Honeymooning in Ireland / Europe

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MriswitH

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Soon to be SWMBO (hey, I still have a little freedom - I kid, I kid!) and I are getting married on June 1 next year and are planning on heading over the pond for our honeymoon.

Tentatively we are going to be flying into Dublin, Ireland and staying for a time. We have tossed around the idea of renting a car and driving along the shoreline to various stops en route. Past there, we are going to take a ferry or fly over to England (probably London) and do some sight seeing there. All in all, we plan on staying for about 2-weeks or so, give or take a few days i'd imagine.

Has anyone been overseas before to these areas. Have any advice, must-do's or definitely-don'ts for us newbie's? We are really excited but still very novice as to what we should do quite yet.
 
Visit Bunratty Castle near Shannon. The Cliff of Mohr,

I think you may find a pub or two in between. :D Be very careful about driving over there. They do road checks all over the place.
 
My wife and I took a trip to Ireland in 2003 and circumnavigated the bottom half of Ireland. We flew into Shannon (Dublin first, then onto Shannon). Stayed for a day and visited Bunratty. Definitely a cool castle. Drove to Dublin ... 1 day, then to Cork ... 1 day, then to Kilarney ... 1 day, then to Galway ... 1 day, then flew out.

Lots of fun and plan to go back, but one thing I would do differently is to not try and see too much and spend more time in one location or another. Galway and the western coast of Ireland (cliffs of mohr, ring of dinggle, etc) is outstanding.

However, there are tons of things to do in northern Ireland as well (giants causeway, etc). Pick one or two main places and plan on just exploring those.

Some advice:
  • Irishmen suck at directions, and streets are very well marked, if at all. Carefully plan your route and get several maps.
  • Use your credit card more than thing else. By using your CC, you'll get the best exchange rate for the entire month
  • Don't plan on some great variety of beer all over the place. Most of the time it's either carlsburg, guinness and occassionally watney's.
  • If you rent a car, pay for the insurance and the extra for an automatic. I like driving manual, but it is really weird shifting with the other hand. There's too much to pay attention to as it is.
  • If you get a chance to visit the Middleton distiller, do so. excellent tour.
 
I lived in England/Wales a few years ago and visited Ireland about 12 years ago. The Irish are very friendly people and very witty and down to earth. Ireland is a beautiful country and there is a lot to see with Ireland alone. If you plan to take the ferry to Wales, the main route is between Dun Laoghaire ("leary"), south of Dublin, and Holyhead, Wales. It's about a 3-1/2 hour trip each way (if I remember correctly) and the only caveat is that there isn't much to do in Holyhead... and England is hours away by car. If you really want to see England, I'd recommend flying to London. Ireland has (last I checked) some discount airlines (e.g., Ryan Air) that has cheap flights from Dublin to London.

As for Ireland, there is so much to see, but I can recommend renting a car and driving to wherever you like. If you've never driven on the left (and sat on the right) before, BE CAREFUL! But do it anyway... just keep telling yourself, "stay on the left, stay on the left." By the time you come back, you'll find it odd to drive on the right. Accomodations may be full in June, so make reservations. Of course you'll want to visit the Guinness Brewery in Dublin. The Guinness in Ireland is wonderful compared to the import here in the States. Aside from Dublin, I visited Galway and the Aran Islands. Both were worth the cross country trip (all 3 hours of it!), but I understand County Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula are also beautiful. England to is worth the trip for the Real Ale alone! Hope that helps.
 
srm775 said:
Some advice:
  • Use your credit card more than thing else. By using your CC, you'll get the best exchange rate for the entire month
  • Don't plan on some great variety of beer all over the place. Most of the time it's either carlsburg, guinness and occassionally watney's.
  • If you rent a car, pay for the insurance and the extra for an automatic. I like driving manual, but it is really weird shifting with the other hand. There's too much to pay attention to as it is.
To expound on what srm775 said.

