born2teachsc

I'm trying to set up the itinerary for our one year anniversary. Trying to decide on where and how long to stay in each area if I have the following places of stopping points in mind. I'll be flying in to Shannon from London on the 10th of March and leaving from Dublin on the 18th. We have tickets to see the St. Patrick's Day Festival in Dublin so this was mostly our purpose for leaving London to travel to Ireland. My husband said he def wants to relax and not feel like our itinerary is so action packed that it's in the car go all the time. I'm slowly making headway with this itinerary thanks to AARouteplanner. I just need to define and break it down so I know how to book hotel accommodations.

Reasons for some of my choices were because we didn't really want to go to all the big tourists spots. Just to tell you about our interests we love to golf, husband loves anything to do with history/war/police and military, anything outdoors, pubs, entertainment. We're in our late 20's early 30's.

ROUGH DRAFT ITINERARY

- Fly in from London on 3/10 and arrive in Shannon at 1:45pm. Pick up rental car.

- Possible stay at Oakwood Arms Hotel because I tried mapping that location from Dromoland Castle, Limerick Castle, King John's Castle, and Adare Manor and they all seemed within 19km of each other according to search engines.

-Head to Cliffs of Moher (Stay in Doolin or Lahinch)

-Maybe visit Ballybunion towards the Rings of Kerry (Stay in Killarney)

-Stuck between Cashel towards Kilkenny or heading towards Waterford

-From either Cashel/Kilkenny or Waterford travel towards Wicklow Mountains (I really want to see Lough Tay "Guinness Lake" and Sandy Gap)

-Then end in Dublin for the St. Patrick's Day Festival

-Leave the day after St. Patrick's Day for the US


Ok I know this is probably not all possible to do in 8 days 7 nights, but what do you think I could do if this is what I was thinking? Is there areas that I put that you don't recommend going to or is there a different route that you think would be best?

Tony2phones

I would stay in Ennis the first 2 nights as the best general touring base for the "Shannon Region" and the whole of Clare, more bars within 50 paces than the whole of Doolin (4) plus a choice of eateries and evening entertainment. http://www.visitennis.com/
Then your plan gets a bit messy? Perhaps drive round Dingle between Ennis and Killarney which is a good touring base for Kerry and north west Cork.
Only you can decided your route up to Dublin but Cashel/Cahir to Kilkenny for a night would be my thoughts.
Dublin on St Patricks. Not the best day to see Dublin at its best.. The parade runs through and then things get messy with bingedrinking youth etc.I would recommend avoiding Templebar that night but then I'm 20's anymore.

irishturtles

We just got back from Ireland. You have a nice itinerary. I would be sure to bring your husband to Collins Barracks, it has a ton of Irish military history (it was my favorite spot in Dublin). I would go to Dingle over the Ring of Kerry. I used Killarney Tour and Taxi; Jack Hayden is the contact person to use as a driver. I thought they were excellent. Driving your car is quite tough and you will have a better time doing Dingle without having to be concerned with the roads.

TPAYT

IMO, skip Oakwood Arms. We stayed there 1 night before an early plane and it was not that nice. Convenient to airport, yes. And the rooms were just OK, but the hallways and restaurant were dark, dark, dark. It felt like they forgot to pay the light bill. Desk clerks very unfriendly and all in all a wierd place. Sorry for being so negative, but we really didn't like that place.

I agree with above---stay in Ennis.

Killarney and the ROK driving is the most congested we encountered. Kenmare is far nicer instead of Killarney. The Dingle Penninsula was the best, most picturesque of our trip.

In Kenmare we stayed at http://shelburnelodge.com/
There is a golf course right across the street that my husband liked and it was easy to get a tee time. Some of the other, more famous, courses were all booked up.

Keep fine tuning your itinerary. Ireland is fantastic.

island_breeze

If you go as far west as Westport, there is the bike path rails to trails known as Greenway. Bike rentals offer shuttle one way. Also can climb Croagh Patrick if based in Westport. I'd advise staying at least 2 nights in each location in case you need to adjust your plans due to rain. Adare Manor is gorgeous. Cheers!!

born2teachsc

Wow! Thank you so much for your suggestions and input. Just so I'm understanding correctly because I'm a little confused with some of the routes that was mentioned. Maybe I should have gotten on AA Router before posting a reply
2 nights in Ennis
Leaving Ennis travel around Dingle and arrive in Killarney or Kenmare?
From there to Dublin take the route of Cashel/Cahir and then stay over night in Kilkenny.
From Kilkenny travel through Wicklow and arrive in Dublin.

I'm just trying to go ahead and book places to stay and I get confused with all the cities. Ahh I'm so excited. I think I've planned this trip more than I have done lesson plans for work