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We have now made two trips to Ireland with young children. On our first trip the children were two and five. On our second trip they were four and seven. Each time we have learned a lot. Below are some of the most important lessons we have learned in no particular order.
It is easiest to to stay in as few places as possible. If you are able to base yourself in one or two places it is far easier than moving every day or two. Our children take a day or two to adjust to each new place. We prefer to rent a house as it allows for a more flexible daily schedule than a hotel or B&B.
Pack as little as possible. On our first trip we took too much. On our last trip we set a luggage goal (and achieved it!!). Each person got a carry-on bag and in addition we took one suitcase for the family. We found that eBags made this possible, you can see how we packed here. Moving through the airport, packing the rental car and moving from place to place was far easier this way. To pull this off you will probably need a washer and dryer in your house though.
Nonstop flights are sometimes worth the extra money. On our first trip we had a connection at Logan Airport in Boston. It was awful and involved lots of walking, stairs and changing buildings (all while carrying our luggage). If we had known this ahead of time we would have happily paid more money to avoid this.
Economy Plus on the first leg of your trip is worth the extra money. About half of our budget is usually spent on airfare when we visit Ireland, so ways to save in this area are always considered. On our first visit, Sarah basically didn’t sleep on the overnight leg so we thought we’d try getting Economy Plus last year. The extra room made a huge difference, especially with eating.
Paying in advance when possible makes paying for the trip easier. On our last trip I was able to pay for our accommodation (with the exception of our last night), airfare and car (with the exception of the Super CDW) in advance. This was the bulk of the expenses for the trip and allowed me to pay these over the course of a few months leading up to the trip instead of having one big credit card bill at the end. On our first trip I had to pay the accommodation balance in cash and it was inconvenient having to go to the ATM multiple times to get the cash for this.
Shannon Airport is way easier than Dublin Airport. This has always been the case, but is more pronounced now I think. Here is the data from our last two trips:
2014 – Landed at Shannon 6:30 AM; pulled away from Avis at 7:40 AM
2016 – Landed at Dublin 10:45 AM; 11:45 AM finished filing out forms at Avis; pulled away from Avis at 12:30 PM
Moving through the actual airports was virtually the same. However (and this is not unusual), hiring a car at Dublin is often time consuming. We sat around for 35 minutes waiting for our car that was already reserved and paid for.
Mobile and land lines require you to dial a different number. I knew this, but forgot on my last trip so…
When dialing a landline phone within the same area code you don’t dial the area code. For example: If the landline number is: 074 123-4567 you just dial 123-4567
When dialing a mobile phone number (or a number in a different area code) you would dial the entire number: 087 123-4567
How do you know if it is a mobile or landline number?
Mobile numbers will start with an 08, landlines start with an 07.
When we go to bed and wake up at our normal time we feel pretty good. Each visit we have gone to bed about the time we would at home (children around 8 PM). The first morning, I have woken everyone who was still asleep at 8 AM. We all could have slept longer, but this has helped us adjust quickly to the time change.
Outdoor sights without guided tours are more relaxing for us. Our children (even when they were very small) did well at all of the sights we visited if they were allowed to investigate at their own pace. I would much prefer to hear an expert explain everything to me (even if I have already heard it before), but the children would rather explore at will.
Don’t be afraid to wander/explore. We have had some really enjoyable memories result from not really knowing exactly where we were going.
Kids don’t care about the scenery. My children have had the good fortune of seeing some of the most stunning scenery on the planet. They also were incredibly unimpressed. Keep in mind that while you will be astonished by the beauty of the mountains, cliffs, and everything else. Your children almost certainly would rather be exploring something.
The kids hate being in the car all day. See above. We found out that they would rather play in the rain next to a major road than ride around in the car.
Free things are often better than the more famous sights. One wonderful thing about Ireland is that the entrance fee has no relation to the quality of the sight. Many times you will see something for free that was more impressive than a similar sight that cost you €10 per person. They also tend to allow the children more freedom to wander around without disrupting other visitors.
Giving the kids one thing to forward to for the day helps them to be patient while you see the sight you are interested in. We have found that by giving the children something to look forward to (a castle or a beach, for example) buys enough patience from the children to allow you to search for overgrown stone circles.
You never know what the children are going to love. I love to visit the many places around Ireland that are/used to be pilgrimage sites. I assumed that the children would be marking time until we got to see the next castle or go to a beach when we visited these places. I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead they wanted to know what the pilgrims would do. Often they want to go through all of the steps associated with a site. Who saw that coming? This happens all the time. My daughter’s favorite memory from our last visit was when we were stuck behind a group of sheep in a rural Donegal glen for half a mile.
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