  • The euro right now is killing us 1.47 per. Go to Mexico. Put your savings toward a house or brewing equipment. Ok failing that...
  • Go to The Porterhouse in Dublin. The only place that has a variety of beers and when in Galway - get a Galway Hooker.
  • Get ready for it. Auto insurance is more than the rental. Also you'll probably depart and then arrive the next day. Don't screw up the rental.
  • Even with the maps and directions, streets come up on you fast. Like every 1.5 seconds.
  • If your passenger door is consistanly clipping the roadside hedge, you're doing fine.
  • By the third day, you'll tire of castles and just drive on by.
  • London is the second most expensive city on the world. Dublin is 16th.
  • Stay in B&B's they're generally more affordable. It's OK to ask to see the room before you check in.
  • Buy a Rick Steve's guide and pay close attention to his advice.
If you're still set on it, you'll have a great time. I know we did.
 
I'm with EdWort on this one...the west coast has more to offer, but then again, it's all according to your tastes.

I spent a week there and put almost 1100 miles on my rental (expensive BTW), but I saw ALMOST everything...:D

Then again, if money is tight I would recommend Mexico also.;)
 
I spend a lot of time in Europe :)
I've been to Ireland Quite a few times.
If I were you I'd rent a car. The place is not big and you can visit all the places you want to.

Try to get up to the far north North coast if you can then over into County Antrim.

Do you like stout?

Watch out for the weather. :(
 
Second what orfy says, if you can, try and get up to northern ireland, you can do the whole belfast thing with the different murals, see where titanic was built etc and then scoot up the antrim coast road to see the giants causeway.
antrim coast
 
Definitely rent a car and hit up County Kerry: Doolin and Dingle. You won't regret it. If you are going to be there in the spring or summer spend a couple days in Doolin and take the ferry over to the Aran Islands. Inis Moore is absolutely stunning. It's a few minutes drive from the cliffs of moher and the Burrens as well.

I'm jealous... that place is really great.
 
I can't speak for Ireland, but if you do make it to England, I highly recommend London, it is expensive, but it's worth spending at least a couple of days there. The welsh country side is also a must as is York and the Scarborough area.
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Since when?? England's not Europe...;)

That's what I mean.
I spend a LOT of time in Europe, like you spend a lot of time in the USA.:D

If you only have a few days in London then I'd suggest one day doing the regular "sight seeing"
The best way to do this is take a bus tour in the morning and choose two must see places to visit then do them in the afternoon followed by a show in the evening.
I'd spend a day soaking up the atmosphere in Soho and Camden. Try to make it a weekend. Then if you have a third day then maybe a trip to Windsor Castle or Henley on Thames.

As for Ireland, Dublin is only worth a day in, it's just like any other small cosmopolitan city and can be expensive for drinks and food. More so than London.

If you do head further north then try to schedule half a day at the Omagh American folk museum that charts the history of the mass migration to America. It is really good.

One of the most visited attractions in Ireland Is Blarney castle by Cork. It is a tourist trap but very good.

If you want more suggestions let me know.
I've quite a few pictures as well.
 
First and foremost, thank you to everyone who's responded so far. There is a wealth of information here and some stuff we'll have to talk about as far as planning the trip. I apologize about the delay in getting back, we've been absolutely over the top busy lately at work. :(

EdWort said:
Visit Bunratty Castle near Shannon. The Cliff of Mohr,

I think you may find a pub or two in between. :D Be very careful about driving over there. They do road checks all over the place.

We were planning on checking out both of these places as we've heard they're quite nice! :)

ohiobrewtus said:
Hopefully she's comfortable being around drunk people!

She can out drink my sometimes, so she'll be alright, haha.

olllllo said:
  • The euro right now is killing us 1.47 per. Go to Mexico. Put your savings toward a house or brewing equipment. Ok failing that...
  • Buy a Rick Steve's guide and pay close attention to his advice.
If you're still set on it, you'll have a great time. I know we did.

Excellent advice and much appreciated. Its one thing we've kept in the back of our minds about how expensive its going to be; however, we figure we're only going to get a chance to do this a couple of times in our lives (hopefully i'm wrong).

orfy said:
Do you like stout?

I'm a stout whore! I cannot wait!
 
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