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Report 1922: Coasting Through Ireland on Pints of Cider

By Green Dragon from FL, Spring 2011

Trip Description: This was an 18 day trip with me and my friend Vicki. We stayed in seven different places around the coast of Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Destinations: Countries - United Kingdom, Ireland; Regions/Cities - Northern Ireland

Categories: Hotels/B&Bs; Shopping; Sightseeing; Walking/Hiking; Independent Travel; 2 People

Itinerary

13th (Fri) – Fly into Belfast. Overnight in Cushendall (Riverside B&B)
14th (Sat) – Overnight in Cushendall.
15th (Sun) – Overnight in Cushendall.
16th (Mon) – Overnight in Ardara (Bayview Country House).
17th (Tues) – Overnight in Ardara.
18th (Wed) – Overnight in Ardara.
19th (Thur) – Overnight in Westport (Boulevard Guesthouse).
20th (Fri) – Overnight in Westport.
21st (Sat) – Overnight in Inis Mor (Man of Aran cottage).
22nd (Sun) – Overnight in Inis Mor.
23rd (Mon) – Overnight in Ballyvaughn (Oceanville B&B).
24th (Tue) – Overnight in Ballyvaughn.
25th (Wed) –Overnight in Dingle (Blooming Wildflower B&B).
26th (Thu) – Overnight in Dingle.
27th (Fri) – Overnight in Kenmare. (O'Donnabhain's Guesthouse)
28th (Sat) – Overnight in Kenmare.
29th (Sun) – Overnight in Kenmare.
30th (Mon) – Drive to Shannon and fly back home.

My fourth trip to the Emerald Isle ended up being a completely different trip than first planned. The players changed, the dates changed, the places changed, and the pace changed, some several times. However, there is no such thing as a bad trip to Ireland, that magical, mystical place of green rolling hills, dry stone walls, sheep on every mountain and pints in every pub.

Our final plan was as is listed in the itinerary above.

With much research and planning, I found some fantastic B&Bs for our trip, decent flight arrangements, rental car, and other details as necessary. Now I just needed to wait for the departure day to arrive! That week at work was very, very long, let me tell you. However, Wednesday May 11th finally arrived, as it must, and I was lucky enough to get out about a half hour early. I checked in online before I left.

The plan had been to drive home, load up the car with my luggage, and for my husband, J, to drive me to Pittsburgh. However, he felt a kidney stone coming on, so I drove the 1.5 hour trip myself, and just paid for long term rental at the hotel I was staying at. The flight was in the morning, and my friend V was arriving from Gainesville, FL that evening, so we figured a hotel stay near the airport was best. I picked her up around 8pm, and we got something to eat, and to sleep for an early morning start. We stayed at America Best Value, which has a complimentary shuttle early in the morning, was inexpensive, clean and adequate. They also had a long-term parking deal about $50 less expensive than airport long-term parking.