Ireland adivce. Where should I go?

[ckat44]

Can people who have been to ireland give me advice on your favorite places? As of now I am planning on going to Dublin, Kilkenney, Galway, Kilarny, Waterford, and Cork. Any advice?

[Eagle]

ckat44, I'll be visiting Ireland for the first time in about a month, so will have some comments for you then. Which places to visit will depend to some extent on what types of things you're most interested in?

One question though - I notice that you don't have Belfast on the list? Now that "the troubles" are in the past, that would also probably be an interesting place to visit. There are also other interesting locations in Northern Ireland (Portrush, Londonderry, etc.).

Cheers!

[mcfish123]

I've been to all the cities you mentioned except Kilkenney and they were wonderful. I absolutely loved Galway and Cork, but I was a little disappointed with Dublin, it was a bit drab. But then again, I didn't have much time there!

Hope all your plans go well!

[novagal]

I spent two weeks in Ireland in 2005 and went to Dublin, Galway, Killarney and Cork. Here’s what I would recommend.

Dublin – As the capitol city there’s a fair amount to see, I spent 2 days seeing Trinity College, the Book of Kells, Merrien Square, St. Patricks Cathedral, Christchurch Cathedral and St. Stephens Green and there was a lot that I didn’t get to. I also took 2 day tours out of Dublin, one to the Wicklow Mountains where we saw Glendalough and a number of other lovely sites and one to the Boyne Valley where we went to the Hill of Tara, the Hill of Slane and some other neat ruined abbey sites.

Cork – I didn’t find Cork all that interesting but it’s a good spot for a day tour out to Blarney Castle. I took a day tour that went to Blarney Castle in the morning and then to the town of Kinsale in the afternoon. Blarney Castle was really quite interesting, especially the grounds and not as touristy as I was expecting.

Killarney – Killarney is really compact and I thought more touristy but for a reason. The west coast of Ireland is gorgeous. I stayed in Killarney and rented a bike and rode around Killarney National Park and saw all the sites, it was really lovely. I also took a day tour out to the Dingle Peninsula which was just beautiful. You can also take day tours around the Ring of Kerry.

Galway – Galway seemed to me a very student oriented town. There were people out and about all the time. The town is also relatively compact and I spent a whole day just walking around town seeing stuff that I probably could have seen in the evenings. If possible I highly recommend spending a night over on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. A lot of people do this as a day trip but I spent one whole day and two nights there and it was my favorite part of the trip.

Hope this helps.

[Keli]

I was only in Dublin and Galway when I was in Ireland. I liked both places. I was only in Galway for 2 days and nights. I took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher and some other sites, and I loved that. The Cliffs are awazing. I regret that I did not stay longer in Galway to take a trip to the Aran Islands.

In Dublin (4 days/nights) I remember wandering around alot. I was just fasinated watching all the people. I did some shopping in some cool shops for souvenirs, went to some differnt pubs, toured the old prison, and took the Boyne Valley day trip. I highly reccomend this, it is very interesting.