2015: Amsterdam & Ireland

Is it possible to have a second "trip of a lifetime" just one year after the first one?  We considered our 7 week trek through France last year to be an experience that could not be topped, and perhaps it can't.  But our exciting new plans for a two week home swap in Amsterdam in mid May, followed by a 4 week tour of Ireland including a second home swap in Dublin, will give last year's trip a run for its money.

In Amsterdam, we will be residing near Vondelpark, a short walk or tram ride away from the major tourist attractions.  During our two week stay, we plan to take a city walking tour, go on a canal boat ride, visit the various art museums such as Rijks and Stedelijke, ride bikes in Vondelpark, tour the neighbourhoods such as the Old Town, Jordaan, Red Light District, check out some quirkier museums related to themes such as bags and purses, pipes cats and sex!, and of course, we need to see the Anne Frank House.  Our plan is to buy a museumkaart which gives us access to most of the places that we want to see.

From Amsterdam, we fly to Dublin and stay a few days before heading off on a 12 day driving tour of the southern part of Ireland.  Some of the highlights we hope to see include several castles, Cliffs of Moher, the Dingle Peninsula, Killarney, the Ring of Kerry, the Blarney Stone and the Waterford Glass Factory.


Our driving loop will take us back to Dublin where we will stay for another few days before heading out again.  This time, we will head into Northern Ireland, which despite its name, is part of the United Kingdom.  This leads to the logistic issue of requiring access to another currency (pounds) on top of the Euros that we intend to bring for the rest of the trip.  This second loop should only take us 4 days as we visit Mount Stewart, Ballycastle, Giant's Causeway and Londonderry before returning to Dublin for the final few days of our vacation.

The plan is to rent a car from the Dublin airport and keep it with us for the duration of our 4 week stay.  One consideration of concern is the fact that the vehicles drive on the left side of the road in Ireland, which would be stressful enough if not added to the additional detail that part of the drive would be along cliffs.  To minimize our risk, we paid the extra cost in order to rent a car with automatic transition (hard enough to drive on the other side without worrying about trying to shift with the wrong hand!), and we planned the route of both drives so that we would travel counterclockwise, or on the side of the road away from the drop of the cliffs.

For each of our driving trips, we've mapped out a tentative route and scheduled and even booked Bed and Breakfast locations at each potential stop.  We used the website Booking.com, which offers excellent room rates and great cancellation policies (usually free cancellation within 1-3 days of the stay with no need to pre-pay).  For the most part, the accommodations in Ireland are relatively inexpensive if you stay just outside of the bigger cities.  We found some really beautiful residences to stay at, including Troy Hall, an original Victorian grand manor house in Londonderry, and Bantry House, a heritage mansion dating back to the late 1600s, in the town of Bantry.  The Bantry House is our one big splurge when it comes to paying for accommodation, but for one night, we wanted to live like aristocracy.  At least by staying there, we save on the admission fees to tour this house and its grounds with spectacular gardens.

While in Dublin, we plan to check out some historic or heritage sites such as Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Kilmainham Gaol and Rathfarnham Castle, visit some museums and art galleries including the Museum of Modern Art and Little Museum of Dublin, and hopefully rent bicycles to take a ride through Phoenix Park.  We will probably be dining at lots of pubs and touring trendy areas such as Temple Bar and Grafton Street.

This is shaping up to be an amazing trip with a good mix of city versus countryside, culture versus nature.  Check back toward the end of May for the start of more blog entries detailing our adventures.