Hello,

My wife and I are planning a 7 to 10 day trip to Ireland during the
summer of 04. My Aunt and possible a cousin or two will join us. (Our
ancesters hail from County Down ca 1850: Halsey and Leslie families.)

We prefer the flexibility afforded by driving our own vehicle(s) and
would opt for a travel package that provides the vehicles (as opposed
to a bus tour), one that includes vouchers for bed-n-breakfasts and
possibly a castle or two for lodging. We are looking for Ireland
destination suggestions, places to see that should not be missed.

I have the maps and some Ireland Guide Books but after 20 or 30 pages
all the country discreptions seem so similar.

We are more interested in the Irish country side, small villages,
lakes, rivers, mountains and castles, ghosts, history and legends
rather than the busy night life and hub-bub of the big cities. Some of
that is OK, but we get plenty of the big city activity at home. We
would consider horse back excursions, short hiking trips and even take
advantage of any fly fishing opportunities should they arise. We would
consider hiring guides on a daily basis at our option. We don't want
to get locked into a "canned" trip with a large group of tourists.

Any advice is appreciated. Please email to:

[email protected]

and

[email protected]

Thanks,
Phil English
Salinas Ca. USA

[email protected] (Phil English) wrote:

    >My wife and I are planning a 7 to 10 day trip to Ireland during the
    >summer of 04. My Aunt and possible a cousin or two will join us. (Our
    >ancesters hail from County Down ca 1850: Halsey and Leslie families.)
Do you plan or hope to visit ancestral locations? In a trip of about a
week, that would be a significant shaping element of your itinerary.

    >We prefer the flexibility afforded by driving our own vehicle(s) and
    >would opt for a travel package that provides the vehicles (as opposed
    >to a bus tour), one that includes vouchers for bed-n-breakfasts and
    >possibly a castle or two for lodging. We are looking for Ireland
    >destination suggestions, places to see that should not be missed.
B&B vouchers might limit you a little. I prefer to use what I term
"universal vouchers" -- banknotes.

    >I have the maps and some Ireland Guide Books but after 20 or 30 pages
    >all the country discreptions seem so similar.
    >We are more interested in the Irish country side, small villages,
    >lakes, rivers, mountains and castles, ghosts, history and legends
    >rather than the busy night life and hub-bub of the big cities.
Ghosts? They exist only for the credulous. The rest can be managed.

    >Some of
    >that is OK, but we get plenty of the big city activity at home. We
    >would consider horse back excursions, short hiking trips and even take
    >advantage of any fly fishing opportunities should they arise. We would
    >consider hiring guides on a daily basis at our option. We don't want
    >to get locked into a "canned" trip with a large group of tourists.
I suspect that you will have many responses extolling the virtues of
the south and west, especially Kerry, Cork, Clare, and Galway. With
good reason, as there is much to see and do there. But in summer, they
can be very busy. There are small packets of good stuff all over the
place. For example, if you want to include Co. Down, you have the
Mourne Mountains and Strangford Lough, and the Cooley Peninsula
(scenic and rich in legend) is nearby.

    >Any advice is appreciated. Please email to:
    > [email protected]
    > and
    > [email protected]
Like many in this group, I prefer not to respond by email. Others
might be interested in the discussion, and somebody might add
something interesting to a response posted in the group.

I'm packing now for a trip, and won't follow up on this until my
return.

PB

Hi Phil. Ireland in the summertime is fantastic! I stayed in
Killarney, County Kerry while there a few years ago. The Ring of Kerry
was a very scenic drive with lots of places to stop and visit. Some of
my favorites are The Gap of Dunloe for a nice hike or a horse/cart ride,
The Muckross House and grounds, Dingle Bay which is a neat lil' fishing
village, the Cliffs of Mohr (?sp), Bunratty Castle, just to name a few.
Galway is supposed to be nice and also a boat ride out to the Aran
Islands will have to be for my next visit. I'm sure you will enjoy the
ruggedly beautiful Ireland no matter where you end up visiting. Keep
your eyes open for palm trees. I could hardly believe what I was
seeing.
Kathy

In article <[email protected] >,
[email protected] (Phil English) wrote:

    > My wife and I are planning a 7 to 10 day trip to Ireland during the
    > summer of 04. My Aunt and possible a cousin or two will join us. (Our
    > ancesters hail from County Down ca 1850: Halsey and Leslie families.)

Are you planning on visiting the North then?

The Northern Irish coast west of the Giant's Causeway is one of the most
beautiful I've seen.

You can go north from Dublin, up around, then back down the west to
Shannon and fly out there. It's doable in a week, but that's really the
minimum.

--
_Deirdre http://deirdre.net
"Dogs may have kept us company on the hunt, but it was the cats who
insisted we invent houses and discover fire." -- Khiem Tran

[email protected] (Phil English) wrote in message news:<[email protected]. com>...

