frankpkeller

we have seven nights to spend in ireland arriving in shannon and departing from dublin We are staying for two nights in galway, then heading towards dingle,kenmare,and the kinsdale area for two nights then on to kilkenny for two nights and finally one night in dublin
I can't decide if we should stay for two nights in kensdale or one night in dingle and one night in kenmare (or kinsdale)
any ideas? thanks Frank

Budman

Gosh Frank, only 2 days to see that area will be tough.

Can I recommend driving direct from Galway to Dingle, take the Slea Head drive and spend the night in Dingle. Drive the following morning, stopping in Killarney to see some of the sights, then heading to Kenmare to spend the late afternoon/night.

You could cut Kilkenny to only one night and spend a day in Kinsale. That's what I think I would do with your limited time. So much to see, so little time.

emjoy

I spent two days in each place and I have to say I wish I'd spent more time in Dingle. I got to do the Slea Head drive and experience local music in the pubs, but I would have loved to have spent more time just feeling like a local and unpacking. I could move there and be happy forever. And we wish we'd seen more of the north coast which is gorgeous. Kinsale was a very nice town, but if I had a choice to do two days there or two in Dingle- I'd do Dingle. We spent one night in Kilkenny which is much more urban and busy , and we felt that was enough time to see the castle visit the market and have a nice dinner.

frankpkeller

thanks for your replies i was thinking of stopping in killarney on my way to dingle but you say it is better the other way one night in dingle pass through killarney and stay one night in kenmare. that would leave us with 2 nites in kilkenny (which you say is not necessary) and one nite in dublin. That would leave us with one extra nite if we limit kilkenny to one nite. would we be better off staying the extra nite in kenmare or dingle? thanks again frank
p.s. i initially intended to stay two nites in killarney (and explore the dingle,kerry etc areas from there) but i hear killarney is kind of touristy and tacky)

beach_dweller

stay the extra night in Dingle or Kenmare? That's a tough one. But with your itinerary, I would lean toward an extra night in Dingle. That way you could make the drive from Galway to Dingle a little more fruitful (explore the Burren, see the Cliffs of Moher, etc.) and still have plenty of time in Dingle.