Travel Tips for Ireland?

[AFB24911S]

Going to Ireland in late April, anyone have any travel tips? So far, the agenda tentatively includes:

-Wild Atlantic Way road trip
-Rally of the Lakes road race
-Clay target shooting at a castle
-Lots of hiking
-Lots of food
-Cooking classes in Dublin

[devodave]

What, no tour of the Guinness Brewery?

[jcwade]

Originally Posted by devodave

What, no tour of the Guinness Brewery?

Second that^^^

Ring of Kerry.
Cliffs of Moher.
Blarney Castle. Kiss the stone.

[masraum]

I think I'd have to go see The Giant's Causeway if I found myself in Ireland and I could swing it.

[Cajundaddy]

Loved Ireland, especially the people. Go out to the pubs in the evening and just soak it in. Often local musicians will show up for an informal Irish jam session. I chatted one up and he invited this Yank to jam with them for a set. It was a riot!

Honestly, Ireland is 80% green peat bog with pretty amazing ancient history and some of the most endearing people on the planet. We fully circumnavigated over 10 days but Dublin, Belfast, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, and the plundered castles dating back to 1000AD were historical highlights.
Enjoy!

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Cajundaddy

Loved Ireland, especially the people. Go out to the pubs in the evening and just soak it in. Often local musicians will show up for an informal Irish jam session. I chatted one up and he invited this Yank to jam with them for a set. It was a riot!

Honestly, Ireland is 80% green peat bog with pretty amazing ancient history and some of the most endearing people on the planet. We fully circumnavigated over 10 days but Dublin, Belfast, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, and the plundered castles dating back to 1000AD were historical highlights.
Enjoy!

^ yup yup yup +1. Don't skip a small town pub.

[p911dad]

We did a driving tour of Ireland 3 years ago, on the ground it is a lot larger than we thought! We had a great time on our own, stayed in B & B's. Very nice people. One day driving on a small lane in the south the low pressure tire light came on. We came to a small hamlet and asked for a garage in a little convenience store and the gal at the counter said her brother had a garage down the road. So we went and he put the Renault up on the lift, plugged the flat and we were on our way for 10 Euros. That's nice folks! Loved the place.
It sounds like you have a great trip already planned. Just remember to drive on the left side of the road. Pay attention on your first roundabout! (do not enter the roundabout on the right!!)

[Marine Blue]

Agreed on the pubs, great place to hang out and enjoy drinks and conversation.

Personally I would definitely skip the Guinness Brewery, it was a tourist trap IMHO. The Jameson tour was fun though and some great opportunities to taste a variety of what they offer at their bar. The Jameson bar itself was pretty cool and the Irish Coffee was the best I’ve ever had. Some unique Whiskey’s in their shop too, stuff you can’t buy in the states.

If you’re near Enniskerry I’d highly recommend the gardens, they are absolutely amazing. They had a wedding happening the day we were there and the scene will never leave my mind. As we are walking towards the castle Old Time Rock n Roll comes blaring over the speakers and out of the corner of my eye I see a white 928 rolling into the wedding venue. It was a surreal scene with the bride and groom get out of the 928!

[Bill Douglas]

The fact that your people left 180 years ago and went to America; will get you treated like royalty.

[Arizona_928]

Take a boat.
Be a man.

[tdw28210]

We spent 10 days in Ireland in 2018 driving all over. We will go back. Amazing history. Still marvel at the ancient churches you could literally just walk up to and around and then touching 2000 yr old Roman remnants. The Dingle Peninsula is wild and beautiful. Same for the Cliffs of Moher. We made it up to Belfast in N. Ireland (UK) as well. I seem to remember some attempted scamminess when renting a car in Dublin. Might want to research companies if you haven;t already.

[charlesbahn]

If driving:
1. rent the smallest car you can with an automatic transmission (NARROW roads and roundabouts)
2. go to the irish motor vehicle website and learn the "golden rule" of the roundabouts, and watch and study their graphic and video examples.
3. Find out from your credit card co if they cover your rental car insurance in Ireland, most do not; if they do you will need a letter to that effect from them when you rent the car (they provide it easily)
4. ALWAYS remember the traffic is coming in a different direction, esp when stepping out into the street.

[unclebilly]

Bushmills… go there

[unclebilly]

Giants causeway was cool too.

[McLovin]

Lots of good tips above.
I loved Ireland. Beautiful country, the people are so great.
As said above, the roads are narrow, and they drive on the wrong side.
When we went a few years ago, our rental came as a manual transmission, which seemed common. Wasn’t a problem, but if you need an automatic, be sure to specify.
Because of the narrow roads and parking, I’d recommend considering the full insurance. I almost never get the insurance, but did in Ireland and it paid off.
Someone backed into the parked car and broke a taillight during the night, and we took some battle scars from branches scraping the sides on narrow roads, avoiding oncoming traffic. I was glad we were able to just drop the car off with no hassles or paperwork etc.

[matthewb0051]

If you are in Cork, go to the Midleton Distillery. At the end when they ask for volunteers, VOLUNTEER! It is a taste test but at least when I went they didn't state up front what the vols would do.

Midleton own Jamesons, Paddys, Powers, and several others. I'd also recommend knowing which is drank by Prots and which by Catholics.

Check into renting an Irish Cottage. Several websites. We stayed in a cottage in a cool tiny village near Galway, had a peat fire every night and most days. Simply brilliant. The village was so small that the general store was also the post office and Pub. While sitting there we looked out the window and say a farmer moving his cows from one pasture to another by walking them down the street.