lyban

You have all been very patient with me but I still need more help.
Here is my 4th revised plan. We are 30 year old couple, driven on left before.Want scenery by day and pubs and small towns at night.
Oct 3
- Arrive at Knock Airport, pick up rental car,drive to Achill Island, then drive back to Westport( Sleep Bouldevard Guesthouse)
Oct 4
Visit Westport, then drive thru Croagh Patrick,thru Leenane to Roundstone. (Sleep Rush Lake House)
Oct 5
Roundstone thru Oughterard to Ballyvaughan or Doolin.(Daly's House or Sea View)
Oct 6 (2 Nights)
Drive to Dingle( stay at Heatons or Emlagh lodge)
Oct 7
Stay in same place and visit
Oct 8
Drive to Kenmare(Foley's Guesthouse or Virginia's)
Oct 9
Drive to Cashel(Stay at Joy's Rockside)
Only going here to shorten drive next day to Dublin.
Oct 10-11-12
Leave for Dublin. drop off car at airport, take bus to city center(Jury's Christchurch or Harding or??)
Spend 11th doing everything I can in Dublin. Might take Mary Gibbins tour on 12th to Newgrange,depending on how much money is left.
Leave on 13th.
I have not made any reservations yet. Open to suggestions. Thank you.

rosetravels

Hi Lyban,
I guess it depends on what you want to experience. If you want to do a lot of scenic driving, this would work, if you want to get to know Ireland, I'd slow down.

If it were me I would consider this:
10/3: Knock, Achill, Westport
10/4: Clare Island or Croagh Patrick, Westport
10/5: Drive through Connemara then explore the Burren, stay at Doolin or Ballyvaughan
10/6: Drive to Dingle via ferry
10/7: Dingle
10/8: Kenmare
10/9: Kenmare
10/10: Drive to Dublin

Just a suggestion! Good luck - these itineraries are hard to craft!

lyban

Rosetravels,
Thanks for replying. I have looked at your suggestions and like the beginning but that last day seems like too much driving from Kenmare to Dublin. I have checked AARoadservice and ViaMichelin and come out to 5 hours +. That is why I put only 1 night in Kenmare and then stayed one in Cashel along the way. Now I don't know which to do.
Another option I have is to fly into Shannon instead of Knock and skip Westport and Achill and Croag Patrick completely but since reading up on Westport and vicinity, I find it seems quite quaint. Decisions Decisions...I find this one of the hardest trips to plan. I am use to flying into one large European city and seeing that only so this with all the scenic driving is baffling me.

murphy89

Hi lyban,

I would love you to get some more responses...if you don't, try posting again with Ireland in the title - so it attracts people who have been there

Good Travels,

Murphy

rosetravels

Hello Lyban,
On our trips we always end up with one long day of driving, at least. One day we drove from Shannon to north Donegal. One day we drove from Westport to Derry via the Mullet Peninsula (that was a little silly.)

I love Westport best of all, but Kenmare and Dingle are wonderful too and if you flew into Shannon it would certainly save you a lot of driving.

I don't mind the driving as long as it's not every day and as long as we find quiet roads in sheep covered valleys. The 5 hours to Dublin (if it really is that) might not be too bad.

Hopefully others will have good ideas for you!

Melissa5

Lyban, have you already bought your airline tickets? I am wondering if you are locked into your flights yet.

If so, then I suggest since you only have 8 nights you basically visit the counties that are roughly between Knock and Dublin. This will mean less driving, and greater opportunities to really get a feel for Ireland. If you must fly into Knock and fly out of Dublin, then I suggest you skip Dingle, and don't go that far south, since it's out of your way. Your current plan has you dashing right through some spectacular areas such as Connemara and County Clare.

If you aren't locked into your flights yet, another plan would be to fly into Knock and fly out of Shannon, and skip Dublin.

Good luck! I changed my itinerary dozens and dozens of times! Have a wonderful trip.

With 8 nights, I suggest you have only 3 b&bs as your base...with lots of wonderful day-trips nearby your b&b.

lyban

Melissa,
I do not have flights yet, but the two places that I think I will like the most are: Westport and Dublin. That is why I am so spread out.

wojazz3

Hi lyban:

I see what looks like 10 nights. It looks like the question is shorter drives with a few one night stays or longer drives with two night stays. That's kind of up to your travel style. If you can pack light and be up and out easily, there is nothing wrong with one night stays to avoid long drives. Your style is up to you.

A couple of years ago, a woman posted an itinerary that had evn the most polite declaring that she was a loon. It involved 200+ mile drives on multiple days and backtracking in some obtuse patterns to save a few bucks on rooms (which she probably lost in gas). She couldn't be convinced and in the end came back and let us all know what a great time she had ... so see, what do we know.

