Staceylk

I've posted a few questions so far and finally thought I pulled my itinerary together for 10 days in Ireland in August. But then..... I went to the Irish Tour Board today and the woman nearly threw me out (with affection) saying our itinerary was crazy and left no time for breathing and enjoying the scenery... and that we should drop Westport from our plan and stay in ROK longer.. Wondering what the rest of you seasoned travellers think...
here's our 10 day itinerary:
Tues, Wed- arrive Dublin. 2 days / night there
Thurs- get rental car/ drive to Kerry ; Night in Kenmare (possible stop in Kilkenny for a little on the way)
Fri- Drive ROK. Is this enough? we dont drive on the sabbath so we wanted to base ourselves someplace by fri night... and after all the reviews on this site we went with Dingle over Kerry since Kerry will be so heavily populated with tourists etc..
Drive to Dingle before sunset.
Fr, Sat, Sun, Dingle (3 nights)- see Blasket Island, Fungie, REST, hike
Monday - drive Dingle peninsula; midday- drive to Tarbert/ Ferry to Cliffs of Moher; night in Doolin
Tues- drive to Clifden; go to Aran Islands if weather permits/ then Connemara Natl Park
night in Clifden; Aeslagh falls.,.. scenery etc ..
Wed- Drive to Achill Island....night in Achill. (or drop this and stay in Clifden one more night)
Thurs- drive home to dublin? or drive to Galway and fly back to Dublin (flight to NY at 5 pm) (we couldnt get a flight out of Shannon unfortunately/ nor could we fly into Shannon!)

We REALLY didnt wanna miss Achill Island! it looks unbelievable but the Irish Tour Board woman said it's 2 1/2 hours from Westport to Achill? anyone know if this is so.. I guess she would know... Any thoughts on how/ if this is insane to fit westport in?
Are we seeing more than enough already? Having trouble letting go of wesport! the pics of achill look achingly gorgeous. But the Irish Tour Board woman was so stressed out from my itinerary she said "get out of here so I can rest now...which is something you won't have on your trip!!!"
Thanks in advance! this is a great site - I've received a lot of great tips here!
-Stacey

Padraig

Overall, way too much driving.
1. Kilkenny is not on the best route to Kenmare, and Dublin to Kenmare is enough driving for one day.
2. Ring of Kerry plus transfer Kenmare to Dingle all before sundown? Bad idea.
3. Doolin to Clifden plus taking in the Aran Islands (how many of them?) and Connemara National Park IN ONE DAY? It's just not on.
4. And then you want to add on Achill? Shooting past great places without time to look at them because your schedule demands it.

Get out the scissors and cut off half of that programme.

[It doesn't take 2.5 hours to get to Achill from Westport, but I don't know how you get to Westport in the first place; it might take 2.5 hours to get from Clifden to Achill, but that would be at the expense of scampering past some of the most beautiful part of Ireland without having time to look at it.]

Padraig

Maybe I should simply have posted the short answer to your question: yes.

Staceylk

No thanks Padraig for the explanations! it helps me get perspective on the flaws in the plan. What do you think about this? we could fly from dublin to shannon on thurs am (cheap flights on Aer Lingus),rent a car in Shannon- then drive to Kerry and see some of the ring that day... that way we won't be killing ourselves by doing the WHOLE ring the next day...and then we can drive to Dingle next day towards evening. The other option I guess would be to stay in ROK for the weekend but we really wanted to get a chance to hang out a few days in Dingle. Definitely cutting out Westport so we will have two days for Connemara and one Aran Islan (1/2 of one of those days).

Staceylk

I meant "no. Thanks! not no thanks...!"

Padraig

Why not take the train to Killarney instead of flying to Shannon? It's about as quick when you adjust for getting to the airport and dealing with check-in, security, and so on. And you would arrive closer to where you want to be. See http://www.irishrail.ie/home/

Killarney was the traditional jumping-off point for the RoK. Do most of the Ring, and overnight in Kenmare. Next day, Kenmare-Killarney-Dingle should make a wonderful scenic drive, and you could take it at a gentle enough pace.

I really think that missing out Westport and Achill would be a wise choice. They are good visits, but not really any better than what you would have been cutting out in order to make time for them.

Two days in Connemara is minimal. There is a lot to see and enjoy there. The standard visit to Aran is more than half a day: ferry in the morning at 10.30, return at 16.00 or 17.00, back on the mainland one hour later. A great way to spend a day. See http://www.aranislandferries.com/index.php