Visiting Ireland

dasvidana

I will be visiting Ireland for the first time in 42 years this summer and am wondering if anyone knows good places to stay/things to see when you have kids (both boys, ages 8 & 10). I will be visiting family part of the time, but will travel around for the rest of the time. We will have about 2 weeks of traveling. Any suggestions?

IrishGuy

Where will you be staying and where will you be travelling to? Using a car or public transport?

If the weather is good then your best bet is just going to the coast and letting them enjoy the beaches and rock pools. I have 2 boys (10 and 6) and when we go back to visit my family the main thing they want to do is go crab fishing with a bucket and net.

Otherwise, you have Dublin zoo (in Dublin of course) or there is Fota wildlife park just outside Cork city. Plenty of castles to visit if they like that sort of stuff.
Or take a trip in a boat and go and see "Fungi" the dolphin in Dingle harbour. Whale watching is also a possibilty at certain times of the year.

If you are in Dublin then try the Viking splash tour (http://www.vikingsplash.ie). The kids would love that.

dasvidana

IrishGuy wrote:

Where will you be staying and where will you be travelling to? Using a car or public transport?

If the weather is good then your best bet is just going to the coast and letting them enjoy the beaches and rock pools. I have 2 boys (10 and 6) and when we go back to visit my family the main thing they want to do is go crab fishing with a bucket and net.

Otherwise, you have Dublin zoo (in Dublin of course) or there is Fota wildlife park just outside Cork city. Plenty of castles to visit if they like that sort of stuff.
Or take a trip in a boat and go and see "Fungi" the dolphin in Dingle harbour. Whale watching is also a possibilty at certain times of the year.

If you are in Dublin then try the Viking splash tour (http://www.vikingsplash.ie). The kids would love that.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have family in Tipperary, Cork, Limerick, and Kerry. So, will be spending time in each (hopefully). I will definitely stop by the Dublin zoo and the dolphin in Dingle harbour sounds interesting too. I appreciate the info very much!

IrishGuy

So you will mostly be down the south west then. If you want to see some castles then you can try Blarney castle just outside Cork, with the famous Blarney stone that you must kiss or there is Bunratty castle just outside Limerick.
Another point of interest in county Clare and relative close to Limerick is the "Aillwee caves", http://www.aillweecave.ie, which also have a Bird of prey centre nearby. This is set in "the Burren" and also not too far from the "Cliffs of Moher" which are worth seeing if you have never been there.

dasvidana

IrishGuy wrote:

So you will mostly be down the south west then. If you want to see some castles then you can try Blarney castle just outside Cork, with the famous Blarney stone that you must kiss or there is Bunratty castle just outside Limerick.
Another point of interest in county Clare and relative close to Limerick is the "Aillwee caves", http://www.aillweecave.ie, which also have a Bird of prey centre nearby. This is set in "the Burren" and also not too far from the "Cliffs of Moher" which are worth seeing if you have never been there.

You are awesome! Thanks a million.

frazba

If you're in Clare at the Cliffs of Moher, which are just stunning btw, travel up the coast to Galway, it's an amazing city with tons of brilliant live music, there are also some absolutely beautiful unspoiled beaches on the way up. The West coast is just amazing, I'm biased, I live there!!!

IrishGuy

dasvidana wrote:

IrishGuy wrote:

So you will mostly be down the south west then. If you want to see some castles then you can try Blarney castle just outside Cork, with the famous Blarney stone that you must kiss or there is Bunratty castle just outside Limerick.
Another point of interest in county Clare and relative close to Limerick is the "Aillwee caves", http://www.aillweecave.ie, which also have a Bird of prey centre nearby. This is set in "the Burren" and also not too far from the "Cliffs of Moher" which are worth seeing if you have never been there.

You are awesome! Thanks a million.

