Hi!
This is a bit last minute but my wife and I are a little frantic trying to plan our trip. We'll be in Ireland for 10 days in early july, and, realizing that's not a lot of time, want to stick to three main interests:
1) Driving the coast and visting whatever we see along the way.
2) Natural wonders are a must- especially giant's causeway, cliffs of moher and burren
3) Dublin

There's a catch: We fly in and out of Dublin.
So here's what we were thinking for an intinerary:
Day 1-2: Dublin (Guinness, other hop on- hop off attractions)
Day 3-4: Dublin->Giants Causeway and Bushmills
Day 4-5: Bushmills->Bundoran, Galway
Day 5-6: Galway->Burren/Cliffs of Moher
Day 6-7: Cork
Day 7-10: Kilkenny, Dublin

Basically, we want to do a loop. Here are my questions:
a) will this work? If not, should we plan on more days in one place, less in another?
b) What I'm really looking for is predicted drive times between these sites. I've looked on the ireland tourism board's site and gotten some numbers- but are those accurate timelines? Everyone seems to say it takes a lot longer than expected...
c) What would also really help is if we cut down amount of packing and unpacking- so if there are good base towns or areas to stay in that we can use to hole up in and also cover what we want to do, that'd be great!
Please help! Thanks in advance for your advice!
JnKT

Answers: a. no. It's not a question of more or less time but rather the route. It's too ambitious. Cut the route in half and fo it another time. B. use aaireland.com for travel times and remember that the estimates they provide are the best possible scenario (ie no traffic at all) c. try 2 nights in Dublin, 3 nights based in the West (Mayo or Galway) 3 in South West (Kerry) 2 in Kilkenny/ Dublin.

Just a couple of brief comments since the whole itinerary needs re-thinking . . .

When planning count on averaging about 35 mph, especially on the west/south coast.

A full circle of Ireland Dublin > NI > West Coast > Cork > Dublin in 10 days is really REALLY pushing it and in summer w/ traffic and all nearly impossible. You need to edit.

I agree with everything said above. Hopefully, you are not planning a trip to Ireland just to drive the highways. That would be a disaster. During high season, there are no predictable driving times. What ever you do, do not stay in Bundoran for the night. It is a tacky beach town with little of interest.

You need to pick one, or two regions for your visit, not the whole island. Many visitors fly into Dublin, then fly out of Shannon. This saves a day of travel, if you are touring the West after Dublin. Many airlines land and take off at both on the same flight.

getting good advise...we tend to cram a lot in a day and want to see it all...

our last trip to ireland we had 17 days, with very few 2 night stays and were not able to do the north...we picked up our car and visited newgrange/knowth and stayed in trim, then on to galway, outside of galway (cregg castle),doolin, ennis, dingle(2), kenmare(2), kinsale(2), cashel, kilkenny, enniscourthy, dunlaghaire,dublin(2), last day flew out of dublin

sounds like most of your interest is dublin/north

suggest-
pick up car and stay in coastal town north of dublin-maybe drogheda (could stop at hill of tara or newgrange)

2 nights in northern ireland coastal town (antrim coast, carrick-a rede rope bridge, giant's causeway, bushmills, dunluce castel)

2 nights donegal (slieve league, glenveagh national park, scenic coastal drives, glencolumbkille)

2 nights ennis or other town in burren area (cliffs of moher/burren)

1 cashel

2 dublin

this is still fast pace but would break up drive a little more and still get in giant's causeway, plenty of coast, burren, and cliffs of moher

5 days and 11 hours until we leave for Ireland!

Wow, that sounds alot like my itinerary for August/September, but I'm going for 3 weeks!

With just 10 days, I'd spend it in the north and northwest. County Antrim and (Bushmill's,Causeway etc.) then Londonderry and the Inishowen Peninsula, perhaps Letterkenny and then Enniskillen before heading back to Dublin.

Check aaroadwatch for est.times and assume that it'll probably be slower.

