Thinking Ireland next August with a 2 year old and 8m old....

[mrsHawk1ns]

Has anyone been to Ireland with young children and got any hints or tips for us please?

Where in Ireland are you thinking of?

Ireland is a great place for a holiday but some of the most beautiful places are popular because of their remoteness. So the things to be aware of are eg you can rent a beautiful cottage with quiet beaches and sea views, but you might be miles from a shop. And if the weather is good, it's spectacular and beautiful, but if it's bad you'll need thermals and a raincoat. But even in bad weather, it's very beautiful.

Thanks Treacle, I have no idea where, just kind of plucked it out of thin air, me and DH aren't very good at holidays - we've only had our Honeymoon abroad, and then a couple of trips in the UK in the 7 years we've been together - Scotland, Lake District, Derbyshire, and Cornwall twice, and we are taking DS to IOW next week, so now I kind of feel like we've "done" the UK for holidays, but are too chicken to go anywhere abroad whilst the DC are still so young (silly I know, but to me it feels a bit too stressful and I get worked up about it)

No, I totally understand! We haven't been abroad since having second child, it's just too much hassle!

What I would say about Ireland though is that it's a lot more expensive than the UK. I'm in N Ireland and it's cheaper for us to take the boat and holiday in England than to drive a few hours south and holiday there.

But it is lovely, you can have a great holiday there.

My family come from Kerry so I have been on holiday there innumerable times. My DC are not small anymore, but have been this summer with my toddler niece and nephew and had lovely weather so it was a magical holiday. Shopping is nothing like as bad as it used to be. My eldest DS is a vegan and found it easy to feed him out of a Supervalu where a few years ago it would have been a nightmare. However when my DC were smaller I gave up on Ireland for more than flying visits as if it rains, which it often does, there is very little to do. Even standbys like swimming and soft play are either not available without travelling a really long way or ridiculously expensive. We actually went to Cornwall instead for similar scenery but more wet weather options.

I admit there may be more available in counties other than Kerry though as have always been tied into combining holiday with family catch ups so never explored.