see also:

• travel - United Kingdom (UK)
• index of my photography blog posts by region

• Aer Lingus:
  • cabin baggage limit is 10kg
  • 1hr flights from Manchester Airport to Dublin cost (inclusive of taxes and charges) £32 without checked baggage and £49 with 1 bag checked in (on the PLUS fair) - must add £6 handling fee.
  • flights from Heathrow terminal 1 have a higher taxes and charges fee bring cost without luggage to £56 plus the handling fee
  • can accrue Qantas frequent flyer points

• Hertz - ~$55/day for small automatic in UK, and ~$65/d in Ireland
• Virgin Velocity Rewards can be redeemed for Europcar car rentals

• daylight hours 4am-11pm but only average 4-5hrs sunlight per day
• London avg min 11degC - avg. max 20degC with rain on a third of the days (London is one of the driest regions of UK)
• Galway avg min 9degC - avg. max. 17degC with high humidity and 75mm rain/mth with just over 50% of days having rain. Avg temp. is 13-14degC.
• Dublin has similar temperatures but only rains on a third of the days
• yes, mid-Summer in Ireland is about the same weather as mid-Winter in Melbourne but without the very cold days and frosts, so bring jumper and trousers!

• Dublin M50 ring road - must pay €3 per trip online before 8pm the following day - pay online, by phone: 1890 501 050, or at PayZone outlets
• NB. airport to Port/Docklands toll is about €10
• Dublin-Galway M4 toll road map (pdf) - must pay cash €2.80
• Galway M6 toll road map (pdf) - must pay cash €1.80
• more information on toll roads in Ireland

• Temple Bar - old city quarter, 12 East Essex St
• Trinity College - oldest university Ireland, Book of Kells
• Guinness Storehouse
• Croke Park - Ireland GAA headquarters
• Dublin Castle
• Moore St - markets
• Christ Church Cathedral
• St Patrick's Cathedral
• Kilmainham Gaol
• Abbey Theatre for a great show
• James Joyce Centre
• Leinster House (Irish parliament)
• Oscar Wilde's house
• Hugh Lane art gallery
• Carmelile Church, Whitefriar Street - home of the buried remains of St Valentine
• Ha'penny Bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey

• Howth fishing village just a few km's NE of Dublin
• Wicklow Mountains tour:
  • Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, 50km south of Dublin, near Wicklow
  • 25km scenic drive from Ashford to Rathdrum then to Laragh but perhaps diverting for a side trip up the Glenmalure Valley
  • Glendalough's 5th Century St. Kevin’s Monastic City in the Wicklow Mountains near Laragh
    • flickr
  • 48km scenic mountain drive from Laragh over Sally's Gap via R115 then R759, N81 (or one could continue on from Glendalough and skip Sally's Gap) to Russborough House, Rathballyong
  • 36km drive from Russborough House to Castletown House, St Raphael's Manor which is 23km west of Dublin
  • see a trip report
  • Braveheart tour

• Clonmacnoise monastery, near Clonbrusk between Galway and Dublin
  • replica of the Cross of the Scriptures sandstone cross from 900AD
• Galway quays, university, cathedral, Spanish Arch medieval walls, Lynch's castle, Salthill (buy claddagh ring)
  • Dunguaire Castle near Kinvarra on SE shore of Galway Bay before you get to Ballvaughan
  • Dun Aengus 3,000yr old stone fort on the island Inishmore off Galway
• Kylemore Abbey
• Ballyvaughan - Gregen's castle (nice food), tea and garden rooms
• Doolin
• Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor
• Dry stone walls, Inisheer on Aran Islands off Galway/Doolin and here and shipwreck
• The Burren - scenic landscape, dry stone walls, stone structures, dolmens, Poutnabrane Dolmen
  • Ballykinvarga Ringfort, Kilfenora, west of The Burren
  • house near Kilnaboy used in TV series Father Ted
• Ailwee caves
• Doonagore Castle (small coastal tower)
• Ennis - Dromoland castle (5* hotel, great food), Bunratty castle
  • Green Tunnel or 'The Road to Hobbiton' 8°49'51.35“W - 52°50'51.45”N on Toonagh-Dangan unnamed road
• Limerick - King John's castle, Hunt museum (bronze age), St Mary's cathedral, Arthur's Quay 2hr walking tour
• Adare village and Adare Manor Hotel (5*)
• Drombeg megalithic site - Druid circle of rocks, 20km SE of Adare
• Dingle - The Three Sisters cliffs
• Ring of Kerry
  • Rossbeigh Strand and Inch Strand and Rossbeigh strand before it was cut in half by wave erosion in 2008
  • hidden Coomasaharn Lake on a foggy June morning - 4,000 yr old megalithic rock art
  • Portmagee village at sunset
  • Cromwell Point Lighthouse, Valentia Harbour
  • Derrynane
  • Hag's Tooth and the Hag's Glen from the Eagles Nest and the Devil's Looking Glass, Carrauntoohill
• Killarney NP:
  • Killarney Park Hotel, Muckross House
  • Lough Leane
• Béara Peninsula south of Kerry:
  • Inchaquin Waterfall and stones
  • Lauragh moss covered trees and streams
  • Cluin village in Allihies parish at tip of peninsula
• Cork - English markets (food stalls), Blarney castle and the Blarney stone, 2.75hrs drive back to Dublin
• Clonoghty on road from Cork - Dublin - Rock of Cashel castle