Ok, I'm going to go out there and say that the ROK was way too busy wirh tour buses, etc.

OTOH, The Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula was just the oppisite. Fantastic scenery, not as much traffic.

Take a look at Rick Steve's Best of Ireland book and his recommendations for places to see and time in each place...see the beginning of the book. He's spot on, I'll say, after my more than 30 trips to Ireland. And I've done the round-the-country trip myself. You shouldn't rush either the North or the Southwest...too much to see and appreciate. Even Dublin deserves more than a jet-lagged rush on Day 1 if you want to hit the free National Museum or catch a great Irish play. Ireland by car is a place to be savored...there's something down every laneway!

Thank you to everyone for your input...I am going back to the drawing board on this itinerary!
TRAPYT I actually did read your trip report a few days after you posted it, it made me so excited to visit ireland! i am now thinking about staying at the same place you stayed in kenmare!

meath1, thanks for your advice on the north! I am so torn because I really want to see it...

Ok, I've come up with a new itinerary...it's still alot to see, but I think it's more do-able. Opinions?

Day 1: Fly into Dublin, explore.
Day 2: Dublin
Day 3: Day trip with railtours up to Antrim coast to see Giant's Causeway, Roap Bridge and the distillery. Has anyone taken this tour? I know it's not alot of time to spend on the Antrim coast but at least we would get to see it? the trip takes all day.
Day 4: Take train from Dublin to Galway, pick up rental car in Galway and drive to our B&B in Connemara. Why not stay in Galway? We would rather stay in the heart of Connemara and do our exploring from there.
Day 5: Explore Connemara, Kylemore Abbey, etc...
Day 6: Connemara.
Day 7: Drive to Dingle via Cliffs of Moher and Burren. I know this is a long drive, but I have read of other fodorites doing it in a day...as long as we take alot of rest stops I think we will be fine? What do you think?
Day 8: Dingle, Slea Head Drive.
Day 9: Dingle.
Day 10: Drive to Kenmare. Explore Killarney National Park, stay in Kenmare.
Day 11: Drive around ring and visit Skellig Micheal.
Day 12: Drive up to Shannon and fly out, either on day 12 or stay the night near airport and fly out on day 13, depending when our flight leaves.

I can add an extra day somewhere, where should I add it?

nspotz,
This thread really gets my goat. I envision a panic tour to see everything on a typical two week *vacation* granted by a corporation. Why don't you ask your boss for a two week leave of absence so you can actually enjoy yourself for a month on Guinness Island? You will never regret it, or forget it.

This itinerary looks better than your last.

As far as driving to Dingle---we drove from Westport to Killrush and stayed overnight, then the next day on to Dingle. Given the choice again, we would drive straight through. It is long, but doable with the Tarbert Ferry. Here's the ferry schedule:

http://www.goireland.com/kerry/killi...es-id27593.htm

Favorite restaurants
Dingle---"Out of the Blue" and "The Chart House"
Kenmare---"Mulcahy's"
Both are hard to get in to. When you email your B & B's, ask them to reserve a night for you. We also wanted to eat at "Packie's" in Kenmare (another Fodorite favorite) but we didn't reserve ahead and couldn't get in on the 3 nights we were there.

BTW, we thought 2 weeks in Ireland was fine, but we enjoyed so much we will return in May.

TRAPYT-thanks for the tips! I will check out that ferry.

spaarne- I'm sorry to hear this thread bothers you so much. Unfortunately, two weeks vacation is all I get for the year. I don't have the luxury of going on a vacation for an entire month. Also, this may be the only time we ever get to visit Ireland so I want us to enjoy our trip and be able to see the top things on our list. I think the second itinerary I posted is possible in a two week period. We don't mind driving and we are fast-paced travelers. If you have any useful advice I would love to hear it, but please leave the sarcasm to yourself.

nspotz----Bravo on the response to spaarne. A little kinder than I was thinking.

TPAYT- If we had to pick between Greenmount House and the Shelbourne which one would you pick? We will be going to both Dingle and Kenmare but cannot afford to stay at both, since they seem to be higher priced B&Bs....we want to pick one nice B&B to stay in and the rest will be in 30 euro per person range...thank you for all of the advice!

Which did we like better? That's like asking if we like Monet or Piccasso better. They were so different.

Greenmount House---the rooms were modern and new. Excellent location. Beautiful view at breakfast with an extensive buffet and menu of different items.

Shelburne Lodge----very old with antiques (but the beds were king sized, new, and very comfortable). Probably the best breakfast menu and food we had at a B & B. Again, excellent location.

Greenmount House was more like a hotel and Shelburne Lodge like staying with an Irish cousin in her Manor House. Do you like new or old?

Even though I loved SL, I guess I'd choose GMH.

nspotz,

Sorry I upset you. I was trying to be helpful. I have asked and have been granted unpaid time out from my jobs for long trips in Europe, up to a couple of months. I just think that you are trying to cram too much into a two week trip. I spent a week in Ireland last year (Cork, Dublin, and Belfast) and certainly wish that I had stayed much longer.

In Dublin I recommend that you visit the Guinness Storehouse but you probably knew that already. For the best seafood chowder on earth I suggest the Ryan's FXB Grill.

nspotz, take a peek at The Lodge in Kenmare. Great value for the price, we thought.

Oh, The Lodge in Kenmare! I still dream about this B&B. My favorite in 5 trips to the British Isles.

It is so hard to pick a place to stay as there seems to be so many great choices!!!

spaarne-I apologize, I must have mis-interpreted your post. I do wish I could stay in Ireland for an entire month! I think that would be heaven...sadly I could never leave my job for that long. My husband is a teacher so he has the entire summer off...I envy his schedule!