Flying from Chicago to Shannon with 1 stop means we will be going for 20 or so hours. We will pick up a car at the airport and would like a somewhat closeby B &B for the first night. We will be leaving on Sept. 6th thru 8th and returning Sept. 18th thru 20th. Dates very flexible.

In our very beginning research here are some of our thoughts:

Plan 1:
1. Arrive Shannon, pick up car, stay in Ennis 1 night (it appears to be an easy drive from the airport).
2,3,4. Drive to Galway for 3 nights.
( In the drive between Galway & Dingle maybe add 1 night somewhere, or is it doable?)
5,6,7,8. Drive to Dingle for 4 nights.
9. Drive to Shannon, hotel near airport for early morning flight.

Plan 2:
1. Arrive Shannon, pick up car, stay in Adare for 1 night.
2,3,4,5, Drive to Dingle for 4 nights.
6.Drive towards Galway
(again maybe adding 1 night in between Dingle & Galway if needed)
7,8,9.Galway for 3 nights.
10. Drive to hotel near airport for early flight home.

Plan 3:
1. Arrive Shannon, pick up car, stay in Adare 1 night. Is this a fairly easy drive in our jet lagged state?
2 & 3. Drive to Kinsale for 2 nights.
4 & 5. Drive to Kenmare for 2 nights.
6,7,8,9. Drive to Dingle for 4 nights.
10. Drive to Shannon , hotel near airport for early morning flight home.

I realize there are so many questions about Ireland itineraries and I have read so many posts I'm getting foggy, but we have to start somewhere. Any suggestions or comments would be much appreciated. As I said above, our time is very flexible.

We do want to spend at least 4 nights in Dingle at greenmount-house.com as per a reccommendation from friends. We would like to stay away from the tour busses.

I think Galway to Dingle is doable - a long drive, but doable. I'm not a fan of one-night stays (I do them sometimes, but I'm not a fan of it), so if you can handle a long driving day, I'd go the distance. Otherwise you have to unpack and repack for just one night - taking away precious time enjoying Ireland!

I'd pick plan 2, personally, just to have more time to do things out of Galway. And don't miss the Aran Islands, for sure!

Plans 1 & 2 are nice and relaxed, and though it's personal preference, I agree with suspire - on this drive, I'd rather have one long driving day and get to where I'm going.

I like plan 3, though, because I think the Kenmare/Killarney area has a lot to see as well. However, my preference would be to either skip Kinsale or take a day from Dingle (or just stay an extra day, if you're that flexible) to add to Kenmare. That would give you more time to visit the national park, tour the Beara Peninsula if you choose, visit Skellig Michael, etc. Dingle is wonderful and I like that you plan to stay so long, but to me the Kenmare area has just as much to offer.

suspire----Thanks for the response. I read some of your comments on other posts.

Do you have any suggestions on places to stay either in or near Galway? Any idea how long a drive from Dingle to Galway (either doing the ferry or going through Limerick)?

We definitely will look at your Aran Islands suggestion, sounds wonderful.

jent103----just read your comment and referred back to your other posts on Ireland.

Thanks for the tip about Kenmare. Is it less touristy than Killarney? That's what we are looking for.

How many in your party? At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I recommend An Caladh Gearr Thatch Cottage in Spiddal, rather than staying in Galway City proper. Maura has three rooms, and of course since it's a cottage, all on the ground floor. Under 50€ per person per night.

AA route planner shows 134.3 miles from Dingle to Galway, using the ferry. You can plan about 4 hours of straight driving. Going through Limerick is 159 miles, so part of another hour, if you don't get lost in Limerick as I have done, pre-GPS.

Oh, yes, and a good place to spend first and last nights is Bunratty Lodge in (where else?) Bunratty. Just minutes from the airport and there are lots of things to do and see in the area.

We stayed in Killarney and visited Kenmare, so I don't have firsthand experience in staying in Kenmare. However, Killarney did seem very touristy to me - it was really hard to find decent food within our budget (admittedly tight!), and there didn't seem to be too much in the town. When we visited Kenmare, it felt like there were more options and it wasn't as tourism-oriented. I just liked the feel of the town better. If I were going back, I'd choose to stay there over Killarney. I know many posters here prefer Kenmare.

