I'm sick for Ireland

I went once and we traveled as a family of 4, renting a car and making the circle all the way around, N. Ireland and all. Now I'd really like to get back and would be traveling by myself, and I'm just wondering how this is done--traveling around Ireland alone I mean, b/c I don't think I'm quite brave enough to drive. I'd really like to spend most of the time around Donegal and the W. coast but need ideas on what is the best things to see around there, or even just a good place to home in and be. I'm a 52 yo woman btw, and not much for tours, unless they be day tours now and then and even then I chafe at the restrictions--you know--meet back at the bus at exactly 2:00 and that sort of thing. I must have irish music pubs and Guinness within walking distance at all times but those are my only must-haves and I like to walk and bike.

To me, Southwest Ireland is the most beautiful place in the world. I've tried planning a bus trip from Shannon airport and done pretty well. The usual sights include: Muckross House, Torc waterfall and Ross castle in Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, and the town of Dingle. Lots of traditional music and lots of Guiness. There are many towns that I could spend a week or two just exploring. Oh! I forgot Bunratty Castle and the folk park. Check out the bus website and see if you can plan a trip by public transportation.

I also forgot my favorite thing. the Trad On The Prom (check their website) in Galway. It's like Riverdance but five feet away from the dancers.

Ireland has a pretty extensive bus network with Bus Eireann. When a friend of mine and I visited Ireland about three years ago, we got around almost exclusively by bus.

In County Donegal, we stayed in a little place called Glencolmcille. Beautiful scenery, quite close to the ocean, and there's some excellent hillwalking nearby if you're into that.

Yes, those are all great suggestions guys. I am thinking Donegal though b/c when we went thru there before we had to cut it short and that's what I most wanted to get more extensively into. So Maestra, when you stayed at Glencolmcille, which is where I'm thinking also, did you have much of a hard time getting around on public transport? I mean, like if you did one of the long walks and it didn't make a circle, how did you get back? What about going to Slieve League? Can you book those from there or take a bus? Also, hostel suggestions would be welcome--esp ones for older people like meself. (See I'm already thinking in Irish, lol) I'll be looking up Bus Eireann right now.

The problem with public transport in Ireland is all hub and spoke. You can get to Dublin from everywhere, and regional hubs (Belfast, Galway, Cork, etc.) are accessible, too. But moving between smaller locations can be tricky, and the northwest is probably the worst for this. It works, but there's a good chance you'll be stuck for a few days once you arrive somewhere, and moving on may require some backtracking. It's definitely a region that's easier to explore with your own transportation.

2wanderers wrote:The problem with public transport in Ireland is all hub and spoke. You can get to Dublin from everywhere, and regional hubs (Belfast, Galway, Cork, etc.) are accessible, too. But moving between smaller locations can be tricky, and the northwest is probably the worst for this. It works, but there's a good chance you'll be stuck for a few days once you arrive somewhere, and moving on may require some backtracking. It's definitely a region that's easier to explore with your own transportation.

Yeah, I had a funny feeling about that. Well I'll keep checking and if it won't work I'll either brave up and rent a car or go to another part of Ireland. All of it is beautiful.

I got to Glencolmcille by bus from Donegal town. I found that the bus system wasn't quite as "wheel-and-spoke" as the train system in Ireland, wherein you have to go through Dublin to get just about anywhere. If you examine the bus timetables carefully and plan your journeys on the right days, you should be able to make it work, although it'll be slower going than if you had a car.

I stayed at Ionad Siuil Accomodation when I visited Glencolmcille. It was quite nice - all the rooms are private rooms, so it's more of a budget hotel with a shared kitchen than a hostel. I believe there's at least one other hostel in Glencolmcille as well, but the name is eluding me...I'll post it if I find it.

Once you get into Glencolmcille, there's not much in the way of public transport. My travel buddy and I walked everywhere (it's not a big place, so this wasn't difficult). If memory serves, many of the scenic walks go in loops, so you should end up back where you started rather than at the other end of the glen or the other side of the hills! If all else fails, the big white church smack in the middle of the glen is a useful landmark. We didn't make it to the Slieve League unfortunately, so I'm afraid I can't comment on that!

Well Maestra, what you have written about is just what I'm looking for, so I'm glad to know that it's do-able. I think if I plan my bus route and days carefully, I should be able to make this work w/o renting that car, which wouldn't be economical anyway as I plan to go alone. I'm so excited about that too--I have never gone on a trip by myself except a camping trip here in Missouri, so this will be breaking new ground. I'm aware that people are going to give me trouble though.

go girl now wrote:

2wanderers wrote:The problem with public transport in Ireland is all hub and spoke. You can get to Dublin from everywhere, and regional hubs (Belfast, Galway, Cork, etc.) are accessible, too. But moving between smaller locations can be tricky, and the northwest is probably the worst for this. It works, but there's a good chance you'll be stuck for a few days once you arrive somewhere, and moving on may require some backtracking. It's definitely a region that's easier to explore with your own transportation.

Yeah, I had a funny feeling about that. Well I'll keep checking and if it won't work I'll either brave up and rent a car or go to another part of Ireland. All of it is beautiful.

Totally agree with this post, in terms of the North-West (and other areas of Ireland of course) its worth checking out what private bus companies are in operation some of these may be quicker and more convenient than bus eireann (if there's even a bus eireann route!)

For Donegal check out these two as they run a lot of local services

http://www.loughswillybusco.com/

http://www.foylecoaches.com/service.htm

other coach services to look at are

http://www.feda.ie/site/
Better than Bus Eireann for the Donegal-Galway run than Bus Eireann IMO

http://www.jjkavanagh.ie
http://www.citylink.ie/
www.gobus.ie

There is certainly other local and national bus companies I don't know of as well (and they can sometimes be hard to find online)

These Links may also be useful i've not tested them and have no idea how upto date they are, the boards.ie is most likely extremely so, the first link did remind me of another company that would be useful for donegal
www.johnmcginley.com

links

http://www.irishtransport.info/

http://www.galwaytransport.info/

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=274473

Thanks mankteir, any busline that has a pickup point listed at Maggie's Bar, is my kind of travel service.

Top 5 Attractions in Ireland:

1. Skellig Michael
2. Killarney National Park
3. Inisfallen Island
4. Rossbeigh Beach
5. Kenmare Town