Travel is slower in Ireland, at least off the motorways. If you are only going 35 miles an hour, tha

Some background here: My wife and I are planning our very first trip to Europe and have decided on Ireland. I have strong Irish heritage (my last name is Irish for example) and we both come from a town in Montana that is very proud of our Irish heritage so we felt it would be a perfect place.
We are both 40 years old and live in a small (200,000 population) town but have driven around how to get ticket upgrades air travel Seattle and Las Vegas quite a few times without issue (traffic doesn't scare me). But I am concerned about the traffic when coupled with driving on the left side of the road and in addition to that I hear the country roads in Ireland are narrow and full of tour buses and sometimes farm equipment.
My main concern with the drive yourself option have to do with actual driving part. The wrong side of the road plus how much of the countryside will I be missing because I will be concentrating on driving? Also Dublin looks rather large, so I assume we would just park the car at the hotel and hop the bus there. But leaving how to get ticket upgrades air travel Dublin could be an issue, correct?
how to get ticket upgrades air travel The main concern with the bus tour is getting stuck doing only the bus tour options. For example how early does the tour leave in the mornings? how to get ticket upgrades air travel If we wanted to hit up a pub the previous night a bus leaving at 7am would not be the most welcome thing. Does anyone know departure times? How flexible are your days on these bus tours? If we wanted to do something different than what the guided bus tour has planned that afternoon or evening in one of the lay-over towns is that OK with the tour?
Ultimately, we booked a tour with Pat Preston and were really how to get ticket upgrades air travel pleased. We thoroughly enjoyed riding (higher up) in a comfortable coach enjoying panoramic how to get ticket upgrades air travel views of the scenery all over. (The views were so nice from the bus, most didn't care about "rotating" for front seats.) We were quite relieved to be able to sit back and enjoy the scenery without worrying about maps, directions, driving, and so on. The amusing commentary all along the way was an added plus.
We're not usually early risers on vacation, but didn't mind getting up in time for breakfast (well worthwhile). To my recollection, departure times were usually 8:30-9). After a long day of touring, we weren't really up for spending hours in a pub, and did just fine with a drink or two in the hotel bar or a nearby pub.
You're free to do whatever you like (so long as you let the tour director know), but, except for our last evening (when we went off on our own for dinner how to get ticket upgrades air travel and the evening), all the tour activities were fine with us.
What were the ages of the people on the tour bus? I know the Odyssey we plan on booking is a "55 and smiling" qualifier so I am wondering if everyone on the tour will be our parents how to get ticket upgrades air travel age (60+). Not that that is a horrible thing, but having people similar in age can help in my opinion.
I will preface this by saying I can't ride on buses because I get sick, but I suppose I could take Dramamine, which works when I fly. I know that lots of people take the bus tours, but honestly, I don't think driving is that difficult. (She says, having never been the one driving!)
The first time we went, we took our two teenage sons with us. My husband could drive a stick but had never driven on the left before. He was a whiz at it in no time. In 7 trips we have never more than added a few scratches to the cars.
I like that you can choose what you want to do and when to do it if you are driving. If you want to sleep in a bit, that's okay. If you aren't sure where you want to go, ask here. Or loosely follow the route your bus would have taken. You can take smaller tours from home bases. If you see something that strikes your fancy, you can stop and take a picture or look at it up close.
Travel is slower in Ireland, at least off the motorways. If you are only going 35 miles an hour, that's slow enough to enjoy the scenery. Make lots of stops and walk through how to get ticket upgrades air travel the small towns and villages. Have lunch when you're hungry.
I definately understand your concerns. I have almost the same situation as yours. My husband I are in our early 40's, and never been outside of the US. We choose Ireland as our first European adventure. A friend how to get ticket upgrades air travel had highly recommended CIE tours and that became my original plan. However, events caused me to postpone how to get ticket upgrades air travel my booking - giving me even more time to research the trip. I have your same concerns as I wanted how to get ticket upgrades air travel both of us to enjoy our trip (not just the passenger - driver simply wanting to go home). I had the same reservations of it is really vacation if a tour dictates when, where and how long I visit destinations. We are not early risers, how to get ticket upgrades air travel and while we have no intention on sleeping through our vacation, we did want to take in a few pubs and not be concerned we would be late for the bus the next morning.
In the end, I convinced my husband that we will perfer a trip at our own pace. So, I booked my airfare, have a car (automatic) how to get ticket upgrades air travel rented, lined up all of my B B's, and I am ordering my atlas this week. It has been SO much fun doing all the planning. Everyone on this forum has been wonderful. I don't even have to post many questions, as most of it is already answered - even things I never really thought of. I have learned so much about the country, doing all of my research, it has me more inspried than before to visit Ireland.
So, I can't give you advice on which one to do, as our trip is this September for two weeks. I will definately post a trip report. But I can tell you, I am happy with my decision, without any second thoughts. We are considering the driving part of the adventure. Also, the B B owners have been very helpful how to get ticket upgrades air travel in providing directions and insight. They really seem to want us to enjoy our trip - and we have not even been yet!
My take is if you like to plan vacations, you should do your own thing. However, if you perfer the security of a tour group and everything being done of you - go for the tour. Either way, it seems you cant go wrong. Ireland seems to have something for everyone.