Visiting the Dublin area and Northern Ireland

[Mom83]

Now that there are nonstop flights from Cleveland, Ohio to Dublin, my husband and I are thinking we may fly over in June for a visit. We spent 3 weeks touring western Ireland in 2007, but we have never been to Dublin or the eastern part of the Republic of Ireland or to Northern Ireland. I will start researching places to see and visit in those areas so that we can decide where to spend our time. Right now we are thinking of about 10 days split between 2 locations (eg., somewhere near Dublin and then maybe somewhere in Northern Ireland?). Any suggestions for places to locate for 4-5 nights each would be appreciated.
I was also wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a holiday rental company that specializes in Ireland (something other than vrbo or Airbnb). I have looked on this forum and have only found one rental review for Ireland.
Thank you in advance for any advice and/or suggestions.

 

[Ian Sutton]

I could imagine a 7:3 or 6:4 day Dublin/Belfast split could work well, with a good train service between them. The challenge will be flight times, as ideally it would be 1 stay on Dublin, not two, so either travelling on to Belfast immediately on landing (tiring but less risk), or travelling from Belfast to Dublin on departure day. It might even be worth looking at Belfast-Dublin flights as these ought to be fast & frequent, and the usual dull airport waits might balance out the logistical challenge of getting from airport to train station.

I've only stayed in hotels in both locations, so sorry no help on apartments / rentals

For 'fine dining' in Belfast, Ox still seems to be the place to go, though FWIW having eaten there and then the following day at the Boat House in nearby Bangor, the latter was much more consistently excellent. I also liked the more relaxed (and Dutch joking) style at the Boat House. They take what they do very seriously, but aren't afraid to smile/joke. EDIT: It looks like it has changed hands, so I can't comment on the new cooking/ambiance, though the setting should still be good.

St George's market was decent, and it looks like there is also a new food market 'common market'. Architecturally it all felt a bit too modern for me, having come over from Dublin, and I still find myself mildly irritated by the (thankfully rare) people who want to champion their political-religious viewpoint. The vast majority of people seem to have moved on and embraced the new peace.

For Dublin, location might be driven by whether you expect to use the train whilst there, or not. It's not a massive walk from the centre to the train station, but it is a factor. I always stayed on the South side of the city (Portobello district) and enjoyed it there, with lots of good restaurant choices (and work was there as well!). I can't speak for the other parts of the city as bases.

 

[Mom83]

Thank you, Ian! We are hoping we can stay just outside the major cities and have a car for day trips to more rural areas. So I will look for places no more than an hour outside of each Dublin and Belfast. It would be great if we stayed near smaller towns with train service into Dublin and Belfast so that we could visit each of those cities as day trips.
When we were in Oxford last month, we rented a house in the Cowley suburb to be near family. It was an easy drive to the Oxford train station (great parking available) and then a quick 50 minute train ride into Paddington Station to spend the day in London. But then when back in Oxford, we had the car to visit family in Garsington, and make day trips to Henley on Thames, Blenheim Palace, Stadhampton, etc.
We are hoping we might be able to do something similar in Ireland. It sounds like it is a longish walk from the Dublin train station into city center. Would we be able to take a taxi from the Dublin train station into the center of town or is it a pleasant walk?
I am excited to start the planning…as always, I need to do my research as these are areas with which I have no familiarity. Your information and restaurant suggestions are enormously helpful…thank you!

 

[Ian Sutton]

Thank you, Ian! We are hoping we can stay just outside the major cities and have a car for day trips to more rural areas.

That sounds like a good plan, though if you'll have a car I might be tempted to head south and loop back up, rather than hitting the North.

Looking at the inter city train map, I recall Wicklow being recommended when I was there, though I never went there. It might make for a suitably convenient place to head up to Dublin, and it appears there is also a bus from the airport and into Dublin.

Station and Route maps

Dublin Map, Cork Map, Intercity Map

www.irishrail.ie

though checking the arrival station (dublin heuston), it's not as central as pearse station, and the journey a little longer than ideal.

For a closer suburb, we ate out in Ranelagh a couple of times and it had a nice feel to it. Somewhat 'suburban village', but still with character. About 10 mins on the bus/tram, though peak traffic might affect that.