If you really want to see Dublin, then you definitely should. Dublin can get pretty wild but it looks like you will be there on week nights so it should be a lot of fun minus the insanity. Sure it's a long drive, but it's why you are going.

You say Westport is one of the main things you want to see. I agree with rose here. Spend two nights there. You'll probably miss Roundstone which is a cute town but there are lots of cute towns in Ireland. If for some reason you have an interest in bodhrans, there are much better ones than the much too famous Malachy Kerns.

Your itinerary is entirely doable though it will be full. It is definitely 5+ hours from Kenmare to Dublin, my guess is about 6 if you are not used to driving there. The drive from Kenmare to Killarney is very slow, though it would pick up from there.

Personally, I like breaking up the trip across the country with a stop in Cashel. Sometimes, multiple night stays aren't practicle in shorter trips. Of course, this will inspire other trips, so you may be back.

Bill

lyban

wojazz3,
Thank you for your ideas. I am thinking you might be right and I could spend 2 nights in Westport but then it will just make the next travel day longer. I do not see where I gain anytime. But Roundstone was just a thought,we are not interested especially in bodhrans, so would another small place around be better like Clifden or Oughterard or ??..

lyban

Another question for anyone who might know: When I leave Doolin for my drive to Dingle. Does anyone know the best way. The aa roadworks and viamichelin have me not using the bridge or ferry or whatever it is that crosses the Shannon River.They have me going around thru Ennis and then around Limerick, Is that the best way to go or should I take the crossing

Keenan

Ah geez, you may be getting overwhelmed by now. Just remember to slow down during the trip. One suggestion that I would offer is staying for Kenmare two days dropping the car off at the Killarney airport and taking the train to Dublin. The trip isn't too long and you can rest up for Dublin. As far as the trip from Doolin to Dingle, just follow the coast road that the Cliffs are on. Eventually, you'll wind your way to the ferry. From there, follow the signs to Tralee, then Dingle. Good times

Melissa5

lyban, we took the ferry when we went from Dingle to Ballyvaughan, which is past Doolin. It was fun and saved time. Also whenever you drive to a big city like Limerick you could hit some traffic... I say take the ferry. We didn't, however, do the Connor's pass on this drive because it was morning and not good weather. (We did see the Connor's pass when it was a clear afternoon and we drove from Bunratty to Dingle however!)

Here is what I think you should do. It worked for me. Write down the places or experiences you want, in order, from the most important to the laest important. (Least important means you wouldn't mind saving those til your next trip.) Now, with that list in your hand, cross out the bottom half! I know it is hard, but it will help you focus and improve your trip!

It is true that some people go dashing all over and love it. But you need to know yourself. For us, dashing all over is stressful and causes arguments and makes us not have any fun. We like 3 nights in one place...even my young adult son and daughters prefer to stay put in one fabulous place for 3 nights and do day-trips from there.

Since you believe you are most looking forward to Westpor and Dublin, I would put those on top of your list, #1 and #2. Now you need a number 3...What is #3? County Clare? Dingle? Rock of Cashel? I think choosing your #3 will help you focus.

People talk about taking the road less travelled and those unexpected experiences. But when we go too fast, there isn't any time for unexpected experiences. We get our favorite unexpected experiences when we stay put in one town for 3 nights. (Maybe for you, 2 nights in one town is enough. We are 4 or 5 people in one family traveling together, with different interests, and not everyone gets satisfied unless we are in one place for 3 nights.)

Before I left, I thought I would die without seeing the Rock of Cashel. How can you go to Ireland without seeing the Rock of Cashel? But when I made my list, in order or priorities, I found that Rock of Cashel fell closer to the bottom, meaning it was okay to see it on my next trip...And you know what? When we got to Ireland, since I had researched all the places we did want to seee, everything was amazing, and I never felt for even one second any sense of regret for those places I had left out...those places became pale ghosts compared to the real places I was standing on...

I suggest you plan your whole trip around Westport and Dublin since those are your 2 top choices. There are lots of places nearby those 2 places that you could see. From Westport, it isn't so far to head for County Clare for a couple nights...County Clare was one of our favorite counties. Also, Connemara is a convenient stop near Westport. However as I mentioned Dingle is too far... (This is planning Melissa5 style...you gotta figure out what is your style!)

Near Dublin are also lots of great sites in all directions! You know, on our trip, I barely squeezed in County Antrim, and we ended up regretting fitting it in, because for us, 2 nights up in Bushmills was stressful getting up there, and not enough time to really soak in the wonders of the area...and the Antrim coast was too gorgeous for a day-trip in our opinion, we wished we had either left it out or spent a night along the Antrim coast somewhere...we felt like we barely saw the coast...

