stevencollett3591

Fly to Dublin
3 nights Dublin - Trinity Church and all the standards sites
Train to Belfast - Giant Causeway, Titanic, Black Taxi Murals, Etc
3 nights Belfast
Train to Galaway spend day exploring 3 nights
Day trip to Connemara Region
Day trip to Aran Islands
Drive to Dolin (Cliffs of More, Burren, etc) 1 night
Drive to Killarney 2 nights
Day trip to Dingle Peninsula
Day trip Ring of Kerry
Drive to Kinsale 1 night stops along way
Drive to Killkenny 1 night stops along the way
Back to Dublin for 1 night

rouelan

Why don't you drive the whole lot ?

Without a car, how do plan to go to the giants causeway (and maybe visit the Bushmills distillery) ?
train Belfast to Galway? You will need to go via Dublin, take the Luas from Connolly station to Heuston where trains for Galway depart. A long day of travel...

J62

Does this male sense?

to me, no not at all. Seems like a mad dash to hurry up and check off that you’ve been to as many sights around the entire island as one can possibly squeeze in to a short time.

rouelan

Honestly, I don't know. Ireland is a small country. Roads city to city are very good (example Dublin Belfast less than 2 hours).
If it is not the high season, it is very easy not to book ahead accommodation and leave opportunity to adapt plans. If you spent more time in the West, you could just skip the last part and drive from Killarney to Dublin (less than 4 hours).

Some personal views:
- 3 days OK for Dublin. If you think you have "done" it in 2 days, take a bus to spend the day in Glendalough or take the Dart for Howth (fishing village and nice walk around the peninsula)
- 1 day in Belfast is enough for me.
- Ireland is great for scenery but I can't think of places you would stay for hours. So, just drive at leisurely pace, stopping at these places like the causeway, cliffs of Moher, the Burrens...
- Evening is the time to soak up into Irish way of life: go to the pub, enjoy a couple of pints and listen to music. It makes sense to stay in rather touristic villages like Clifden.
- About all, take your time and leave room for improvisation, based around your projected tour

janisj

Welcome to Fodors. I'm afraid i tend to agree with J62 on this one. Yes, Ireland is a 'small' country, but the travel can quite slow.

Your plan starts out sort of OK but from Doolin onwards it get really hectic. Five different hotels in six days is a LOT of packing / checking out / checking in / unpacking / repeat

And Belfast to Galway really does put a spanner in the works. There is no way to get from one to the other via public transport without backtracking through Dublin. Driving would actually be better - saving at least 2 hours travel time but collecting a rental car in NI and dropping it i the Republic will likely have a big drop off fee.

I think you do need to rethink some of your plan . . .

janisj

Thinking about this some more -- you have 15 nights -- that is just about right for what you want to cover just in the Republic. Adding Northern Ireland really makes this more like a n 18+ night trip. Have you already purchased the flights? If not, is there any way you ca add 3 or so more nights?? If that isn't an option I'd seriously consider dropping Belfast, the Giants Causeway, etc.

(I'd definitely want more than 1 day for Belfast and other bits of NI. Plus doing it in one day would make the itinerary even MORE hectic. One day is almost 'why bother' territory so if you can't lengthen the trip drop Belfast. And you have no option but to travel at a leisurely pace - in much of western Ireland you will be lucky to average 35 mph)

rouelan

Yes, it could be an option to skip NI, especially the giant causeway (unless you drive along the lovely Antrim coast to get there). I was bit disappointed, I thought it would be more spectacular.
Belfast: I have been there several times on day trips out of Dublin. I definitely wanted my friends to see the wall, the murals both sides. The Titanic museum was not open at that time, so I can't really say if it would still fit in 1 day but seems doable.
Hotels: I rather stayed in B&B. OK, you still pack/unpack everyday but check-in check-out takes few minutes.

Anything essential missing in the itinerary? Not really, even if my favorite place, Slieve league, is missing but it is remote. If you have a chance to attend a football or hurling game, don't miss it. A packed Croke park supporting the Dubs is unforgettable. Same for KK or Tip for hurling.

bvlenci

Actually, he doesn't have 3 days in Dublin. He has 3 nights, which is really just 2 days.

nylilly

Just back from Ireland and wanted to offer a thought - there’s a bus from the airport in Dublin to Belfast. Maybe hop on that and knock your northern bit out first then return to Dublin to pick up your itinerary? You could also keep all your Dublin days at the end of your trip. Pay attention to days of the week when you’ll be in Dublin. A fair bit is closed earlier on the in the week - museums and such. Let me know if you’re looking for restaurant tips for Dublin and Galway. I’ve got a few suggestions to offer.

