garyincary

We would welcome your input on our trip itinerary. We plan to spend 2 weeks in Ireland towards the end of August. We are not museum or history people, and prefer exploring towns and villages and getting a real feel for Ireland. Places we want to see include the Dingle Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands, Killarney National Park, Cork/Kinsale area, Dublin, and Galway area. We don't want to change where we sleep too often, so were thinking of 4 places as our bases. We are thinking of spending 3 nights in Dublin, then driving to Cork area and spending 3 nights there, with a day trip to Killarney National Park. Would you suggest staying in Cork, Kinsale, or Cobh? We are then spending one night in a castle in Tralee. We want to drive the Dingle Peninsula, and spend a couple of nights in that area. Would you recommend staying in Dingle, Tralee, or some other town as our base? We would then drive to Galway area. Would you suggest staying in Galway, or some other town as our base for that area? Finally, would you fly out of Dublin or Shannon, if we are in the Galway area? Thanks so much for the generosity of your experiences.

sdtravels

I could have written this myself. I can't wait to see the responses.

indy_dad

Others can comment better on what is "best" as we've only been the one time. We stayed in Killarney, Dingle and Galway and ticked some of the boxes you mentioned. Have a look. Hope it helps.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/ireland.html

Tony2phones

This is typical guide book Ireland, not that there is anything wrong with that but there are places where you might see more locals than visitors,
3 nights Dublin is fine,
3 nights in Kinsale, please dont. Have a night there if you must but the place punches above its weight and is fast becoming a Posh suburb of Cork city. 3 nights in either Killarney or Kenmare would be a better option (do not belive St Richard of Steves about killarney (or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter))
Ballyseede is a fine castle hotel option.
2 nights Dingle OK the place is compulsory for US visitors.
Galway is a good Touring base but if you only have a couple of days left then Ennis is a great touring base for the whole of County Clare. covers places like Bunratty (folk park is well worth a look) Loop Head peninsular, The Cliffs of Kilkee oh yes and the Moher tourist trap, The Burren area including Doolin which has trapaned a dolphin to compete with Dingle. but you can get a combi trip to Inis Oirr and the Cliffs from there. There is of course Lough Derg over here in East Clare which is off the tourist radar.

Tony2phones

Sorry Yes Shannon is a good departure point.

sdtravels

Tony2phones, do you have an itinerary for 2 weeks in Ireland? Would love to see what you would recommend. (Even if it means moving)

Tony2phones

Best to ask a new question of your own, Give some detail on interests and must see/do things and places. 14 days will get you round the coast of the island or 75% of it. Or a week moving and a week in a touring base. Or 3 days in 4 places with 2 days airport running.

TPAYT

Here's my two cents worth. We saw a good amount of Ireland on 2 trips but much of it was different from your itinerary.

The SW was our favortie part of Ireland. 1st trip.

Kenmare instead of Killarney (way too touristy and loaded with traffic.) We absolutely loved our stay here. Close to restaurants, shops, and sites, it was perfect.
http://www.shelburnelodge.com/

Dingle---not that impressed with the town but the Dingle Peninsula was the highlight of our trip. We also loved our stay at:
http://www.greenmounthouse.ie/

We also liked Ennis.

2nd trip---8 mo. later.

Kinsale---we were looking forward to this town and it highly disappointed. We were surprised at the quality of the food in Ireland but this town left a lot to be desired.

Cobh---charming but only good for a few hours.

Didn't go to Cork but one of our best dinners was near Cork & Cobh. Our B&B host suggested it. Here's the site if you are in the area.
http://www.farmgate.ie/corkhome.htm

For us, a day trip to Killarney N. Park from Cork would be just too much driving. See it from Kenmare.

We will definitely return to the SW and see the Cliffs Of Moher---it happened to be really foggy the day we were driving in that area so we skipped it.

I would definitely fly out of Shannon on the return as you don't want to spend a lot of time driving back to Dublin.

Just one traveler's opinion. You will love Ireland. It's beautiful and the people are lovely.

allisonm

Tony mentioned Loch Derg. He is referencing the one in Clare. We would not have found it had we not been stranded for a couple of extra days because of the volcanic ash. The area is beautiful and there is a very neat rotating bridge on the main road south.

Remember that as you are traveling, you will be spending at least half of a day getting to your next destination. By the time you have had breakfast, repacked and hit the road, it will likely be after 10 am. And you won't usually drive to the next stop without breaks for photos, food, or bathrooms.

If you find yourself in Ennis early on a Saturday, they have a market we love. They sell cows and chickens and other great things. I had no idea what a calf cost until we visited Ennis!

We are already planning our next trip for October. It will be our tenth.