GMJ
Full Member
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- 3,018
I am starting to think about a trip to the island of Ireland in Sept this year as a back up in case we can't, or don't feel safe, going to Italy or the South of France. Whilst I have visited both the Republic and NI on business (and a couple of great trips to watch Ireland v Wales rugby in Dublin) we have never toured there.
It's early days yet but I thought I'd ask a few questions first as I know we have members who live there plus I'm guessing it has been a 'must do' trip for a number of folk.
First things first..
Duration
Is a month long enough to tour the whole island? My initial thoughts are to loosely travel the perimeter with incursions into the centre of the island as required
Ferries
- Is there a recommended comparison site to look at for all the routes or do I have to look at all the providers separately to get the best idea/deals?
- Is it possible to enter though one port and exit through another? Is this a costly exercise to be avoided?
Border
- Are there now any checks when passing through the border? The reason I ask is that if possible we would like to bring some of our own food and whilst travel to NI would be OK I think, I wouldn't want any issue when moving into the Republic.
Must see's
We will take in Dublin and also want to see the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast as well as the Giants Causeway up the coast. I have read that the Kerry Loop is well worth some time as well. We also fancy Waterford Crystal.
Our trip will be a mixture of travelling one and 2 night drops as well as 'drop anchor' places for slightly longer as we don't want to do a route march.
Any other 'must sees'? I haven't done much/any research yet so I'm all ears. We have pretty wide tastes so nothing off the cards as of now. We have ebikes and can walk but as Mrs GMJ has MS, these get used for shorted distances rather than full day/30 mile yomps.
Thanks in advance folks
Graham
It's early days yet but I thought I'd ask a few questions first as I know we have members who live there plus I'm guessing it has been a 'must do' trip for a number of folk.
First things first..
Duration
Is a month long enough to tour the whole island? My initial thoughts are to loosely travel the perimeter with incursions into the centre of the island as required
Ferries
- Is there a recommended comparison site to look at for all the routes or do I have to look at all the providers separately to get the best idea/deals?
- Is it possible to enter though one port and exit through another? Is this a costly exercise to be avoided?
Border
- Are there now any checks when passing through the border? The reason I ask is that if possible we would like to bring some of our own food and whilst travel to NI would be OK I think, I wouldn't want any issue when moving into the Republic.
Must see's
We will take in Dublin and also want to see the Titanic Exhibition in Belfast as well as the Giants Causeway up the coast. I have read that the Kerry Loop is well worth some time as well. We also fancy Waterford Crystal.
Our trip will be a mixture of travelling one and 2 night drops as well as 'drop anchor' places for slightly longer as we don't want to do a route march.
Any other 'must sees'? I haven't done much/any research yet so I'm all ears. We have pretty wide tastes so nothing off the cards as of now. We have ebikes and can walk but as Mrs GMJ has MS, these get used for shorted distances rather than full day/30 mile yomps.
Thanks in advance folks
Graham