When we started planning our Europe trip we started with the Mediterranean cruise. And then from there, we thought it’d be silly not to take advantage of the two weekends on both ends. So that’s how we ended up deciding to also visit Paris and spend some time in Barcelona. And then Brian came to me out of the blue and asked if there was any way that I could make it work so that he could go to the Guinness Factory in Dublin. And I said “challenge accepted”!
And that’s how our trip got really crazy, really fast.
Itinerary:
Friday night:
- Fly overnight from Washington DC to Shannon, Ireland. Arriving at 7am on Saturday morning.
Saturday:
- Drive to Limerick and kill a few hours by driving past landmarks such as: Bunratty Castle, King John’s Castle, St. Mary’s Cathedral, St. John’s Cathedral.
- Drive back past Shannon to the Cliffs of Moher, via The Burren
- Head North to Kinvarra and Galway, passing by Corcomroe Abbey
- Keep heading North past Benwiskin Mountain and Sligo
- Spend the 1st night of our honeymoon in a castle at Lough Eske in Donegal
Sunday:
- Get up early and hit Dunsluce Castle
- See Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede
- Drive through the Dark Hedges on the way around the Antrim Coast (Note: Google maps shows the shortest route, we plan to take a longer route along the coast)
- Drive through Belfast to see the birthplace of the Titanic
- Arrive in Dublin & turn in our rental car by 9pm
Monday
- Sleep in – We’re staying at The Clarence Hotel in Dublin
- Do a hop-on/hop off bus tour
- Spend the afternoon in the Guinness Factory and get the “Connoisseur Experience”
- Eat dinner in a real Irish pub
Tuesday we fly out really early for London!
All in all, Ireland is the part of the trip that actually gives me the most worries just because of the distances we have to travel and I know that there are a bunch of little one-lane country roads to worry about. The movie “Leap Year” with all her travel disasters does not help with my anxiety. But, I keep telling myself, tour companies do basically the same tours we are doing based out of Dublin. So if they can drive great big buses in the same amount of time, surely we can get around in a little car. And I’m excited that we will be staying out in the countryside instead of basing ourselves in Dublin and driving back and forth.
Cross your fingers for us that it all goes well!
Also if anyone has any suggestions for beating jet lag, we need to hear them!