irwinca

My partner and I are traveling to Ireland over the Thanksgiving holiday. Neither of us have been to Ireland. We are flying into Dublin and hiring a car.

We would like to see the Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, castles, cathedrals, breweries and distillaries (big on my boyfriend's list). We are pretty open as to route, etc.

I have read different things...some say not to stay in Dublin when we first arrive. I am good with this. Shall we go towards the west first or head down south? We would like to stay in the Southern part of Ireland.

Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

irishface

First of all, how long do you have?
Are you committed to flying in and out of Dublin? If not, you might consider flying into Dublin and out of Shannon to save backtracking.

Re: staying in Dublin first. Probably a good idea as it will give you a chance to get over jet lag before driving.

longhorn55

Your itinerary really depends on how much time you have. "Thanksgiving holiday" makes me think you have 4, maybe 5 days for this trip. If so, you may want to consider keeping your destinations closer to Dublin. (It's nearly 4 hours just to Killarney--Ring of Kerry--and it's 3 hours to the Cliffs of Moher with no promise they won't be fogged-in so you won't see anything.) You can find cliffs in Howth, about 30 minutes from Dublin via DART and castles in Malahide (also 30 minutes or so via DART) and Trim (1 hour from Dublin). There's Christ Church and St. Patrick's Cathedrals in Dublin. And, of course, the Guinness Storehouse and Jameson Distillery are in Dublin as well. For some gorgeous scenery, you need go no further than Wicklow and Glendalough NP, an easy day trip from Dublin.

Based on your stated interests, it might make more sense, if you time is limited to the Thanksgiving weekend, to stay close to Dublin. By using public transportation and tours, you could even avoid the headaches of renting and driving a car in Ireland.

abram

I completely agree with longhorn 55.

irwinca

We will be in Ireland for 7 nights/8 days. Our flights are booked-flying in and out of Dublin.

abram

With only a week, I would definitely plan to stay closer to Dublin. We haven't considered renting a car a headache at all--some of our favorite things have been all the beautiful views.

Near Dublin are: Powerscourt Gardens, Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains National Park, Russborough house, Irish National Stud, Castleton House, Malahide Castle, Newgrange/Knowth, Hill of Tara, Battle of the Boyne, Trim Castle--and much more.

irwinca

Thank you for your feedback. Sounds like maybe we are trying to plan too much in a short amount of time. We had thought about staying in Kilkenny the first night, a couple nights in Cork and see the Ring of Kerry on the drive to Limerick. Stay one night in Limerick then spend the remainging time in Dublin.

Too much to see!!

flpab

I would do Dublin city for the first night and get over the jet lag. You can take a train or bus or drive the next day. We are going again in Nov and think we are doing the gobus from the airport to Galway and renting a car from the city center. 10 euro for the gobus. The gobuas now goes to Cork. We are getting an apartment in Clifden for several nights and exploring Connemara this trip. Then returning the car in Galway, take the bus back to Dublin. We love Dublin, tons to do and I am happy there. We are planning an overnight to Belfast this trip on the train though. I am not taking anyone new this time so hope to see things I have never seen before. The newer roads have made things easier. I just looked at rental cars and you can get an automatic for a reasonable price. I drive a manual but driving on the wrong side of the road is enough to handle for me. Are you planning on driving?

irwinca

Yes, we have hired a car. I am thinking of returning the car when we get back to Dublin and taking public transportion for our time in Dublin.

Snowflake25

We rented our car at the Dublin airport, toured about for 6 days and nights and then returned it and took the bus to the city centre where we had a room booked for the remainder of our time in Dublin. Where are you arriving from? What time of day? If you aren't going to be too jet lagged you might want to get a start on your trip and go to Galway where you can then visit the Cliffs of Moher the next day and then head to the Ring of Kerry.

You can read about our visit to Ireland in my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-ireland.cfm

Enjoy your visit, we loved our time in Ireland!!!

irwinca

We are flying from the states into Dublin. We land around 7am.

Thank you for your trip report...it was a great read.

aussiedreamer

Here's another trip report for you to read, scroll down to the July 9 2011 entry. I think we had two weeks and we covered pretty much 'all' of Ireland inc Northern Ireland. Have a read and see what you think, we picked up our car and drove out of Dublin, but we did fly in from two weeks in London.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-side-trip.cfm

nytraveler

Sorry - your calculation is wrong - 7 nights is 6 days - not 8 days. You won't get anything done the day you depart and little the day you arrive.

And you need to consider the local conditions - local roads are exactly that - with 30 mph a reasonable speed - esp considering the sheep you will be maneuvering around.

irwinca

Yes, nytraveler, the nights/day was a typo on my part.

Aussiedreamer-thank you for the link-great tips and information.

We have factored in a lot of time for driving and relaxing. We each have our "top 5" that we would like to see and figure the rest is icing.