My Dad and I are going to be taking a trip across the pond in June to check out Ireland, so I figured I'd see if anyone over here has any recommendations for things to do/see out over there. We are pretty open to go anywhere but we are definitely checking out Dublin and County Cork. Other than that any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Great place that time of year . . . be sure to check out Dingle . . . my favorite part of Ireland!

are they known for their berries?

i know...awful joke

Don't worry, I made that joke (and still make it) many times. Never got old to me, but my wife on the other hand...

Definitley agree on visiting Dingle though. Also, do yourself a favor and take the time to drive around the Ring of Kerry...totally awesome. On our trip, we basically ripped off Rick Steve's ideas from his Ireland book (highly recommended) and from the Globus itinerary. Globus is a tour company we had used before and really liked.

If you are driving, would def. recommend a European GPS. Luckily our friends had one but u can get them from the rental car places. Even talking with people from Ireland, they were asking how we got around because they get lost all the time when they leave their respective towns. The roads are basically not marked at all and a lot of time you think "that can't be the road, that is someone's property and it looks only looks big enough for a 4-wheeler". Most likely, that is the road and you will have to find room to move over if someone else is headed towards you. Locals will still be going like 60 on these tiny roads. Seriously though, I enjoyed the driving and exploring. Let me know if you have questions.

edit: And yes it is totally touristy, but either do a pub crawl (we did one in Dublin) or check out pubs on your own (Dingle was great for this) and experience the the Irish musicians and participate when possible.

[This message has been edited by Sbisa04 (edited 3/30/2010 9:12a).]

Do to the Temple Bar in Dublin just to say you did, then hit up another pub and enjoy the atmosphere. It really is like nothing I've found in the states. I liked Dublin, but I went to Galway during their arts festival and had a blast.

Cliffs of Moher a must-see!

The Rick Steves book is great for Ireland as someone mentioned above. The driving route he maps out in Dingle was the prettiest part of the trip.

Galway pubs. Period.

kiss the stone!

Wife and I went last summer for 8 days. I made a real long post about my trip after we returned. If you have the ability to look up past posts it should be posted at the end of July.

If you don't let me know and I'll give you some recommendations.

Galway is fantastic for a few days, and it's a great place to base if you're taking trips to the Burren or the Cliffs. If you're there for several days, don't rule out a trip to the Aran Islands - really pretty and depending on your fitness level and the weather, you can rent a bike and tour the island without riding in the buses with the crowds.

If you have the time, a trip north can be worth it, too. Giant's Causeway is fantastic, and there are loads of picturesque small towns along the coast. Of course, a trip to Bushmills is well worth it... =)

Yes to the above . . . other than Dingle the Aran Islands are well worth a visit! Catch the ferry and rent some bikes and take off . . . great way to spend the day!

Also, if you have your sea legs, a trip out to Skellig Michael is pretty darn cool and an experience not many have. This does take pretty much a whole day though, so if your time is limited, skip it.

If you have the time, slow down and enjoy everything. Skip the tourist traps (Ring of Kerry, Blarney Stone, etc.) and find the cool stuff off the beaten path. Hang out in a pub with traditional music and a crowd that enjoys it. Listening to good trad with a bunch of unappreciative tourists who only drink Guinness in a glass (not a pint) is a real downer.

I prefer the west coast and northwest over the east and south. There are less tourists and it is prettier. And that is where most of my family lives.

Here is another thread on the subject from a few months ago. This thread also includes links to other previous Ireland threads.

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=54&topic_id=1565448


I'll be over in late May and early June to visit the family. I can't wait to get back to my second home (first being Texas).

Also,

Try to go to the horse races if you can

Sligo Races http://www.countysligoraces.com/

Galway Races http://www.galwayraces.com/

Ireland is a great place to go!! I went there last year with my brother and some friends. We decided to go, because we had a cousin-in-law there at the time that was doing some type of work abroad thing. She was working for a farmer in a very small town in Ireland. Got to meet the farmer and see his farm. Cool experience. Even got to assist in pulling lambs, as the mother was having trouble giving birth.

We drove around most of Ireland checking out everything we could.

We started the trip in Dublin, of course. Checked out the Guinness Brewery and that night went out to where all of the Pubs are. Can't remember the name of that street. Very cool place.

The next day we rented a car and set out West for Galway on the West Coast. Galway was a very cool town. Probably my favorite spot. It's kind of a college town, and seems to mostly be young adults living there. We were in Galway on St. Patty's Day. GREAT time!! We stayed in Galway for 2 days, and then headed down South.

Our next overnight stop was in Limerick. On the way to Limerick we took a detour and went to see the Cliffs of Moher.. Another very cool thing to see, I would say a must-see.

We had some horse-lovers with us, so while in Limerick, we found a guy that allowed you to come out and ride some of his horses for a price (English-style, which was my first time English-style, and I'm not a fan. The guy told us Western was lazy, haha).

The next day we traveled down to Cork. On the way to Cork we had to stop in Blarney and kiss the Blarney stone. Cool castle to walk around. Cork was a great town. We stayed there for a night, and took in some of the local food and bars.

After Cork, we headed back up to Dublin for our last night to catch our plane back out. While driving through, we had set up an appointment to walk through this horse ranch. Basically the place was a breeding and training place for race horses. Very neat trip, as well.

We were able to get into the horse place, because our cousin that was there was working for a cousin of one of the guys that worked at the horse ranch. He pulled some strings and allowed us to come check it out.

That's basically what we did. Our trip lasted a week. Definitely needed more time to do what we did, but we got to see a lot and had a great time. I would definitely suggest getting a rental car and checking different places out. It's great to be driving down the road to some destination, and on the way take a small detour to check something out that you see while driving. I just wish we could have traveled the North side of Ireland, as well, but we didn't have enough time.

The food there was great, enjoyed eating all of the four-course meals at dinner. And, we did try out their fast food joint, called Super Mac's. Pretty good eating!