Travel to/in Ireland - tips?

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
23,884
Hi all, especially our Irish comrades.

Mrs O and I are toying (with a degree of seriousness) with the idea of a touring holiday in Ireland this summer, principally with the aim of meeting relatives we're in touch with but have never met.

We're pretty flexible, being both retired, but think maybe avoiding the summer holidays would be best so probably looking at June?

Mrs O has family in the north and Orchidette's fiance's family live in Cork. My relatives are spread from Dublin to Newbridge to Cork to Ennis and Galway, with more distant relatives in Donegal.

It looks to me like our cheapest option is the car ferry Cairnryan-Larne and bringing our own car rather than flying and hiring, which we did the last time about 20 years ago when we stayed in Co Wicklow, but we're very open to suggestions.

I did an online search for Travelodges but didn't see anything outside of Dublin.

If there are seasoned travellers among you who know how to get the best/most out of such a venture I'm all ears.

Any all help appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Maurice.
 
Definitely have a look at doing Airbnb. You can plan your route and look to see which ones are local to it. If you’ve never done Airbnb before, it can be a great way to stay somewhere but do your research carefully. You will need to register with them first and it may be an idea to have a trip to one first to start your reviews off. The platform works on reviews so the more and better reviews you have both as a host and guest, the better. I run a twin room down here so it’s part of the house and we also give a full cooked English breakfast. Guests have the bedroom (2 single beds) plus private bathroom and use of our large conservatory and private garden. We often welcome them with tea and a cream tea! But we do go above and beyond!

But with Airbnb there are so many different ones to chose from worldwide and many are self contained units. It’s just a question of trawling through the website to see what takes your fancy and budget and checking the reviews. And many are very, very much cheaper than doing even a Travelodge....which would appeal to your Scottish values!
 
Or

You could say “what a remarkably excellent idea, Kirsty! And how incredibly kind of you to take the time to give such a valuable suggestion. I shall of course investigate pronto and report back!”

:whistle:
 
jinnyj said:
Or

You could say “what a remarkably excellent idea, Kirsty! And how incredibly kind of you to take the time to give such a valuable suggestion. I shall of course investigate pronto and report back!”

:whistle:
Click to expand...

Gimme time wummin!!

I've maybe lost track of how much accommodation costs but I was straight on to Air BnB and other accommodation sites and they're looking a lot more expensive than I'd have expected of a Travelodge. Looks like there's only two T/ls in Ireland and they're both in Dublin, which is no use.

Motorhomes are also costing a bomb.
 
Thanks, Kirsty, but it's too early to be even 'roughing' up a route. We'd need to contact the relatives and find out what kind of time of year suits or if they're in a position to take a visit (they're very old now).

I have a big map of Ireland in the cupboard. I'll dig that out and give it a dekko.
 
Maurice, despite the fact that you have upset the lovely Kirsty, I'm still willing to work with you on this.

I do that Cairnryan route often - prefer Belfast as arrival. Probably because in Larne all the kerbs are painted red/white and blue and the anti Fenian graffiti is more pronounced.

Anyway, when you get closer to decisions let me know.

ps.. Sorry to hear Orcidettes future peeple are from Cork. That can't be easy for you.
 
We used to go to Punchestown when we had friends living in Ireland but that was nearly twenty years ago. Mike was given some Holiday Inn vouchers and we stayed at some lovely places, especially Killarney. The rest of the time we did B&B the best one being just outside Naas: it was near to Ronnie Woods Irish home and the owner knew him. I don’t know if the roads have improved since then ( I bet they’re now better than ours!) but we had to really watch out for stone chips and checked our hire car really thoroughly before we set off. I know Mike said at the time that he was glad he hadn’t taken his own car. Then again we’re just a few minutes drive from an airport so it was easy to fly out and hire a car.
 
The main roads in Ireland are remarkable now, Moehat. One of the good things we did in the boom was build good motorways. I live south of Dublin and can be in Belfast, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Waterford in 2 hours and Cork in about 2 and a half. Even Killarney is only three hours these days.

ps.. The village in Kildare sounds like Prosperous.
 
I'm thinking maybe flying to Cork then hiring a car might be a good option. Ryanair do flights from Edinburgh to Cork and car hire looks cheaper from there.
 
Cork was going to be the next holiday but other things got in the way. First year we did The Burren ( that was my favourite). Then Connemara. Final year was the Ring of Kerry. We saw Fungi the dolphin at Dingle.Roundstone was a delightful surprise as was driving around and finding monastic settlements in the middle of nowhere.
 
June in Ireland is probably the worst month of the year for racing. The jumps is still in a lull period and on the flat Royal Ascot and the Irish Derby meeting at the end of the month leave little room for anything else.

So enjoy meeting the relatives, and I hope they make you welcome.
 
Drove from Dubln to Waterford while I was working over there.
Visited Killiney on our way and it was a breathtaking experience;fondly remember it as the most stunning place I've seen in my life.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top