Sassafrass

If at all possible, put all nights in Dublin together at the end of the trip. You will already be tired, so if taking public transportation, on arrival, just continue on to Belfast, or wherever your next stop would be.

janisj

Definitely look at these ideas ^^^ .At first I was going to suggest something like that -- Do Belfast first immediately upon landing and then place all te Dublin nights at the end. That would at least get rid of one of the one nighters. But there'd still the issue of cramming all of western/southern Ireland into too few days, so I suggested dropping Belfast instead.

AlessandraZoe

OP's Original Itinerary
Fly to Dublin
3 nights Dublin - Trinity Church and all the standards sites
Train to Belfast - Giant Causeway, Titanic, Black Taxi Murals, Etc
3 nights Belfast
Train to Galaway spend day exploring 3 nights
Day trip to Connemara Region
Day trip to Aran Islands
Drive to Dolin (Cliffs of More, Burren, etc) 1 night
Drive to Killarney 2 nights
Day trip to Dingle Peninsula
Day trip Ring of Kerry
Drive to Kinsale 1 night stops along way
Drive to Killkenny 1 night stops along the way
Back to Dublin for 1 night

OK--It's DOABLE. Does it make sense? NO. It's rather a rat race.

Let's get one thing straight--there is no one perfect way to do Ireland. No, you don't have to rent a car. Much of this can be done by train or a rather direct bus. But your itinerary wipes out a lot of good public transport options and then you might have to rent a car.

I strongly suggest you edit few destinations out to give yourself some flexibility and to give yourself more easy public transport options. And you have to ask yourself what you want to get out of Ireland and put that "want list" first and foremost. I'm not talking a checklist of towns; I'm talking the visual and emotional experience you want out of it.

Some of the above suggestions make sense. One that I particularly liked was to land in Dublin, and head immediately for Belfast by train or bus, making the most of your jetlag day. The X2 bus from DUB gets you to the heart of Belfast in less than 2 hours with no changes. You can fall asleep on it if you like. And you wake up right in Belfast history--the Europa station is right next to the Europa hotel, the most bombed hotel in Belfast. We adored Belfast. Best Titanic center ever, beautiful areas, classic pubs, cultural history galore.

The Causeway is easily toured from Belfast by special tours, by public bus, and my favorite, the train to Portrush. Heck you could go on to Londonderry (Derry for the enlightened) and spend a night or two. A Translink pass allows you to make the most of your outside Belfast touring time--that would allow you to go from train to bus back to train etc.

And let's say you want to head to Galway after Belfast etc. Because the rail system primarily links up through Dublin, you'll have to go through Dublin anyway. This is when I'd do Dublin. Afterwards, the train to Galway is a breeze.

Then there's a bit of a glitch. If you want to do Aran Islands (I've done it twice with the most recent one being an "O God, get me out of here" experience), then just spend two nights in Doolin. An exploration of the Burren and the Cliffs with that stay would give you some breathing room. Doolin is a great place for some time in the pub. Of course, we personally have viewed everything through the filters of "Can we take a good hike?" and "Can we have a good time in a pub?" and if meeting locals isn't your thing then...

The legs from Doolin to anywhere else also become problematic. The public transport options aren't particularly great. I have to say, that while I liked Kinsale, I would not break my back to go to it. Kilkenny got a "meh" from our family. The Ring of Kerry was beautiful but Killarney is the 51st state of Americans in summer. We loved Dingle, but again, we are "bar people". I'm not being particularly helpful here. Since we don't drive in Ireland (we used to cycle everywhere--big sigh) we had to hire drivers for this particular leg. Sorry!

Links to my most recent, possibly helpful to you, trip reports:

• Northern Ireland W/O a Car
• Always in Search of “Our Local”: 3 Days in Liverpool and 18 Days in Ireland (the Ireland part starts around post #17)

and FYI also did...

• Two cycle trips of the West Coast/Wild Atlantic way
• One cycle trip Kenmare over to Cork
• Spent a week in Dublin

so obviously I'm looking at everything as, "If you like Ireland, you SHALL return." In other words, don't try to do it all in one trip. ENJOY the days you have there, don't endure them.

Good luck,
AZ