The only down side, I think, is if you plan to take any day tours, for example of the Gap of Dunloe (not a "tour bus" tour - basically transport to/from the national park and a boat ride on the lakes). The tours I know of leave from Killarney, so you'd have to drive there first.

Oh, also - if you go with one of the Galway itineraries, don't drive through Limerick. Take the Killimer-Tarbert ferry across the River Shannon. Really easy and avoids driving in a larger city. (Tralee was the biggest city we drove in, and while certainly manageable, I wouldn't go through a bigger town given the option.)

HI...I'd stay in Adare if you can - about 45 minutes from airport (if i remember correctly) - but the flight from Chicago to Ireland wasn't 20 hours??? Are you flying into Chicago from somewhere else??

I'd say plan 2 - go to Adare, then Dingel (very do-able in a day) - and end back up in Galway/Ennis --

You'll love ireland - we did - in fact - going back ALMOST at the same time as you - this time we're headed north - going to see belfast and county mayo -- lots to see and do - you never see it all in one visit!

Plan 1 gets my vote. Ennis is a nice town and there are lots of options for dining and publife. Adare is a scenic town, but seems to have fewer choices for dining etc. Once you have walked up and down the main street, that's it.

If you stay in Ennis, after you get checked in and have a wee rest, you might want to take the short drive to Cragganouwen which is a recreated prehistoric village/farmstead, has a tower castle, a delightful short walk through the woods, and the Brendan (Tim Severin's boat which he built and in which he crossed the Atlantic to prove that St. Brendan could have visited North America 1000 years before Columbus.)

If you go to the Aran Islands, take the ferry from Rosseveal rather than Doolin as it is a much shorter trip and there are more trips per day. Once you land there are horse carts with drivers or minivans which meet each ferry and will take you around the island. Go up to Dun Aengus for a heart stopping view over the cliff edge and poke around the nooks and crannies of this ancient fort.

Everyone has their favorite areas, and we love Galway. But I will put in a vote for your plan #3, which omits Galway. Kinsale is a lovely little town, but personally, one night was enough for us. I would take a night from there, and a night from Dingle, and add them to Kenmare. (And I would choose Kenmare over Killarney.) From here you can drive the Ring of Kerry one day, and the Beara Penninsula another. Killarney itself deserves a full day (or more).

But that's just my opinion. If you miss something on this trip, you will have to go back again.

If you do go to the Aran Islands, you might consider flying to Inis Mor one or both ways instead of taking the ferry, just for the thrill of flying over to the island. I did, and would do it again in a minute. A VERY short flight, but NOT for those who are afraid of flying! The planes are small - so small that they weigh you when you check in, so they can balance the plane. When I flew, the scale was a giant giant scale right at the check-in counter, where you get to weigh-in in front of everyone - but I'll take that over an unbalanced plane!

http://www.aerarannislands.ie/

Again, thanks for all the comments. I'll go through all the info in depth this afternoon, but to

Irishgal127A-----about our flight. I'm taking into consideration, 2 hr. drive to Chicago airport, 2-3 hr. check in time, 2 hr. flight to Boston or Newark, 3 hr. layover, 5 hr. flight to Shannon, 2 hr. pick up on luggage and car with drive time to hotel. That comes to 17 hrs., I'm already exhausted!

We have been flying to France every Sept. for many years now and can get a direct flight from Chicago to Paris, but we were unable to find a direct to Shannon. All changed in Newark, Boston, N.Y.,London, etc. We could fly direct to Dublin, but want to stick to the West coast.

As far as the 3 hr. layover in Boston or Newark-----we have been stuck in those cities too many times to want to try a shorter layover. The flights in are notoriously late.

Anyone have any suggestions about changing elsewhere? We'd love to hear them.

Do you have loyalties to a particular airline? Our flight went through Philadelphia (USAir). After using that airport and Newark, though, I'm determined to try to avoid airports in the Northeast whenever possible!

If you have to connect anyway, you could take Aer Lingus (or maybe others, I just checked them) direct to Dublin and connect there to Shannon. I'm not sure how Dublin is for connections, but I haven't heard anything particularly horrible about it...

