Planning a Trip with Large Family

My husband and I have made two trips to Ireland and absolutely love the country, people, food, history, music, beer - well you get the idea. We want to share this love with our family before we get too old (I'm 73 and my hubby is 67), and can't enjoy the trip with the kids and grandkids. But I'm wondering if we're out of our minds. I started trying to do some planning and found it overwhelming. When we went on the trips before we worked with Exploring Vacations, but they're now out of business so I'm at a loss..

Since I haven't even discussed this with my family (they already think I'm nuts), my ideas are pretty sketchy right now.  Dates are open but I'm thinking it would be either this coming Fall or Spring 2020. We like to travel during the off-season, because it's usually cheaper and there are fewer tourists and shorter lines. But we did find when we went the last week in September and first week of October many of the castles and other sites were already closed. So I would appreciate your input on what would be best.

We would like to stay in B&Bs but we are a large family. We need room for four families.

My husband and I – we would need two beds as he uses a CPAPmachine.

My daughter, her husband, and four children

My daughter, her husband and son

My son, his wife, and two children

We could split up the families into two homes if necessary, but it would be nice to be all together. Each family would have their own car. Is this unrealistic? It would be wonderful to stay in the places my husband I stayed, but trying to get information on whether they can take our group seems to be impossible.

I'd sure appreciate any help I can get on this.

Good morning 
Great to hear that your would like to return with your to Ireland and enjoy all we have to offer. Our company Ei Travel Group can offer all the help you need to arrange this tour. We have been operating tours in Ireland for over 10 years, we also own and operate our own vehicles, visitor attraction and restaurant in Dublin. Can you please email me - jeremy@eitravelgroup,ie and we can start designing your tour. Sincerely Jeremy 

Hi Melanie,

I plan tours for private family groups like yours regularly. I can work with you to plan an itinerary based on places you want to return to and find B&B accommodations for the whole family together. Just to note the season has extended until the end of October in most places now as tourism numbers continues to grow to Ireland. 
I drive and guide all my tours in a very comfortable 16 seater Mercedes Sprinter minibus with plenty of luggage space.
More time to relax together on the road and takes the hassle out of 3-4 cars not getting lost and arriving to destination together. If you would like to chat further about your plans please send me a mail to mia@breweryhops.com 
Regards,
Mia Tobin.
Brewery Hops of Ireland Ltd
www.breweryhops.com
+353 86 8382996

Hi Melanie,

Organizing any holiday trip can be overwhelming, especially when you are such a large group of people!

Many thanks to Jeremy and Mia for jumping in with their offers to help with your plans, a bespoke self-guiding or chauffeured trip may be the solution to take the worries out of the finer details.

I'd like to suggest that you have a look at this link to our approved tour operators list to see if there are some other industry partners who would be able to help you too.

We also have a useful accommodation search page, again for such a large group, smaller hotels or self-catering accommodation may be the best option. How long will you be with us for? Would you like to base yourselves in one or two locations and day trip from these instead of moving every day?

Out of season is a fantastic time to travel as you say, and while some locations do close for the winter, the majority will be open April onwards. Heritage Ireland has a wonderful brochure which you may find useful to view online or download on their sites and opening times.

I hope this gives you lots of inspiration, and I'm sure your fellow members and some more industry partners will be able to add to this list!

Speak soon,

Martin

Hi Melanie,

How are you? How exciting you are planning a trip to Ireland with your family. Are you set on each family driving their own car or are you open to different options? If you are open to other options I will explain a bit about our unique tours.

We understand it can be stressful organizing a trip for a large family that is why here at Vagabond we do the organizing for you for your stay here in Ireland. We specialize in off-the-beaten track tours of Ireland as well as some of the more touristy attractions. Have you ever thought of doing a small group tour? Our tours are a maximum of 15 people which would be perfect for your family and would be a private tour. We use locally run b&b's and boutique hotels for accommodation and we have your full itinerary planned with lots of exciting tour options. Our tours run from 6-12 days depending how long you want to stay for and where you would like to go in Ireland. 