You're welcome. If you have any other particular questions about Ireland feel free to ask me.

dasvidana

frazba wrote:

If you're in Clare at the Cliffs of Moher, which are just stunning btw, travel up the coast to Galway, it's an amazing city with tons of brilliant live music, there are also some absolutely beautiful unspoiled beaches on the way up. The West coast is just amazing, I'm biased, I live there!!!

Thanks Frazba! I have heard that the west coast is a sight to see, particularly Dingle Bay (?). Is that something you would recommend too?

IrishGuy

Just to let you know, if you are trying to get to Dingle by following the sign posts then you have to aim for "An Daingean". This is the Irish for Dingle and seeing as it is officially in the Ghaeltacht (Irish speaking part of Ireland) some politican or other bright spark thought it would be a good idea to remove all the English signposts and only leave the Irish naming up.
Even the Dingle residents thought it was a stupid idea seeing as they need the tourist money coming into the area but a lot of them could not longer find the place! There were a few hand painted sign posts with Dingle on them, put up by the people of Dingle afterwards :roll:

dasvidana

IrishGuy wrote:

Just to let you know, if you are trying to get to Dingle by following the sign posts then you have to aim for "An Daingean". This is the Irish for Dingle and seeing as it is officially in the Ghaeltacht (Irish speaking part of Ireland) some politican or other bright spark thought it would be a good idea to remove all the English signposts and only leave the Irish naming up.
Even the Dingle residents thought it was a stupid idea seeing as they need the tourist money coming into the area but a lot of them could not longer find the place! There were a few hand painted sign posts with Dingle on them, put up by the people of Dingle afterwards :roll:

Fascinating. I thought that only Americans bickered about what language people should speak.

dasvidana

So my trip is coming up on Saturday and I am in the process of trying to rent a car. My question, for those of you who know, is how does one get car insurance in Ireland when they are not from there? Do I just get it when I hire the car at the airport? or is there an easier (cheaper) way to do it?

Need all the advice I can get!

IrishGuy

you pay for insurance when you rent the car. The basic insurance is included in the rental price but you can pay more and get full coverage if you want.

IrishGuy

Have you ever driven on the left side of the road before?

dasvidana

IrishGuy wrote:

Have you ever driven on the left side of the road before?

no, should the citizens of Ireland be worried?

IrishGuy

Probably
A couple of years back I driving along a narrow road along the coast when I saw the car in front of me get to close to the rocks at the side of the road and hit the side with the front left tire and got a blowout.
I stopped to offer my help and it turned out to be an american tourist who told me that she had already had 4 punctures on the rental car from not being able to judge the sides of the road and it was getting really expensive as she had to replace each tire.

Some of the roads, especially out west, are very narrow, windy and can have sheep walking along in the middle of them.

dasvidana

IrishGuy wrote:

Probably
A couple of years back I driving along a narrow road along the coast when I saw the car in front of me get to close to the rocks at the side of the road and hit the side with the front left tire and got a blowout.
I stopped to offer my help and it turned out to be an american tourist who told me that she had already had 4 punctures on the rental car from not being able to judge the sides of the road and it was getting really expensive as she had to replace each tire.

Some of the roads, especially out west, are very narrow, windy and can have sheep walking along in the middle of them.

ugh! This should be interesting then. Tell your friends and family to stay off the roads until July 14 (when I return to the US).

Fifi_Ireland

You will also have to drive stick dont worry though just take it easy and it will all be fine!

If you are around Limerick/ Tipperary and fancy some history you could visit Lough Gur
http://www.loughgur.com/
If you fancy some mountain biking you can hire bikes and take to the purpose built trails at Ballyhoura
http://www.ballyhouramtb.com/

The Burren in Co Clare is a really unique landscape too well worth visiting:
http://www.burrennationalpark.ie/
Monks in Ballyvaughan do good food if you are up that way
http://www.monks.ie/
Doolin is a lovely little village in Clare where you will find good irish music
http://www.doolin-tourism.com/
LaHinch for a seaside town and surfing
The skellig islands in kerry are beautiful
Although touristy the ring of kerry is worth seeing - you will pick up info on driving this in any tourist office.
Have a fantastic trip!

dasvidana

Fifi_Ireland wrote:

You will also have to drive stick dont worry though just take it easy and it will all be fine!

