Rgrace33

My husband and I are heading to Ireland for the first time soon. We fly into and out of Dublin. We would like to take the train to Belfast and stay for a night. Then it is open. Ideally, we'd drive to the west coast and do Dingle, but that seems like too much. I'm looking for suggestions. We definitely want to get into the country, would love some scenery, and are beer nerds who'd love to visit at least one distillery and one brewery. I'd like one good castle as well. Pubs, local culture, and countryside are on the agenda. Please, offer suggestions and share your knowledge.

abram

With only 5 days, I'd pick a small area--since you're heading north, maybe the Boyne Valley, Glens of Antrim, and coast near the Giant's Causeway. There's lots of beautiful scenery, castles at Trim & Dunluce, Bushmill's Distillery.

In Dublin, there's a tour of Guinness and Jameson.

irishface

I second abram's suggestions. The east coast seems to get short shrift here and on other guides.

Just south of Dublin is Glendalough, 8th century monastic ruins with places to hike. Drive out into the Wicklow Hills for hiking and scenery. Powerscourt gardens and waterfall are not far south of Dublin.

Take the DART (train) out to Howth and explore the harbor and hikes. Or go south to one of the seaside towns for walks. Take the train to Bray, hike up over Bray Head for views, to Greystones and then take the return train to Dublin.

Scrap Dingle (though it is lovely) until a trip with more time or a trip into and out of Shannon. It is toomuch with only five days.

JAM69

Remember if you are heading to Dingle from Dublin it will take you at least 5 hours driving time one way and that is without stops - it has taken me over 6 hours in the past!! It all depends how you want to spend yout time.

Within an hour or two of Dublin you have the Blessington lakes, Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, the Wicklow Gap, Glendalough (with its round tower and beautiful walks) Avoca (traditional hand weaving demonstrations), Mount Usher gardens, Wicklow town and gaol to mention but a few. You could spend a leisurely one or two days in this area seeing a lot of beautiful scenery, a couple of days in Dublin and still have time for your trip to Belfast - you would get a good taste of the country without trying to sqeeze to much in.

JPPC24

I traveled to Ireland back in 2005 for 11 days and had a blast. We flew in and out of Shannon but drove out East to Dublin. I felt like we did too much driving as well. Pick a small area and enjoy. You don't want to spend your whole experience in a car and feel like you haven't seen much. One central location with day trips is your best bet.