My wife and I have been talking about a vacation to Ireland. Never been. Don't know anyone who has. We're not big on organized groups or tours, but might consider the right one. I hear its possible to rent a car & driver for as long as a week and do an informal tour of the major sites / cities.

Anyone out there who can point me in the right direction so I can get started?

Best............TWL

Why not rent your own car and go where ever you want? Stay in B&Bs , meet the locals , visit whatever takes your fancy.

Its not that big a place , and once you get out of the cities the roads are pretty easy to manage , although they do drive on the other side or the road , which may be a challenge for you.

Like Muzza said, “ rent your own car and go where ever you want? Stay in B&Bs, meet the locals , visit whatever takes your fancy”.

We did this a few years ago and it was great. Flew into Shannon airport and rented a van (there were six of us). We drove around the lower half of Ireland, Ring of Kerry, Dingle peninsula, Waterford, and up the east coat to Dublin, then flew home from there. Typically, we would call ahead each morning for reservations at the next B&B.

Driving on the left is not as difficult as it would seem. Just keep yourself next to the center of the road, take your time at intersections and have your navigator keep you on track. Be careful of traffic circles that are two lane (they require special procedure).

Pubs are a great place for a quick bite to eat at reasonable price and the people are friendly.

I did the same thing pretty much, I went over to Europe with a stack of travelers checks and bought a car and spent a few months driving around. I especially liked Ireland. Stay at the little family run B&B's as mentioned. When I was there they had this little shamrock sign if they were approved by some sort of licensing agency and everyone we stayed at was very pleasant. The one time we stayed at a B&B that did not have that shamrock sign the room smelled like cat pee, so from then on we kept going until we saw that little sign in someones front yard

Ireland is small enough that you could bike around it in 10 or so easy days. I have a goal of doing that with my kids a few years down the road.

We rented cars in both Dublin and in Belfast and drove the entire two countries seeing what we wanted to see, visiting what we wanted to visit. This was just last summer (2014). We did the same thing in Scotland as well, flying into Edinburgh. Please note that Northern Ireland is on the GBP, as is Scotland, and Ireland is on the Euro.

Be careful on the roads, they say, there is not really secure. If you see a broken motorcycle - don't stop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n730FWycrTY

and in Dublin worth a visit if possible the old Trinity College (especially if your kids love Harry Potter), the Guinness brewery.

I was lucky - managed to attend a performance of Riverdance - they usually are touring around the world and in Ireland are rare. Theatre makes an impression, although unprepossessing from the outside. http://www.gaietytheatre.ie/

i live in ireland mid west,limerick city, if you fly into shannon airport, which is where all your brave troops stop over from from their middle east missions, to which i have had the pleasure of meeting and guarding, (still a member of Irish Army,with 35yrs service). from shannon airport the whole midwest,north west,and southwest is your oyster,stunning scenery,killarney-s/west, cliffs of moher west,and donegal to the n/w.
Except for the weather,you will love it.

as above hire a car,drive yourself,easy to get about

and dont forget to kiss the Blarney Stone !!!

It has been a number of years since I have been to Ireland. But, we always rented a car and drove. We usually had a reservation for first and last nights. After that we would make reservations daily. We usually went to the local tourist office and found a list of B&B's to choose from. We made our reservations first thing in the morning to make sure we had a place. After that we would spend the day visiting local sites. There is always more than you can see in one day. Don't try to see it all in one week.

My mother would make one trip every year for a week or two. She had a couple of B&B's she would always stay at and the rest she would do as I described above.

Have a great trip,

Tom