Ireland with kids

[ronaldnelson]

we have twin boys 11yrs old and a 15 yr old daughter and thinking about Ireland next year, would the kids enjoy or should we look at a different adventure?

 

[Bobo912]

We did this trip last summer and the younger kids on the tour frequently seemed bored, especially during the tour of the Jeanie Johnston, Guinness Storehouse and Muckross House. I heard one little girls tell the guide on the Jeanie Johnston that she was not having fun. There were quite a few teenagers and they seemed fine. The younger kids were 9 and 10 year-olds, I believe. Only you know what your kids enjoy. My son turned 14 while we were on the tour, and he was fine the whole time, but the historical tours were not his favorite. When he was younger, we took the more active trips and he loved those.

 

[ronaldnelson]

thank you so much for your thoughts, i thought the same thing as there is a lot of driving

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The kiddies should be fine.
2) We did a CIE Tour with family and had five kiddies 10-17.
. . . when we go, I usually do the Toru Guide duties, as I worked in Ireland & Wales for so long
. . . but, with family, a bus tour was more convenient
. . . the others had fears of driving in a foreign land
3) The kids had a ball.
4) The folks at each stop knew how to deal with youngin's.
5) Besides, we had them searching for treasure. *

* Unfortunately, they didn't find any pots of gold to offset the price of the tour. PS - After working 14-years in UK and Europe, I personally think Ireland is the most friendly country - and maybe in the world.

 

[Woodview]

I agree with The Rusty Scupper .

Nowadays they have their Ears covered in Headphones & Fingers on Gadgets .

Give them plenty of Ice Cream Cones ...... 99's are the best . You will see the Ice Cream Plastic Cut out at the shops.

And yes try and keep them away from MacDonalds ... you have them at home

 

[BadPinkTink]

we have twin boys 11yrs old and a 15 yr old daughter and thinking about Ireland next year, would the kids enjoy or should we look at a different adventure?

I am from Ireland and while I am one of the first to recommend people visit my country, I took a look at the itinerary and I would choose another adventure.

Your 15 year would enjoy it but I cant really see the 11 year olds enjoying it. The hotels listed would be classed as 5 star fine dining hotels, so would not have very child friendly menus.

The Jeanie Johnson is something Irish children of that age would be interested in, only because it is a historical ship linked to an important part of Irish history, I can totally see why children who know nothing of the Irish Famine or its huge importance to Irish people would be bored with it.

The Guinness Store is basically a huge factory exhibition over about 5 floors of a large building. It is a detailed history of the making of Guinness alcohol, the history of the factory and its workers and the marketing, and merchandise over the years. It is a one way system so you have to go though it floor by floor once you start. Again it is something which Irish children might enjoy seeing, as the Guinness factory and the work it provided played an important part in Dublin history. I could see why children who are not Irish would be bored there, heck I was bored there when we took some UK family members there a few years ago.

The trip itinerary recommends a tour of Temple Bar. There are far more better areas in Dublin to explore, both for adults and children. Temple Bar is just a few cobbled streets full of bars and restaurants with over priced drinks. It can get very rowdy especially after 8pm. Saturday afternoons there is a small market in the main square area, and there are always a few street musicians. Go to Temple Bar if you want to go to Hard Rock Cafe, or McDonalds, or Starbucks, Urban Outfitters or Gourmet Burger Kitchen, take 40 minutes and have a walk through on a Saturday afternoon, but thats about it.

The only thing on the Dublin part that the kids would enjoy is the The Viking Splash Tour

 

[TheRustyScupper]

The only thing on the Dublin part that the kids would enjoy is the The Viking Splash Tour

1) Based upon their maturity, maybe Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and the Library.
2) The library looks like the dining hall in Harry Potter (but no relation).

 

[ronaldnelson]

thank you all for your comments, looks like we will be going to Ireland with my parents as well (my mom has been their and fell in love with the people, country, and history) and i am waiting to see how the Germany trip goes as to wether we do the ABD trip or do Ireland on our own to add more kid friendly activities like Zoo's etc. as for the maturity my 11 yr old twins on any given day can be great but if board drive my wife and i, as well people around us, totally insane ha ha ha ha

thanks again Everyone,

 

[richflour]

We Just returned from this trip and my Daughter loved everything (11year old) . I think the Jeanie Johnston was enjoyable to most of the kids. The Guinness store house had one of the best meals on the trip and not boring at all, the advertising section of the tour makes for some great pictures. You cant go wrong with this trip!
Note : All Irish food is kid friendly ,fries ,burgers , fried fish etc

 

[ronaldnelson]

that is great to hear, thanks rich flour

 

[CowgirlTN]

we have twin boys 11yrs old and a 15 yr old daughter and thinking about Ireland next year, would the kids enjoy or should we look at a different adventure?

We just took our three year old daughter for a nine day trip at the end of May. We had the best time and she loved Ireland. Teenagers Will love it even more, the scenery is stunning and the people are so nice.

 

[kaseyC]

We just recently got back from our Ireland Forever trip with Tauck Bridges. My girls are 12 and 14, they loved every minute of the tour. There we a lot of activities that appealed to the kids. The Guinness Storehouse tour was not part of the itinerary but we easily did that on our own on a pre-tour day. Take a look at Tauck Bridges Ireland tour itinerary.

 

[anababin]

yes, ireland is totally magical..i've never been but i recommend it