When I read trip reports, I often see people who had a great time but wanted more time here and more time there. It is rare to see somebody who researched their trip well and then says, oh, we were so bored, we had too much time in this place!!! (This mainly happens to people who haven't done their research...like, if you are going to Dublin, you wanna do your research and know that it is noisy and crowded for example ahead of time!)

Good luck. I am enjoying hearing you plan your trip, remembering when ours was just a list of places and a pile of guidebooks...

Stick with your strongest instincts. I had a feeling all along that I should leave out County Antrim in order to impprove the pace of our trip, to slow it down, but lots of people said it was so beautiful I should go there. Well it was beautiful but by our standards we "barely" saw it!

lyban

Thanks again to everyone for your valued opinions. I am going to be looking at this itinery again and see what revisions I can come up with.
Thanks

lyban

Everytime I think I am getting somewhere in my plans, something happens and I feel like I have to start over.

Last night I was at a friends Bar BQ and met another couple and the lady was from Ireland. She told me that the first week of October when I am there will be rain rain and more rain and probably very dreary so she suggested that I only stay in the bigger cities like Galway, Cork and Dublin because she says the scenic drives will be a waste.

I am going to change my itinery that is posted above and stay the first 2 nights in Westport, and I have the last 3 nights in Dublin but in between now I am not sure of anything again.
Do you think I should change the rest of my itinery to stay in Galway and Cork for 2-3 nights each instead of my above plans.

IrishEyes

Very interesting weather prognostication. Was she reading a crystal ball, tarot cards or the entrails of a goat? ;-)

Rather than take the word of some stranger you just met who may or may not be right go to this site and look up past weather in October to see how accurate she really is: http://tinyurl.com/hunbz

rosetravels

Hi Lyban,
Here are weather statistics:
http://www.ireland.com/weather/climate/

It looks like rainfall varies from place to place in October.

I don't think Galway would be any more interesting in the pouring rain than in the sunshine. We often have different activities thought out for rain or non-rain. For example, if you're in Kenmare and it's sort of clear, drive around the Beara Peninsula. If it's pouring rain, either shop in Kenmare or drive to Bantry to the museum.

Rain or shine I'd still rather be in Dingle, Kenmare and Westport than in Galway or Cork.

sullivan1212

Nobody changes travel plans to Ireland because it might rain.

shashie

I was in Ireland for 2 weeks in October and it rained one day. I have visited twice in May -- on one trip it rained a bit every day, on the other it was warm + sunny 90% of the time. Sure, plan for rain, but don't let it stop you from going where you want to go. Ducking into a pub for a pot of tea or a pint is great when it's raining!

Also -- the idea of taking the train (irishrail.ie) from the west to Dublin is a good one if you really aren't interested in stopping anywhere in between (or don't have time to). I took the train from Dublin to Kilkenny and it was great. On the other hand, I don't think you will regret it if you do stop in Cashel. The Rock of Cashel is amazing. Have fun! -Marsha

Keenan

Okay, enough is enough, Lyban, just set the plans and go. You are turning this into a trip to the moon, rather than a pleasant trip to another country. I think some decisiveness on your part is required, as you are definitely overwhelmed with suggestions. Good luck and I know that once you get to Ireland, it will only get more confusing, geez louise

Melissa5

Lyban, I changed our itinerary hundreds of times and enjoyed all of that dreaming phase. We had a great trip! Change it as many times as you please. For rain, I agree that you might just make sure you have a rainy day plan and a sunny weather plan. We did that even for July.

Even in places like the Dingle area, for example, there are some things you can enjoy in the rain. I just loved the Blasket Island Heritage center, the museum on the Dingle peninsula. We spent about 5 hours there including lunch! A great place for a sunny day.

For rainy weather I would probably choose a few base-camps located near sites that would be good to see in rainy weather, and other things to do in sunny weather. I would probably want to spent 3 nights there, which would increas my changes of getting to accomplish the sunny-weather- part of my itinerary.

Staying in Westport is great for sun or rain. For rainy days you can shop and go to the pubs. For sunny days there are plenty of scenic drives nearby, including Achill Island...you can climb Croagh Patrick if it's good weather. For a rainy day in Westport be sure to head for the chocolate shop for gourmet chocolates and a cappucino or cup of tea! I have their brochure somewhere in my pack here...

Enjoy! By the way, we drove through Galway and stopped for shopping and lunch for a couple of hours. I didn't like Galway especially, as it had lots of traffic, parking problems, and was crowded. I thought Westport was much more charming. I haven't been to Dublin yet but I know they have lots of great museums in Dublin.