Hi !

First post here so I might as well chip in on a place that I’ve been before!

Personally, I really enjoyed the west coast of the island, especially Galway, but that’s mainly because it’s a great starting point to explore the coast (and the pubs are great too!). You have the cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands and the hills of Connemara (great for hiking).

Can’t really help you with Dublin since I was there for only 2 days and didn’t do much outside of drinking.

Well, my experiences in Ireland were ONLY on the west coast, but it was certainly a highlight of my trip. Like Hugo said, Galway is a great place. The Cliffs of Moher are gorgeous, The Aran Islands are a whole nother world (also gorgeous), and Connemara that time of year is actually a bit barren. I expected it to be more green than it was. Still worth going to though. Might I suggest a small town to stay at when you go since you seem to like the countryside better? That town is a place called Doolin, very close to the Cliffs of Moher. You can definitely still go to the Aran Islands from there, but it will take more time. It is the quintessential Ireland. Friendly people, amazing pubs and it is known for having the best traditional Irish music in the entire country. I urge you to look into going there.

I agree with the aforementioned places.
In Dublin there is Temple Bar.
Try a search for day trips out of Dublin: I have recommended Glendalough and Powerscourt in County Wicklow.
Glendalough is especially atmospheric.

Ah, the west coast sounds awesome! Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I definitely want to see the cliffs of moher and Doolin sounds like the kind of Ireland that we really want to experience (not that any parts of ireland aren’t worth experiencing, we’re just kind of short on time ).

And I’m totally wearing a Temple Bar jacket that my folks bought for me the last time they were in Dublin. hehe.

Does anyone know anything about Cork or the Dingle Peninsula? Those were two that I have heard good things about, but nothing really tangible. Does the Dingle Peninsula fall into the west coast area you guys were talking about? I know it’s way south of Galaway and the cliffs so I wasn’t sure if that’s something anyones been to. I’ve heard it was a nice place to ride on a bicycle and enjoy the sites, you know, weather permitting. Are there any nice (not too crazy hilly) places to bike along the west coast where you all have been at.

Also, does anyone know how good the public transportation is? We’re both under 25 so we werent really looking at car rentals but I know some places do, they just charge you a painful chunk extra. Don’t know if we can get as much done, or to as many places with the buses and trains. Any experience in that would be helpful.

hey
i live in Cork so ill try be of some help.
first of all i agree completly with visiting the west coast…..Galway is a brilliant city, lots to see and do and definatly worth a visit(along with the surrounding areas such as the arann islands, cliffs of moher, connemara, the burren!

West Cork and Kerry have amazing sights too. The dingle penninsula is especially beautiful.
Dingle town itself, while im not a big fan myself, is loved by most people. Its situated in a Gaeltacht area (ie they speak the native irish language there). The areas around Dingle (like Ventry, Tra Ceann Tra) are full of traditional irish culture and history.

As for transport, well this is where ireland comes into its own….transport here sucks! On the west coast (and Kerry in particular) the roads are small country roads which they try to pass off as main roads. Bus Eireann run a regular-ish bus service from all major towns/cities to Galway or the Dingle Penninsula. While the intercity buses are just about reliable and run roughly on time, the local buses leave a lot to be desired.
Basically its an adventure which you should just take in your stride, laugh at, and enjoy!

Like Peadar said, the buses operate mostly on time. You’ll find that Irish culture is much more laid back (especially outside of the major cities) than it is in the U.S. (and I consider this a good thing!). I took local transport for the most part and always got where I needed to be. When I arrived at Shannon Airport to go to Doolin, the people at the Bus Eireann counter told me the bus left later than it actually did. So while I was waiting for a bus that had already left (without my knowing) I asked a bus driver who was walking by about it. He told me it had left already but wasn’t a big deal. He took my ticket I had paid for and told me to get on his bus and he promised he’d make sure I got to Doolin. We arrived in Ennis (I think, I’d been up for thirty something hours!) and he told me to get on another bus. I thanked him and that other bus dropped me off in front of the hostel I stayed at. They’ll get you where you need to go, I promise!

Awesome! Thanks everyone! I’ll try and keep in mind that the buses are meant to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace and not a frantic one. I’m definately going to see if we can’t spend the majority of our time on the west coast exploring the best of scenery and pubs

I have to agree with the others here, go west! For me Dublin is good for about a day, I much prefer Galway and Cork City, but even more so the smaller towns and villages. I am fortunate enough that I to get to spend a good bit of time in Waterford and east Cork, but can tell you from experience that Galway down through west Cork has some of the most amazing scenery. Enjoy!