Ireland recommendations...

[alexisemma31]

Thinking of heading over to Ireland for a week. Any recommendations of location..North / South, town?

We're not big walkers or shoppers. We like a pretty coastal town with local shops, cosy pubs.

Thank you

[Labboy]

Been to Dublin , loved it great people and food, would go back ina minute

[kateb78]

Galway. It’s beautiful, buzzing and fun and has great access to amazing nearby coast and country locations.

[Irishlass]

If its coastal with pubs I'd head to N.Ireland onto the North Coast. Ballycastle would be my recommendation, and if you hire a car you can take day trips up to the Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-reed rope bridge, Round to Portrush, and you can also visit the dark hedges which feature in the Game of thrones. Then you've got the Glens of Antrim, with Cushendun and Cushendall in the middle of them.

Ballycastle is an hour away from Belfast which has loads of great places to visit, and loads of pubs also so you could possibly do a split stay, maybe 4/5 days in Bsllycastle to do the north antrim coast, then take the coadt road round to Belfast and a night or 2 here.

[oeamon]

Agree with last poster- west coast is the best pace to give you a real flavour. Top to bottom doesn’t really matter that coast will look after you. Galway a great base and a lovely city. Dublin is a great spot too but it’s very similar to other European cities but it’s very expensive. I would start your research with Galway, Clare, Kerry, cork , Sligo, Donegal

[Loulou127]

We visited NI last summer, we loved it, we did Belfast, the Titanic exhibition is amazing, the open top bus tour really interesting to find out the history of what happened there, but our favourite was the north coast, Port Ballintrea, Giants Causeway- the weather was so good we could see across to Scotland, Port Rush was lovely, it has equally as lovely coastline as Cornwall but without the insane crowds, overall fabulous x

[Bad Pink Tink]

waves hi, Im from Dublin and I have been to almost every part of Ireland between visiting family, as a tourist and working / living. Im going to give you a brief overview, but I can give you more help when you choose a specific area.

The first thing to decide is how you will get here

Flying
Main international airports are Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast.
Smaller regional airports are Knock, Galway and Kerry.

Ferry
Ports are Dublin, Rosslare and Belfast

Next is how you will get around

The main cities Dublin, Cork, Belfast have good public transport and taxis to get from the airport / port to the city centre

The smaller regional airports you really need to hire a car as they are in rural areas.

You can also fly into Ireland and hire a car to get around.

You have said coastal town, so I'm going to start north and work clockwise around the coast. Each area has its local pubs, so no matter which area you stay, you will always find one. Depending on the time of year you decide to visit, there are many local festivals in towns all over Ireland.

Belfast
Main things to do are Titanic Museum, Giants Causeway and Game of Thrones tours

Dublin
Major city like a small version of London with all the museums and various tourist attractions you would expect in a capital city. About an hours drive north of Dublin is Newgrange, a Stonehenge type monument.

Wexford / South East Region
Rosslare Port is in the south east of Ireland in County Wexford. Wexford Town is about 30 minutes drive from the port. Lots of beach towns located in Co Wexford. Also a good gateway area to stay in to visit nearby Co Waterford. This region has a huge amount of historical castles and attractions

Cork
Cork city is a smaller version of Dublin city. West Cork coastal area has many beach towns, with great scenery. The region is noted for its restaurants and food festivals as well as water sports.

Kerry
Very similar to Cork, beach towns, but has Mountains and stunning views. Dingle has a resident wild dolphin living in the bay. This region has traditional Irish speaking towns called Gealtachts, which are heritage protected areas, so you will find Irish music and dancing are very popular in the pubs.

Clare
The south part of Co Clare has beach towns. The north part of Co Clare, bordering Co Galway is whats known as The Burren. This is a national park which is known for its huge areas of limestone cliffs and caves, fossils and rock formations.

Galway
Galway city is a smaller version of Dublin. It has a beach area called Salthill and a nearby fishing village called Claddagh, where the rings originated. Like Kerry, traditional Irish music and dance are still very popular here.

Mayo, Sligo and Donegal
The whole western region of Ireland is very rural, with some great scenery and beach towns. Like in Kerry there are more Gealtacht areas in this region and traditional Irish music and dance are still very popular here.

[HenrysDad]

I can highly recommend County Clare staying in one of the may gorgeous coastal towns and exploring the Burren and driving the Wild Atlantic Way. You could even pop and see Father Ted's house

I would suggest you consider Milton Malbay or Lahinch as potential candidates to stay.

[scooby99]

Originally Posted by oeamon

Agree with last poster- west coast is the best pace to give you a real flavour. Top to bottom doesn’t really matter that coast will look after you. Galway a great base and a lovely city. Dublin is a great spot too but it’s very similar to other European cities but it’s very expensive. I would start your research with Galway, Clare, Kerry, cork , Sligo, Donegal

See more...

Don’t forget Magical Mayo; you’ll pass through it on the drive from Galway to Sligo!

The areas & drives around Westport & Clew Bay are stunning as is Achill Island which is wild & magical.
From here, you also have the chance to visit some of the islands; Clare island or Inishturk for a glimpse of real Irish island life.

[alexisemma31]

Originally Posted by Bad Pink Tink

waves hi, Im from Dublin and I have been to almost every part of Ireland between visiting family, as a tourist and working / living. Im going to give you a brief overview, but I can give you more help when you choose a specific area.

The first thing to decide is how you will get here

Flying
Main international airports are Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast.
Smaller regional airports are Knock, Galway and Kerry.

Ferry
Ports are Dublin, Rosslare and Belfast

Next is how you will get around

The main cities Dublin, Cork, Belfast have good public transport and taxis to get from the airport / port to the city centre

The smaller regional airports you really need to hire a car as they are in rural areas.

You can also fly into Ireland and hire a car to get around.

You have said coastal town, so I'm going to start north and work clockwise around the coast. Each area has its local pubs, so no matter which area you stay, you will always find one. Depending on the time of year you decide to visit, there are many local festivals in towns all over Ireland.

Belfast
Main things to do are Titanic Museum, Giants Causeway and Game of Thrones tours

Dublin
Major city like a small version of London with all the museums and various tourist attractions you would expect in a capital city. About an hours drive north of Dublin is Newgrange, a Stonehenge type monument.

Wexford / South East Region
Rosslare Port is in the south east of Ireland in County Wexford. Wexford Town is about 30 minutes drive from the port. Lots of beach towns located in Co Wexford. Also a good gateway area to stay in to visit nearby Co Waterford. This region has a huge amount of historical castles and attractions

Cork
Cork city is a smaller version of Dublin city. West Cork coastal area has many beach towns, with great scenery. The region is noted for its restaurants and food festivals as well as water sports.

Kerry
Very similar to Cork, beach towns, but has Mountains and stunning views. Dingle has a resident wild dolphin living in the bay. This region has traditional Irish speaking towns called Gealtachts, which are heritage protected areas, so you will find Irish music and dancing are very popular in the pubs.

Clare
The south part of Co Clare has beach towns. The north part of Co Clare, bordering Co Galway is whats known as The Burren. This is a national park which is known for its huge areas of limestone cliffs and caves, fossils and rock formations.

Galway
Galway city is a smaller version of Dublin. It has a beach area called Salthill and a nearby fishing village called Claddagh, where the rings originated. Like Kerry, traditional Irish music and dance are still very popular here.

Mayo, Sligo and Donegal
The whole western region of Ireland is very rural, with some great scenery and beach towns. Like in Kerry there are more Gealtacht areas in this region and traditional Irish music and dance are still very popular here.

See more...

Wow, thank you so much for your very informative post... decisions, decisions!