London and Ireland??

[kathy87]

Hoping someone can help me. We are looking to go to Ireland and London in the beginning of June. It will be my husband, myself and our two teenage sons. I need some help in deciding what we should do in Ireland and where to stay. Also, it seems cheaper to fly from Boston to Dublin rather than from Boston to London but is it worth it to fly from Dublin to London to spend a few days in London. How many days should we spend in Ireland? Sorry for so many questions just not sure where to begin. Of course if this was a Disney trip it would be no problem

 

[mrsaunders]

We went last July. Flew Aer Lingus from Boston to London, stayed 5 days, then flew to Dublin, stayed 3 days, then back. Booked the ticket online as a round trip Bos-Lon with three day layover so the ticket was cheaper than buying a second ticket frim Dub to Lon. Used the tube to get from Heathrow to the hotel and did all travelling via tube and trains. In Dublin, took bus to hotel from airport and walked everywhere. Feel free to ask me any questions!

 

[mrsaunders]

Also, three days in Dublin was plenty. Two would have been enough, unless you're going to do any day trips to surrounding areas.

 

[rella's fan]

Not sure how long you are wanting to go but DD(11) and I did a 12 night British Isles cruise this past August. It was about $700 p.p. and then I booked all of our tours on our own for really inexpensive. The cruise was round trip from Southampton so we added a couple of days in London to the end of it. We had a great time. Our ports were Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cork, Invergordon/LochNess and we also did a day trip from LeHavre to Paris. We were originally going to try to do it on our own but couldn't beat the price of the cruise.

 

[mrsaunders]

As to what to do with teenagers in Ireland, the Guiness Storehouse was pretty interesting.

 

[evergreen4]

We went to Ireland last summer, but did not go to London. We were a family of
5: husband, myself, son (18), daughter (14), and nephew (17). Our trip was planned around sight-seeing and visiting relatives. We flew out of JFK. Our kids and my nephew are still talking about the trip. My husband and I had been to Ireland 20 years ago, but it was the kid’s first trip.
Here is our itinerary.
Day 1: Fly out of JFK in NY
Day 2: Dublin City Tour with my cousin. We did a whirlwind walking tour. He lives in Dublin and works at Trinity College…so we saw a lot in a small amount of time! We stopped at Rock of Cashel on our way to Blarney. We arrived at Blarney Woolen Mills Hotel.
Day 3: Walked to Blarney Castle. We kissed the stone and did quick tour of grounds. We saw a Disney Adventure Tour group there! Drove to Killarney National Park. We took a jitney ride in the park. Drove around the Ring of Kerry. We arrived at the Travel Inn in Fossa.
Day 4: We drove to Bunratty for lunch at Durty Nelly’s. After checking into the Radisson Park Inn at Shannon Airport, we had dinner at Bunratty Castle.
Day 5: We drove to the Cliffs of Mohr. After leaving that area, we drove across the country to Carrickmacross. We rented a cottage in the town which is where my relatives live. We used this as our base to visit relatives and sight see.
Days 6-9: We went to New Grange one day. Another day we drove to Northern Ireland and visited: Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, and Bushmills Whiskey plant. We visited with our relatives. The kids were able to see where their Great grandparents had grown up. We stopped back in Dublin on our last day to shop, sightsee, and visit with a friend who lives there.
It was a lot of driving, but we loved every minute. I never saw the kids take so many pictures…it is a beautiful country! Feel free to ask any questions….have a wonderful trip!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Dh & I did a 12 night bed & breakfast tour of Ireland for our honeymoon in 1995 so the details are a bit fuzzy. It was early Oct when we went so no summer crowds at all. We had a rental car which in itself was quite an adventure. The B&B part was through Brendan Tours. They provided a coupon book and any B&B that displayed the Irish Tourist Board logo (shamrock) would accept the vouchers.
It also included a rental car which of course is a stick shift and was around $400 to upgrade to an automatic which was a good thing because driving on the left was a bit hard to get used to. I don't know that I'd be so adventurous at my current age.