We have two types of tours, Vagabond tours ( active, faced paced adventure) and Driftwood (sight seeing, crafts & culture). If you think this would be something you would be interested in I will leave a link to our website below which has full itineraries and prices posted and if you have any questions I would be happy to answer any for you.
https://vagabondtoursofireland.com/

We hope you have an amazing trip to Ireland.

Kind regards,

The Vagabond Team

Hi Melanie,

Your family are very lucky to have such an enthusiastically adventurous grandmother!

I would like to give you a suggestion for your planned trip round Ireland if I may. The Causeway Coast and Glens region is located on the north coast of Northern Ireland and is a great place to visit at any time of the year.  Here you will find sandy beaches, a stunning rugged coastline and plenty of places to explore within a relatively small area. Attractions such as the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge and the Bushmills Whiskey Distillery are open throughout the year.  The area is also well known for the TV series Game Of Thrones film locations.  If you would like to see what the region has to offer please take a look at our web site: www.visitcausewaycoastandglens.com 

The Causeway Coast and Glens is a very popular tourist destination and as a result has a good range of Bed & Breakfast options.  If you needed any help in finding one suitable for your large family, Coleraine Visitor Information has an accommodation booking service and can organise that for you.  

There are loads of activities for the family to enjoy including walking, golf, kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing, boat trips and food & drink tours.

I hope you manage to fulfill your ambition to take your family to Ireland and I wish you all the very best with your plans!
Regards,
Anne

Melanie,
We Are based in Ireland's Ancient East in Tipperary - Clonmel and have suitable accommodation for your family.
We have Self Catering Apartments, which accommodate 4 persons and you could be all together. We are just 15 minutes from Cashel, 45 minutes from Kilkenny & Waterford, 1 Hour from Cork , 2 hours from Killarney, Dublin & Galway- so an ideal center for Travelling around.
We have a full Leisure Center at the Hotel & have Kayaking on the River. Have a look at us & we will be happy to quote you for your stay www.hotelminella.com

Thank you to all who have given me ideas so far.  You have help solidify some thoughts.

I would like to stay in the southern part of Ireland as I want to share those places my husband and I particularly loved when we visited previously.

There are three reasons I want to go in four cars rather than a large van or bus.  First, it's far less expensive and since I would be paying for lodging and transportation within the country I have to keep that in mind.  Second, it would give the families the opportunity to go in different directions and have some alone time to see things of special interest to them.  And third, I love my grandchildren more than life itself, but if I had to spend two weeks in a van with them I'd probably kill them with each other.

With the exception of Dublin we'd prefer to stay in B&B's rather than hotels.  We've stayed in twelve different B&B's and found them to be wonderful places hosted by people that quickly became friends.  We always ask, "If you had relatives coming from the US that hadn't visited before what would you want them to see?"  Because of this we've seen lots of great things off the beaten track not normally visited by the average tourist.  We've also gone to some great pubs and restaurants the locals love but tourists might never find.

Hi Melanie,

I'm so happy to see that you've already received so many suggestions for your family trip. :) 

Exploring the south of Ireland is a wonderful idea, and you can find some suggested itineraries for this part of the island here. Is there anything you absolutely wouldn't want to miss during your visit?

Renting four different cars will definitely give the whole family the freedom to see and explore whatever they would like. Have you looked into car rental already? Take a look at this handy page with tourist board approved rental companies and other useful resources and information. 

For activities and events for the whole family, I also recommend checking out the Family Fun website. :) 

Staying in a B&B is a lovely way to get to know the area and people, and your hosts are guaranteed to have the best insider tips! The B&B locator from B&B Ireland is super helpful for planning your trip. Simply select where you would like to stay, and all of the available options will pop up. Are you looking to stay in one B&B for a longer period, or would you like to move to a different location every few days like on your last trip?

I hope this was helpful, and please don't hesitate to give me a shout if there's anything you need! 

Warm regards,

Melin