Redhead

I am taking my 80yo parents (who are in good health but don't want to walk miles) to Dublin for the 50th wedding anniversary in May 2016.

We have 13 days and will be based out of Dublin. We are not renting a car but would like to do a few day or short overnight trips out of the city.

Therefore, I am looking into tour companies (not how I would travel on my own but much much easier with the parents).

I'd like to do the Cliffs of Moher, Giant's Causeway, and maybe a few others.

I was also thinking a public train to Malahide and doing the village and castle.

Any recommendations on tour companies or must-see's either outside/in Dublin?

I know it is a way's off, but I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip!

Clint Bint

www.paddywagontours.com

Pretty ubiquitous around Ireland but people I know who have used them say they're good.

lwildernorva

A recent thread might help on this topic: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...ut-dublin.html

Redhead

Thanks. I'd seen the website for PaddyWagon but didn't know if anyone had used them. Will check out the other thread too

shefgab

I've heard mixed things about Paddy Waggon, including things like guides being very short on infomation. They are good if you don't want to drive, and want to get out of Dublin. Make sure you supplement their info with a good guide book. A lot of places in Ireland are a LONG drive from Dublin, especially up the Giants Causeway - you'll spend most of the day on the bus, which isn't very fun. If you can hire a car for a few days, you'll get a lot more out of the trip.

lwildernorva

To add on to this suggestion, I've found driving around Ireland, outside of Dublin, comparatively easy. If you've not done right-side driving before, the drive from Dublin Airport to Belfast might almost be the perfect introduction. It's a short distance to the motorway (with a couple of small roundabouts to get you used to the concept--always look RIGHT before proceeding), the motorway runs virtually into Belfast (with traffic entering and exiting from the LEFT), with a few more roundabouts along the way, traffic on the motorway north of the airport isn't generally intimidating, unlike going south into Dublin, and Belfast itself isn't as difficult to drive around in as Dublin. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of Belfast but it's a nice enough city with the Titanic Museum and a few other sites that might make it worth one night's visit.

From Belfast, it's a fairly easy drive north through the Glens of Antrim and then up to the Causeway Coast. I've made some suggestions in the other thread that I won't repeat here, but if the history of sectarian troubles in Northern Ireland is giving you pause about a trip there, don't let it bother you. There are still signs of that struggle, but they shouldn't affect your enjoyment of the area. I hadn't gone to Northern Ireland until several trips ago, but now I find myself drawn there on almost every trip.

There are some issues regarding renting a car in Ireland, and if you go down that path, you should review this thread to get familiar with them, http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...-confused.html. If you decide not to rent a car, you can accomplish the same thing by taking the relatively frequent trains between central Dublin and central Belfast and then after spending a day in Belfast, taking bus tours out of there, thus breaking up the amount of time you spend on the road in any one stretch.

LindaTerrill

Day trips to Newgrange and Glendalough/Wicklow Mountains are easy to do without needing overnights. They require some walking, but very manageable for older folks (no hiking needed).

I think they'd really enjoy a day trip to the National Stud and Japanese Gardens - also just a day trip.

Take the 10:15 am train to Kilkenny in time for a walking tour (not strenuous) along the Medieval Mile and visit the castle. 7 pm train back. Tours begin at 12:15 and 3 pm from the tourist office. www.kilkennywalkingtours.ie

DART to Howth on a Saturday or Sunday for the markets and a pleasant day.

Have a great trip!

Green Dragon

Alternatively, train rides up to Belfast or out to Shannon or Galway are fairly low-pain, and you can then base there a couple of days to do day tours. Belfast has several places that you could day trip to on buses, all along the Antrim Coast, into the Glens of Antrim, etc., for instance.

16 days - say 8 of them in and around Dublin, train up to Belfast, 4 nights there, and then train to Galway, 4 nights there, and back out to Dublin to fly home?

LindaTerrill

If you're decide on a night in Belfast, I've just run across a blog for not-to-be-missed pubs in Ireland. Quite a few in the North.

http://www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com/p...n=Postcron.com