A month in Ireland

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Discussion

oblio

Original Poster:

5,391 posts

226 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
I am starting to think about a trip to the island of Ireland in Sept this year as a back up in case we can't, or don't feel safe, going to Italy or the South of France. Whilst I have visited both the Republic and NI on business (and a couple of great trips to watch Ireland v Wales rugby in Dublin) we have never toured there.

It's early days yet but I thought I'd ask a few questions first as I know we have members who live there plus I'm guessing it has been a 'must do' trip for a number of folk.

First things first..

Duration

Is a month long enough to tour the whole island? My initial thoughts are to loosely travel the perimeter with incursions into the centre of the island as required

Ferries

- Is there a recommended comparison site to look at for all the routes or do I have to look at all the providers separately to get the best idea/deals?

- Is it possible to enter though one port and exit through another? Is this a costly exercise to be avoided?

Border

- Are there now any checks when passing through the border? The reason I ask is that if possible we would like to bring some of our own food and whilst travel to NI would be OK I think, I wouldn't want any issue when moving into the Republic.

Must see's

We will take in Dublin and also want to see the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast as well as the Giants Causeway up the coast. I have read that the Kerry Loop is well worth some time as well. We also fancy Waterford Crystal.

Our trip will be a mixture of travelling one and 2 night drops as well as 'drop anchor' places for slightly longer as we don't want to do a route march.

Any other 'must sees'? I haven't done much/any research yet so I'm all ears. We have pretty wide tastes so nothing off the cards as of now. We have ebikes and can walk but as Mrs GMJ has MS, these get used for shorted distances rather than full day/30 mile yomps.

Thanks in advance folks


hellorent

361 posts

62 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Around Mayo is nice: westport, achill island and Galway/Connemara would be worth a visit.

Have a look at Aferry for prices

Edited by hellorent on Wednesday 28th April 16:27


Edited by hellorent on Wednesday 28th April 16:32

surveyor

17,754 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
At the rate of vaccination in Ireland I would not count on being allowed in by September...

Galway, Cork and general west coast are all nice.

Ferry is expensive wherever so just go for the most convenient.

fttm

3,659 posts

134 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Get a copy of Tony Hawks "Round Ireland with a fridge " , great read and may give you some ideas . Co Cork and the West coast are a must imho.

oblio

Original Poster:

5,391 posts

226 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
surveyor said:
At the rate of vaccination in Ireland I would not count on being allowed in by September...
Good shout - I'll keep an eye on that.

We will both be double jabbed by then and it looks as though they seem to be on top of infection/death rates at the mo...

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/...



Btw thanks all for the response so far thumbup

Uggers

2,223 posts

210 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
Killarney and Killarney National park are stunning.

Bring a brolly.



task

418 posts

170 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
We did a 3 week Ireland trip dragging a caravan several years ago, got the ferry from Anglesey to Dublin.

Our route was roughly:

Directly down to Ring of Kerry

Follow the Wild Atlantic Way North staying at a lovely Eco Camping site at Clifden. There is a lovely island accessed by driving over a beach at low tide, well worth a visit. Fishing round here is stunning too and the Marconi installation is good.

Further North we visited Donegal before crossing over to Northern Ireland and the Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede and a nearby castle

We then explored Dublin for a few days

If I was going back I'd spend time in Belfast but we just didn't have enough time to do it all, 4 weeks that you have planned will be better.


21st Century Man

40,626 posts

247 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
Sounds wonderful though. We've not been to Ireland before but it's on our campervan bucket list.

O/T but this made me laugh.

https://youtu.be/x-fNzwo1iMA

74merc

594 posts

191 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
I would do the Wild Atlantic Way which is about 1500 miles long and takes in the best of the west coast. That could be combined with the Causeway Coast route in the North as these two routes meet near to Derry.

oblio

Original Poster:

5,391 posts

226 months

Friday 30th April 2021
quotequote all
I think my very outline plan is to travel all along the coast (or as much as we can do in a month without it turning into too much of a route march) making incursions further in land where required, to visit 'stuff'.


oblio

Original Poster:

5,391 posts

226 months

Saturday 1st May 2021
quotequote all
There may be an element of that included, yes.

dandam

225 posts

151 months

Saturday 1st May 2021
quotequote all
74merc said:
I would do the Wild Atlantic Way which is about 1500 miles long and takes in the best of the west coast. That could be combined with the Causeway Coast route in the North as these two routes meet near to Derry.
Yep, look up the Wild Atlantic Way, don’t have to do it all, but a great guide to follow

agent006

12,023 posts

263 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
quotequote all
We did 6 weeks in Ireland a couple of years ago in our motorhome. We ferried from Fishguard to Rosslare, then went clockwise round the island and then ferried Larne to Cairnryan for a month in Scotland.

MotorhomeCraic is a useful Irish forum. They've just redone the forum site but the old one is still online and has tons of info:
https://www.motorhomecraic.com/archive/index.php?f...

There's also an Ireland specific parking site finder app whose name escapes me.

We went in March/April time and it was quiet enough that we spent most nights in beach carparks or the Wild Atlantic Way parking areas. I think we used campsites about one in 5 nights.
Highlights campsite wise were Clifeden eco beach as mentioned above, also Goosey Island in Sneem:


Blaskett also well worth a visit, be the most westerly motorhome in Europe.


Bear in mind that some of the roads are appalling. We spent whole days around Kerry etc averaging under 30MPH on A roads. Not potholes, just so, so bumpy.