It was great that it was off season because we were so busy planning the wedding, we didn't plan much for the honeymoon as far as making reservations. We drove until it started getting late, after dinner, and would find a place to stop. We did have a scheduled stay at Dromoland Castle for our last night which was beautiful.
We arrived in Shannon from Boston with Aer Lingus, and visited Adare Manor, Killarney (took a horse & carriage ride there) then drove the Ring of Kerry, over to Cork, Waterford (toured the crystal factory) Blarney then Dublin.
We were supposed to have a quick flight to England for 2 nts as dh wanted to see Stonehenge but we cancelled our flight last minute to spend more time in Ireland.
We stopped by Ashford Castle for a quick look and was so amazed we just had to spend a night so we wasted a voucher for such a great opportunity. Once they heard it was our honeymoon they upgraded us to this incredible suite, stairs leading up with prob 12' ceilings, large fancy canopy bed, full wall fireplace, bathroom almost the size of a regular hotel room. We were blown away.
I can't say the name of the town because it's our last name but we went there too to visit the Abbey and stand next to the sign that said "Welcome to ______". That was fun too. Then 2 nights in Galway which we enjoyed too. We did visit the Cliffs of Mohr which were just breathtaking.

We didn't tour Dublin at all and sounds crazy but this was pre-internet, pre-GPS days. Traffic was crazy as we got closer to Dublin then once we got to the one way streets and trying to follow maps, etc. We got so lost & frustrated. It was so much easier driving out in the country where our slowness didn't hold anyone back. We were somewhat on a budget and should have looked into tours that would take us from the countryside into Dublin for a city tour and transfer back. That's my one regret.

We have 2 teenage boys and I'd love to return but
1. my ds17 is such a picky eater. I had a hard time and he's worse than me. He'd probably survive on bread and potatoes the whole time. The food was really pretty bad though I've heard it's improved. I do remember one of the offerings in the dining room at Ashford was kidney pie.

2. My allergies were really bad while I was there. I assumed it was high mold levels due to all the rain. The first day it was so bad my throat was feeling really tight and I realized with all the jet lag I hadn't taken my allergy medicine. Not a huge deal but my allergies are worse now and it's a struggle to keep them under control. I feel like I'd wake a sleeping giant.

I've been keeping this in my favorites just in case...
http://www.chooseacottage.co.uk/END/

hth

 

[Aryn]

Not sure how long you are wanting to go but DD(11) and I did a 12 night British Isles cruise this past August. It was about $700 p.p. and then I booked all of our tours on our own for really inexpensive. The cruise was round trip from Southampton so we added a couple of days in London to the end of it. We had a great time. Our ports were Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cork, Invergordon/LochNess and we also did a day trip from LeHavre to Paris. We were originally going to try to do it on our own but couldn't beat the price of the cruise.

Who did you book through? We are also looking for something like this and that is a great price

 

[rella's fan]

We went on Princess. Prices started out high but gradually started dropping around 3 months before and we're not picky about what room we get. We just did the hop on and off in Dublin. As far as tours we booked ecoach while in Cobh and it was a day bus tour for around $35-$40 p.p. and we went to Blarney Castle and the Woolen Mills, Cork and Kinsale. We used Odyssey Tours for Belfast and it was also all day and went to Giants Causeway and the coast as well as a city tour, really reasonably priced. Then we used First Choice mini bus to pick us up at the end of the cruise from Southampton to London with a stop at Stonehenge. All of these tours were great, they were not ship tours, I booked them privately but they all picked up at the ship. If you weren't doing a cruise they may still offer day trips if you were staying there?

 

[Soulsearching]

Need this thread in the future

 

[DetroitDisney]

For traveling between Dublin and London, I think its more fun to take the ferry/train. The train in London literally takes you directly to the ferry. You walk right on and take a leisurely ride over to Dublin.

 

[emilymad]

We went in September 2012. We flew Newark to London. We stayed 3 days in London and then flew to Dublin. We stayed in Ireland for 3 days. 2 days in Dublin and 1 day in Kilkenny to see something else. Then we flew back to London for another 3 days. 2 days in Dublin was plenty for us. We probably could have gotten away with less time. We flew out of London City airport to Dublin so we didn't have to travel back out to Heathrow. The travel time still took a chunck of time out of our vacation. We are glad we went to Ireland but overall we weren't really impressed. We loved London so much better.

In Dublin we stayed at the Westin which was in a perfect location. We did the hop on hop off bus which was great for an easy transportation option for the 2 days we were there. Overall, Dublin was much smaller then we envisioned.

We ran out of time to do everything we wanted to do in London even with 6 days. We are going back in March.

 

[wiigirl]

Also, three days in Dublin was plenty. Two would have been enough, unless you're going to do any day trips to surrounding areas.

 

[tourguide81]

We did a similar trip last June w/ a 4.5 year old and 22 month old. It was a great trip. The 4 of us flew under $1000 using British Airways points through Aer Lingus. You can see if the BA visa is offering any deals.

It's much cheaper to fly into Dublin b/c London has much higher taxes/fees.