    > We are more interested in the Irish country side, small villages,
    > lakes, rivers, mountains and castles, ghosts, history and legends
    > rather than the busy night life and hub-bub of the big cities. Some of
    > that is OK, but we get plenty of the big city activity at home.

There is only one big city in Ireland, Dublin. You should experience
Dublin though. It is not like anything you have at home.

If you are interested in history and legends I can highly recommend
Belfast. There are West Belfast taxi-tours with local taxidrivers as
guids, generally they have a lot of knowledge. Especially Falls is a
very interesting place to visit when it comes to history and culture.
Excellent for a day trip on your feet. No tourist traps and definately
something you don't have at home. I reccomend you to do some reading
in advance in order to get a better grip of the buildings, murals,
monuments etc. that you visit.

There is absoulely no need to worry about going to Belfast. Since the
Good Friday agreement, the situation has been very quiet. I would
suggest that you don't visit during the first two weeks of July
though, because the Marching Season is the one controversial event in
Belfast. The political tension in Belfast is stricly concentrated to
the organisation involved, and since you are American you don't have a
English accent (could mean some troubles in Falls) either. Lonely
Planet has an excellent review of Belfast.

I have also heared a lot of nice things about the northern / north
western coatline of Ireland.

Jan

[email protected] (Phil English) wrote in message news:<[email protected]. com>...
    > Hello,
    >
    > My wife and I are planning a 7 to 10 day trip to Ireland during the
    > summer of 04. My Aunt and possible a cousin or two will join us. (Our
    > ancesters hail from County Down ca 1850: Halsey and Leslie families.)
    >
    > We prefer the flexibility afforded by driving our own vehicle(s) and
    > would opt for a travel package that provides the vehicles (as opposed
    > to a bus tour), one that includes vouchers for bed-n-breakfasts and
    > possibly a castle or two for lodging. We are looking for Ireland
    > destination suggestions, places to see that should not be missed.


If you feel you need a booked tour, fine, but my experience in
Ireland is that, with the exception of Dublin, you don't really need
to prebook. There is loads of B&B's and everytown of any size
has some tourist board which will help you book, even at another
town.


    > I have the maps and some Ireland Guide Books but after 20 or 30 pages
    > all the country discreptions seem so similar.
    >
    > We are more interested in the Irish country side, small villages,
    > lakes, rivers, mountains and castles, ghosts, history and legends
    > rather than the busy night life and hub-bub of the big cities. Some of
    > that is OK, but we get plenty of the big city activity at home. We
    > would consider horse back excursions, short hiking trips and even take
    > advantage of any fly fishing opportunities should they arise. We would
    > consider hiring guides on a daily basis at our option. We don't want
    > to get locked into a "canned" trip with a large group of tourists.

For a variety of reasons, you'll probably be heading north. The
whole country can be driven in a week to 10 days, but I don't
encourage that. As a general suggestion, I'd say start about Galway
and head towards Westport. You can "swing back" east and south, ultimately
getting to Dublin if you wish. Mayo is quite beautiful as is much
of the coastline. You might wish to get a map and do some walking.
There are alot of public trails, many of them marked. If there
is a "don't miss" up that way it's probably the Cliffs of Moher.

In article <[email protected]> ,
[email protected] (me) wrote:

    > If you feel you need a booked tour, fine, but my experience in
    > Ireland is that, with the exception of Dublin, you don't really need
    > to prebook. There is loads of B&B's and everytown of any size
    > has some tourist board which will help you book, even at another
    > town.

Worth noting, though, that whole towns *can* fill up for special events --
festivals, major race meetings and so on.

In article <[email protected] >, Phil
English <[email protected]> writes

    >My wife and I are planning a 7 to 10 day trip to Ireland during the
    >summer of 04. My Aunt and possible a cousin or two will join us. (Our
    >ancesters hail from County Down ca 1850: Halsey and Leslie families.)

Since you'll probably want to visit county Down, you might like to spend
some time at the nearby attractions:

Mountains of Mourne - http://www.mournemountains.com/
Strangford Lough - http://www.fjiordlands.org/strngfrd/
Mount Stewart House -
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/scri...ON=PROPERTY&PR
OPERTYID=167

    >We are more interested in the Irish country side, small villages,
    >lakes, rivers, mountains and castles, ghosts, history and legends

Donegal is also full of scenic mountains and relatively unspoilt towns
and villages.

    >We
    >would consider horse back excursions, short hiking trips and even take
    >advantage of any fly fishing opportunities should they arise.

Another good place for small villages is Galway. Oughterard and Clifden
are good places to base yourself for fishing trips to Lough Corrib, and
the Aran Islands and hiking in Connemara.

--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com