7 nights in Ireland
 

We're traveling to Ireland with two teenagers for 7 nights in June. We're flying into Dublin in the afternoon and staying for two nights (June 15-17). Then, we're currently headed to Cork (June 17-19) and Killarney (June 19-21). We're not sure about this itinerary at all. For one thing, we're not sure about Cork -- this is where are family originates from, but we're not sure if we should stay in the city of Cork or a picturesque, charming harbor town like Kinsale or Cobh -- or maybe it makes sense to stay in Cork and just visit these towns while we are there. Also, now we're having doubts about Killarney because it's so touristy and crowded. Would it be better to stay in Killarney or Kenmare? Then, we have one more night and we flight out at 3:30 pm on the 22nd so we could easily drive from another town to the airport -- we'd rather not spend another night in Dublin. Should we stay in Wicklow mountains the last night or visit Trim (my husband has some distant cousins there). If we go to Trim, we could also see Newgrange. Any thoughts on all of this? Is Cork worth it? What is your ideal 7 night trip to Ireland?

I have kept re-reading your post and thinking about the best way to respond. There's a lot to unpack.

Part of the problem in my responding in terms of advice is that no matter how many trips (lost count) we've taken to Ireland, we have yet to drive. We were always cycling with our teens, whether it be through rentals or with group trips, and we'd fill in the rest with trains, buses, cabs. Without our girls, at our old-as-hills age now, we still do public transport but will often engage private drivers in segments. Yes, we've seen everywhere you want to go, but our favorite areas of Ireland are the West Coast and Northern Ireland, which doesn't help you much. So put those facts into consideration when you read my input. Only you can decide what's good for you. In other words, ignore at will.

So onto some constructive advice you actually SHOULD use:
I'm wondering if you need to prioritize your goals, something that might help you make decisions when it impacts your family:

• Do you want to see Irish family members and/or track down ancestral locations?
• Are there certain sites (e.g. Cobh Heritage Center/ Killarney National Park) you and yours truly want to see?
• What are your teens interested in doing? Do they want to hike? Bike? Ahem, cough...drink???

You don't need to answer the questions for us; you do need to answer the questions among your travel group.
-------------------------
So for other bits and pieces:

• Your time is shorter than you think, and thank goodness you are thinking in terms of two-night stays as opposed to one (we now lean toward 3-night stays) That alone reserves precious touring time.
• For your Dublin to Cork venture, I'd just hop on the train and then use the train to get to Cobh whenever you need it. It's 2 to 2.5 hours to Cork (same as driving), and wherever you are staying, you can easily get a regional Cobh train from there at will--they run every 15 minutes spending as much time as you want. You can pick up a car in the area for your other explorations and then return it to Cork and go back to the DUB area by train if you like. No need to stay overnight in Dublin.
• We found Cork to be interesting, but we did not love it. We did like its easy access to Cobh by train.
• I loved Kinsale, but it's isolated. I recommend a walking tour there to get the full flavor of it all.
• Deciding between Kenmare and Killarney is a devil of a decision. We stayed in Kenmare for our cycling for the Ring of Beara and the Caya pass. It was a cute town, but no matter what people say, it does not have as easy access to Killarney National Park as Killarney.
• There are some impressive parks within the Killarney town. If you want to easy access to Muckross House, Killarney National Park, the Gap of Dunloe, Ross Castle and the ROK, then Killarney probably is your choice.

Other than that, I feel about Ireland the way I do about Paris, even though that sounds like a cultural oxymoron: You can't see it all. You can't do it perfectly. If you do it "right", you'll be back to see more because your group has been the opportunity to savor it rather than endure it. One of my best friends, whose husband and she both had grandparents who came over on the boat, ruined Ireland forever for two of their three kids. One recovered enough from their "March through Ireland" car trip to spend a semester overseas in Galway, but he has yet to convince his other two brothers to return.

We were lucky. Our three cycling trips solidified our kids' love affair with Ireland (and yes, they adore Paris and still return there too). One daughter insisted her final college spring break be with her two parents in Ireland rather than with her zillion friends; the other daughter and husband will be taking her two girls to Ireland next year and will be including us.

I wish you so much luck in planning,
AZ

Thank you so much for all of this information. The problem is that our priorities as adults in our 50's are different than our teenagers. I think we decided that we wouldn't do much in the way of geneology and visiting distant relatives on this trip. My husband and I will return on another trip and spend two weeks.

As you say, spending two nights in each location just makes more sense to us. We are just trying to pick some places that would make a good base for day trips to the main sites. Do you think we should skip Cork altogether? We only picked it because our family originated from there although we don't know anyone there now. Also, a lot of geneology research can be done online now. We are more interested in seeing beautiful nature, mild to medium hikes, good food, great music, charming towns, castles, boat rides, etc. Our kids absolutely hate it when we plan too much -- like long 4 hour tours, seeing too many touristy sites, too many museums, etc. We could do a little of that, but that should not be everything. They love adventure so it would be nice to add something adventurous -- for example, we went hanggliding in Austria, white water rafting in Costa rica, snowshoeing in deep snow in Sequoia national park, hiking in Canada, ziplining in Hawaii, etc.

Also, we plan to get a private driver to drive us around because we are not to keen on driving on the left side of the road. We want to relax and enjoy the scenery. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask them for the best stopping points. We Fly into Dublin and we want to stay focused on the south and west portions of Ireland. We will return another time and see the other half -- I know that the north is amazing. Do you think we should skip Cork and stay somewhere like Cobh or Kinsale instead or possibly just head directly from Dublin to Killeny? Then, we could spend a couple of nights in Dingle. From there, we could head to Trim or Wicklow mountains for our last night. We're interested in the Newgrange burial grounds.

Thank you so much for your helpful advice. It's much appreciated. We're trying to get a taste of Ireland without making it too stressful, but keeping it fun for the teens at the same time.

If you click on my user name you will find a trip report on Teens in Dublin. We did a week in Ireland with 2 days in Dublin and 3 days in the surrounding counties. We drove to the surrounding counties so I have info on renting a car etc. We had a great time!

Thank you so much. I appreciate it!