Rick Steves Best of Ireland

THE BEST OF IRELAND

Map: Top Destinations in Ireland

THE BEST OF DUBLIN

THE BEST OF KILKENNY AND THE ROCK OF CASHEL

THE BEST OF KINSALE

THE BEST OF KENMARE AND THE RING OF KERRY

THE BEST OF DINGLE TOWN AND PENINSULA

THE BEST OF COUNTY CLARE

THE BEST OF GALWAY

THE BEST OF THE ARAN ISLANDS

THE BEST OF BELFAST

THE BEST OF PORTRUSH AND THE ANTRIM COAST

THE BEST OF THE REST

TRAVEL SMART

Designing Your Itinerary

Trip Costs

Map: The Best of Ireland in 2 Weeks

Before You Go

Travel Strategies on the Road

Flung onto the foggy fringe of the Atlantic pond like a mossy millstone, Ireland drips with mystery, drawing you in for a closer look. You won’t find the proverbial pot of gold, but you will treasure the engaging and feisty Irish people. Irish culture—with its unique language, intricate art, and mesmerizing music—is as intoxicating as the famous Irish brew, Guinness.

The Irish revere their past and love their proverbs (such as “When God made time, he made a lot of it”). Ireland is dusted with prehistoric stone circles, beehive huts, and standing stones—some older than the pyramids. While much of Europe has buried older cultures under new, Ireland still reveals its cultural bedrock.

Today’s Ireland is vibrant, cosmopolitan, and complex. The small island (about the size of Maine) holds two distinctly different Irelands: the Republic of Ireland (an independent nation that’s mainly Catholic) and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom, roughly half Protestant and half Catholic). No visit is complete without a look at both.

Want to really get to know Ireland? Belly up to the bar in a neighborhood pub and engage a local in conversation. The Irish have a worldwide reputation as talkative, musical, moody romantics with a quick laugh and a ready smile. Come join them.

THE BEST OF IRELAND

In this selective book, I recommend Ireland’s top destinations—a mix of lively cities, cozy towns, and natural wonders—along with the best sights and experiences they have to offer.

The biggie on everyone’s list is Dublin, the energetic, friendly capital of the Republic of Ireland. But there’s so much more to see. The island is dotted with Celtic and Christian ruins, cliffside fortresses, and prehistoric sites. Brú na Bóinne’s burial mounds are older than Stonehenge. There’s the proud town of Kilkenny, the historic Rock of Cashel, colorful Kinsale, and two peninsula loops: the famous Ring of Kerry and the more intimate Slea Head Loop near Dingle. Youthful Galway is a good launchpad for dramatic scenery: the sheer Cliffs of Moher (in County Clare) and craggy Aran Islands.

In Northern Ireland, historic Belfast sheds light on the political Troubles that once bitterly divided this country. The lush Antrim Coast delights visitors, with fun-loving Portrush serving as a handy home base.

Beyond the major destinations, I cover the Best of the Rest—great destinations that don’t quite make my top cut, but are worth seeing if you have more time: the region of Connemara and the town of Derry. When interesting sights or towns are near my recommended destinations, I cover them briefly, to help you enjoyably fill out a free day or a longer stay.

To help you link the top sights, I’ve designed a two-week itinerary (on here), with tips for tailoring it to your interests.

TRAVEL SMART

Approach Ireland like a veteran traveler, even if it’s your first trip. Design your itinerary, get a handle on your budget, make advance arrangements, and follow my travel strategies on the road. For my best advice on sightseeing, accommodations, restaurants, and transportation, see the Practicalities chapter.

Designing Your Itinerary

Decide when to go. Travelers in “shoulder season” (April, May, Sept, and Oct) experience smaller crowds, mild weather, and the full range of sights and fun. Peak season, June through August, offers longer days and better weather, but larger crowds (especially in the cruise ports towns of Dublin, the Cobh region, and Belfast). Prices, crowds, and temperatures drop off-season (Nov through March); city sightseeing is generally fine, though in towns, some sights have shorter hours or shut down.

No matter when you go, expect rain. Just keep on traveling and take full advantage of “bright spells.”

Choose your top destinations. My itinerary (on here) gives you an idea of how much you can reasonably see in 14 days, but you can adapt it to fit your own interests and time frame. Bustling, rollicking Dublin is a must for its museums, street scene, and nightlife. Music lovers follow their ear to pubs playing live traditional music. The top musical towns are—in this order—Dingle, Doolin, Galway, Westport, and Dublin. Foodies favor Kinsale, but won’t go hungry elsewhere.

Historians choose among sights prehistoric (such as the Boyne Valley, the Burren, and the Dun Aengus cliff-edge fortress), medieval (Rock of Cashel and Glendalough), and modern (from the independence movement in Dublin to the Troubles in Belfast). Seekers of nonstop beauty visit the Republic’s rugged west coast—the Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, and Aran Islands—and Northern Ireland’s scenic Antrim Coast. Photographers want to go everywhere.

If you have time to explore only one idyllic peninsula, choose the Dingle Peninsula over the more famous Ring of Kerry. If you want to include both, this book will help you do it efficiently and enjoyably.

Draft a rough itinerary. Figure out how many destinations you can comfortably fit in the time you have. Don’t overdo it—few travelers wish they’d hurried more. Allow enough days per stop: Figure on at least one to two days for major destinations.

Staying in a home base—like Galway or Dublin—and making day trips can be more time-efficient than changing locations and hotels. Minimize one-night stands, especially consecutive ones; it can be worth taking a late-afternoon train ride or drive to get settled into a town for two nights.

Connect the dots. Link your destinations into a logical route. Determine which cities you’ll fly into and out of; begin your search for transatlantic flights at Kayak.com. All direct flights from the US to Ireland land in Dublin, low-key Shannon (good for cautious drivers), or Belfast.

Decide if you’ll travel by car, take public transportation, or use a combination. For the efficiency and freedom, I recommend driving. You won’t need a car in big cities (park it), but it’s ideal for exploring the countryside, stopping wherever you like.

If relying on public transit, these destinations are easiest—Dublin, Dingle, Galway, Aran Islands, and Belfast—using a combination of trains, buses, taxis, and minibus tours, plus a flight or boat to the islands. Trains don’t cover the entire island, and bus travel is slow due to multiple connections and/or frequent stops.

Allot sufficient time for transportation in your itinerary. Whether you travel by train, bus, or car, it’ll take a half-day to get between most destinations.

To determine approximate transportation times between your destinations, study the driving chart (on here) or check Google Maps. To look at train and bus schedules in advance, go online (www.discoverireland.ie, select “Getting Around”). If your trip extends beyond Ireland, check Skyscanner.com for intra-European flights.

Give yourself some slack. Every trip, and every traveler, needs downtime for doing laundry, picnic shopping, relaxing, people-watching, and so on. Pace yourself. Assume you will return.

Ready, set... You’ve designed the perfect itinerary for the trip of a lifetime.

Trip Costs

Run a reality check on your dream trip. You’ll have major transportation costs in addition to daily expenses.

Flight: A round-trip flight from the US to Dublin costs about $900-1,500, depending on where you fly from and when.

Car Rental: Allow roughly $250 per week, not including tolls, gas, parking, and insurance. Rentals are cheapest if arranged from the US.

Public Transportation: For a two-week trip, allow about $250 per person for buses and trains. Because Ireland’s train system has gaps, a rail pass probably won’t save you money, but buying train tickets online in advance can save as much as 50 percent.