I like your first suggestion, too, tony2phones :)
AZ

We just made the one trip to the SW so no idea what is best, but perhaps some photos and commentary would help:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ids-photos.cfm

We did fly in/out of Shannon which helped.

The only fancy things I do on Google maps (the old google maps, because I just cant use the new fangled garbage) is dragging the routes to better than the suggested, where needed. That is my interpretation of better based on my taste and 40 yrs driving UK & Ireland.

The Icons I use can be found on http://mapicons.nicolasmollet.com/ but you need to set up a Dropbox https://www.dropbox.com/ account copy the image into a Public Folder you create on dropbox then you can link the icon to the map.

I have played with a couple in "paint" to make individual ones without much success and I need to educate myself to use the same icon on the same feature on different maps! I am still learning as I go..

Thanks for following up, Tony. BTW, I've been lurking here and at TA as I plan our first trip to Ireland and have found your advice to be very helpful!

Not going to Dingle then ;) I can say that over on here !

Thanks I try to add a bit of interest and some not the regular old drag spots.

Great info, bookmarking

Help!! Coming to Ireland around end of June. I plan to drive from Dublin to Clifden and stay in a B&B - is that too far in one day ( stopping of course along the way )? I just cant seem to get my head around the distances, looks ok then I start looking closer and start doubting?? Can some one give me some help.
This plan so far..........
DUBLIN 2 NIGHTS
CLIFDEN 2 NIGHTS
KILLARNEY 2 NIGHTS
THEN SOME WHERE AROUND BANTRY/COHN I NIGHT
THEN LAST NIGHT IN DUBLIN - FLY OUT IN MORNING

Any suggestions, criticism?

For distance help try this: go to http://www.theaa.ie/routes/# and put in your starting and ending points with any "via" that you might have. Tell it to show distance in miles. Then divide the miles by 35 and that will give you approximate driving time. And the distance. Here in Texas we tend to talk in time rather than distance.

You are stretching yourself...Dublin to Clifden is a lot of a day, then Clifden to Killarney will take a big chunk of time, and Bantry/Cobh(?) to Dublin is a lot of driving. Is there a reason not to fly into/out of Shannon?

Welcome to Fodors veronicacole . To get the most help you really should start a new thread of your own rather than tacking on to an older one which is about a different trip.

Plus many folks won't notice the dates and continue responding to the original post and not even see yours.

But to answer one of your questions >> I plan to drive from Dublin to Clifden and stay in a B&B - is that too far in one day <<

That is a long drive - At least 4 hours car time plus stops.

So many folks seem to want to "do" Ireland in a week...I have two weeks planned for the same general itinerary as above and I still wish I had more time. Definitely too much time in Dublin, I think.

azure, they have business/work in Dublin. Some people don't have two weeks and it might be their only chance to see all that they can fit into a week. I would squeeze every minute of the day out of a trip if it was my one and only time. I have been going to Ireland since 2000 and still have not seen everything but that first trip we really tried. I concentrate on areas now and next trip am going a different route except for Dublin which I love and visit each trip.

bookmarking