Ireland Trip

We are traveling to Ireland from US 7/18-7/31. We booked a equestrian riding tour 7/23-7/30 in Galway. We plan to arrive earlier to get some sights. Some questions we have are:
1. Best way to get from Shannon to Galway
2. Best way to get from Galway to Dublin
3. Should we rent a car?
4. Best way to visit Cliffs of Moher?
5. Suggestions of sights to "must" see in Dublin, Shannon, Galway or nearby
6. Are there any "1" day excursions if we dint rent a car?
7. Places to stay, are there any castles you can stay?
 Kimberly Audino

Hi Kimberly,

It's great to hear about your upcoming trip to Ireland - I'm sure you are excited! ☘️ 

There are several ways to get from Shannon to Galway and Galway to Dublin with bus being the most common option. You can, of course, get a train from Galway to Dublin and more information on this is available here.

Many of our visitors to the island do a rent a car as it means you can stop off anywhere you like along the way and take things at your own pace!

The Cliffs of Moher is a great experience for your trip to Ireland and you can travel directly from Shannon by bus or car, although the bus journey is a little long so renting a car may be great in this case.

There are plenty of sights to see in Dublin, Galway and Shannon. In Dublin, I would recommend visiting Trinity College, and the Guinness Storehouse, for an authentic taste of Ireland! In Galway, I would suggest the Galway City Museum and Medieval Tour. You can, of course, go off the beaten track and explore more charming towns and the quaint villages Ireland has to offer.

We have plenty of trip ideas set out over on our website for you to help plan your excursions. However, they are longer than one day in length but you can have a browse through and choose which areas you'd like to visit.

Finally, choosing to stay in a castle sounds like a brilliant idea, and you are most certainly spoilt for choice!

I hope the links above help you to plan out your upcoming trip but please do reach out again, should you need anything else.

Best,
Aimee

*Please note, I had to remove your number from the original post for confidentiality.

Having difficulty finding places to stay.
- Should we stay in Shannon? Suggestions? We fly into Shannon.
- Stay closer to Ciffs of Moher? Suggestions?
- Suggest rent a car to see sights?
- Like to see castles in Dublin. Suggestion stay?
Will be in Dublin 7/30-7/31

Hi Kimberly!

We have an excellent accommodation finder over on our website that would be super useful in finding suitable places to stay on the island! It is about half way down on this page and allows you to select filters of the county/area you are interested in and the type of accommodation you are looking i.e. hotels or castles. 😊 

There are also lots of options for accommodation in Clare, near the Cliffs of Moher. However, having a car to travel around the island means you have the option to stay anywhere on the island.

Where you want to stay on the island is totally up to you but Ireland is totally accessible, especially by car. Many of our tourists love renting a car across the island as it allows them to choose their excursions for the day and they can spend as little (or as long) as they would like at certain destinations along the way. You can find out more about driving in Ireland here. 🚗

There are plenty of castles in Dublin to explore but not as many that you can stay in. There is, of course, Clontarf Castle which is about 10 minutes from Dublin City Centre or Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel which overlooks the bay. 🏰 

I hope these help with your accommodation search but do reach out to us again, if you need anything else!

Best,
Aimee