We've been reading posts on Fodors for a few weeks now and slimmed down our original itinerary.

Here's our second stab at an itinerary. We'll be in Ireland for 13 days the first two weeks of September. We love history and scenery.

* Sunday - Arrive and stay in Dublin.
* Monday - Dublin.
* Tuesday - Dublin for 1/2 day. Pick up rental car at airport and drive to Hill of Tara. Stay in Trim.
* Wednesday - Visit Newgrange. Drive to and stay in Belfast.
* Thursday - Belfast sights and Giant's Causeway. Stay in Belfast.
Friday - Leave Belfast, drive to and stay in Galway.
Saturday - Galway sights.
Sunday - Leave Galway and head to Cliffs of Moher. Drive to and stay in Tralee.
Monday - Drive the Dingle Peninsula. Drive to and stay in Killarney.
Tuesday - Leave Killarney, drive to and stay in Cork.
Wednesday - Cork sights.
Thursday - Leave Cork, drive to and stay in Bunratty.
Friday - Fly out of Shannon early morning.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Hello,
You may still want to slim this down further. It's hard to do but you'll be glad you did once you're there!

You might want to skip Cork so you have more time to explore either Co. Clare or Co. Kerry or both. You could also skip Galway since you'll be in both Dublin and Belfast. That way you'll have a good amount of time in the charming small towns.

I agree with rosetravels. Choose 2 of your 3 big cities: Galway/Belfast/Dublin.

You have the same problem we had...you want to go as far north as the Giant's Causeway and as far south as Dingle...this stretches your itinerary too thin.

We had 15 nights in Ireland and still felt it was a wonderful trip but if I had to do it over, I would have cut out one more destination in order to add time to enjoy the others even more. I would have skipped the Giant's Causeway as it's so far north. I would have kept Dingle, and saved the Giant's Causeway for the next trip.

If you want to look at my trip report we saw some of the places you are looking at...it starts with the title "100 Kisses At Matt Malloys Pub..."

With your 13 nights I would do something like this:

Fly into Dublin.
3 nights: b&b near Dublin. Visit Dublin and Newgrange. (use public transportation while visiting Dublin)
2 nights: Galway area b&b. visit nearby sites.
2 nights: b&b in County Clare (visit Cliffs of Moher & other sites)
2 nights: Dingle Peninsula b&b.
2 nights: Killarney area b&b.
1 night: b&b in Bunratty
fly home from Shannon

That itinerary skips Belfast, Giant's Causeway, and Cork. It still goes a bit fast for me, but I think you would really enjoy your trip this way. There are so many scenic spots between Dingle and County Galway!

On your current itinerary, you are trying to see Belfast and the Giant's Causeway in one day...you won't enjoy them this way...We spent 2 nights up near the Giant's Causeway and then 2 more nights near Belfast and still felt things were moving a bit fast.

Good luck! I re-worked my itinerary many times, but it was worth all the work!

Yep, a little trimming will greatly improve your trip. Your thoughts of "catching" places like the Cliffs and Dingle on the way, will take a lot more time than one would think. You're looking at very long days. The Giant's Causeway from Belfast and the Dingle are best enjoyed as daytrips, so expect to see too many sites in Belfast and Killarney on those days.

Skip Galway. I found nothing that I hadn't already seen before. It will take a while to drive b/w the Cliffs of Moher & other sites.