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So a friend from work and I have decided to go to ireland this summer (season open to revision) and I have no idea how to go about planning a transcontinental excursion. I guess I need dollar figures and a shove in the right direction. Please keep in mind that we are young and, while not poor, not that not poor either. Rolling down a genuinely emerald hill is reason #1 for going and I'm REALLY looking forward to it!
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Not me, sorry. I tend to visit the Lonely Planet website for info, including their forums. Very useful for trip planning. Also VirtualTourist - another great site.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Sounds like it will be fun, airman. I have never traveled overseas, so have no advice to give, but I sure hope you enjoy it and tell us all about it when you get back!
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Remember that northern ireland and Ireland are two different countries, with different currencies. Ireland is on the Euro, and Northern Ireland is on the Pound.
If you go to the north, Belfast has some amazing history. Giant's Causeway is a must-see. I would plan an entire day for it. The Ulster-American Folk Park is also pretty cool.
I liked Galway and waterford, but not Dublin so much.
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Dublin: teh meh. There are one or two great destinations, but it's only worth the trip if you have to fly into it in the first place. Usually you don't, because flights into Shannon (especially from England or the Continent) are much cheaper.
Southwestern Ireland's really the place for Christy and me; we almost considered moving there. The road into Doolin alone is one of my most vivid memories of Ireland (and if you visit, you'll know what I mean). As far as cities go, Galway is rapidly becoming the heart of the "real" Ireland; it's just a fantastic city, although more cosmopolitan than the traditional stereotype and might therefore disappoint if you're looking for the stereotype. (For the stereotype, visit Dingle.)
One thing to keep in mind: you can cross all of Ireland in less than four hours. Nothing in Ireland, in other words, is too far away to visit. So if you're looking at a map and see the Rock of Cashel "all the way" over there to the east, keep in mind that it's probably no more than three hours away and absolutely worth the trip.
If you want to trek over green hills, you absolutely have to visit Killarney National Park. I cannot stress this enough.
When you think Ireland, you generally think of these things; here are their equivalents:
1) Rolling green hills, shadowed by a tiny passing stormcloud and dotted with flowers, on the other side of perfectly still lakes. Kerry, Killarney National Park 2) Tiny little streets of brightly-painted houses, their disrepair visible in the grimy alley behind them. Belfast, Limerick, Dingle, Dublin, Tralee 3) Ancient monasteries, still smelling of ink, and their elaborate graveyards. The Rock of Cashel; the Cliffs of Moher 4) Rousing pub music, and strolling from one pub to the other right across the street for more music. Doolin 5) Unusual rock formations Cliffs of Moher, Giant's Causeway, the Burren 6) Old castles full of history. Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, Limerick, Dublin 7) Seasides with ferries and little shore boats. Dingle, Doolin, Skellig Michel (with puffins and a monastery), Cape Clear 8) Feels like continental Europe with a slightly higher than normal fondness for boiled things Galway, Dublin
We found that it was almost always cheaper to fly to somewhere like Paris or London, and then catch a flight from there to Shannon. Once a year, there's often a sale on London-Shannon flights for five pounds or less.
Expect rain. By my anecdotal experience, it rains every hour in Ireland for about five to ten minutes, and is brilliantly sunny for another ten minutes in the middle.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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I'm going to Ireland too, next summer. My mom and dad got me a lugage set for Christmas. My brother is planning the trip, but if I find anyting out from him, I'll let you know.
Posts: 1164 | Registered: Feb 2006
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Tom's list more or less covers everything, but I have a few additional suggestions.
1. Stay at B&Bs. It is a great experience, and everyone is so friendly.
2. Newgrange. It's outside of Dublin somewhere (can't remember exactly.) It's a mound that was built sometime B.C.E. and had all these awesome tri-spirals. There are guided tours, and it was very very cool.
3. The town of Cong. This is where the John Wayne movie 'The Quiet Man' was filmed. We ended up in a restaurant in The Niall (which consisted of said restaurant, a post office and a school) and this restaurant was where I had the best meal in all of Ireland. They also had a hat of John Wayne's. Silly, but cool.
4. If you can, fly into either Dublin or Shannon and rent a car. When I went, we drove around the entire country in 11 days. While there were many things we missed, we also saw a lot. Plus if you're driving you can have the experience of being stuck on a tiny road with hundreds of sheep milling about your car.
5. The Shrine of Knock. This was intense. There were thousands of people when we were there. It is huge, and beautiful, and stange.
Definitely look into the Cliffs of Moher. They are one of the most beautiful natural things I have ever seen. Spend time in the West, because that's where Gaelic still survives the most.
When I was there I had the awesome experience of finding relatives I didn't know I had. We were sitting in a pub in Ballaghadereen, Roscommon, and a friendly man asked what four Americans were doing in their little town. We said we had ancestors by the name of Bruen from the area. He said, "Oh, someone by that name works at the pub around the corner." We went to the pub, met this woman, who then sent her 12 year old daughter alone with us to show us the way to the family farm. There we met the woman's brother, who showed us the old family farm, which was a crumbling wall, where my great-great grandmother had been born. Also got to see the family cows. Totally awesome.
And be prepared for rain. Although I'll say this: I was sorely disappointed because when I was there it was 85 degrees and sunny the whole time. Yep. I went to Ireland and they had a heat wave. So all I've wanted to do for the past ten years is go back and experience the real Ireland.
Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Budget Travel magazine almost always has a great deal to Ireland in their deals section. If you do just a little research it is surprisingly inexpensive.
Posts: 3134 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Be at the airport and checking in at least 1.5 hours-2 hours before your flight is scheduled to leave, (assuming its an international flight). Thats not one of the first things you should know or the last, its somewhere in the middle. BUT DO IT! I can't tell you how many flights I have just barely made because I observed this rule, and how many flights friends of mine have missed because of last minute delays. Better to be at your gate with 45 minutes to spare then risk being told they no longer are accepting check ins because the flight leaves in 25 minutes.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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BlackBlade is right about getting to the airport really, really early. Better waste 2-3 extra hours to avoid wasting an entire extra day of your precious vacation time! I could tell you stories (has been on ~10 separate international flights)...
Posts: 3060 | Registered: Nov 2003
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I second the recommendation for the Galway area. I was on a class trip to Ireland, and we stayed in Dublin. A group of us took an overnight trip to Galway and loved it. There's a lot of great scenery in the area, and Galway was actually more fun than Dublin was.
Also, the Cliffs of Moher in that area are cool. They're the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride movie.
Dublin's all right if you're interested in some of Ireland's recent history. But I didn't find it that interesting, and the public transportation there was confusing.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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If you rent a compact car -- and in Ireland, compact cars are exactly that, but THIS IS A GOOD THING due to roads which frequently have mortarless stone walls instead of shoulders -- and stay at B&Bs, you can easily tour Ireland with two people for under $100 a day; several packages are regularly cheaper. Christy and I wanted a lot of flexibility when we visited on our honeymoon, so we didn't go with a package at all; by stopping whenever we got to a town and asking the local tourist bureau (if any) to find us a B&B, we frequently got 50% off the normal rate due to the last-minute vacancy. In general, lodging plus a huge breakfast ran us $50-60 a night, and we were staying at really, really "opulent" places by B&B standards.
(BTW, the Cliffs of Moher aren't just like the Cliffs of Insanity. *grin*)
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Yes, Tom, I know. Actually, I didn't know they were the actual filming site when I visited them, but I did comment to the other students that it looked like the Cliffs of Insanity. Then I got back and looked them up and found out they really were the Cliffs of Insanity.
You may not even need to rent a car to get around. I just took chartered tours on busses. We stayed in a B&B in Galway, and it was terrific. This charming elderly couple had turned their home into a B&B. They were so friendly and the food was excellent.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I spent 4 days in Ireland on business about 7 years ago. Since I was there on business I left my own Visa credit card at home and brought only my company American Express card and a little cash (about $90)
My experience was that NOBODY in Ireland accepts American Express. Seems like I saw the Visa logo everywhere though!
Check on things like that before you leave home so you don't get a nasty surprise later.
Fortunately, I had a host who took care of things on day #1 & 4 and I made my $90 stretch for day #2 & 3 (just food and lodging at a nice B&B)
Posts: 692 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I will second (or third) Tom and Luet. Go west. Amazingly friendly people.
The best plan is really no plan. Rent a car and go where you please. There are B&Bs just about everywhere. Cheap, clean and they will give you a huge Irish breakfast in the morning.
Ennis (in Clare) has great music. Galway is a great town for meeting young people. Donegal is the most beautiful. Connamara is also "real" Ireland and has a great Gaeltacht (Gaelic-speaking area).
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I've lived in Ireland for all of a month, but I was just a kid then.
Somethings I've gleaned on trips since then:
Avoid Limerick (espc. during rush hour) and try to visit the Aran Isles.
True story: We were parking our car some place and the Gaurd came to tell us that we couldn't park there, my (Irish) host said "but we want to," to which the Gaurd responded "Ah, well thats allright then."
Another true story: My father had to pay a few pence to an ancient man to cross a wooden toll bridge that was all of two meters long and located in the middle of nowhere.
Yet another true story: when my father was studying at TCD in the 70s, Irish work crews had a man whose job it was to gaurd the tools and yet another who made the tea, so as to decrease unemployment.
Those were all pre-EU and "Celtic Tiger", but I have been stranded behind a herd of sheep on an Irish country road as late as 2004.
Posts: 211 | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote: Another true story: My father had to pay a few pence to an ancient man to cross a wooden toll bridge that was all of two meters long and located in the middle of nowhere.
Was he asked three question first?
"What is your name"?
"What is your quest"?
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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The person I'm going with was adopted and isn't on speaking terms with the parents that have custody of her imported American citizenshippy paperwork. Does anyone know of any way to get around that?
Posts: 1156 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Yeah I think Quid is right, if she'd old enough she should be able to get copies of all the records she needs, for a fee of course. Have her browse the INS webite, and maybe the Department of State website for more information.
If you can't figure it out from the site just call INS and ask them what she should do. The worst thing they can do is give you another phone number to call. I think that's your best bet. I don't suppose she has a family lawyer or knows the name of the law office (if they used one) that helped them with the adoption papers when they first adopted her? Or the name of the adoption service they used? Those might be easier resources than the behemoth of a beauracracy that the INS is.
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There we met the woman's brother, who showed us the old family farm, which was a crumbling wall, where my great-great grandmother had been born. Also got to see the family cows. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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