TheBeadLady

In late August four of us will be arriving in Dublin on a Friday night and leaving from Dublin the following Friday morning.
I'd like any feedback you have on my tentative plan:
Stay Fri and Sat in Dublin, Sun in Wexford, Mon in Dungarvin, Tue in Cahir, Wed in Kilkenney and Thur in Naas. We'd love to see more of the west, but don't want that type of pace. Are there any "must see" places along this route? Is there another 6 day plan you'd recommend? Thanks!

cambe

Hi BeadLady.

Personally, IMO the East Coast is nicer than the West - more lush and not as barren!!

You are however IMO, missing out one of the nicest counties in Ireland - Wicklow.

I would spend a day there visiting Enniskerry, Powerscourt, Greystones, Glendalough, the Vale of Avoca and omit Caher on this trip.

Why are you going to Naas? If it is for the races the Curragh is mor popular and Kildare is a lovely town.

When in Wexford visit New Ross and Dunmore East on the way to Dungarvin.

TheBeadLady

The only reason we picked Naas for Thursday night is to find a place relatively close to Dublin that will allow us to return the rental car and make our 12:15PM plane. Any other suggestions would be welcome. Thanks for your other input. We will definitely hit Wicklow. I'd heard so much about the southwest and west that I was feeling bad about having to miss that.

amyprib

I agree with cambe, in that you should check out the places mentioned, like Powerscourt, Glendalough, etc. There are some nice drives through that area and south. Glendalough you could easily spend a day. Search it online, see what interests you, if you like walking, exploring it will be fun. If you can hit Cashel and Cahir (could do in one day) you can visit The Rock of Cashel, and Cahir Castle. Both are worth the stop if you have the time. We skipped Wicklow so no advice on that.

JOHNOD

Unlike Cambe I am in love with the west and sowest however I agree with her that a quick drive through Wicklow is a mistake. Greystones is a lovely fishing village just south of Dublin and I have stayed in Augrim (west of Arklow) and enjoyed a night next to a small waterfall. I would recomend skipping Dungarvan a go a few more miles south to Ardmor. Small fishing village with three pubs and a small hotel built into the side of a cliff named of all things "The Cliff house Hotel" Right outside the hotel is a well marked cliff walk with lots of sights including a shipwreck that ends at a round tower and some other ruins. Why Wexford. After two nights in Dublin get out into the country. Have fun.

Edward2005

DUBLIN. There are a variety of terrific walking tours of Dublin that depart from the Grafton street gate of Trinity College. One covers a general history of the city and Ireland, and the other focuses on the 1916 rebellion and the years following. There is also a fine tour of Trinity College itself, and it includes admission to see the Book of Kells.

I think you're trying to do too much with your itinerary. You have 5 consecutive one-night stays planned. That's madness. One-night stands are hectic, not particularly restful, and they give you get no chance to get to know the town. Instead, choose a central town in a region you want to explore and do some day trips.

The best place to stay outside Dublin and near the airport is Trim. There is a fantastic castle to explore (the one seen in Braveheart). And close by are the Hill of Tara and Newgrange, two places very important to pre-Christian Irish history. Trim and the surrounding sights are worth a day and a half.

If you do nothing else, cut back on those one-night stands.

devizes

We toured the east coast last september and really enjoyed it. went to glendalough , powerscourt and travelled through Avoca staying 3 nights on the coast in a nice place (ballygarran house) lovely beaches along the coast (saving private ryan opening scenes shot on one of the beaches) wexford town was very quaint. we went on to hook lighthouse and dunmore east. stayed in a kilkenny B&B not so nice!! and then caught ferry back to UK.

Doriana

I strongly second Edward2005's comments about avoiding one night stands. On my first trip to Ireland we tried to cover a lot of territory and did mostly one-nighters. We'd drive, arrive in a town, check in, have dinner, sleep, have breakfast, and race around trying to see the town before we had to move on to the next town and do the same thing over again. It was exhausting.