Most aviation history buffs will remember Shannon, Ireland, and Shannon Airport (SNN) as historical places in the aviation industry. Shannon Airport is where, during the beginning of air transportation to Europe, virtually every plane stopped at Shannon Airport for refueling – and while the aircraft was being refueled, passengers were treated with incredible, duty-free shopping values, making the airport famous and extremely popular.
Delta Air Lines is again flying to Shannon, Ireland, for the Summer Season after eliminating this city from its summer schedule over the past four years.
We have been so fortunate during our time at Delta to be able to travel to Shannon every summer and enjoy an excellent one-day visit to the beautiful city of Limerick. It is about 45 minutes from the Shannon Airport by Bus Eireann and approximately €15 round-trip. It’s a straightforward trip; buses run every half hour.
Limerick is a small, charming, and comfortable city to explore. It has quite a number of great hotels and restaurants that are surprisingly not expensive.
We enjoy taking a bus to Galway, another beautiful Irish walking city and college town, for a fabulous lunch during each visit. The bus ride is about 1-1/4 hours each way and is worth the trip. It would help if you remembered that during the summer months, the sun sets at about 10 p.m., so a one-day visit is a lovely and very long day.
Upon returning to Limerick, we walked the city and the entire Riverwalk Promenade along the River Shannon and visited King John’s Castle and Saint Mary’s Cathedral. We have also taken side trips to the city of Cork by train, and if you stay more than one day in Limerick, another terrific side trip is a wonderful “slow train” ride to the Cliffs of Moher.
We can recommend several hotels that we’ve enjoyed in Limerick over the years, including the Limerick Strand Hotel (4-Star), The Savoy Hotel (5-Star), the George Limerick Hotel (4-Star), and the Clayton Limerick Hotel (4-Star), which is about a 10-minute walk from the city center.
We can most certainly recommend dinner at the Hamptons Bar and Grill in the Savoy Hotel. This elegant restaurant offers an excellent three-course complete menu at a terrific price – an absolute steal.
