Travel Tips on Shannon Airport

If you live around Europe and ever have a desire to travel to Ireland....there's basically two airports that you might land at (there are several airports there but most folks end up at Shannon and Dublin).

Shannon is a fairly good-sized airport.  I'm not talking about sixty gates or such, but 1.6 million folks flowed through the airport in 2014.

There are three significant things you need to know upon landing there and planning ahead.

First, there aren't too many hotels around the airport.  This usually makes people start thinking seriously on finding a hotel in Limerick, which is roughly a twelve-minute drive from the airport.  Limerick has several hotels on the outer ring of the city and several in the bar-district of town.

My general advice is to avoid the downtown area of Limerick (keenly known as the stabbing-capital of Europe.  It's not to say folks get stabbed often, but enough that it got some kind of reputation. It's a reminder that the Irish like the argue a good bit, and get testy over lost arguments.

Along the road from the airport to Limerick (halfway), is the Bunratty Castle Hotel.  It's a pricey place but rather easy to find and just minutes away from the airport.

There's also a Travelodge near the entrance of Limerick, near the traffic circle.....a cheaper place worth checking out.

Second bit of advice....the worst possible scenario is you arrive at 10PM at night, in the middle of a storm, and realize only then that it's a left-hand drive car and a left-hand drive nation, of which you've never really encountered this type scenario before.  So, think and ponder over this well ahead of time.  Maybe it's best to arrange for a flight in daylight hours so you can get a better prospective and feel somewhat positive about the trip.

Third, a GPS is a great tool to bring along for a trip to Ireland.  I admit....there are only X-number of roads and turns.....but it's not the kind of simplicity that you'd be hoping for.

Finally, as much as you'd like to stop and ask for directions at times.....be reminded that Irish folks are chatty, and a simple sixteen-word explanation on how to get from A to B.....might turn into a 200-word descriptive chat.