Visiting Ireland - What to do?

[Ace32]

Howdy,

I receive my bachelor's degree in May and to celebrate I've decided to plan a trip with a few friends for about 10-14 days to Ireland. A few things first: I've never been out of the United States and my means are fairly limited - so I'm trying to keep travel down as much as possible.

That said, I'd like to visit 2-3 different areas in Ireland including Dublin. So first, what are really fun places to go?

After that, what should I check out? Where should I stay? I'm thinking hostels...

Primarily, I'm interested in the drinking scene, some historical stuff, but little on the artsy side.

Also, are there any festivals between May 20 and early June?

 

[kenobi65]

Hostels may be a good choice in the bigger cities, but in smaller cities and towns, you can probably still get *very* affordable lodging at bed-and-breakfasts. (And, it's a great way to meet the locals.) Since you're not going during the summer tourist seasoin, in a lot of towns, you can probably just show up and get a B&B room.

A few things that are worthwhile (not an exhaustive list, and I was last there 12 years ago):

Dublin. There's a *lot* to see and do in Dublin. We did a walking tour of Trinity College, and a tour of the Guinness Brewery.

The Waterford Crystal factory. Very neat to see how they make the stuff. Unfortunately, if you're on a serious budget, you may not be able to afford much in the way of souvenirs there.

The Ring of Kerry. A peninsula on the SW coast, very picturesque, lots of fun little towns.