9 day in Irelan; itinerary too much?
 

Hello all,

I could use all the help of all you Ireland experts on here! I will be spending about 9 days in Ireland;will be going solo and relying completely on public transport. I've been playing with my plans, but still feel like I'm may be doing too much. Here's what I have so far...

5/28: Fly into Dublin
5/29: Dublin to Galway
5/30: Galway; Day tour Cliffs and Burrens
5/31: Galway to Aran Island
06/01: Aran Island to Doolin; Doolin to Cahir
06/02: Cahir: Rock of Cashel and maybe Cahir Castle
06/03: Cahir to Tralee; Tralee to Dingle
06/04: Dingle
06/05: Dingle
06/06: Dingle to Tralee; Tralee to Dublin
06/07: Fly out of Dublin

Nothing is set in stone besides the days I'm flying in and out. I'm willing to take suggestions on better ways to get around/things that need to be cut out.

Must sees are: Cliffs of Moher, Aran Island, and Dingle

Any help appreciated!
Drea

Hello Drea,

I'm Dublin-born and also write a guide to Dublin on the web. A few suggestions if I may:

Some itineraries posted here are too ambitious, but your timescale is reasonable. A few comments:

Doolin/Burren and the Cliffs of Moher take quite some time from Galway. Additionally, you're going to be exhausted getting from the Aran Islands to Doolin - I reckon that's about 6 hours travel.

Recommend: Spend a night in Doolin after Galway.

Doolin to Cahir is not on a main road. That's also going to take time, bus changes etc, and you're adding zig-zags to your journey (fun though that might be).

Recommend: Tralee/Dingle-Cahir-Dublin as a better route.

I'm sure other Fodorites will have expert opinion and suggestions.

My review of our Munster tour (including Co. Kerry) may interest you:
http://www.hidden-dublin.com/tours/munster_index.html

Happy planning,

Peter

Getting out to the aran islands, instead of the ferry, use airaran. It's only slightly more expensive and the flight is 10min, so you get more time on the island. Also, you can pre book but we just showed up in august 2006 and they squeezed us on (literaly lol) to a flight.
Hope that helps.

Hi Drea:

It took me a second to figure this out, but it sounds like you will be taking one service (from Galway to Arans) and another (Arans to Doolin). A few things to note.

The boat from Galway doesn't leave from Galway (at least it didn't in the past) You take a bus and leave from Rossaveel)

Using two different service will be more expensive because you don't get the benefit of the return fare.

The boats from Doolin are weather influenced and if the weather is bad and the seas are choppy, they don't run. My understanding is that Inisheer has a rough harbor to get into.

I agree that going to Cahir and then back tracking to Dingle doesn't make a lot of sense. I presume the stop in Tralee is there to change buses. Otherwise, I don't find Tralee particularly interesting.

Hope this helps.

Bill

Thanks for all the advice! I am going to switch Cahir and Dingle as recommended! I'm not sure what I was thinking with that one. I'm going to chalk it up to late hours and no sleep! (I had originally had it at the end of my trip and changed it)

I’m also debating if I should scrap Aran Islands or not. I could just make it a day trip; round way most likely by plane. Then do Galway down to Dingle. While I'd love to visit, I'd be okay crossing if off my plans. (Gives me something to look forward to next time, right?) If I scrap it, would you recommend an extra day in one of the cities I'm planning on already staying in? Or is there another city from Galway to Dingle that is worth the stop? (Or anywhere along the way for that matter)

Thanks!!
Drea

My 1st thought is that overnight is a better idea on the Arans, especially Inishmore. Also, 5/31 is a Saturday and they tend to be even more crowded on weekends. If you stay overnight, all the daytrippers are gone and it is really much more serene. If you fly there, you could consider an afternoon flight out and comeback the next morning. At that time of year, it will be light until 10ish so you would have plenty of time to enjoy the island in relative solitude. Since the Arans are on your short list, I would keep it.

Bill