DUB - SNN itinerary questions
 

My fiancee and I and my future father-in-law are traveling to Ireland for 9 nights in late August. We're flying into Dublin and out of Shannon. So far, we're planning 2 nights in Dublin and one night in Bunratty before we leave from Shannon airport. My question: How would you spend those six nights in between?
We really want to get a good sampling of Ireland, everything from castles, to coastline, to countryside and archaeology. So I'd like to hear what your idea of the ideal trip would be.
Thanks in advance for the help!
Best,
Kelly

A nice option would be to train to Wesport, rent a car from there and trickle down the west coast to Kerry which would leave you in the right area for your departure. see http://www.irelandwest.ie

Pontoon,
Thanks for that suggestion. Do others have an opinion on this? Is it better to rent from outside Dublin to avoid the traffic there?
Thanks!
Kelly

25 days 15 hours until we leave for Ireland...

some of our favorites...

dublin-music and literay pub crawls, kilmainham jail, trinity-book of kells/library

just north of dublin-Newgrange/knowth, hill of tara

just south of dublin-powerscourt,glendalough

on way to west-kilkenney castle, jerpoint abbey, rock of cashel, cahir castle (last trip we stayed in both kilkenny and cashel for 1 night...we liked cashel better, mostly because enjoyed music night at bru boru centre/rock of cashel beautifully lit at night/easy to walk and kilkenny was big/confusing to drive)

places to stay in west-Kenmare, Dingle, Doolin (all walkable, good food, great sights in area, great music)

sights in west-killarney national park,muckross house/abbey, ross castle, dingle slea head loop, cliffs of moher

food and drink-guinness-much better in Ireland, but, I actually liked Muphy's better, have to try the cider-Bulmers's, Irish whiskey, bannofee pie-actually all dessert with fresh cream, scones, bread-all of it, mussels...beware, of the potato...once actually got chicken on a bed of mashed with a side of fried and boiled red skins!

slainte!

Chip,
So many thanks for all the great ideas!(We may consider a night in Cashel instead of Kilkenny, given your experience.)
Are one night stays in, say, Cashel, Kinsale, Kenmare, and Dingle doable for a trip, or is that stretching ourselves too thin?
I appreciate the insights!
Kelly

Don't drive in Dublin (traffic and parking issues). Pick up a car at the airport when you're ready to head out.

Here's a possible itinerary:
1 - Drive through the Burren enroute to Galway. Visit Dunquaire Castle just north of Kinvarra. Spend the night in Galway.
2 - Either drive the Connemara loop or take a ferry to the Aran Islands. Overnight in Galway.
3 - Drive to the Cliffs of Moher and south along the coast. Take the Killimer-Tarbert ferry across the Shannon River and on to Dingle. If the weather is clear as you approach Dingle, drive over Connor Pass. (You may not get another chance.) Stay in Dingle.
4 - Tour Slea head and as much of the rest of the Dingle Peninsula as time allows. Stay in Dingle.
5 - Drive to Kenmare via Killarney. Visit Ross Castle. The area between Killarney and Kenmare along the edge of the national Park is lovely. Stay in Kenmare.
6 - Drive to Cahir and visit the castle. Drive to Cashel and spend the night.

One more thing. You'll need a detailed map for driving in Ireland. The Michelin Ireland map is available from amazon.com. Buy it now and use it to help with your planning.

you have 9 nights, so maybe...
2 dublin, 1 cashel, 1 kinsale, 2 kenmare, 2 dingle, 1 bunratty

that would give you a mix of 1/2 night stays and break up some long drives.

Tim,

Thanks for all the details and great suggestions! By the way, do you (or anyone, for that matter :)) have a recommendation on where to stay on Dingle Peninsula? I've heard suggestions about staying on the coast (The Shores, for instance) but wondering whether it's better to stay in or near the town of Dingle. Suggestions?
Many thanks.

Chip,
Thanks again. Do you think it's worth skipping the Cliffs of Moher? I've heard mixed reviews of Doolin and Galway, but heard the Cliffs are one of the unmissables in this area. Your impression?

it's all personal prefference

this june returning to Ireland,this time with family group of 10...