Flights to Shannon:

http://www.skyscanner.com/flights-to...n-airport.html

I like plan 3 because it lets you see a little more of the country. For all the time you have, I think it'd be a shame to only see the Galway and Dingle areas. For example, I love Dingle, but four nights in Dingle seems way too long to me. It's not exactly super convenient for day tripping to other places and there's not enough to see and do on the peninsula to occupy you for four days. I think two nights would be a better choice. I'm not a fan of the one-night-here-one-night-there trips, but I do think you could spread yourself out a little more and see more of Ireland.

If you end up staying several nights in Galway, I recommend a day trip up to the Connemara region, which is one of the most stunningly beautiful parts of Ireland. Don't miss Kylemore Abbey and a drive along the Sky Road.

Also, while I don't recommend staying in Killarney (at least the center of town), you should definitely go see the lakes and Muckross House. Absolutely gorgeous.

Oh, and I completely agree with jent103 about skipping Limerick and taking the ferry across the Shannon.

Just a minor remark re. "avoiding Limerick":

In September you will be able to bypass Limerick via the new M7 motorway tunnel. It will cost only a fraction of the ferry and will be much faster.

If you go from Dingle/ Killarney/ Tralee to Shannon or Ennis: Where N21 from the Southwest merges with N20 from Cork, it will run as the M20, a 4-lane motorway, to the outskirts of Limerick where you will hit the M20/M7 intersection. The western part of M7 will go under the Shannon river to Co. Clare and merge a bit west of Limerick with the existing N18 (already a 4-lane dual carriageway) to Shannon airport and further North to Ennis.
Most printed maps do not reflect the current upgrades and openings of more and more sections of the motorway network in the Republic.

We are taking in all this great info to get the best itinerary for us.

Still haven't decided on a flight---they all look long, but maybe jent103's suggestion on Chicago-Dublin-Shannon would be good. At least we'd be across the pond when we change planes and not get stuck on the East coast with delays.

Irishgal127A----the reason we were thinking Adare for our 1st stop is that it looks cute (OK, that may not be a good reason to choose a place) and it seemed to be not too far from Shannon in our jet lagged state. But after several posters said to avoid Limerick traffic, what's the easiest wat to get there?

Cowboy1968----Thanks for the driving info for the new M7. How would it work going the other way from Shannon to Adare?

New plans after considering all of your knowledgeable information:

Plan #4
1. Arrive Shannon, pick up car, stay in Adare 1 night. Or any other suggestions for 1st night?

2,3,4. Drive to Kenmare for 3 nights (driving to Kenmare, checking in, and getting our bearings will probably eat up most of the first day, so we will have days 3 & 4 to tour).

5,6,7. Drive to Dingle for 3 nights.

8. Drive and take the ferry north to Galway (seems like a very long day with stopping along the way). Or is there a good place to stay along the way?

8,9,10. Stay in Galway (night 8 with touring the area on days 9 & 10).

11. Drive to hotel near airport for early morning flight home.

OR

Plan #5
1. Arrive Shannon, pick up car, and stay in Ennis first night.

2. Drive to Galway for 2 nights.

3,4,5. Drive south to Dingle using the ferry (again a very long day driving with stopping along the way) Or should we stay somewhere in route? With day 3 being a long driving day to relocate we would have day 4 & 5 to tour around Dingle. It looks so beautiful, should we add another day?

6,7,8.Stay in Kenmare (or add day 6 to Dingle and do 7,8,9 in Kenmare?)

9 or 10 (depending on above) drive Adare with next night near the Airport for an early flight home.

I've been posting on Fodors for 3 years now and find it the best source of info. Thanks to all for helping us and I hope I have returned the favor with my posts and trip reports on France. After many trips we are so comfortable traveling in France. I hope we can also become comfortable in Ireland. Right now it just looks hard, but with all of your help it will be a new adventure.

I think either of your new plans would be fine (can't comment on the Adare questions, though). The Galway/Dingle day would be a long driving day, but my personal preference is to just knock it out in one day rather than spending part of an extra day dealing with finding/checking in/checking out of a b&b. I wonder if you could break up the day by seeing the Cliffs of Moher en route - I'll let others who have actually done that advise on how long a day that would make.

As far as how to split your time between Dingle and Kenmare, I think the Kenmare area has more "activities." Aside from the scenic drives, there's the whole National Park, Muckross House, Ross Castle, etc. If a lot of those things interest you, I would add the extra day to Kenmare. But if you're more interested in relaxation and looking at views, I'd stick with the current distribution.