We flew JFK to Dublin. 3 nights in Dublin at the Westin on points - plenty of time for Dublin. We really enjoyed the hop on, hop off green bus tour.

We then took the ferry to England and a train to London, it's quite common and was fun to travel a different way. The ferry was large w/ plenty of room to move around, etc.

We rented a flat in London for a week through Airbnb and had a wonderful time taking our time visiting the city. We got the london city pass that included transportation.

We flew from London to Cork, skipped Blarney Castle but it would have been very easy to add in, drove to Killarney and stay at the Lake Hotel for 3 nights. We did the Ring of Kerry, took a few small walks/hikes, took a jitney ride, etc.

We drove back to Dublin and flew out back to JFK.

 

[meajuly5]

We went in September 2012. We flew Newark to London. We stayed 3 days in London and then flew to Dublin. We stayed in Ireland for 3 days. 2 days in Dublin and 1 day in Kilkenny to see something else. Then we flew back to London for another 3 days. 2 days in Dublin was plenty for us. We probably could have gotten away with less time. We flew out of London City airport to Dublin so we didn't have to travel back out to Heathrow. The travel time still took a chunck of time out of our vacation. We are glad we went to Ireland but overall we weren't really impressed. We loved London so much better. In Dublin we stayed at the Westin which was in a perfect location. We did the hop on hop off bus which was great for an easy transportation option for the 2 days we were there. Overall, Dublin was much smaller then we envisioned. We ran out of time to do everything we wanted to do in London even with 6 days. We are going back in March.

I agree. Dublin is not my least favorite European city

 

[meajuly5]

Meant is my least favorite...although there are many more to see

 

[emma'smom]

We are headed to Dublin for three days (two and one) at the each end of a Baltic cruise. It was the best airfare.....

We've never been to Ireland before, but my parents have. They are thinking of renting a car and driving to the small town of Galway where my mother's ancestors came from (including her own grandmother who emigrated as a young teen and to whom my mother was very close to as a child).

I'm wondering how it will be to try to drive on the left side of the road.

How has this been for others?

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm guessing that you mean "the small town IN Galway" rather that of Galway. The city of Galway is hardly a small town; it's the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country. What you are referring to is a town in County Galway, perhaps?.

For anyone who wants to tour the west of Ireland rather than tour Dublin, flying into Shannon is the better bet. It's still cheaper these days, since London's air tariffs for international travel have gotten so much higher.

FWIW, the taxes don't commonly apply on flights to Derry or Belfast, as those Northern Ireland cities are part of the UK. You can get from N.I. to Stansted VERY cheaply, and train into and out of London from there, normally a domestic flight is much cheaper than the ferry. (It is easy to get from Dublin to Belfast by train; the Irish railway system is called Iarnrod.)

As for driving on the left; it isn't all that difficult, IMO, but I don't recommend trying to do it in a large city. For most Americans, the roundabouts tend to be the greater challenge, especially the double ones.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm guessing that you mean "the small town IN Galway" rather that of Galway. The city of Galway is hardly a small town; it's the fourth largest metropolitan area in the country. What you are referring to is a town in County Galway, perhaps?.

For anyone who wants to tour the west of Ireland rather than tour Dublin, flying into Shannon is the better bet. It's still cheaper these days, since London's air tariffs for international travel have gotten so much higher.

FWIW, the taxes don't commonly apply on flights to Derry or Belfast, as those Northern Ireland cities are part of the UK. You can get from N.I. to Stansted VERY cheaply, and train into and out of London from there, normally a domestic flight is much cheaper than the ferry. (It is easy to get from Dublin to Belfast by train; the Irish railway system is called Iarnrod.)

As for driving on the left; it isn't all that difficult, IMO, but I don't recommend trying to do it in a large city. For most Americans, the roundabouts tend to be the greater challenge, especially the double ones.

I agree. We flew into Shannon and the roads are very small with not a lot of traffic. Most country roads are one lane in each direction. It was the city driving that tortured us and that was well after a week of driving around just fine in the country.
I agree Galway isn't a small town, at least by Irish standards.

 

[NotUrsula]

I agree. We flew into Shannon and the roads are very small with not a lot of traffic. Most country roads are one lane in each direction. It was the city driving that tortured us and that was well after a week of driving around just fine in the country.
I agree Galway isn't a small town, at least by Irish standards.

Galway's urban population is about 76K. That's not a truly small town by almost anyone's standards. As you say, by Irish standards even less so, as in the west of Ireland, the average "small town" is well under 1000 people. My own hometown is typical with a population of 675. (And FOUR golf-courses; it is a seaside community that draws tourists.)