Any advice for Ireland please

[fancyferret]

Hi, I would love if anyone has any tips for travelling to Ireland please. I went last year to Wicklow and really enjoyed it - loved the scenery and found it a very relaxing/enchanting place. What I would like to do this year is take DH and DS1 (ages 5 and 6m) .

We are planning on driving to Holyhead then ferry to Dublin. Prefer ferry to flying as I think this would be more of an 'experience'! We would like to stay 4/5 nights and preferably be based in hotel in Galway or Westport. The thing that is putting me off is the drive from Dublin to the West coast - it will already have been a long day travelling and I wonder if with 5yr old and baby it may be too much. I suppose what I am looking for is any advice/reassurance that this may be doable or other suggestions of what people have done themselves and enjoyed. Possibly break the journey with a stopover in the middle?

As an alternative I have been looking at staying somewhere like the Ferrycarig hotel in Wexford as seems to be less travel time and perhaps less stressful.

Thanks for any tips/suggestions or advice about anything travel related in Ireland

Galway is rather lovely. With the new road from Dublin, you can get there in less than two and a half hours. If you go for the upgrade to executive lounge on the ferry, or go for the high speed one, and take one that gets in at a reasonable time to Dublin then it shouldn't be too bad.

It might make more sense to stay over before you get to Holyhead though (going to Ireland last year, we stopped over for a night at North Farm - really lovely B&B and toddler can help look for eggs for breakfast ), and then get the civilised morning ferry to Dublin, as opposed to the red-eye. Toddler will be able to run around on the boat, and then you can drive straight to Galway.

Hello, thanks so much for the reply. Two and half hours to Galway doesn't sound too bad at all actually, less than I thought it would be. I'll have a look for some possible pit stops en route. I don't want to overplan things but I think its less stressful to have options if the 5yr old suddenly needs the loo etc.

I hadn't thought of breaking the journey before Holyhead but it is a good idea, thanks for the B&B recommendation - it looks lovely, I like the idea of egg hunting

Thanks again, and happy to have any other suggestions about things to do in Galway/places to stay from anyone who has been there or knows the area. I think the best part of a holiday for me is the planning!!

Welcome! Yes, we found it much easier (although ours was five) to break the journey on the way up, so then the boat is an added distraction/excitement, as opposed to one change too many when tired.

Enjoy the planning - might be worth you posting on the Craicnet board too - that's specifically for Ireland-based posters, so I'd imagine someone there will have a few good specific recommendations for stop-offs/places to stay when you get there etc.,

I hadn't heard of the Craicnet board - have just been looking through and a few nice hotel recommendations already there thanks. Its lovely to have holiday ideas to look through in the middle of the night when Im feeding the baby! Sometimes though I think the planning stage and anticipation of a holiday is better than the actual holiday which Im not sure is the idea

The road to Galway is so good that you will be there as quick as if you were going to the Ferrycarraig.
Agree with others to take the early ferry and then head straight for Galway. Might be a bit busy in Dublin but once you are on the quays you are basically on the Galway road. There are tolls, so bring change. The Galway Bay Hotel is nice, or if you want to go further into Connemara, the station house hotel in Clifton has self catering apartments that might be good with kids.

Ooh we went to Ireland on the ferry last year with our 5 and 3 year old and it was a big success.

We booked a ferry from Holyhead around early afternoon so had an easy morning getting there. We went in Stena and paid for the upgrade to the premier lounge which was definitely worth it. You board and exit the boat first, have a lovely spacious lounge with free snacks, hot and cold drinks, cakes etc. We got our money's worth!

We docked around 5pm and drove straight to Wexford, had a couple of days there, then Shannon then Galway then back to Dublin for a few days.

Driving was a pleasure everywhere, roads were all decent and so quiet compared to England.

I will try to look up the hotel we stayed in in Galway. We stayed slightly out of the centre in quite a corporate hotel but it was great as we had a large family room and it had a lovely pool.

We had great weather the whole time which obviously can't be banked on in Ireland! It made a huge difference and there are so many gorgeous little beaches and coves around Galway.

We really enjoyed the drive along the Wild Atlantic Way from Shannon up to Galway. We stopped at loads of lovely beaches.

It was great. Would highly recommend it as a holiday.

Great, thanks for suggestions. I think i've decided to drive straight from Dublin to Galway rather than stopping anywhere. I'll definitely upgrade on the ferry as I like the sound of the lounge and the snacks - should keep DS1 quiet for a few minutes hopefully!

I'm excited to see the coastal scenery and would be lovely to find some nice beaches for DS1 to play on. I hope weather will be ok but I think if we expect and plan for torrential rain anything less will be a real bonus.

Would be good if you have a hotel recommendation sunnyupnorth - a pool would be a real plus. I like the look of the Galway Bay Hotel but anywhere that is child friendly and does a lovely Irish breakfast will be a winner