Heading to Ireland on Friday!

Since I saw a few other travel threads, I decided to unleash some of my excitement. the wife and I and another couple are doing an 8 night Ireland trip next week. We fly into Dublin and get a rental car and enough B&B vouchers for the trip that are basically taken at every B&B in Ireland, then fly out of Shannon 8 nights later. So freaking excited! These next 2 work days are going to go so slow...

I envy you! Out of all the places to go an sample beers, Ireland is at the top of my list. Enjoy.
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Beer Diary...

Sounds like an excellent time! Enjoy

Enjoy! I love it there...

Thanks. The day we land in Dublin the Porterhouse Pub is hosting the Independent Ireland Beer and Whiskey festival. I think I found our day 1 activity.

Porterhouse

I have a friend that went over last year to visit family and have a general good time..I could find out if he has any recommended stops if ya like.

Hellz to the yeah. I think the little lady already has a predefined route in her head, but let me know what you come up with.

Any plans to meet up with Irish HBT members?

Have fun, sounds like a blast.

McKBrew said:

Any plans to meet up with Irish HBT members?

Have fun, sounds like a blast.

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I have a few PMs with Loweface, we may be meeting up for a few towards the end of the trip.

I don't know what type of activities you are interested in, but if you like outdoors stuff I would wholly recommend going to western Ireland, including Kerry and the Dingle peninsula. It's the most scenic part of Ireland and has a lot to offer all within a short distance. And it has some very nice B&B's with the most amazing views of the ocean/countryside. Dublin is OK, but I think you will have a better time in Ireland when outside the main cities.

I attended University in Cork for two years and have pretty much covered the whole Island both as a tourist and a tour guide for my friends and family. If you want any suggestions or particular info ect... I'd be happy to help.

This is the basic route we will be following based on shortest distance. We will actually be following the coast but I cannot figure out how to save the modified route. The stop points are what the wives have decided on for B&Bs. 2 nights in Dublin and 2 nights in Galway.

We plan to do a little of everything, some touristy things, some local fun, and some outdoors stuff.

Ryan_PA said:

Since I saw a few other travel threads, I decided to unleash some of my excitement. the wife and I and another couple are doing an 8 night Ireland trip next week. We fly into Dublin and get a rental car and enough B&B vouchers for the trip that are basically taken at every B&B in Ireland, then fly out of Shannon 8 nights later. So freaking excited! These next 2 work days are going to go so slow...

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Went there for my honeymoon a few years back. You'll love it. Make sure to go to the Guinness Brewery and get your free pint!!

Back in the US swing of things now. What a trip!!!

Anyone thinking of going to Ireland, really should. It ia great country, and no picture will ever do justice to how beautiful the country is. I met a lot of great people and had some experiences I will never forget.

We manage to see and drink in (from what I remember, my friend actually has the log book) the following areas:

Howth
Dublin
Tipperary
Killkenny
Cork
Blarney
Kinsale
Waterford
Adare
Limerick (met up with Loweface from HBT here for a night)
Galway
Cliffs of Moher (I don't think we actually drank here)
Ennis
Bunratty
Shannon

Excellent food, beer, people, scenery, etc. The driving is super sketchy, and the crappy US dollar was no fun, but it was the best vacation I can ever remember. I cannot wait to go back.

Here is a pic of Loweface (Rob), his girlfriend, me and my buddy Brian. My wife and Brian's wife were busy oogleing over the keyboard player in the band.

Awesome! Welcome back! I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say: Please give us some details on some of the local craft brews you tried.

I'm sure I also speak for all of us when I say: Did your friend really go to Ireland and order a Coors Light?

Actually, there is not a huge selection of craft brew over there. I did have plenty of Guinness and beamish, but also had some Beamish Red, Hookers IPA, Kilkenny Beer and several versions of Bulmers cider. The wife only drank Bulmers so I would try hers as we went.

The Coors was my buddy's. To be honest, I really did not even know he had one til I saw that picture. I think it was kind of late in the night, so he may have finished off his wife's beer. She was drinking the Coors through the trip. Funny thing is the Coors was more expensive at 12 ounces than the other beers were at a pint.

Of course they were more expensive. They're imports!! I can imagine that was pretty weird. Like Bizarro World.

Hope you had a blast. I hope to get there myself someday.

So the Guinness, is it better there???

Like most things in life that are built up like that, it is most likely a placebo. Sure, if you go to a BMC bar and get a pint of Guinness here, it aint gonna be good. But a good pint here is the same as a good pint there.

I disagree. It might have been my unquenchable thirst or the fact that it's served at 32.1*F in the States, but I found the Guinness in Europe to be better than what we have here (more body, more mouthfeel, additional flavor is debatable based on the temp issue). Wikipedia seems to indicate that what is served in Europe is Guinness Original, a lower ABV form of Guinness Extra Stout (4.1% or 4.2% vs. 5%).

On an unrelated note, I was amused to discover that I could get a pint of Guinness in Aachen, Germany for 2.50-3.50 Euro, while the cheapest price I found in Dublin was 4.50 Euro.

Glad to hear you got home ok and that you got to the cliffs like you wanted.

Loweface said:

Glad to hear you got home ok and that you got to the cliffs like you wanted.

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Thanks again for everything Rob. Even without your map (left it in the car) we managed to go the same route. Glad we took the taxi home that night.