 

[Eleanor]

It is seeral years since we were in Northern Ireland and we stopped near Ballymena, thinking that would allow us to drive to most places. I'm not sure that I would chose that area again. Maybe move a bit further north to the Ballymoney/Ballycastle/Portrush triangle.

The drive up the coast from Larne to Ballycastle is definitely worth doing . Do stop off to have a look at some of the Glens. Glenariff was our favourite and the waterfall walk is well worth doing.

Don't miss Carrick a Rede rope bridge. Try and plan a visit to Giants Causeway for low tide. It is always busy so if low tide is early morning or late aftrnoon, that is a bonus. If you have tinme it is well wotrth climbin to the top of the cliffs to look down on the causeway below. The humans look like ants scxurrying around. There are details of the red trail which covers this here. the ruined Dunluce Castle is not far away.

Somewhere else we really enjoyed was the Ulster American Folk Park just north of Omagh. This covers the story of the Ulster protestants who emigrated from Northern Ireland to America with the promise of owning their own land (something they would never achieve in Ireland) . The stories of some of them have been researched and their homes have been moved and rebuilt here. There are also reconstructions of their houses in America. There are costumed interpreters in all the buildings who can talk knowledgeably about the families, their lives and the problems they faced when starting a new life in America. ( not least was coping with a diet based on maize rather than oats and potatoes!) There is also a mock up of a ship where families had a small living area of about 6x6 feet square. They didn't know how long the voyage would take or where they would land - it depended on the weather and the winds...

 

[Mom83]

That sounds like a good plan, though if you'll have a car I might be tempted to head south and loop back up, rather than hitting the North.
Looking at the inter city train map, I recall Wicklow being recommended when I was there, though I never went there. It might make for a suitably convenient place to head up to Dublin, and it appears there is also a bus from the airport and into Dublin.

Ian…are you suggesting we fly into Dublin and immediately drive south to someplace like Wicklow to stay for 5-6 days (which would include a day trip or 2 into Dublin) and then head up to Northern Ireland for our remaining 4-5 days? If so, I really like that idea as we could then make day trips to the area a bit south and west of Dublin before heading up to Northern Ireland.

 

[Mom83]

Eleanor…thank you so much for those suggestions on Northern Ireland! That is just the information that I find so useful in planning a trip to an area that I have never visited before. All of your ideas for places to visit are exactly what we would enjoy.
You and Ian have given me such great ideas! You both have been of enormous help!

 

[Eleanor]

Thanks Mom83. I find many guide books never answer the questions I want to ask!

 

[Eleanor]

Sticking my nose in to comment on #7 ....

Heading south means you would have chance to visit Powerscourt House and gardens as well as the lovely early Christian site of Glendalough. Youy can easily spend several hours here . As well as the monastic ruins, there are a couple of lakes and walks around them. Map

There are ideas for scenic drives here.

Kilkenny is a popular base for the area and there is lots to do and see there, with its castle, cathedral, Black Abbey, the ruined Jerpoint Abbey.


It can also be used as a base to visit Cahir with its castle and also Rock of Cashel...

The problem is there are so many wonderful places to visit.... and difficult choices have to be made!

 

[Ian Sutton]

That sounds like a good plan, though if you'll have a car I might be tempted to head south and loop back up, rather than hitting the North.
Looking at the inter city train map, I recall Wicklow being recommended when I was there, though I never went there. It might make for a suitably convenient place to head up to Dublin, and it appears there is also a bus from the airport and into Dublin.

Ian…are you suggesting we fly into Dublin and immediately drive south to someplace like Wicklow to stay for 5-6 days (which would include a day trip or 2 into Dublin) and then head up to Northern Ireland for our remaining 4-5 days? If so, I really like that idea as we could then make day trips to the area a bit south and west of Dublin before heading up to Northern Ireland.

That sounds like what I was saying was more like a plan, rather than the random ruminations I was coming up with

That said, yes it's an option, though that 1st base would want to be close enough to Dublin (Wicklow feels a fraction far, but maybe it's ok and/or the bus might be better, dropping you off centrally).

