Trip to Dublin/stay in nearby town due to parking

Dear fellow Ireland friends,

I was wondering,if you could help me. We (my wife, our kids 12, 10, 5 and 1 and I) are travelling to France and Ireland in July 2023. (We live in Germany.) Before we head to Kerry, we had planned to spend 2 nights in Dublin. Therefore we will be taking the ferry either to Dublin or to Rosslare. We had preferred Dublin, but I have learnt that the ferry schedule has not been released yet. So we thought we'd drive into Dublin, park somewhere over night and sleep in hostel. Although with so much time left till summer 2023 I learned, it will not be easy to find a hostel in the city centre. But my main concern is actually the parking, also as we have a minibus. It will be very difficult and stressful to find a parking place in Dublin to park overnight, won't it? How would you view that? Would it be another option to take the ferry to Rosslare and find a nice and interesting town between Rosslare and Dublin, sleep in that town and on one day take the train or the bus to Dublin in the morning and then return to that town in the evening? Could you tell me, if you have any idea what place that could be and if that idea it is worth considering?

Thank you so much for your help. :-)

Best wishes 
Steffen

Hallo Steffen,

That's an exciting family trip you're planning for next summer! 🤩☀️ Will this be your first trip to our island? 🚐☘️

Let me try and answer all of your questions. 💌
It does seem that ferry schedules are not yet released this far in advance. Maybe you'd like to bookmark our ferry finder that will help you find the best connection closer to your trip! I already checked out your proposed connection from France to Dublin and was able to find one provider (Irish Ferries) who have published their schedule up until January 2023. Maybe this helps setting a reminder in your diary for when you can plan your next steps! 😉

Whether you take a direct ferry to Dublin, or drive up to the city, there will be plenty of great stops and accommodation options available for you along the way. It is true that it might be difficult to find a suitable parking spot right in the city for your minibus. If you do want to spend the night in Dublin, I would recommend you to try finding a hotel/hostel or B&B with its own parking lot or access to a car park. Check out our accommodation finder to see some providers we can recommend. As you scroll down on the page, you'll be able to filter the results according to your preferences and location. When you click on each search result, you can read more details about the accommodation, e.g. if parking facilities are available. If interested, you could then follow the link to their website to confirm the details with them directly. Of course you could also use other accommodation guides such as Booking.com, where you can filter the results directly e.g. by location and parking facilities. 🏡🧭

I also love your idea of staying in a smaller town near Dublin to travel into the city for the day! This would be a great opportunity to explore Dublin's surroundings. These coastal villages are some of my favourite places in this part of our island and well worth exploring with your family! 📷🐟 Otherwise, there are some great spots to be discovered in the counties surrounding County Dublin (Wicklow, Kildare and Meath) from where you could easily travel into the city by public transport.

Whichever accommodation you choose, I'd always recommend booking well in advance, so you can check this item off your to-do list and focus on getting excited about your trip! 😉

I hope this helps, feel free to share more along your planning journey! 📖 You can also write in German if you'd like!

Best wishes,
Rebecca