My 75 year old father has picked Ireland as a place he would like to see, so I'm starting some planning. We'll likely be going in January.

I know absolutely nothing about Ireland, nothing at all.

My father tends to like old town settings like Florence, Bamberg, Bruges, etc. Are there towns in Ireland that have that sort of feel?

My guess is that we will base in Dublin and take a lot of day trips from there. Anyone have specific recommendations for day trips?

We will be leaving from CLT so I think we'll fly to LHR, maybe spend a night or two in London, head to Dublin for several nights, then back to London for one more night before catching the flight back to CLT.

I'm truly just beginning this, so in addition to the above if you have any advice or recommendations please do let me know.

THere are dozens of threads about 'things to do in Ireland' on this board so I suggest you scan through a few pages or do a search and utilise the knowledge people have already [osted.

Dingo,

I would suggest you compare the taxes and overall ticket cost of flying directly into Ireland. London area airports are often significantly more expensive due solely to their taxes. From Charlotte you might find direct flights, or you may find connecting flights via Boston or New York. For visit recommendations, I have had good luck studying threads both on this board and on Trip Advisor. For example, I found great recommendations that I cross referenced between both boards for walking tours and tour company operators in both Maui and South Africa in the last year.

Ireland in January. I hope you don't mind rain, wind and short days.

Start here. There are links to other threads about day trips within this thread.
If you have specific questions, probably better to add to this one, to keep the information in one place.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...ekend-dub.html

Thanks for the above. The flight suggestion is a good one. I had thought about AA direct to LHR just because I like to get my TA flight out of the way first if possible so I don't get stranded in the US at a connecting city, but good idea. I had thought AA had a direct to DUB flight but it is either gone for good or is seasonal. So it would be a connection through PHL most likely, and that means flying their crappy 757's on the TA flight. Ugh. I will explore some other airline options; I've got enough AA, UR, MR points to do just about anything but I don't want more than one connection.

Posted in wrong thread! Please ignore

Since you mentioned you had MR points, as you probably know they will xfer to BA Avios. I burned a good number of them over the past couple years, xfering to Avios and using them for flights on US Air and AA in the US (had an ill family member and was flying myself and my mom frequently to help take care of her).

What I was originally saving the MR points for was planning a family trip on the AerLingus Boston to Dublin or Shannon route. Even though the Avios redemption prices will go up, it seems like a good value and is fairly well reviewed. You can do one way or round trip, which means you could open up the trip to include more than just one city, transferring within Ireland by rail or private car or even using award miles for flights. I haven't done rail in Ireland, but in England it is a very safe and reliable service and I have used it several times from London to south England. Lots of threads out there about the AerLingus business class BOS-DUB route, here is one of them http://thepointsguy.com/2015/03/aer-...e-this-summer/

AerLingus looks like a good options potentially. I see they also fly some of the 757's out of New York...I haven't met a 757 that I've liked. I'll check out some of the other routings.

I hear you on the 757, but NYC-DUB is around 6 hours of actual flight time, and bearable in my opinion. I did it on UA about a year ago. I wouldn't want to go longer than that though. If it works out better for you, it's worth considering.

Any particular reason for January? As Swanhunter mentioned, the days are short (rain and wind--well, that might happen any time of the year). I went to Dublin and Northern Ireland last April. By April 15, the days were already almost as long as they are in mid-summer in the U.S. (sun up at 6 a.m., down at 8 p.m.). I think you'll also find more tourist attractions getting into seasonal mode--longer opening hours, more opening days per week.

Whatever you do, don't think of having a car in central Dublin. Like many European cities, Dublin's parking situation is terrible and hotel parking can be expensive. I guess you could think about staying in the fringes, but to me, Dublin is one of those cities where you stay in the center, not the suburbs, not the airport. You could consider a small town like Malahide or nearby Portmarnock, north of Dublin. Malahide has frequent train service into the center city with the trip taking about 30 minutes, but I think for three days you'd probably be better off staying in Dublin, exploring there, and then taking a rental only to leave the Dublin area to explore the rest of Ireland.

That raises another point. A significant portion of Ireland's population, around 25%, lives within 50 miles of Dublin. As a result, it can be argued that there are at least two Irelands: Dublin and the rest of it. And the rest of it can be pretty neat if you're willing to spend the time wandering. If this is to be a trip of no more than a week, then day trips are probably the way to go, but I think if you stretch it to 10 days, you could spend three in Dublin and a week outside the city and get a fair taste of Ireland.

I don't think there's anything like Florence in Ireland--I just got back from a trip to Florence during Thanksgiving week--but I think that trips to Galway or Cork (trying to get to both in the same trip would involve a lot of driving) would be satisfying. And closer to Dublin, Drogheda is a small town with a lot of history, some stretching back thousands of years.

By the way, earlier this year, I ran into this site, http://www.infiniteireland.com/, which mirrors the experiences I've had over half a dozen trips to Ireland. I recommend checking it out.

January - my business allows for it. That's about it. I know it will be cold and dark, but I hope it will also be better than never having gone!

Are you willing to drive? If so, I'd consider basing a couple nights south of Dublin at the Powerscourt Hotel. It's managed by Marriott. It has spacious rooms for far less than you pay in Dublin. You can walk to the adjacent Powerscourt Gardens, and there's a fair bit to do within a two hour drive south. We enjoyed our drive thru the town that was used for the filming of Ballykisangel. We had a delightful lunch in the quaint cafe that is part of Avcoa Weaving Company.

Here is the FT thread reviewing the hotel:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...w-ireland.html

And my post about some of the things we did.

Shannon and Dublin are the international gateways. Check flights.google.com to see options from Charlotte to either city.

Thanks again for the info.

Driving - not my first preference but also not ruling it out. My old man and I like to have our share (and perhaps yours) of local spirits while we're traveling. I thought we'd take trains, buses, or hire a car when we need to move around.

I used Avios on Aer Lingus Boston to Dublin as it was less than NYC and the flight from Philly to Boston was cheaper than getting to JFK. Only concern is have for January is potential snow PHL/NYC/BOS for a potential connection so while more expensive to LHR the direct flight might be good option and then LCC from LHR.

I have many Dublin posts on philatravelgirl.com (Jameson Whiskey tasting, Guinness storehouse, Westin review and The Morrison, a Doubletree hotel review, Photo tours, Wild Wicklow tour, etc) and my Irish blogger friend Susan writes at VibrantIreland and lives in Ireland is a good resource.

On a prior trip I enjoyed the Dingle Peninsula and the town of Galway but not sure of visiting in winter.

Rail tours Ireland has one day and multi day tours so you don't need to drive.

If interested in a private photo/tour of Dublin and South Coast, my friend Dave runs Dawn2Dusk tours which was a highlight of my visit and I've recommended to others.

Hope this is helpful start, DM with other queries.