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[lalluraja1]

Hi All-

My wife and I are planning a trip to Ireland (Mar 16-25). I've done some research and read some of your posting but I still have a TON of questions! Ok so here goes--

1. We'd like to enjoy St Paddys day parade in Dublin. Is it worth it to buy Grandstand tix? If not, what do you recommend?
2. Where should we stay w/o blowing through the budget? City Centre? A bit farther out and take the train? We won't have a car etc and don't want to stay too far away from the action. Rates are about 225 euros for the week of Mar 16-19 (super high for us).
3. More generally, would you recommend we take a guided tour or self plan? We'd like to see as much of Ireland as possible b/c we don't know when we'll be back
4. What are the "must see" places in Ireland? So far I have the following (based on your other posts and traveladvisor etc).

-Dublin Castle
-Trinity College
-Brazen Head
-Hill of Tara
-Walkabout Wicklow tour
-Ghost Bus Tour
-Kilmainham Jail
-Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
-Cliffs of Mohr (whats best way to see this and get here?)
-Dromoland Castle
-Temple Bar area
Should I kick something out? Am I missing anything else?

For transport I found GoBus and Airporter (for airport shuttle). How do I get around locally? Any other general suggestions? Just want to make the most of our trip and avoid getting suckered!

Thanks much in advance!

Sam

[kathryn77]

Hi All-

My wife and I are planning a trip to Ireland (Mar 16-25). I've done some research and read some of your posting but I still have a TON of questions! Ok so here goes--

1. We'd like to enjoy St Paddys day parade in Dublin. Is it worth it to buy Grandstand tix? If not, what do you recommend?
2. Where should we stay w/o blowing through the budget? City Centre? A bit farther out and take the train? We won't have a car etc and don't want to stay too far away from the action. Rates are about 225 euros for the week of Mar 16-19 (super high for us).
3. More generally, would you recommend we take a guided tour or self plan? We'd like to see as much of Ireland as possible b/c we don't know when we'll be back
4. What are the "must see" places in Ireland? So far I have the following (based on your other posts and traveladvisor etc).

-Dublin Castle
-Trinity College
-Brazen Head
-Hill of Tara
-Walkabout Wicklow tour
-Ghost Bus Tour
-Kilmainham Jail
-Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
-Cliffs of Mohr (whats best way to see this and get here?)
-Dromoland Castle
-Temple Bar area
Should I kick something out? Am I missing anything else?

For transport I found GoBus and Airporter (for airport shuttle). How do I get around locally? Any other general suggestions? Just want to make the most of our trip and avoid getting suckered!

Thanks much in advance!

Sam

Hi Sam, I've just seen your post - apologies, life got on top of me!! I hope these extra bits help, if you've not made plans already!

Where are you travelling from (just wondering if you'll have jetlag and whether doing everything in such a short space of time is feasible?)

Are you going to hire a car or do everything by public transport?

In answer to your initial questions....
1. Nah - I've no idea what a 'Grandstand tic' is - I'm not from Ireland, I'm from Scotland, but I lived in Dublin for 18 months. For Paddy's Day, I just headed to Trinity College area and found a spot. It was fine, atmosphere was ace! (If you want a tip though - some people brought small stepladders with them!) I'd skip whatever those tickets are, and get stuck in with the locals! So much fun!
2. Have you tried apartment rental? It might work out cheaper? I'll bet there's loads of short-term apartment deals centrally now, with the recession etc. Failing that, as long as you're near a LUAS line stop, you can get the train in and a taxi back...?
3. Goes back to my initial questions - where do you want to go etc....I would self-plan with a hire car if you want to get out and around.....and you don't have much time....
4. 'Must-see places'....OK....most of the stuff you have listed is in Dublin or nearby, so you can definitely do those by basing yourself there. The Cliffs of Moher however are on the west coast, so you'd need to do a tour or get there by yourselves....tbh.....I wasn't that impressed - if you click on my Ireland link below you can read why.....my personal opinion is that they're SO hyped up! If you're going to see cliffs, head a bit further south on the same coast towards 'Loop Head' - stunning! (but you'd definitely need a car - are you concerned about driving there? It's really easy, if somewhat slow with the roads...!)

Other recommendations....
If you had a car, leave Dublin Castle, go to others! Dublin Castle is really unexciting and doesn't even look like a castle! Whereas Trim Castle is fab!!! (see my blog)
Don't miss Kilmainham Gaol! It is so so interesting and informative! Wicklow is gorgeous :-)

[lalluraja1]

Thanks for the reply Kathryn! We'll be in Ireland from 3/15-3/26. We're going straight from Chicago to Galway (3/15-3/20, direct flight to Dublin w a short stop over before heading to Galway) and spending St Pattys there. A friend from Dublin told us to skip dublin for St Pattys and enjoy it with the locals in Galway. A bit more low key- which is more in line with our taste

The advice we got is to go to the tourism office in Galway to get day trips. We weren't planning on getting a car at any point- relying on bus, rail and tours. That way we can see the western part. Any other places out west that we can do other than Loop Head and Dromoland Castle? (also are there tour companies that go that way?).

