5 Days in Southern Ireland - Help!
 

Hello (this is my first post),

I'm planning to arrive in Ireland later this year on either a Monday night or a Tuesday morning, and fly home on a Saturday. My flight home is booked and out of Dublin, but I'll be coming to Ireland from London and have yet to secure that flight, so I am flexible as to what airport I fly to. I'm thinking of flying to Shannon, seeing the Cliffs, spending time in Dingle, then heading to Dublin for my flight. I've already spent time in Dublin, so I"m not concerned with getting there much before my flight. Should I try to squeeze in ROK, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Kilarny, etc? Should I visit one of these and omit the Cliffs or Dingle? I want to enjoy the country and see the beautiful sights...any help or recommendations on where to sleep/eat would be much appreciated!

So is it...

Day 1 (Monday) - arrive in Ireland at night
Days 2-4 - sightsee
Day 5 - head back to Dublin

?

If so, I'd stick with just the Cliffs and Dingle. Anything else will just be a rush - driving in Ireland is slower than you'd think.

If the Cliffs aren't a must for you, you could think about flying into Kerry, which puts you closer to Dingle (or you could go to Kenmare instead). Ryanair at least used to do flights between London Stansted and there, though I haven't checked in quite some time.

Yes, I could fly in on Monday morning if it makes sense. My flight out of Dublin is Saturday around 3pm. I was planning on renting a car from Shannon Airport, dribing to the cliffs and then taking the ferry to Dingle - do you think that would be too much to do on Monday (if I arrive in Shannon at 8/9am)? If so, I could wake up in Dingle on Tuesday and spend the day there...but then what to do/where to go Wed/Thurs/Fri before heading back to Dublin (friday night or saturday morning)?

You <i>could</i> do the Cliffs and get to Dingle all in one day, since you won't be jet lagged, but it would be a long day. It took us most of the day to get from Dingle to Ennis a few years ago.

Monday - arrive, drive to Cliffs, stay somewhere in County Clare (we stayed in Ennis, but that was due to proximity to the airport)
Tuesday - drive to Dingle, explore town in evening
Wednesday - do Slea Head loop
Thursday - drive to Kenmare
Friday - do Ring of Kerry or Beara Peninsula
Saturday - drive to Dublin (others can help with any stops along this route - I haven't done it)

That would be a nice pace for me.

OMG do not skip Dingle that was my favorite place then Galway. We were there in Nov and had nice weather but the Ring of Kerry was boring and brown. I could not understand the attraction. PLEASE NOTE some of the attractions have daily limits so if you know you want to see a certain landmark make a reservation or you may not get in. Newgrange looked really cool but there was no admittance becaus 150 people had gone thru that day.

What time of year is your trip, runnergirl?

Choose to drive the Beara Peninsula rather than the ROK. More compact and way more scenic.

Wow thanks for all the recommendations! I'll be flying into Shannon (although not booked) on Monday, September 30th. Do you think this is an ok time of year to do these things? I'm sensing from all of you I should stay along the west coast, and not venture to Kilarny/Kilkenny/Cork/Waterford - would you agree? Is that based on my time frame only, or are the Cliffs/ROK/Dingle worth it over those?

I haven't been to Cork, Kilkenny or Waterford, so can't directly compare them. Waterford for the crystal has a reputation of being mainly just a tourist stop, though again, I haven't been myself. If you're after scenery, it'll be hard to beat Dingle, and I've heard wonderful things about the Beara Peninsula. It's on my list to get to.