🛩️So, airports and transportation…🚘🚆

🚗First I’ll say, getting around after you land is easiest and quickest from Dublin airport if you want to have public transportation options and don't want to rent a car. If you’re comfortable renting a car and driving on the left (I swear it’s easier than you think- if I can do it anyone can), then you can go with any airport. All have car rental. Manual is like half the price of automatic, so if you can drive stick, do it!

I digress… airports…

✈️Dublin is the biggest. If you want to spend some time adventuring around Dublin before the wedding, maybe use this airport and stay a night or 2. We wouldn’t really bother spending longer than that in Dublin, though. There’s more to Ireland and most of us are used to a big city. That said, it IS a cool city and there’s definitely lots to do and see. We’re happy to give recommendations if you want them. If you fly into Dublin and want to go straight to Nenagh on the day before or the day of the wedding, Dublin airport is 1 hour and 45 minutes drive from Nenagh, but may be longer (or shorter) from other parts of Dublin, depending on where you go if you choose to have a wander around (city traffic).🚙🚍🚆

If you are coming to Kerry after the wedding and want to go home after that, Dublin airport is 4+ hours drive from Dingle. Just fyi.

✈️Our favourite airport is Shannon. It’s smaller, less hectic, closer to home for us, and just kinda feels more laid back. When we travel to/from the US (or anywhere) we try to go through Shannon whenever possible. There are rental cars and buses into Galway from here as well, or if you’re coming closer to the wedding date, you can go straight to Nenagh, it’s just a 45 minute drive away. Public transportation would take longer. 🚙

If you’re coming to Kerry after the wedding and then heading home from there, Shannon airport is about a 2.5 hour drive from Dingle.

✈️The 3rd choice is Cork Airport. They also do international flights. We don’t have experience there, but Cork is a really cool city to spend a day or 2 in if you want, and it’s just under 2 hours drive from Nenagh. Bus would be longer. 🚘

If you’re coming to Kerry and then heading to the airport for home from there, Cork airport is closest to Dingle at just over 2 hours drive, so not that different from Shannon.

✈️Option 3a for if you’ll be traveling from Europe before coming to Ireland, is Knock airport. That’s about as close to Galway as Shannon, but it’s north of us (Shannon is south). It’s another small, lovely airport.

🚙🚂🚌If you have no interest in staying in Dublin or Cork and want to come a few days before the wedding to Galway, where we live, it’s just a 2 and a half-ish hour drive, train ride, or direct (and comfy) bus journey straight from the Dublin airport into Galway city centre. It’s about an hour and a half drive from Shannon. And about 2.5 hour drive from Cork. Galway is really lovely and picturesque and full of fun and charm and great food and pubs. We can obviously give LOADS of recommendations here, if you want them. Galway is about an hour long drive from Nenagh, so you can go straight from there to the wedding as well, as we and most guests will be doing. AND you all can be on get-Joe-to-the-venue-on-time duty. 💁🏻‍♀️

A few notes on driving in Ireland:

• Drive on the left, obviously 🙄

• There are some very small roads and some can only fit one car. If (when) you find yourself on one of these roads and an oncoming vehicle approaches, what’s done is either you or they reverse carefully until you (or they, hopefully) find a pull off point, where they (or you) will then proceed to pull in out of the way as much as possible to allow the other car to pass. Then you can just resume your journey until the next such encounter.

• Roundabouts: so as you approach a round about there are 2 lanes. Ok now think of the roundabout sitch as if it’s a clock. You are at 6:00. If you are continuing straight or turning anywhere between 6-12:00, go in the left lane. If you’re turning right or going back the way you came (so anywhere from 12-6:00), go in the right lane.

• Don’t forget turning signals!

• Often you’ll find yourself on a 2-way road with no barriers between your lane and cars going the other direction (towards you). There might be only a white line separating you from oncoming traffic (see why it’s really great that there’s a zero tolerance for drinking and driving?) - so when there’s a broken up white line it means you can overtake a slow vehicle like a tractor in that area. If it’s solid, don’t overtake.

~that’s all I can think of but if you have any questions just ask 🥰