If you are around Limerick/ Tipperary and fancy some history you could visit Lough Gur
http://www.loughgur.com/
If you fancy some mountain biking you can hire bikes and take to the purpose built trails at Ballyhoura
http://www.ballyhouramtb.com/

The Burren in Co Clare is a really unique landscape too well worth visiting:
http://www.burrennationalpark.ie/
Monks in Ballyvaughan do good food if you are up that way
http://www.monks.ie/
Doolin is a lovely little village in Clare where you will find good irish music
http://www.doolin-tourism.com/
LaHinch for a seaside town and surfing
The skellig islands in kerry are beautiful
Although touristy the ring of kerry is worth seeing - you will pick up info on driving this in any tourist office.
Have a fantastic trip!

Thanks for the suggestions! My cousin lives in Limmerick so I will definitely check out the sites near there. Not sure I'll be able to make it to Kerry for very long, if I have limited time (1-2 days max) in Kerry, what would you prioritize among the options you listed?

Driving a stick is no problem. However, I am a little nervous about the whole left side of the road stuff. Hopefully I'll have someone watching over me while I'm there.

Fifi_Ireland

Hard to call, I've never been to Dingle myself but I believe its absolutely fantastic! Takes more time to get to though as its down the peninsula. The ring of kerry might be more accessible!
Have a fantastic trip

Fifi_Ireland

Heres another possible itinerary:

Bunratty Folk Park
http://www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Cult ... park/73313
This can be done as a day trip from limerick or on the way to clare

Drive to Ballyvaughan then work your way down the coast of clare via the Cliffs of Moher
http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/
Doolin as above
Lahinch

You can take a really short ferry from Kilimer beside kilrush to tarbert into Kerry.
Drive down to Listowel
http://www.listowel.ie/

Drive the ring of kerry
http://www.vacationkillarney.com/Ringofkerry.htm

Then back to limerick

Apparently the flying boat museum in Foynes in limerick is also worth checking out
http://www.flyingboatmuseum.com/

dasvidana

Awesome suggestions! Many thanks.

IrishGuy

So, how did the trip go? Did you get to see all the stuff we mentioned and how did you find driving on the left?

Fifi_Ireland

yeah how did it go? although maybe you arent back yet

dasvidana

Just got back yesterday and had a ball. We were in Galway when the Volvo Ocean Races were finishing and the place was crazy. According to the news, an additional 800,000 people were there for the races. The place was a madhouse. My kids loved the aquarium in Salt Hill too. Went to Bunratty Folk Park and did the touristy castle tours (Bunratty, King John's, Blarney, Clontarif). Kids loved the Dublin Zoo and the two-story buses (we don't have those in the US). Was in Phoenix Park the day after the Snoop Dog concert and the place was trashed. Best part was visiting family that I hadn't seen in over 40 years.

So, the driving was awful. I took out several curbs, but no people. I got really skilled at yelling "feck off" out the window when people would honk at me

My only complaint about the trip was that I could find no Pearl Jam on the radio there....and I searched the whole time I was driving. I went two weeks with no PJ and thought I'd have withdrawl seizures.

Can't wait to go back.

Fifi_Ireland

Man if i'd known you were in dublin i could have given you a whole other list
Glad you had fun!

dasvidana

I have to say that I wish I was without kids for Dublin. We went into the National Museum and could have stayed in there all day but the kids were bored. We ended up in Dublinia which they liked more since it's more interactive. Next time, I will leave the kids with my cousins and just go with my husband so we can enjoy the museums more.

By the way, I was surprised to find cigarette vending machines. Those were outlawed years ago in the US. I was stunned that Ireland still allows them.