A month in Ireland

GMJ

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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
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Graham
 
Never been to Eire with the van but heres a link might be of interest there are utube videos of the drive
also motorhome criac website has a app for parkings

As for time to allow we've never booked a return ticket until we're ready to come home
 
Just be aware,
campsites are not cheap
they do not allow black water dumping even if you pay
Disposing of rubbish needs care..When we shopped we immediately unpackea everything and donated the packaging at the supermarket.
Fresh water is OK (eg harbours)
A few roads are narrow !
We managed to wild a lot
There are some good "aire type facilities"
People are friendly
Roads have minimal traffic.
Scenery etc is great
The weather is likely to be "soft" (ie wet)
If you are lucky you might be there on their "1 summer day"
We spent about 1 month.
Having mainly enjoyed are trip we will not retuen simply as there are other places to visit
 
Just do it! You will not regret it.
WAW is well signposted and well worth doing. Antrim coastline is superb as is the coastline south from Belfast to the ROI.
I echo Jagmanx advice and add that normal rubbish is very difficult to dispose of, but we had superb weather both times we spent a month there. It's not enough really.
Spend a night in Galway.
Wild camping is easy on coast but join the Irish websites for up to date advice. Details to follow.
K ;)
I am contemplating going again this September too.
 
Motorhome parking Ireland App is worth joining
K ;)
 
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Ferries from Cairnryan to either Larne or Belfast are P&O and Stena. We booked outward but not return to give us flexibility. Had no problems just turning up.
Sorry don't know about Holyhead and Fishguard routes nearer you
K ;)
 
Not a lot on the WAW in my eyes, best bit of ireland is up top in donegal, some bits inland are worth doing, ie rd from letterkenny across the mountains to erigal mtn and national park/dunlewey centre and dunree ww1/2 fort
Antrim coast to magilligan point then ro ro to republic and up around the top with lots of places to wild camp, if you have a smart ph then download the motorhome ireland apt.

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With any luck, Trev might find a reason to meet you..
If he's too busy, take heed of any advice he offers.
He really knows and loves his island.
It's a good idea to have somewhere definite to spend your first night,( s? ) Not far from the ferry..
Carrickfergus has an excellent carpark aire and is worth a stop, if you arrive at Belfast... Don't worry about the drug dealer, he's far too busy and discreet, to bother you.
Avoid the Marching Season.in mid August.
Dublin..
We can thouroughly recommend Johnnie Foxes Pub, it's famous. Google it.
Motorhoming friendly. Great food and entertainment, especially at weekends..
We'd go back ,if we could.
Had 3 nights on arrival and 2 before departing, a month later... They remembered us..! And made us very welcome.
A month isn't enough .. Eire shouldn't be rushed.
There's a network of pubs, willing to look after you, many with aire facilities and entertainment.
Go for it.
Take a raincoat, brolly and galoshes
 
Thanks for that.

I had a look at the thread and pulled some info off it...like I have done on this thread so thanks all.(y)
 
In no real logical order ....
The Ring of Kerry is a nice drive. I fancied going to visit the Blasket Islands (the story of the Blaskets always intrigued me) but never have.
Achill and the Atlantic Way in Mayo is always worth visting. Personally, I think Westport is the nicest town I have been to in Ireland and would likely be the place I would aim to stay if I moved to the Republic.
Cohb is an good place to go and could while there have a detour and kiss (well, pre-covid anyway. I doubt if it will be possible or desirable now) the Blarney Stone - if you have a good head for heights! I don't know if I would ever do it again to be sure to be sure :)
Place I think I would avoid is (I think) Co Clare. Never ever seen such a desolate place :( reminded me of a lunar landscape but without the atmosphere (pun intended).
I guess if you are into Cities, Dublin is a good place to visit. I didn't get its appeal. I'd also probably avoid Limerick (whose nickname is 'Stab City' - first time I went into a pub there, there were two women fighting and straw on the floor. apparently pretty standard in Limerick and tended to avoid the pubs after that whenever I visited).

In the North, I remember Portrush as being a lovely place to spend time - beautiful beach there. Could relive my youth (and a time when I had more nerve) at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (the old bridge was way more scary than the current one). Generally the whole of the north coast of Ulster is lovely. Maybe take a ferry to Rathlin Island as well? Not been there since they made the proper harbour there so not sure how much it will have changed from my time living there?
Don't think I have been to Belfast since the soldiers used to be positioned in the centre with guns and checked bags for bombs - kind of dates that visit and things have no doubt changed somewhat!
 
I did the Kerry way on foot but would love to take the Motorhome to Ireland. Kerry is stunning as is Waterford . Go for it mate. You just need a negative pcr for Ireland and green card for insurance.***

*** best to carry the green card despite the uk and Ireland agreements. In case you catch a bored immigration officer 👍
 
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Just spent a while reminiscing our time spent in Eire
Bunratty Castle, Durty Nellys, Mucross House, Balarney Castle,
Kate Kearneys Cottage & Gap of Dunloe, Lough Gur, Kinsale, Waterford Crystal, Jamesons Whisky, Bushmills Whiskey. probably won't be on this Year but the Rose of Tralee and Ballinasloe Horse Fair,

 
That looks interesting. Reminds me of the museum at Blists Hill Victorian Museum.

I'd also like to say its similar to the one at St Fagans near Cardiff too but I haven't been there for 35 years (but we are planning to visit in May when we pop to Cardiff in the MH for a few nights).
 
We’re looking at moving there soon! My mum was from Mayo and we’ve spent many a holiday there. We’re going in August to do a property recce. Going to buy a house with a couple of acres and set up a CL type thing.
we spent 2 weeks touring for our honeymoon and can highly recommend Johnnie Fox’s as said already. Not to be missed!
We loved Killarney. The Cliffs of Moher are stunning and you can get a ferry from Doolin to the smaller Islands for a day. Innishman and Innishmore etc. They’re stunning. White powdery Sandy beaches and water like the Caribbean. Very similar to the West Coast of Scotland.
Renvyle has an equally beautiful beach. (On the mainland west coast). Connemara has beautiful views. We didn’t stay in the north for long but did the Giants Causeway.
Re ferries. I used directferries.com. There are a couple of comparison sites if you Google them. I’d recommend booking a flexi ticket rather than economy so you can amend the return if you need to!
 

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