My husband and I would like to go to Ireland for about a week in August.

We live in London, so neither one of us drives. We aren't keen on hitch-hiking or organised group trips, so we'll have to rely on public transport.

What can we see without a car?

We can fly into Dublin, Shannon or Cork. Which would you recommend?

We'd like to see the stunning cliffs and all of the things that people want to see their first time in Ireland. I know that we won't have time to see everything. Where should we focus? I'd rather see less and not be stressed out or in a hurry. Nor do I want to spend most of the holiday sitting on a bus.

Also, I'd very much appreciate any suggestions re. accommodations. The cheaper the better, as long as it's clean.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

These are better than the normal coach tours you would book from the UK:


http://www.irishrail.ie/home/tours.asp


Or you can take a train and do it yourself:


http://www.dublinuncovered.net/trains.html


.

Hi...we spent 6 weeks in the British Isles/Ireland last fall and used only public transportation. In Ireland, we went from Belfast to Galway (via Dublin), Galway to Cork (again via Dublin) and back to Dublin, taking the ferry from there to Wales. We also used buses and sometimes trains for day trips. The biggest problem is that the train routes are not always direct (often having to go out of the way to make connections)and can thus take some time. For example, from Belfast, we had to take a train to Dublin, then take the light rail to another train station in Dublin and then take a train to Galway. We left mid-morning and arrived Galway early evening in time to relax a bit and have a late dinner and some music. At first the bus seemed that it might be an easier way to go (certainly less expensive) but for the routes we selected there were changes and sometimes pretty limited time options. Also we are older and found the trains much more comfortable -- on the train you can walk around, you have bathrooms and food available, more roomy seats generally. There is the trade-off of expense.

You certainly have more flexibility with a car and can get to more of the smaller places more easily, but we had a lovely time using public transportation.

Where you fly into depends on where you want to spend your time. With a week I would recommend focusing on one particular area. Dublin is fantastic with some nice day trips doable with buses/trains. Ditto Cork (we did Kinsdale and Cove and enjoyed Cork itself quite a bit). In Galway we opted for bus tours to Connemara and Cliffs of Moher as public transport was not a good option. We loved Galway which is about 3 hours by train from Dublin Heuston station. I think if you fly into Shannon you have to get the train from Limerick -- I would imagine they have some sort of transportation from the airport to the train station.

A lot probably depends on what you would like to do in Ireland, there is so much.

Enjoy.
Roberta