Moher, seeing Killarney national park, Ring of Kerry, and back to Dublin for 2 days. We did see that bus tours are a good option, but we are probably going to rent a car.

Either way would be cool. The buses are cool bc they have wifi and you can kind of just take in the scenery or space out or whatever. Driving on the wrong side of the roads with a manual transmission also puts me on edge.

[Pelado]

Either way would be cool. The buses are cool bc they have wifi and you can kind of just take in the scenery or space out or whatever. Driving on the wrong side of the roads with a manual transmission also puts me on edge.

Manual transmission is more fun. Not sure about adding left-side driving to the mix.

[Bo Diddley]

Either way would be cool. The buses are cool bc they have wifi and you can kind of just take in the scenery or space out or whatever. Driving on the wrong side of the roads with a manual transmission also puts me on edge.

[oldmandialogue]

As a missionary, I almost got a UK drivers license, but on my driving test I touched the curb when I was parallel parking and had to pull forward before parking correctly. The expiration date would have been when I was 65, and that seemed like a lifetime away to a 19 year old. Now not so much.

[\oldmandialogue]

[Omaha 680]

Manual transmission is more fun. Not sure about adding left-side driving to the mix.

We pay extra for automatic when driving on the left side. The thought of shifting with my left hand makes my head explode for some reason. Apologies to all the left handed manual transmission drivers here in America.

[Northwestcoug]

Ireland is my wife's favorite place in the world and she has been around 4 times (I lost count). She regularly asks for us to move there. I have a summary and suggestions on this board somewhere and may try to find it. But here I will say in spite of the beauty of the Republic of Ireland, we like Northern Ireland the most. I agree with Commando that Belfast is dirty and not the greatest, but you have to get out of Belfast and head up to Portrush and beyond. If you do make it to Northern Ireland, Giant's Causeway and the Glens of Antrim are a must. Antrim rivals and might exceed the beauty of the Ring of Kerry. I also sampled more fish and chips than I ever should have in Northern Ireland so I know all the best spots circa 2013.

I agree with renting a car. It will be more stressful but save you a ton of time as you move at your own pace and see what you want. I assume you have left side driving experience; either way the roads in western Ireland around Galway and north will keep you on your toes.

I'll look for those recs, thanks. Would love to see Northern Ireland also. It's just not going to happen on this trip.

Either way would be cool. The buses are cool bc they have wifi and you can kind of just take in the scenery or space out or whatever. Driving on the wrong side of the roads with a manual transmission also puts me on edge.

It costs an extra 100 for automatic transmission. That's 100 euros well spent.

[Copelius]

We pay extra for automatic when driving on the left side. The thought of shifting with my left hand makes my head explode for some reason. Apologies to all the left handed manual transmission drivers here in America.

I had a blast doing it in Australia. My time in the UK I was in my family car with an automatic (wife still cannot drive manual) so not as much fun. The worst thing about being on the wrong side of the road is sitting in the passenger seat when coming to the first stop sign after getting off the plane and my foot instictively looking for the brake. Once I got over that, no issues.

[Omaha 680]

I had a blast doing it in Australia. My time in the UK I was in my family car with an automatic (wife still cannot drive manual) so not as much fun. The worst thing about being on the wrong side of the road is sitting in the passenger seat when coming to the first stop sign after getting off the plane and my foot instictively looking for the brake. Once I got over that, no issues.

I've only done it on a couple Ireland trips but I didn't take to it as easily. Each trip for the first 2-3 days I had to mentally remind myself what I was doing when turning at each intersection and when entering traffic circles.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Very happy for you, NWC. You don't need any more suggestions, but I have to mention one tip. At the end of what both my wife and I regard as the greatest day of travel of our lives (and we've had some very good ones), we finished at our AirBnB in Doolin (some say it's the music capital of Ireland). Our host (Sean O'Connor), asked if we'd been to the Cliffs of Moher yet. When we said we'd do it the following day, he and his wife went nuts, and said we HAD to leave immediately and go there for "The Golden Hour," the couple of hours preceding sundown (probably in the 6;30-8:00 range for you). So we did, and it was fantastic. The trails along the Cliffs can be overrun with tourists during the day, but by the Golden Hour the many dozens of tour buses have cleared out--there were maybe five cars left in the parking lot. No admission charge (there is during the day) and we walked in and essentially had the Cliffs to ourselves. if the weather's good, and it likely will be, the experience is superb. My wife wanted to fiddle around with different photography angles so I ambled off on my own. She took the photo below (trimmed here--the full photo is awesome0, unbeknownst to me at the time--you can see me atop a cliff in the distance. After the Cliffs, we returned to Doolin (a 10-minute drive) and had a wonderful meal at Gus O'Connor's Pub (most of the town seems to be named O'Connor). My wife still rhapsodizes about the Beef & Guinness Stew and I loved the mussels. And all this with live music from the locals. A perfect evening.

And good call on the automatic transmission in the UK. One has too many other things to think about. But I really enjoyed driving around Ireland. Irish drivers were unfailingly friendly and generous, often waving when we passed. You're in for a fun week.

C512872F-B367-4BC6-AB52-CB405731CF50.jpeg

[Jeff Lebowski]

We pay extra for automatic when driving on the left side. The thought of shifting with my left hand makes my head explode for some reason. Apologies to all the left handed manual transmission drivers here in America.

Don’t be a wuss. You get used to it right away.

[Northwestcoug]

Very happy for you, NWC. You don't need any more suggestions, but I have to mention one tip. At the end of what both my wife and I regard as the greatest day of travel of our lives (and we've had some very good ones), we finished at our AirBnB in Doolin (some say it's the music capital of Ireland). Our host (Sean O'Connor), asked if we'd been to the Cliffs of Moher yet. When we said we'd do it the following day, he and his wife went nuts, and said we HAD to leave immediately and go there for "The Golden Hour," the couple of hours preceding sundown (probably in the 6;30-8:00 range for you). So we did, and it was fantastic. The trails along the Cliffs can be overrun with tourists during the day, but by the Golden Hour the many dozens of tour buses have cleared out--there were maybe five cars left in the parking lot. No admission charge (there is during the day) and we walked in and essentially had the Cliffs to ourselves. if the weather's good, and it likely will be, the experience is superb. My wife wanted to fiddle around with different photography angles so I ambled off on my own. She took the photo below (trimmed here--the full photo is awesome0, unbeknownst to me at the time--you can see me atop a cliff in the distance. After the Cliffs, we returned to Doolin (a 10-minute drive) and had a wonderful meal at Gus O'Connor's Pub (most of the town seems to be named O'Connor). My wife still rhapsodizes about the Beef & Guinness Stew and I loved the mussels. And all this with live music from the locals. A perfect evening.

And good call on the automatic transmission in the UK. One has too many other things to think about. But I really enjoyed driving around Ireland. Irish drivers were unfailingly friendly and generous, often waving when we passed. You're in for a fun week.

C512872F-B367-4BC6-AB52-CB405731CF50.jpeg

Beautiful PAC. My compliments to the artist. I will keep that golden hour in mind.

Did your wife lug around her serious camera equipment? I'd love to take my nice camera there, but I'm afraid I'd be spending too much time with lighting and filters that my wife would leave me.