dlb0201

My friend and I are going to Ireland at the end of August. Here is our tenative plan. I am wondering what the distances are between the places we will be going to know if this is possible. Also, what kinds of things should we pack? Anyone know what the weather will be like in late Aug. 21-28th? thanks so much.

Day 1- Arrive in Dublin- Walk around and tour city-do musical pub crawl
Day 2- Pick up rental car- drive to Killarney- walk around city/visit Kenmare
Day 3- Dingle Penninsula
Day 4- Possible trip to Cliffs of Moher- how far is this from Killarney?If not, any suggestions?
Day 5- Drive to Cork to see Blarney Stone/Spend night in Kinsale
Day 6- Drive back to Dublin
Day 7- Leave

daydreamer16

We did about the same trip but in two weeks so you will be kind of rushed. We went at the same time of year 2 years ago and the weather was warm. We wore t-shirts during the day and a sweater or light jacket at night or near the water.There was rain only one day, we were told our 2 weeks were a little unusual. The cliffs of moher were pretty far from Killarney I don't think it's really a day trip from there. We left from Shannon.

jent103

If you do this trip, you could very well be moving hotels every night, and you will definitely be spending a LOT of time in the car. Where are you arriving from? On your first day you'll have to get from the airport to your hotel, settled in, etc. If your flight arrives in the morning, you'll have about half a day for sightseeing, and if you are arriving from North America I think most people would be way too tired for a pub crawl that night. I don't think you can see the most popular spots in Dublin in half a day.

I would definitely cut out Cork. Are you locked into flying in and out of Dublin? If possible, I would change your flights to leave from Shannon or another airport in the west (I believe Shannon is your only option in that area from the US). That will save you a lot of backtracking. If you're really not interested in Dublin, I'd skip it altogether and fly in *and* out of Shannon.

I'd arrange it more like this, assuming you absolutely cannot change your flights.

Day 1: Arrive in Dublin.
Day 2: Sightsee in Dublin.
Day 3: Drive to Kenmare or Dingle.
Day 4: Sightsee around Kenmare (Killarney National Park, Beara Peninsula, or Ring of Kerry) or Dingle (drive Slea Head loop, Inch Beach).
Day 5: Either more sightseeing around Kenmare or Dingle, or if you really want to see the Cliffs, head to Doolin or somewhere thereabouts for the night.
Day 6: Back to Dublin. (Another option would be to take the Cliffs day and spend it in Dublin at either the beginning or the end of the trip, and do a day trip to Wicklow, seeing Glendalough, Powerscourt, etc. I personally would rather go back to Glendalough than the Cliffs of Moher, but both are beautiful.)

Cowboy1968

You can do some planning of travel times and distances with viamichelin.com

Please keep in mind that those driving times are absolute minimums, without breaks, no traffic jams, etc.

Dublin-Killarney will be quite a drive (and driving 4, rather 5 hours mostly on 2-lane highways is not the same as 4-5 hours on an interstate).

And no one will know what the weather will be like. Last week, it was sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, bit cool, bit warm.. daytime temps from 15-20C.. bring a light rainproof jacket, also waterproof shoes, and dress in layers.

Hope you'll have a great trip.

The Cliffs would be a bit too much for a day trip IMO.

Kinsale/Cork-Dublin is no big deal since most of the trip will be a new motorway.

GreenDragon

Ireland may look small, especially compared to US distances, but it takes a long time to get places as the roads are windy, twisty, and sometimes single lane. Assume no more than an average of 35mph for any trip, and more time for stopping and saying 'Ooh! Let's go explore that random castle!'

It looks like you want to see the west more, so if you can, switch your flights to in and out of Shannon. If you can't, I would either stick to the east coast, or see if you can at least get a one-way flight from Dublin to Shannon that first day. No need to cross the country twice by road if you don't need to!

I agree the Cliffs are a big day trip from Killarney. How about this suggestion?

Day 1- Arrive in Dublin- take shuttle plane (or even bus?) to Shannon, rest on the way.
Day 2- Pick up rental car- drive to Killarney- walk around city/visit Kenmare (stay in Killarney)
Day 3- Dingle Penninsula (stay in Killarney)
Day 4- Ring of Beara (very beautiful, uncrowded) (stay in Kinsale)
Day 5- Cork to see Blarney Stone/(stay in Kinsale)
Day 6- Drive back to Dublin (perhaps visit Rock of Cashel, Kilkenny, or Glendalough on the way)
Day 7- Leave

Fergal

Both Jent103's and Greendragon's suggested itineraries are very good, I'd be more inclined for the cliffs of Moher rather than going south but then again I'm not very familiar with Cork.

Also do take note of travel times when driving, not only are the roads slower to drive and you will get caught behind slow moving vehicles such as tractors but also driving these kinds of roads can be more tiring than motorways.

Regarding flights from Shannon, some carriers leave Dublin to the USA but will stop in Shannon on the way to pickup more passengers so it is possible to get flights from Shannon very close timewise to flights from Dublin

GreenDragon

And sheep, don't forget the sheep. I've been caught on a one lane road behind sheep and cows many times