Then we move to dublin on 3/20 thorugh 3/26. Again no car. 3 days for Dublin sightseeing(Trinity College, Ghost Bus Tour, Kilmainham Jail, Dublin Literary Pub Crawl--- any other must sees?), 1 day trip to Wicklow and that leaves us 2 days. Maybe 1 day trip to Trim Castle. Whats the best way to do that? Bus? Tour company?

Also can you post a link to your blog? Thanks much again for all your help!

Hi All-

My wife and I are planning a trip to Ireland (Mar 16-25). I've done some research and read some of your posting but I still have a TON of questions! Ok so here goes--

1. We'd like to enjoy St Paddys day parade in Dublin. Is it worth it to buy Grandstand tix? If not, what do you recommend?
2. Where should we stay w/o blowing through the budget? City Centre? A bit farther out and take the train? We won't have a car etc and don't want to stay too far away from the action. Rates are about 225 euros for the week of Mar 16-19 (super high for us).
3. More generally, would you recommend we take a guided tour or self plan? We'd like to see as much of Ireland as possible b/c we don't know when we'll be back
4. What are the "must see" places in Ireland? So far I have the following (based on your other posts and traveladvisor etc).

-Dublin Castle
-Trinity College
-Brazen Head
-Hill of Tara
-Walkabout Wicklow tour
-Ghost Bus Tour
-Kilmainham Jail
-Dublin Literary Pub Crawl
-Cliffs of Mohr (whats best way to see this and get here?)
-Dromoland Castle
-Temple Bar area
Should I kick something out? Am I missing anything else?

For transport I found GoBus and Airporter (for airport shuttle). How do I get around locally? Any other general suggestions? Just want to make the most of our trip and avoid getting suckered!

Thanks much in advance!

Sam

Hi Sam, I've just seen your post - apologies, life got on top of me!! I hope these extra bits help, if you've not made plans already!

Where are you travelling from (just wondering if you'll have jetlag and whether doing everything in such a short space of time is feasible?)

Are you going to hire a car or do everything by public transport?

In answer to your initial questions....
1. Nah - I've no idea what a 'Grandstand tic' is - I'm not from Ireland, I'm from Scotland, but I lived in Dublin for 18 months. For Paddy's Day, I just headed to Trinity College area and found a spot. It was fine, atmosphere was ace! (If you want a tip though - some people brought small stepladders with them!) I'd skip whatever those tickets are, and get stuck in with the locals! So much fun!
2. Have you tried apartment rental? It might work out cheaper? I'll bet there's loads of short-term apartment deals centrally now, with the recession etc. Failing that, as long as you're near a LUAS line stop, you can get the train in and a taxi back...?
3. Goes back to my initial questions - where do you want to go etc....I would self-plan with a hire car if you want to get out and around.....and you don't have much time....
4. 'Must-see places'....OK....most of the stuff you have listed is in Dublin or nearby, so you can definitely do those by basing yourself there. The Cliffs of Moher however are on the west coast, so you'd need to do a tour or get there by yourselves....tbh.....I wasn't that impressed - if you click on my Ireland link below you can read why.....my personal opinion is that they're SO hyped up! If you're going to see cliffs, head a bit further south on the same coast towards 'Loop Head' - stunning! (but you'd definitely need a car - are you concerned about driving there? It's really easy, if somewhat slow with the roads...!)

Other recommendations....
If you had a car, leave Dublin Castle, go to others! Dublin Castle is really unexciting and doesn't even look like a castle! Whereas Trim Castle is fab!!! (see my blog)
Don't miss Kilmainham Gaol! It is so so interesting and informative! Wicklow is gorgeous :-)

[kathryn77]

Hi again, You're going to have a brilliant time. I'm glad you got the advice to skip Dublin for Paddy's day, and that's something you're willing to do. I'm glad I experienced it, but it is really hectic, and you will definitely have a more intimate experience of it in Galway. I wouldn't do Dublin again for it, I think a smaller location would be better, so enjoy it

The west coast is BEAUTIFUL! I was living in Dublin and had a hire car to see around, so I'm not too sure on tour companies, but there will be some if you ask at the tourist info office in Galway. I wouldn't rely on the Irish rail service, but the buses are good.... I'd have your driving licence with you just in case...driving in the west coast is easy, and it means you won't limit your options over there. You won't need a car in Dublin.

Trim Castle - again, I went by car....not sure on buses, but I'm sure there would be... Other things in Dublin: I'd really recommend the Music Bus Tour. It's fab, really informative, you're on a bus with blacked out windows etc, and it'll take you past U2 studios etc. Kilmainham Gaol is an absolute must, as are the other places, but I loved the Gaol! Also, the Brazen Head Pub is the oldest in Ireland and it does a mean Irish Stew!

As for the link to my blog, just click the 'Ireland' link below , but here is a direct one: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/kathryn77/5/tpod.html

Are you going to blog your trip? Would be good to read