If I could do it again, I'd spend some more time inland, maybe Mourne mountains.

agent006

12,023 posts

263 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
quotequote all
We did the Giants Causeway. Disappointing, and wouldn't really recommend it. It's nowhere near as spectacular as you'd imagine and it's very busy. Certainly don't pay the parking charges, park at the little town next door and walk east along the coast path to it. A nice walk and will save you £30.

Jonathan27

687 posts

163 months

Tuesday 4th May 2021
quotequote all
oblio said:
I am starting to think about a trip to the island of Ireland in Sept this year as a back up in case we can't, or don't feel safe, going to Italy or the South of France. Whilst I have visited both the Republic and NI on business (and a couple of great trips to watch Ireland v Wales rugby in Dublin) we have never toured there.

It's early days yet but I thought I'd ask a few questions first as I know we have members who live there plus I'm guessing it has been a 'must do' trip for a number of folk.

First things first..

Duration

Is a month long enough to tour the whole island? My initial thoughts are to loosely travel the perimeter with incursions into the centre of the island as required

Ferries

- Is there a recommended comparison site to look at for all the routes or do I have to look at all the providers separately to get the best idea/deals?

- Is it possible to enter though one port and exit through another? Is this a costly exercise to be avoided?

Border

- Are there now any checks when passing through the border? The reason I ask is that if possible we would like to bring some of our own food and whilst travel to NI would be OK I think, I wouldn't want any issue when moving into the Republic.

Must see's

We will take in Dublin and also want to see the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast as well as the Giants Causeway up the coast. I have read that the Kerry Loop is well worth some time as well. We also fancy Waterford Crystal.

Our trip will be a mixture of travelling one and 2 night drops as well as 'drop anchor' places for slightly longer as we don't want to do a route march.

Any other 'must sees'? I haven't done much/any research yet so I'm all ears. We have pretty wide tastes so nothing off the cards as of now. We have ebikes and can walk but as Mrs GMJ has MS, these get used for shorted distances rather than full day/30 mile yomps.

Thanks in advance folks
Duration - A month sounds about right, the most people recommend about two weeks for the wild Atlantic way, so another two weeks for the rest of the island should be fine.


Ferry - Stenna allow motorhomes to travel for the same price as a car on (I think) Tuesdays and Thursdays so you may want to consider this option. Quickest and cheapest is usual Scotland to Belfast, followed by Wales (Pembroke or Hollyhead) to Dublin. Whereas Liverpool to Belfast is SLOW and expensive. I'd always take a cabin on the ferry, to give some space and guaranteed quiet.

Boarder - I live about half an hour south of the boarder, so can say from experience, that there is NOTHING at the boarder, the only way you will know that you have crossed is when the speed limits change between KPH and MPH. There may be checks at the port, I don't know for sure as I haven't had the opportunity to travel since brexit, due to covid restrictions. In the past they used to pull a few vehicles in at 'random' in Dublin port. Random tended to mean knackered transit vans driven by scruffy looking males, or chav cars.


Must See - Giants Causeway, Wild Atlantic way, Dublin, Dingle, Achill, Cliffs or Mohair, the islands (Aran..)


berlintaxi

8,535 posts

172 months

Thursday 6th May 2021
quotequote all
agent006 said:
Highlights campsite wise were Clifeden eco beach as mentioned above, also Goosey Island in Sneem:
Also worth it as you have to visit the pub to pay the site fees.

coppernorks

1,919 posts

45 months

Thursday 6th May 2021
quotequote all
Cliffs of Moher are worth a look as is the Dingle peninsula but some of the routes there are unfeasibly narrow ,
although big tour buses manage them so what do I know ?


21st Century Man

40,626 posts

247 months

Tuesday 1st June 2021
quotequote all
We're also looking at NI now, and into the republic if we can. Cairnryan to Larne is an easy and affordable crossing. Will probably commit to some bookings this week, we've given up on any plans for crossing the channel for this year and seemingly everyone with a campervan will be in Scotland so we've gone cold on that too.

oblio

Original Poster:

5,391 posts

226 months

Wednesday 2nd June 2021
quotequote all
We are going to wait until the end of the month before making a final decision. I think if we don't head over to Italy we won't be going to Ireland ether this year now either.

If so, we'll probably nip up to London and then tour Essex. Suffolk and Norfolk.


Lucas Ayde

3,534 posts

167 months

Monday 7th June 2021
quotequote all
agent006 said:
We did the Giants Causeway. Disappointing, and wouldn't really recommend it. It's nowhere near as spectacular as you'd imagine and it's very busy. Certainly don't pay the parking charges, park at the little town next door and walk east along the coast path to it. A nice walk and will save you £30.
Got to agree - the Giant's Causeway is a bit underwhelming given all the publicity it gets. I've been there quite a few times as it's within afternoon-out range from where I grew up and was a good place for a Sunday aternoon trip when I was a kid ... until they built the bloody visitors centre and then started charging a fortune for the car park (it was free when I was a lad and later only a couple of quid when they first started marshalling it). I guess with all the tourists they see an opportunuty to rake in the cash and the visitor centre cost a bundle to build (and had a lot of political corruption shenanigans around it).

It is worth seeing though if you are already in the area and the views along that strech of coast are very scenic on a sunny day. There's a distillery in the town of Bushmills nearby which I think does tours too.