Thanks- good advice so far.
We are booked in dublin for the first two nights and were hoping to do giant's causeway soon after.
We do want to be able to stop on and stop off as we drive- stopping in areas along the way. The idea isn't to drive the highway- it's to have set destinations in mind but be able to stop along the way.
Is connemara possible? Any help or ideas in cutting down on the number of places, but still being able to see beautiful country/coast, get a taste of the country and her people, and enjoy good nightlife within walking distance of hotels?
Please advise. Thanks again for your help!
-JnKT

go to www.aaroadwatch.ie
need to add time to their estimates

your drive times would be 3-6 hours between towns(not including stops)

so, with 2 night stays, you would have 1 day travel, 1 day sights for each town...

travel days you would not have much time to stop and look much on the way...
but you would have a full day to see your top sights- giant's causeway, connemara, and cliffs of moher/burren, and dublin...it is up to you if it is worth the long travel days

2 dublin
2 bushmills-pick coastal town (gc)
2 westport (tour connemara)
2 ennis (burrn/cliffs)
1 cashel or kilkenny
1 dublin/or just outside of dublin

4 day 10 hours until I leave for Ireland!

Thanks! This is looking a bit better now- any suggestions on working InisMor into our itenerary? The problem is just understanding where to stay. Another wrinkle I just thought of is availability of petrol...
Just so we're clear, the must do attractions on our list are:
1) Giants Causeway
2) A bit of Pete McCarthy type travel- in that we'd like to settle down for a pint every night and soak in our surroundings.
3) The natural enchantment of Ireland. We don't need to stay in a coastal town as much as we'd like to see the waves lap against the cliffs or beaches on an afternoon or two as we drive someplace.
4) Easy drives- I know the roads wind about and there are all sorts of distractions- so the easier time and more relaxed we have of it, but can see more of it, the better.

This is such a great way to get advice- we do appreciate your help so much! Any more thoughts? Thank you!

Here's what my dream 10 day trip would be:
2 nights Dublin, drive north
2 night Bushmills. There's lots to see along the Antrim Coast.
2 nights in County Donegal. Visit Derry along the way, then see the cliffs, stay near Kilcar. This area has truly stunning scenery and beautiful cliffs.
3 nights Westport. Visit Clare Island, Achill Island, Connemara. Westport has terrific pubs and is a great base. There's a McCarthy's pub too, I think he mentions it in his book!
back to Dublin.

I wouldn't go the extra distance to the Burren - Donegal is more stunning and more out of the way. I'd focus on the north/northwest.

Thanks.
We'd actually wanted to get more into Galway- and one nighters aren't as big a pain now. Wandering nomads- but we do want multiple hours in multiple places besides just to rest our heads.
Question: Is petrol/gas readily available throughout these counties and destinations?
This is less of a slammed-through itinerary, but still busy- let me know what you think please!
Day 1-2: Dublin
Day 3-4: Antrim (Bushmills, Giant's Causeway)
Day 4-5: Sligo (Halfway point)
Day 5-6: Clifden
Day 6-7: Inis Mor (From Rossaveal, Via Connemara)
Day 7-8: Ennis (cliffs of Moher and the Burren En Route)
Day 8-9: Kilkenny
Day 9-10: Dublin

I too, am looking for driving info. I plan to fly into Shannon with my Mother, aunt and 3 children (age 18-73). Arrive 7-5-06, depart 7-14-06.
Three "musts" for my mom are 1)Cliffs of Moher, 2)Cobh, 3) time with cousins she has seen only once before.
Once we are with family in Portlaiose, I figure will take day short day trips. I would like to see the cliffs and Cobh first. Any suggestions?

In April, we flew in and out of Dublin. The first day we headed to Belfast for two nights; we took our time and stopped in towns along the way.

We headed up the Antrim Coast for the spectacular scenery and to Bushmills. We skipped the Giants Causeway because we had been there before, then overnighted in Londonderry. Drove to Donegal the next day and knocked around the town. The following day was a long drive, from Donegal to Beleek to Enniskillen to Navan. From Navan we visited Trim Castle and Newgrange, then back to Dublin for our last 3 nights.

We had been to most of these places on previous trips, and since it is just the two of us in the offseason, we didn't have everything booked (first two and last 3 mights were preplanned) and did whatever we fancied.

And we never once had trouble finding petrol. (Don't drive the Sally Gap if you are running low; that is one long stretch without civilization, never mind gas!)