Rezal

I'm going to Ireland early next month for my sister's graduation from Med School (Queen's University) in Belfast. After her graduation, my gf and I have Tu-F (we leave Sa. morning) to explore the rest of the country and was wondering if anyone has recommendations around the following:

1. Places/regions to visit, bearing in mind that I'm starting in Belfast and have to be in Dublin by Sat. morn.
- I hear Galway's really nice
- my gf want's to visit the Waterford Crystal Factory
- neither one of us are really keen to kiss some stone that has been kissed by a zillion people. We think it's a load of Blarney...

2. Nice back roads that'll take us to the recommended place above, but wouldn't take us too far off (we've only got 4 days or so, and don't want to spend most of it in the car)

3. Quaint B&Bs to stay at. I'm sortof on a budget, so no chi-chi castles, but still want a nice clean bed and private bath, maybe in a charming farmhouse?

4. Recommended car rental agency - so far I have Thrifty and Budget...unless some kind rennlister is willing to loan me their p-car?
- Do I need AC in July? It seems that rental cars don't have AC

TIA

Pete in DC

All the way to Galway and back to Dublin will be tough on you in that amount of time. We had ten days last summer and went Dublin-Cork-Inchydoney Island-Kerry-Cashel-Dublin. It was great and we spent a couple days each in Dublin, Inchy. (swimming in the Irish Sea!) and Kerry (Kenmare) but that much driving on those skinny roads will take something out of you. Of course, you can take highways to thunder across the country, but you'll completely miss the Irish experience.

I'll defer to 'listers from the Isle, but I'd meander down the East Coast and south. I used Hertz and they gave us a Mini...it was perfect size (compact is a MUST!) and a lot of fun. Check fodors.com boards for specifics on B&B's. I splurged on hotels, so not much help in the budget dept. Have a great time...it's one of the greatest trips I've ever taken.

Temple

Hey Rezal -- I went to Ireland a few years ago for about 10 days and had an absolute blast! You are going to have a delightful time.

For a rental car, I believe I used the following company: car rental agency

Galway is nice, but, frankly, I think the best part of Ireland are the smaller towns and simply the countryside. Other than the guiness factory, I wouldn't plan to spend much time in Dublin or other 'major' cities like Galway.

The Waterford Crystal factory is impressive -- you get to walk along the entire production line and see how every piece is literally handmade. Very cool. This is, however, quite the opposite of Belfast in terms of what region of Ireland. That said, on my final day in Ireland I drove from Galway to Dublin in about an hour or two -- its really not that big of a country.

If you go to Galway, be sure to visit the Cliffs of Moher. Absolutely stunning. The Dingle Pennisula is also very nice, but might be a bit out of the way (down in the Kerry region).

The Blarney stone is o.k. You aren't really missing too much if you don't do it . . . there are plenty of other castles to see and the rumors are that the local kids climb up at night and urinate on it

Frankly, its the friendliest country I've ever visited. I really just rented a car and had no reservations anywhere. For the most part, I'd drive into a small town at night, head into a local pub, order a scotch and/or guiness (or both) and then ask the bartender for suggestions as to where to stay. Always wound up with a great B&B.

I dunno -- maybe head over to Galway, pop down to the cliffs (I stayed in a small B&B in a town called Doolin right near there -- don't remember the name of the B&B, but Doolin is basically comprised of 3 pubs and that's about it . . . some of the best 'trad' music on the island though), cross over and down to Waterford and then up to Dublin. 'tis a fair amount of driving, but mapquest it to see if its too much driving. Cork is very industrial and not particularly charming.

Have a great time!

ed devinney

If you're already in Belfast, a trip to the North Antrim coast is worth it - the Giant's Causeway is the key tourist draw, but the scenery is tremendous. I had the single best bit of beef in my life at the Distiller's Arms in Bushmills. The Bushmills distillery is a nice tour and you can pick up a bottle of their distillery reserve whiskey, which is nice. On that note, if you like whiskey you can get a bottle of Green Spot in Dublin or elsewhere, a little hard to find sometimes but good stuff. The Craig Park B&B in Bushmills is quite nice and they may remember our party of 9 from a couple of years ago.

In general, objects in Ireland are closer than they appear, but the trip you're considering would be hard travel. If you decide to go to the north coast, go down to the south from Coleraine or so, maybe worth stopping at Enniskillen. Or you could go to Letterkenny and take the N1 down to Dublin, just a couple of hours, then go to Waterford. All roads lead to Dublin, more or less.

I second the recommendation for a skinny car, we were upgraded to a Golf first time there and thought it was a bonus til we got out on the smaller roads!. Have a great trip!

Rezal

Ed & Pete,

Wow! I guess you weren't kidding about small cars. I reserved a Ford Focus but if you're telling me that a Golf is too big (which is comparable to the Focus), maybe I should downgrade myself to a Fiesta or whatever the next level down is. My concern was mainly baggage space and since we might be doing stops along the way, I wanted the baggage to remain hidden so decided against a hatchback (nothing personal against the Irish. Was there 4 years ago, but was only in Belfast, and they are among the friendliest people I know!)

Terry Adams

Largest Lake in Ireland, quaint scenery

the lodge's name is something like "Gurthalocha", but can't find it. Very peaceful, great food, fly fishing, walks, etc. It's on the South end of Loch Derg, middle of nowhere. No golf.

GabiOsz

Guinness Factory, Dublin!

ed devinney

The key for size is narrow - a Focus should be fine. We found that excellent results can also be obtained by thinking skinny when approaching oncoming traffic.