Advice on visiting Eire please?

[ICB]

We're planning to visit ROI this summer, probably Fishguard to Rosslare.

We've got 3 boys who will be 12, 8 and 4 by then. We'll be in a small campervan with awning.

Can you recommend some good places to go and campsites to stop off at? We like basic chilled out places rather than the all-mod cons hookup your TV and go to the bar shite.

We're mostly interested in nice beaches + a bit of local life rather than theme parks and museums. We're happy to tour around a fair bit but will stay somewhere if we really like it.

Any suggestions gratefully received. :)

[mcginty]

dingle penninsula, co kerry.beautiful mountains,rugged coast.
the burren and cliffs of moher, co clare

[eoin_k]

Head west - anywhere from West Cork to Donegal

[mr pat]

If u are takin the Fishguard/Rosslare route make sure & stop off in Wexford Town, my home. It has one of the highest rated beaches anywhere in the Northern Hempisphere, its called Curracloe & the hollywood movie Saving Private Ryan was filmed here.

Theres also lots more in the Co. Wexford area to see & do...particularly like old historical sites such as The Irish National Heritage Park or JFK memorial park. My advice is dont just head straight for the West, check out the sunny sout east first

Peace

[Shippou-Chan]

as much as i do like dingle it is on the wrong side of the country

and the drive across isn't exactly a short one

i should know i have done more times than i care to remeber

london to fishguard then the ferry then cross country from rosslaire to listowel, kerry

takes forever... well if you get the 23am ferry you get to the end destination around midday...

maybe it's summin you might want to skip on a first time visit

[two sheds]

Galway Bay looking over towards the Burren is God's Own place.

[chymaera]

We're planning to visit ROI this summer, probably Fishguard to Rosslare.


Any suggestions gratefully received. :)


Be advised Southern Irish roads consist mainly of potholes.

[marty21]

galway, and mayo - connemara (between the two) is breathtaking, mayo has some mighty fine quiet beaches, and some lovely little towns - say hello to the fine marty21 folk in belmullet and binghamstown:cool:

[Radar]

Be advised Southern Irish roads consist mainly of potholes.
If you're talking about the main roads, they used to consist mainly of potholes, they've actually come on quite a bit, you're still fucked once you hit the backroads mind :D

ICB, you should have a great time. I'm jealous !

Myself and my cousin did a similar trip in 05 under canvas, him in his car and me on the bike. Started off at Doolin/Cliffs of Moher, then headed down to Dingle via the Tarbert-Killimer ferry, a very soggy trip via Killarney to Bantry, then eastwards across to Kinsale before heading back up to Dublin.

Kinsale was the only place we couldn't find a suitable camp site, there we ended up in a hyper-chintzed B&B :( (Well it was that or sleep in the cousin's car. It was dusk by the time we got there and knowing my luck we'd have ended up guerilla camping on someones front lawn :() We stayed in an excellent wooded site just outside Bantry to the north with its own beach, showers and even a laundrette, the site we stayed in at Dingle was 4 miles to the north-west of the town, pretty much at the tip of the peninsula but also well equipped with hot showers. In Doolin, the camp site was a 30 second crawl from the main drag and well equipped too.

We had some excellent seafood during that trip. I'd have to say Dingle and Bantry tie for honours on the culinary front. A decent pint was available everywhere, and as the season was drawing to a close there wasn't too many foreigners encouraging the locals to ham it up in the tourist pubs :)

So, all in all an excellent trip. It was a great feeling to park up, pitch the tent before heading into town, have a wander, a few jars and a bite to eat, roll back to the site whenever you feel like it, and a nice spliff under the stars before bedtime !!

[Shippou-Chan]

i have heard mayo is nice but for me it is forever sullied... my cousins owned a hotel/pub thingy out there ... it was the middle of nowhere hell hole.... i mean nothing was bad bad but the place was infested with midges and the whole place felt like it was raining all the time it was so grey and wet.... my cousins were so pale and damp looking i couln't help but think of gollum

[pogofish]

I'd agree with the south as well - there is no shortage of the sort of nice basic sites you prefer as well. I don't have links to hand but OTOH, Ardmore & Kilkenny are places I've camped before now. Along with a nice secluded site on the Kerry road, a few miles beyond Kenmare.

[pogofish]

Think I've also camped in the site in Dingle that Radar wrote of - it was indeed good.

Ardmore is probably nearest for the boat tho & has a good beach. Very much an Irish family place as opposed to the more touristy places nearby (Dungarvan, Youghal?) IIRC

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Donegal has some beautiful beaches but Donegal is wet and windy and barren, but apparently quite beautiful.

My b/f's from Donegal but I've still not managed to get there :rolleyes: :D

[Boru]

Hiya, can i suggest Mayo and Westport in particular...
Its Irelands Tidiest Town (again).. Campsites available beside the historic Westport House and out and about in the countryside too..
6 hours from Rosslare, but ye can stop on the way for something to eat..
Beaches galore.. Blue Flag ones too.. usually can park up beside them in campervans at no cost...
Tis wild, wild, wild terrain, but cosmopolitan too...
Good food, good craic, pubs, restaurants!

Now, whats happening to Liverpool in the football, was 1-0 down when i walked past the pub!

[Chorlton]

First piece of advice i would give you is, don't call it Eire when you are over there.

[pogofish]

Yes, Westport - really lovely place too. :)

[Minnie_the_Minx]

First piece of advice i would give you is, don't call it Eire when you are over there.


Why DO people do that? :confused:

[Chairman Meow]

Well I've been pm'ing you but had to respond to some of the suggestions here. Westport is nice enough, but I wouldn't really go out of my way. Since you have a few weeks I'd head west and south, anywhere between cork, kerry, galway really is good. Yes the campsite at Dingle is very nice, but a wee bit out of town and can be full of groups. Dingle, Connemara, West Cork, Galway, Kerry are all lovely. Roads are great in between populated areas, but off the beaten track can get interesting, but its part of the charm. :) Take it slow, doodle about at your leisure, be prepared for a bit of soft weather and you'll have a great time. :D

[Chairman Meow]

Why DO people do that? :confused:

Oh yeah, don't call it Eire. And don't order Guinness in Cork. Oh and the Rough Guide is worth getting too.

(There is no campsite in Kinsale - there's one up the road in Garrettstown though).

[suitgirl]

is the nicest beach in Ireland.

[zoltan]

First piece of advice i would give you is, don't call it Eire when you are over there.

I had a lecture on this last week.:(

[Shippou-Chan]

is the nicest beach in Ireland.

ballybunion

arrgghhhh.....

nooo


please god no

not even if they got rid of the clinton statue AND the golf hotel


it is a nice beach but not the nicest

[snoogles]

Oh yeah, don't call it Eire. And don't order Guinness in Cork. Oh and the Rough Guide is worth getting too.

(There is no campsite in Kinsale - there's one up the road in Garrettstown though).

It's MURPHY'S all the way in Cork! :D

Would recommend Kerry, though I think the Iveragh & Beara peninsulas (the two further south in Kerry) are nicer than Dingle. Killarney has a tourist:local ratio of about 5:1 in the summer, so I wouldn't bother with it too much, just pass on through & go on to the National Park.

[BCB]

Like others have said a visit to Galway in the West Of Ireland is essential, i would also definitely drive up to Giants Causeway in Antrim up north, stunning scenery, some of the nicest in the country IMO.:)