Clothing options for dinner

Read the green book suggestions but, .....Any recent travelers to Ireland found a need for the men to wear jackets at dinner? Packing space is limited on a two week tour.

Comments

  • Not really. Took this last year. The welcome dinner wasn't that dressy and the farewell we were in a heatwave so no one wore a jacket. Mostly just dinners at the hotels. A dress/ collared shirt and slacks are fine. I'd recommend bringing a pullover sweater just in case it's chilly.

    Fyi, dinner at the Old Ground in Ennis i thought was going to be very casual - sort of pub evening. It wasnt. We were in a private dining room, white table cloths, etc. I was dressed very casual and felt uncomfortable.

  • edited August 2019

    We just returned from this outstanding trip on July 25th. Yes, the question is, should I bring or not bring a jacket? After reading the green book, the forum, and the web information on the hotels we would be staying at, I decided again not to bring a jacket. It takes up to much space for 1 or 2 uses. Probably one-third of the men in our group brought jackets. Really, the only place you absolutely needed it was at Ashford Castle for the King George IV room for dinner and I'm not sure your tour will stay there. If you are staying there, there are 3 restaurants - King George, a great seafood restaurant, and a very good steak place called the dungeon. We ate at the other two that don't require jackets. If you want that King George experience you get to eat there for breakfast each morning without worrying about a jacket.

    Claudia is correct. You would be fine at both the welcome and farewell dinners without one. Even at the Old Ground a nice dress shirt and slacks would be fine. For that event, just don't come in jeans and a t-shirt. I've learned many things about traveling with Tauck over the years. Some tours include those folks who like to dress up more, and some tours include groups that don't. A Tour Director once told us, "You are on vacation, dress the way you feel most comfortable without embarrassing yourself". If it bothers you when others have a jacket and you don't then bring one, if it doesn't bother you (like it doesn't bother me) when others have a jacket then don't. Ireland was our 4th Tauck trip and I've never taken a jacket on a trip and we've stayed at the Waldorf Astoria for 4 nights in Jerusalem and 5 star hotels in Australia. Just enjoy the trip. Ireland is a wonderful country!

  • edited August 2019

    I assume you are really going on the Best of Ireland and not the Best of Ireland, Small Groups which are now two different tours with different itineraries. Both the regular and Small Groups tour now start and end in Dublin, but the Small Group tour still stays at Ashford Castle where you have the option of eating in the King George Dining IV room where a jacket is required. Though I brought a sports coat we ate at Cullen's at the Cottage, the seafood restaurant (excellent) and in the Dungeon. There really are a quite a few dinners in nice restaurants where a jacket would not be out of place on both tours, however it is pretty much up to you. Surprisingly I didn't take many photos during dinner except for the farewell in Dublin. I would guess on our 2016 Best of Ireland tour (which was the equivalent of the current Best of Ireland, Small Groups tour), at least 70% of the men wore jackets (and ties) to the welcome and farewell dinners and slightly less to dinners at Ashford Castle (with the exception of the King George IV), the Merchant Hotel (Titanic Sampling dinner) in Belfast, and Mt Juliet Hotel.

    I have two suggestions to help you decide- watch the video at the beginning of either Best of Ireland tours (same video) to see what people are wearing and go to the hotel websites to check out the photos of the restaurants. I agree with what Claudia and Virginia Travelers say, and the quote from the TD, with one correction. One additional point. We had normal (cool) Irish weather in late July/Aug and wearing a jacket, usually meant I didn't need to wear a coat. I could take off my jacket during dinner if I desired.

    "You are on vacation, dress the way you feel most comfortable without embarrassing yourself".

    You are not on a "vacation" you are on a Tauck tour, there is too much to see and do, and no time to rest and chill out! :D

    At the farewell dinner in the Conrad Dublin (the least fancy of the places we ate dinner) 6 out of 7 men in the photo (I'm missing) are wearing jackets, 3 out of the 6 are wearing ties:

  • Actually Alan the itinerary since last year has changed and all the Best of Ireland tours start in Dublin and go counterclockwise ending in Kilkenny. The main difference is a few hotel changes including Ashford.

  • Claudia Sails. 8:37AM. Actually Alan the itinerary since last year has changed and all the Best of Ireland tours start in Dublin and go counterclockwise ending in Kilkenny. The main difference is a few hotel changes including Ashford.

    I missed that both the regular and Small Groups tours now start in Dublin and end in Kilkenny too, so I corrected my post. But the Small Groups tour still includes a stay at Ashford (* I just watched the video i shot of our water arrival and bagpiper who met us), but, unfortunately the tours stay at Lyrath Estate instead of Mt. Juliet, and according to your 2018 review, the lunch feast at the Bushmills Inn has been scaled back. Oh, well, I'm glad we went when we did and I think my recommendations on what to wear and how to decide are still valid.

  • We worried when we realized our tour wouldn't include Ashford but in the end were fine with it. For those who want the falconry experience that was one of the estate activities at My Juliet. My husband enjoyed it. We enjoyed Glenlo Abbey which included a boat ride on the loch from Galway to the hotel and having dinner in the Old orient express rail car. It's only drawback was no A.C. and no window screens during a heat wave.

    Looking at 2019 it seems they moved all the small group starts under that tour. In 2018 there was that weird mix of small group under the classic tour and small groups as it's own - so you really had 3 itineraries.

    Not sure what you mean about Bushmills. We had cod loins with cheddar herb crust, leek mash, a light fish veloute followed by their awesome sticky toffee pudding with whisky toffee sauce and cream. Did I miss out on something? God knows I needed that hike to the Giants Causeway after that lunch.

  • Claudia is correct. We were on the Small Groups Best of Ireland trip and we started in Dublin, then up to Belfast, going counterclockwise and ending in one of our favorite towns - Kilkenny ! The drive from there to Dublin the last morning for our flight home was an uneventful 90 minutes or so. Alan S is also right. A Tauck tour of Ireland is more then just a vacation. Our TD was a history professor previously and we learned so much about the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland issues. I asked him to recommend a good book to read about it and he suggested the attached and we bought it in Ennis.

  • Claudia Sails. August 18. Not sure what you mean about Bushmills. We had cod loins with cheddar herb crust, leek mash, a light fish veloute followed by their awesome sticky toffee pudding with whisky toffee sauce and cream. Did I miss out on something? God knows I needed that hike to the Giants Causeway after that lunch.

    Yup, I think the answer is that we ate at the Bushmills Inn on a Sunday when they offer their "Carvery Menu" https://www.bushmillsinn.com/restaurant-and-bar/menu When we ate there we went through a kitchen serving line (buffet)- first were the meats, fowl, and fish- must have been nearly a dozen, carved per your desire- aged Ulster prime rib and Belted Galloway beef, pork loin, ham, lamb, turkey, chicken, goat leg, venison, sausage, and couple of types of fish. You got to pick and choose any and all and how much. Next were 1 or 2 soups, then salad, veggies and starches- 3 - 4 types of potatoes alone, beans and 4 or more other veggies, breads & rolls. Seems I'm missing something. Then dessert, about 4 or more selections- ice cream sundae, crème brûlée, cheesecake, pies, and yes, a truly wonderful sticky toffee pudding. If you are weak about food like me, afterwards required two or more round trips by foot down and back at Giant's Causeway. :) Seriously it was truly a feast for everyone, gourmand or not.

  • A Thank you to all for your quick responses

  • The sticky toffee pudding is an outstanding dessert. We couldn't get enough of it. Our TD gave us the recipe for it sometime during the tour. Don't miss it !!

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