Alternatively choose somewhere in the Dublin suburbs for 2-3 days, so Dublin can be done without a car, and in one go, then head to somewhere like Wicklow for a few days (wherever appeals most I guess) and day trip in the car around that area. Then drive up to NI.

Depending on timing of flights though. If arriving/leaving in the afternoon / evening, then that ordering should work fine. If arriving in the morning, then reversing it might work better.

 

[Mom83]

Ian…we are thinking this itinerary might work for us…
We are looking at the coast and slightly inland from north of Wicklow up to the southern suburbs of Dublin for our first stop for 5-6 days…then heading up to Northern Ireland for 5-6 days. We prefer to only pick 2 locations to stay, if possible, as we do not like moving accommodations very often.
Trying to decide if reversing the order might work better. Our nonstop flight arrives in Dublin at 8:50am and departs Dublin for the States at 3:30pm.

 

[Mom83]

Eleanor…all those places for our stay near Dublin are ones we would like to visit…we think alike! I will study that scenic drive site…we love doing those. We visited the Rock of Cashel back in 2007, but we did not travel as far east as Kilkenny and I do not think we stopped in Cahir either.
You are right…so much to see…never enough time.
FYI…in 2007, we flew into Shannon and immediately drove up north of Galway where we stayed in Headford for 5 days…then we drove down to Six-Mile-Bridge for another 4 days…then we drove down to Kinsale for 4 days…then we went on to Killarney for our last week. It was a great trip!

 

[Mom83]

Eleanor…the area around Ballymoney looks like a great area for our stay in Northern Ireland. It looks to be only a 2-3 hour drive from the Dublin airport, which would be doable for us. It also seems to be about a 60-75 minute drive from Belfast, I am going to look for accommodations near there and just north of there.

 

[Eleanor]

It sounds as if it is all coming together nicely now.

 

[Mom83]

It sounds as if it is all coming together nicely now.

It is coming together…slowly, but surely, thanks to the help you and Ian have given me.

 

[Eleanor]

That's great! You will, love Ireland - there are so many hidden gems to discover. Have you got a copy of Eyewitness Ireland? It is one of the best guide books with lots of photos and coveres many places not featured in the other guides. It also has reasonable maps to help with planning too.

 

[Ian Sutton]

Trying to decide if reversing the order might work better. Our nonstop flight arrives in Dublin at 8:50am and departs Dublin for the States at 3:30pm.

yes, I'd definitely look at reversing the order with those timings. Arriving in at 9AM can be frustrating because the accommodation is usually unavailable until early afternoon (but if it by some chance is, that's a different matter).

Figuring on getting out of the airport at 10:30am (ish), and picking up the hire car, means being on the road c.11am, leaving time for a leisurely drive ), and maybe stopping for a bite to eat en-route, and will also completely miss any rush hour traffic. FWIW Google says 1.35hrs from Dublin airport to Belfast.

Meanwhile for the return, if say planning to arrive 2.5+ hrs before the flight, that may mean setting off around midday, which is quite a civilised time.

 

[Mom83]

That's great! You will, love Ireland - there are so many hidden gems to discover. Have you got a copy of Eyewitness Ireland? It is one of the best guide books with lots of photos and coveres many places not featured in the other guides. It also has reasonable maps to help with planning too.

No, I do not have that book, but I will definitely get it now. My current Ireland guidebooks are from our 2007 visit and concentrate mainly on the areas of western Ireland. Thank you!

 

[Mom83]

yes, I'd definitely look at reversing the order with those timings. Arriving in at 9AM can be frustrating because the accommodation is usually unavailable until early afternoon (but if it by some chance is, that's a different matter).

Figuring on getting out of the airport at 10:30am (ish), and picking up the hire car, means being on the road c.11am, leaving time for a leisurely drive ), and maybe stopping for a bite to eat en-route, and will also completely miss any rush hour traffic. FWIW Google says 1.35hrs from Dublin airport to Belfast.

Meanwhile for the return, if say planning to arrive 2.5+ hrs before the flight, that may mean setting off around midday, which is quite a civilised time.

Ian…once you mentioned reversing the order, I saw that your suggestion made more sense for us. I am so grateful the time for the return flight to Cleveland is mid-afternoon...it gives us a more leisurely morning. Thank you!