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has anybody been here. Daughter wants to go for her college grad gift. Airfare has dropped.

OceanCityGirl wrote:has anybody been here. Daughter wants to go for her college grad gift. Airfare has dropped.

If you said Scotland, I could plan the whole trip for you. But Ireland, no...I've only seen the inside of the airport in Dublin for WAY TOO LONG when we got stranded there.

Spent two weeks there a few years back. LOVED it!

Do go if you get the chance!

Spent two weeks there a few years back. LOVED it!

Do go if you get the chance!

Did you do formal tours or did you go off on your own? I'd rather rent a car on my own. Did you stay in inns or B&B type places? I want to economize a bit with a few nice splurges.

I've been about 18 times (for work). Stay at B&B's for the most authentic trip. If you can drive on the wrong side of the road I would reccomend doing it, but be aware that the roads are very narrow compared to US roads and behind those bushes that line the roads are rock walls! I work in Limerick on the west coast but have been nearly everywhere except Northern Ireland. Some high points in my opinion are the ring of Kerry on the west coast, The cliffs of Moerer, Cork, Bunratty Castle, Galway, Cashel rock, Dingle, Donnegal, and to a lesser extent Dublin. Dublin is the largest city in Ireland having about 1/3 of the population and is like all big cities, kind of dirty with a fairly high crime rate, but has many interesting cites and a lot of night life. Get to some of the small villiages, the people are very friendly and will go out of the way to make you welcome. I have very different experiences, having to work there, a place that I have no desire to go back to, but for a vacation it is a wonderful place to visit. The best months to go are between July and September the weather is good although it may rain everyday, that's just the way it is. If you play golf it's a bonus, they have some fabulous golf courses.....Very different!Go and enjoy.

if you look in the right places, you might be able to find a castle to stay in...we did in Scotland, and the cost wasn't too bad!!!

I've spent about 10 weeks total exploring Ireland and Northern Ireland. If I can figure out how to make a good living I would move to Dingle in the West of Ireland.

I have always gone off on my own and just explored. I've stayed in B&Bs for the most part, with the exception of a few hotels in Dublin, Belfast and Limmerick. The Irish are friendly people who like Americans although it is still possible to be a victim of a crime, especially things like pickpockets, smash and grabs.

Let me know what sort of things she would like to do and I will get you some suggestions.

I would highly recommend checking with car rental agencies before buying airline tickets because the restrictions on renting to those younger then 25. The least expensive car rental company I have found is Dan Dooley.

We went with a small tour company. 10 people in a Mercedes bus. Stayed in small inns.

We went out to the aran islands and pretty much made a circle of the whole of Ireland....though we just passed through a corner of Northern Ireland.

The fellow who runs theses tours is a fun guy, but be aware he doesn't much care for shopping or stopping for shopping. He takes you to a place at the end of the tour to buy whatever you want...but you won't be spending much of your time shopping during the tour. We saw tons of churches, abbies, castles, etc.

http://www.harpandshamrocktours.com/

what is the minimum and optimum lengths of visits?

We went for two weeks. i wouldn't go over for less time than that if you can. theres a lot to see

we went on our honeymoon.

We drove ourselves and will do the same next time we go.

Look at cietours.com for drive yourself packages. They include a car and coupons for accomodations in B&B's throughout the country. They gave us 2 books full of B&B's that accepted the coupons. We simply knocked on the door and asked if they had rooms available. Each room night came with a full Irish Breakfast. We only had reservations the 1st and last night we were there. (last week in April, first week of May, '97)

It was a great trip.