An Ireland Dream Vacation & 4 Handy Travel Tips
Back in May of 2015, my husband and I along with our youngest son, embarked on an 8 day trip to Ireland. I’d been dreaming of this travel destination for years and we finally had the necessary funding and time to make it happen.
I enlisted the help of Authentic Ireland Travel now, Authentic Vacations to get the general outline of our trip figured out and I used them to coordinate all of our accommodations. Our travel advisor gave us several ideas for things to see and do while we explored the faire isle and I took it from there. By that, I mean I spent months pouring over maps, guidebooks, websites and travel brochures to plan the vacation I had dreamed of. Since I am a perpetual planner, I was in my happy place. We had a wonderful time and I honestly did not want to come home, but I learned a few things about international travel that I wanted to share with you. Ireland is now opening up again for non-essential travel (if last week’s news reports are to be believed) and it is a gorgeous travel destination. I would go back in a heartbeat.
So, wise one; What did you learn?
Ireland Travel tip #1: Choose where you really want to explore and settle in for a while. Ireland as a whole is roughly the same size as Indiana. Knowing this, I figured we could see a LOT in eight days, especially since we were limiting the area of our travels to the South West. Piece of cake right?!? Yeah. Not. As we quickly learned, it takes a lot longer than you think to get from point A to point B when you really don’t know where you are going and you’re driving on narrow roads. Let’s just say that I got really good at snapping photos while we were driving. In hindsight, I wish we had stayed in fewer places so we could really explore where we were staying. Killarney was my favorite and was where we stayed the longest, but there’s so much to see and do in that area, I wish we’d had even one more day. County Clare, home to the famous Cliffs of Moher is beautiful as well, as is the little peninsula town of Dingle. Honestly, I dare you to find an area of Ireland that isn’t stunning.
Ireland Travel tip #2: Pay for two drivers. In hindsight, I definitely over planned as far as how much we could squeeze into 8 days. I should have dialed back my enthusiasm a tad and planned more time in fewer locations. We loved everywhere we went but we also drove. A LOT. Not a fan of tour buses, we’d decided we wanted to be on our own timetable and so we rented a car. My husband quickly learned how to navigate narrow roads while driving on the opposite side of the road from what we know to be the passenger side of the car. It was a steep learning curve, and he did a great job. Unfortunately when only one person is driving, they don’t get to enjoy the scenery or relax.
Ireland Travel tip #3: Spend time talking to the locals. When you are out exploring, be sure to spend some time chatting with the locals. They’ll happily point you toward the best pubs where you can find not only the requisite pint, but also pub fare that is satisfying and reasonably priced, not to mention an incredible array of live music. We had dinner and a show every night we were there, and sometimes while we were out and about during the day. Who turns down free music? Not me!
Ireland Travel tip #4: Stay in at least one castle and B&B This sort of goes hand in hand with tip #3. Especially if you choose to stay in one or more B&Bs. They’re typically owned and run by locals and are charming in every possible way. Not to mention, they’re really reasonably priced.
You might even learn something! For example, I was summarily schooled on what does and does not go on toast at breakfast (hint; the toast that’s served UNDER your scrambled eggs is NOT to be eaten with jam, no matter how good the jam might be) Yes, we are still laughing about that! I’m sure our hostess is still shaking her head at the American tourist who didn’t know better, but oh well! That jam was home made! How was I supposed to pass that up?!
As for staying in a castle? Well, it’s a CASTLE! Need I say more???
I’ll close with one final thought. Wherever you go, wherever you travel. Be sure to take time to relax and enjoy the journey. Make a point of really exploring, especially if your dream destination is far away, and I hope, if you enjoy it as much as you’d hoped, that you get to return some day. Ireland is still on my return-to-someday list. We’ll just take it a little slower next time. Happy travels wherever you may go!
