OT: Going to Ireland

[BillB]

Anything a "MUST SEE"? Flying into Dublin, traveling south/west/north and leaving from Shannon.

Thanks,
Bill

[mpm32]

Did the same trip about 6 years ago. Rented a car in Dublin and drove to Shannon. We did it without having any lodging reservations. When we got someplace that we wanted to stay, we just called some B&Bs to find a place to stay. It seemed like everybodies hose was a B&B so there was never any problem finding somewhere to stay. We stopped at every castle along the way. It was mindblowing to think how old these things were. Our oldest buildings are what 300 years at most. The ring of Kerry was a very cool area. The cliffs of moher (sp?) were also very cool. They let you sit on the edge of the cliff and hang your legs over if you want. No warning signs, no railings. If that was the US you wouldn't be able to get close to the edge. Driving was a blast too. No spee limits, driving on the wrong side of the road. Be careful as the roads are very narrow and on a couple of time I clipped mirrors with cars coming the other way. The people were very nice as well. Overall one of the best trips we've taken. The only thing was the food, not good. The only trip that I took were we lost weight. Guiness also tastes much better there.

[markw]

..except we opted for a 10 day bus tour from CIE. No regrets about that. Saw pretty much everything we could in those 10 days, perhaps more, and still felt we had enough freedom to still explore on our own. Here's a brief rundown on what we saw/enjoyed there.

Castles... everywhere. See as many as possible.
Green.. .everywhere.
Sheep... everywhere. Try to avoid them

Landed in Shannon but didn't do much else there. One Irish banquet at an old castle. Forget the name.

Killarny... Basically a resort town. start/end for ring of Kerry tour. First pub crawl and taste of free range Guinness.

Blarney Castle is ramshackle but still impressive but their wool mills are a tourist trap. But, you can get a nice sweater there.

There are many more better kept castles that were, until recently, still lived in and many are open for tours.

Dublin. Go see the Book of Kells. Even one page will take your breath away.
ChristChurch Cathedral is over 800 years old and, in the basement you can feel every year. We just don't have old stuff in this country. We knock it down abd put up condos.

When in Dublin, stop at the oldest pub in Ireland: http://www.brazenhead.com/

Conmarra - rocky and spooky but source offinr marble.

Galway - College town. Lots of the kids are into "trad" music so check out the pubs for a taste.

People are friendly, fields are green, beautiful and covered with sheep and the Gunniess is great. Food is so so. It's offputting to see a Chinese restaurant staffed by Irish people. But, local salmon is great!

[piece-it pete]

Hey guys!

I noticed the Guiness thing in GB. Any idea why? Fresher?

Bill, I've never been to Ireland, I'd love to. Everywhere one goes they can bring back something from the culture if they get close enough to it, I think it increases one as a person. You lucky dog!!

Pete

[mpm32]

Not sure about the guiness thing. I don't normally drink dark beer and had had guiness here before going but, something about the guiness there made it taste so much better. I think, I may be wrong but I thought I heard that they had to pasturize it for shipment and they don't when used domestically (ireland).

Another funny thing is to see the empty kegs lined up outside of the Dublin pubs in the morning. 15-20 kegs outside of very small 15x25 pubs. Boy can they drink.

[BillB]

Thanks so much for your responses. Many of the sights/places you've all offered I already have marked so that's a good thing: A) I know they're good and B) I didn't miss anything.

The only thing not on my list was the Brazenhead pub. Knowing that it's the oldest in Ireland's enough for me to put it on the list.

My wife and I booked through CIE and will be spending Saturday in Dublin, staying at The Westbury that night, and then heading out in the morning to explore the area just to the immediate north before heading south and west on our way to Galway/Shannon.

A guy I work with has family that own a hotel and a B&B in Galway so we'll be staying there our last night.

I've never stayed at a B&B before so it should be an experience.

I can't wait to drive! I had a taste when we rented a car on our honeymoon in Turks & Caicos (a UK Crown Colony). Every time we've been to London we just use their public transportation as we usually stay in the city.

I'll be sure to post pics in my gallery when we get back.

Slainte!

Bill