I will not (did not want to) go to galway but wouldn't miss returning to cliffs of moher and doolin

(imho galway is simply a convenient jumping off point to aran islands or connemara...but staying in smaller town outside of galway or in/near connemara would be nicer...roundstone, clifden, westport)

you will get enough big city in dublin...which offered so much more than galway

galway...to me...big, loud, driving nightmare, crowded with college age kids on the prowl.
the walk home was loud, a little creepy, and loud all night outside our window

doolin...small, walkable, great pub music...pubs crowded but full of music lovers not "want to be in lovers", just get there early, enjoy some pub grub and get a seat near the session-
the walk home was dark, quiet, peaceful

(we also stayed in ennis...I prefered doolin...couldn't find cheap b&b close enough to walk to pubs/dinner...this is a priority for me when choosing accomodations...that is why I would prefer to stay in dingle over outside of dingle...dingle offers great food,pubs,music...very walkable...after a long day of driving/sight seeing the last thing I want to do is get back in a car...driving in Ireland after dark is challenging, also interferes with enjoying my murphy's plus I like strolling around a small town, adds to the experience for me, different perspective than driving thru)

for me, the cliffs were truly awesome in every sense of the word...would be near top of must see list along with dingle pen...cliffs were not just a sight, they were an experience.

hope this helps

If you rent a car in Dublin rent it from the airport as this puts you on the M50 - the city's outer ring road from where you can connect to the Galway road quite easily. Navigating Galway can be more difficult than leaving Dublin. I would say all in all it would be more time consuming to rent in Dublin and drive to Galway than train to Galway and pick up a car when you are ready to leave. The train station in Galway is in the centre of town. Also, it would be impractical to take in the Burren en-route to Galway, as recommended above.

The reason I suggested the possibility of driving through the Burren en route from Dublin to Galway is that I did a similar route in the opposite direction last May. I started out from Ennis in the morning, drove to the Cliffs of Moher, then through part of the Burren, and was in Dublin before suppertime. I even had time for a leisurely lunch in Ballyvaughan. Granted, it took some careful reading of a detailed map to navigate the back roads, but I didn't find it to be impractical.

Hi Kelly,

I suggest you post your itinerary & questions also on the "Ireland Expert" website. Pat is wonderful at answering questions and tailoring an itinerary to suit your needs & requests. She has written several books on Ireland and leads 3 or 4 trips to the country annually. (She has great books too!) Select "Ask Pat Q & A on the left for the forum.
http://www.ireland-withpatpreston.com/

Many thanks for the help. We're actually planning on going the clockwise route around Ireland -- starting in Dublin and spending nights in Cashel, Kinsale, Kenmare, Dingle and Doolin. Is there any good reason to go counterclockwise instead? We did just book our rental car -- it's a four-door economy rental car w/ manual transmission that we're picking up at the Dublin Airport and dropping off at the Shannon airport. We got a seven-day rental from AutoEurope.com for $114 (we didn't get the CDW coverage, since we just got a platinum MasterCard.).
Any other suggestions are much appreciated. As of right now, we're planning 2 nights in Dublin, one night in Cashel, one night in Kinsale, one night in Kenmare, two nights in Dingle, one night in Doolin and one night in Bunratty and then leaving from Shannon. Does this sound doable?
Thanks so much!
Best,
Kelly

Be sure your platinum master card covers international??? And be aware of any restrictions. Most all experts advise getting international CDW insurance. I'll be making this same trip in Oct.

Your final itinerary looks good. Last year I rented a car from Auto Europe usng my Platinum MasterCard and also declined the CDW. Just make sure that you are covered for driving in Ireland. Some kinds of cards specifically EXCLUDE Ireland.

TimS, BudgetQueen,

Thanks for the suggestion. I called MasterCard and inquired about CDW coverage on my new Platinum card, and the customer service rep says the card includes CDW coverage in Ireland as long as the rental company accepts the CDW coverage from the card. (Auto Europe says it does.) So I think (crossing my fingers) we're good.
Best,
Kelly