Hi Chris!
I need some serious help/advice. I am planning to take a trip by myself to Ireland in May and having never been overseas, let alone Ireland, I am totally overwhelmed where to start. I thought about escorted tours, but can’t find one that suits my needs/desires. Then I looked into self-drive, which is an option, but keep hearing not so great things about driving in Europe. Ugh. I am a 39 year old, independent, and competent woman and have no doubt that I can handle anything. But where to start and where to go….thats where I want to crawl under the bed, curl in a fetal position, and suck my thumb.
Help
J.
———————
Hi J.
Thanks for visiting noambit.com. I’m sorry there is no specific information about Ireland for you on the site yet. The honest reason for that is, I have not been there yet. But your question gives me the opportunity to do some research.
First off we need to get you there. A quick search on www.kayak.com came up with similar prices whether you flew round trip from LAX to London or LAX to Dublin. Once you factor in the additional cost of getting from London to Dublin and the hassle, it just makes sense to fly direct. Of course 
the costs can vary by date and airport so you might want to mess around with changing these search options to see what gets you there the cheapest. I’ve outlined the thought process for this in a recent article.
At the outset of your planning I think it would be a good idea to pick up a travel guide and read over it when you have a chance. The beginnings of those books always have great info on what travel is like in that country, costs of things and weather. A nice succinct overview I found on-line comes from one of these books at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/ireland/
As you’ll notice from the guide books or the link above, Ireland doesn’t have the most efficient public transportation system; at least not in terms of getting to the sites you might want to see. It would seem then that your best options are finding a tour company or renting a car. Both as you know can be expensive but personally I would opt for the car. The self drive tours sound like a great option and to be quite honest with you, the research I have done has really gotten me excited about going too. Check out http://www.authenticireland.com/ for some self drive options to get an idea of what is entailed. 
The “horror” stories you hear about driving in Europe may not really apply so much in Ireland. Yes of course you’ll have to drive on the other side of the road than your used to but to be quite frank, these aren’t Rome locals driving around. I can see how it would be a test of nerves to drive in say Rome and I have tried driving around Prague (not so much fun) but Ireland (without having been there) “seems” like it would be more easy going. I say this because in all fairness the self drive tour is not something you find as a popular choice (if one at all) in other countries. ie: if its popular with tourists on 
vacation it must be easy. After reading a couple forum posts on the subject it seems that one of the biggest things you will have to get used to (especially coming from Southern California) are narrow roads. A small compact rental seems advisable. The costs for a 14 day rental in May started at around 200 Euro.
For info on driving as well as great tips on traveling around Ireland go to a few travel forums and either ask questions or search the posts for anything “Ireland”. http://fodors.com/forums/ &
http://www.bug.co.uk/forums/ are great resources for questions and answers. You will generally get a lot of responses in a short amount of 
time. Some great suggestions I have heard are visiting the town Wicklow if you fly into Dublin. Also, you might check flights into Shannon as this would be the coast where you will find the Cliffs of Mohr and Blarney castle. Then again, if you have a couple weeks and a rental car the sky is the limit. Budget travel magazine has a short feature in it this month (Feb 2008) that discusses traveling around Ireland in its Trip Coach section. Stop by Barnes and Nobles and look over the article…or get a subscription…it is a great magazine.
No matter how you decide to go 
about it, just make sure you get there. Visiting Ireland sounds like a wonderful opportunity and even if your stressed during the trip the memories will make up for it.
Let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Please let me know how your trip went.
Happy travels,
Chris.
—————–
Hi Chris!
Thank you so much for your quick reply, it is sooo appreciated!
You have given me so much great advice, and happy to say, much that I have already looked into. I know now that I am on the right track, and that is a HUGE relief. I actually have a lump in my throat, and a revived passion for planning and taking this trip to Ireland.
One last question for now…can you suggest any good websites with advice on traveling solo, how to save money and not be taken for a “ride”, and how to, if possible, avoid as many single supplements as possible. (Websites along with yours of course 
)
Again, thank you for all the information, and I will let you know how it all goes.
J.
———————-
How’s it going J. 
Of course any good travel guide book like Lonely Planet or Frommers will have a specific volume on Ireland and they will be full of money saving tips. Usually these books have chapters at the beginning regarding solo travel too. On the net, one good resource is http://goireland.about.com/. I’ve noticed they have an Ireland section which has a lot of good info. One particular section is on solo women travel in Ireland. http://goireland.about.com/od/safetyinireland/a/woman_ireland.htm
Hope this helps. Ciao
Chris
I would recommend renting a car for travel outside of Dublin. Just remind yourself to stay on the left every time you start the car, and when you meet another car on the more narrow roads in rural areas. Those are the times your instinct kicks in and you want to move to the right. Once you are on the road, you get the hang of it pretty quickly.
Another site to check out is the TripAdvisor Ireland forum. The members are very helpful with travel tips and things to see and do. You can read through the archives and use the search option to look for ideas. If you have any questions, post your own message.
The best suggestion is to take it easy and don’t pack too much into your days.
Great suggestions Stacy! I find forums like trip advisor’s to be great resources. Lonelyplanet.com and frommers also have wonderful communities of travelers ready to help others with questions they may have.