I don’t have any recommendations as to where in Ireland to go but I do have a great hostel for you. If you don’t have one yet I would really recommend ‘Globetrotters’. I stayed there over St. Patricks day and it was great. You had a room with only 6 beds, a private bathroom and great full breakfasts in the morning. It was located pretty good also! Have a great time!

I just recently was in Ireland, and I had a blast. I stayed at a really nice hostel in Dublin called the Four Courts Hostel, that is really centrally located and the people that work there are really helpful and nice. I was also in Cork, and I think if I were going to go back to Ireland I would not go there again, and see other parts like galway and kilkenny and stuff..

If you look back over some previous posts you will find a fair bit of info.

I second Globetrotters – The best hostel Ive ever stayed in!

If you are going to be doing the Ring and Dingle, you will no doubt see Kenmare, Killarney with Muckross park etc etc.

If you want something a bit off the tourist trail (rok is SO touristy!) Then try the Glengarriff, Bantry, Skibbereen and Clonakilty.
Cork County is beautiful as is Co.Kerry, Cork City in my opinion is nothing special.

Try and get a visit to Laragh and Glendalough park whilst you are in the Dublin area. Its south in Co.Wicklow.

Hope this helps.

I third Globetrotters! Avalon house is another reasonable hostel but avoid Isaacs – grubby and beside a train line.

KB writes:

quote:… going to Ireland for a week in September. … some friends and I are planning on flying into Dublin where we will stay for two days then we will rent a car and travel west. … I definitely want to do the ring of Kerry and see the Dingle Peninsula. Can anyone suggest any other places that I should see on my trip? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

One week?? Will you be flying out of Dublin or Shannon? After 2-days in Dublin, that leaves you only 5-days. If you do the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula (considering the ‘drive time’) you’ve pretty much exhausted at least three of those 5-days. If you have to get back to Dublin, that’s four.

I would normally recommend west Clare: the Cliffs of Moher, Lahinch, Doolin and the Burren and then perhaps up to Galway. But I don’t think you have time for all that (even if you do take the Tarbert – Killimer ferry).

dublin is kinda lame. i would encourage you to spend as much time as possible outside of dublin if you’re not in ireland to party. the cliffs of moher in county claire are incredible…the best part of my trip.

quote:dublin is kinda lame. i would encourage you to spend as much time as possible outside of dublin if you’re not in ireland to party. the cliffs of moher in county claire are incredible…the best part of my trip.

I agree, plus Dublin has some of the worst traffic problems in Europe, so avoid driving there. Spend a day in Dublin on a hop-on, hop-off bus trip (like Guide Friday) and then either hit the pub scene or take a day trip to Blarney or somewhere on the bus or train.

I don’t think you need a guide tour bus at all. We just got a map from the hostel and set out for a good day of walking. It was completely doable without the bus, makes you a little more free to waste time when you want!

Dublin is also one of the most expensive cities in Europe and all of southern Ireland has a smoking ban in place as well as a few other killjoy measures soon to come in to further restrict the already stingy drinking times.

I was in Ireland for 3 weeks last year. My favorite places were Galway, the Burren, Derry, and the Aran Islands

I just returned from Ireland 3 weeks ago, on the tail end of a 4 month study abroad trip, and loved it. I landed in Dublin and stayed there long enough to take a tour, then I took a bus to Galway. I bused around Ireland faily cheaply. If you have a student ID that helps make it even cheaper. I never spent over 19-20 Euro’s for any leg of my trip. Galway is a small university town but and has a great vibe to it. It’s worth checking out "The Kings Head" pub if you do go. After a night there I went down to Kilarney and stayed there for two days. One of those days I rented a bike a biked out into the National forest on my own and had a very good time. Simply Ireland at it’s best. Although I didn’t do the entire Ring of Kerry, from what I saw the rest has to be just as nice. I think it was about 12 Euro to rent the bike for the day. After Kilarney I went to Cork and stayed there a night. Good nightlife from what I could tell. During the day I took the local bus out to Blarney Castle and kissed the stone, just because it had to be done (despite how many Irish say the Irish piss on it). Then I flew out of Dublin. Although I didn’t spend much time in Dublin I did make it down to the Temple Bar area at night and it was looking pretty fun. I hope any of this helps.
Cheers!

With the limited time you have available, you might want to look into a 5-day Paddywagon Tour. They have a website; they depart from Dublin and Lodging (Hostals) is included.

I agree with the posts so far. Unless you want to spend all your time in a pub, there isn’t much in Dublin, a full day walking around will give you time to see most of the sights.
Kerry and Clare (the Burren, Cliffs of Moher) are definitely two of the most beautiful parts of Ireland. Galway and Donegal are also beautiful but if you only have seven days, chose one. I would chose to travel around Cork, Kerry and Clare.

I would suggest arriving early in Shannon Airport in limerick. check out the sights mentioned in clare, cork and kerry. that is one night in clare, 3 in tralee and 2 in cork. take a bus to Dublin and spend rest there. Visit the guiness brewery. Take plane home from Dublin. Bus from Cork to Dublin would be about 12hrs roughly.

Galway and Salthill is very beatiful too but you don’t have enough time to see it in a week. As it is you this schedule is tight.