meanderthal

Wife and I have made reservations via BnB's for a 14 day trip in Ireland. Flying into and out of Dublin. Renting a car. We prefer smaller towns and historical sights. Inexpensive tours are fine. Museums are great as well for me but wife doesn't care for my slow pace when I go in one. Below is our itinerary, we are already locked into these rooms. By doing it this way we kept our per night cost down to about 62 bucks but are still close to the action.

Please comment with ideas of places to visit or small towns along the way that offer something.

Thanks!!
(System hung up, will edit post when recovered)

Macross

Try again later.

meanderthal

Ok, for some reason I cannot edit my OP. Here is my itinerary.


Day 1: Arrive at Dublin Airport at 5:00 AM. Pick up rental car and check into BnB in Dublin.
HOHO bus tour (Hop On, Hop Off)
Day 2: Second day in Dublin. Continue touring city.
HOHO bus tour
Day 3: Leave Dublin in morning, go to Cashmel, Hore Abbey. Check into BnB at Kilworth.
Day 4: Tour Cork.
Maybe do Blarney Castle if crowds are thin. Drive to Dingle and check in at BnB.
Day 5, 6, 7: Three nights in Dingle.
Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Dick Macks brew house, Kilarney, Muckross.
Day 8, 9, 10: Doolin:
Cliffs of Moher, Music scene, Burren, Burren National Park, maybe Innis Mor Island. Do a short trip into Galway when headed to next stop.
Day 11: Clifden:
Connemara Sky Drive. Check into BnB in Westport.
Day 12, 13: Westport:
Clew Bay Archaeology Trail, Achill Island tour. Drive on the 13 to Trim.
Day 14, 15: Trim
Trim Castle, maybe a day trip into Dublin.
Leave out the morning of the 15.


We are open to most anything.

greytop13

Just curious. Why not pick up your car the morning of day 3? Saves a couple of days rental, parking fees and headache of driving in Dublin. I don't know who you're renting from but there are a number of agencies in central Dublin.

Bette

Yes, pick up the car when you are ready to leave Dublin.

meanderthal

Oddly my posts don't seem to be making onto the forum.
Yes, we rented the car a little prematurely. Where we a staying the parking is free. We'll drive to our BnB and park the car, then take buses from there into Dublin.

PalenQ

As a newcomer I think you are limited in posts until you have a certain number.

LindaBrinck

Blarney Castle is on a published list of THINGS NOT TO DO IN IRELAND.
If you love crowds, tourist traps, awful, expensive food, many, many coach buses and long lines, then you will love it.
I knew this before going. My niece insisted on this stop and it was worse than I imagined. A horrible afternoon. Real spirit crusher. Stay away.

Skip Blarney Castle and instead head to Killarney Park, and Ross castle, spend 2 nights in Kenmare (great music), then drive Ring of Kerry on the way to Dingle, stay 2 nights (great music there too). 3 nights in Dingle is a bit much. Very small area. Then head to Doolin (more music!) for 2 nights and then to Clifden.

lolfn

We went to the Blarney Castle in July, 2016 . Arrived about 45 min to 1 hour prior to its closing and had the place almost to ourselves. I think there were two other families that we saw. Had an absolutely lovely time and enjoyed the castle and its grounds very much. When we left, the gate staff had all left and it was even a bit of a conundrum as to how to exit as they had barricaded off most of the car park. Since it sounds like you might be going much later in the day, after all the tour buses have left, then I highly recommend it.

We just returned from another trip and loved Galway. We stopped in Westport for lunch as we had heard great things about it and were not terribly impressed. It must come alive after 5pm when the pubs and restaurants open because lunch options were extremely limited and there wasn't a ton of life in the town center. But it is situated perfectly for your plans to visit Achill Island, etc.

I also strongly recommend visiting one of the Aran Islands. We went to Inish Mor as it had the most to do, especially in mid-March, and we loved it. We, unfortunately, had a foggy day and it still felt magical to be out there.

lolfn

Hit reply too early... Clifden is a great town, a kind of beachy vibe. There are a number of good restaurants too. Make sure you drive up past Lough Inagh and by Kylemore Abbey on your way to Clifden. Beautiful scenery through the center of Connemara.

Just south of Clifden is Derrigimlagh Discovery Point, the location of the first transatlantic wireless messages and where the first transatlantic flight touched down. There is about a 1.5km looped walkway that goes into the bog which was a great place to stretch our legs.

Another beautiful drive is from Leenaun to Louisburg on the way to Westport.

Macross

Westport was all about day trips but it does come alive in the evening. Funny story but we got into a wake party two nights in a row. Matt Malloy's has a back room where they rock. The front is more traditional. We had fun there. We were told by our taxi to turn by the funeral home to visit Westport house, we asked this lady in a shop where it was and she told us we were early for the wake. When we were walking back into town the line to the funeral was so long. The pubs were soon filled. I like the town of Blarney. The grounds are beautiful.

meanderthal

Thanks, lots of good information to C&P into our planner....

girlonthego

Sorry to interrupt the post, but Macross, twice? you went to a wake party! LOL I normally hate wakes, but I imagine in Ireland, they can be quite the party! We are headed there for our first trip this October.