HannAZ

Hello friends,

Four adults (2 twenty-somethings and 2 fifty-somethings) are traveling to Ireland in mid- August and will have 5 days there. What are your top five activities that you would recommend within a couple hour drive from Adare?

We'll also have 1 day in Dublin.

And what can we expect in regard to weather?

Thanks for your help!

Tony2phones

I will assume this is one of those Aerlingus, DanDooley, Adare Manor packages so you will have a car. Your base is not far from Limerick and you can cross the Shannon by tunnel onto the M18 up to Galway, or the ferry into County Clare for the Burren and Cliffs. Dingle will no doubt be on your list of must see's and is easily reached as a day trip. longer day trips could be down to Cork or over to Kilkenny. Adare is a fair touring base but quaint as the town is you can walk round the place in under an hour.

longhorn55

I'm a 50-something as well, so I imagine that you and the 20-somethings will want somewhat of a more active trip than just driving around looking at scenery.
Here's some things we've done on our two trips to Ireland:

1. Day trip to Inishmore and biking around the island. (We did our trip out of Rossaveel, but you'll be closer to Doolin and I think the weather should be good enough in August that your boat trip isn't likely to be cancelled.) This was one of the highlights of our most recent trip in May.

2. Hiking in the Burren. Our favorite hike was the Caher Valley Loop Walk, but this link will give you lots of other choices for the nearby Shannon Region: http://www.shannonregiontrails.ie/Fi...ing/LoopWalks/

3. Dublin--Historical Walking Tour--Great tour by history grads from Dublin colleges, including Trinity College. It was both informative and entertaining http://www.historicalinsights.ie/

4. Dublin--Traditional Musical Pub Crawl--It's about the music, not the pub crawling. Recommend you book in advance as it can sell out in the summer.
http://www.discoverdublin.ie/musicalpubcrawl_pubs.html

5. Dublin--Kilmainham Gaol--You can reach it by public bus or via one of the hop on/hop off bus tours
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/dublin/kilmainhamgaol/

Cowboy1968

Killarney national park and its sights are an easy drive.
So would be Cork/ Cobh/ Kinsale.

wojazz3

Is your day in Dublin at the end? If so, you will probably spend much of your day just getting there and won't have a lot of time to see it once you drop your car off. You will not want a car in Dublin. Leave it at the airport and take the bus or a cab since there are 4 of you.

If it is at the beginning, you will have the jetlag to get over but you may get to see a bit more in the daytime. You will be exhausted by night time so you won't see as much of the night life.

The other suggestions above are excellent. Enjoy the trip.

HannAZ

Thank you everyone. Yes, we'll have a car and these are great suggestions. Sadly we won't have too much time in Dublin, maybe an afternoon/evening at most. We'll consider all of these possibilities.