fall trip to Ireland -- looking for some top choices beyond Dublin
 

We will be flying in to Dublin, but are willing to drive and stop along the way. The total length of the trip will be about a week. Any suggestions for areas not to be missed?

Doolin. The Burrens. The Cliffs of Moher. The Ring Of Kerry. Dingle Peninsula. Valentia Island. Kinsale. Cong.

I'm hoping to have some recommendations for especially scenic drives from one area to another, and possibly favorite B&Bs or hotels. Any suggestions are appreciated. Venere has very few choices and there reallly aren't chain hotels there,, even if Iwanted them.

My husband loved Connemara; I loved the area from Bantry Bay to Glengariff. Those are two widely spaced locations, but well, you asked.

One really scenic spot without crowds was the Slieve League cliffs -- reached by driving from Donegal. However, if you only have a week that's a bit remote.

hopingtotravel, did you stay at any places you really liked? Obviously I will have to read up on everything, and this trip is in the very early stages, but we are hoping to make it around half the country, and may take up to ten days. This may be too optimistic. I am hoping to reach the bottom half of the west coast, and was also thinking of stopping in Waterford.

My wife and I enjoyed SeaView Bed & Breakfast in Doolin, and Glenreen Heights at Valentia Island. Of note, Mrs. O'Sullivan ran Glenreen when my wife and I honeymooned there in 1991. She was packing one boy off for college and one of her girls (who cooked an excellent breakfast) was to be packed off to college the next week.

Lois, my wife and I had a nine day honeymoon in Ireland and my only advice is to say that once you get off the main roads, it is difficult to drive more than 35 miles per hour. Lots of winding, two lane roads and small towns every five or eight miles. You can have a lot of fun in your allotted ten days but I would confine most of you vacation to one section of the country. I most recommend west Ireland.

WE just returned and started our trip (arrived in Shannon) at the Seaview BandB in Doolin. Great location, walk to pubs, music. Agree about the driving, you get used to it and i actually enjoyed it after awhile, but you can't really sightsee as the driver and if I had it to doover we'd stay 2 nights in each place and explore from there rather than be in the car all of the time. Recommend: Doolin (the Burren, the Cliffs), Dingle (2 nights),Connevara (2 nighs), also Bearra Peninsula (not Ring of Kerry) What time of year are you going?

Thanks to all for the recommendations. We are planning for the first week of Oct. I have read that many B&Bs close down in Oct. for the winter. I hope this is not for the beginning of Oct.! I've just returned from a bookstore, having come home with plenty of reading material on Ireland, in particular, south west Ireland. It's good to know how much travel we can expect to get in during the course of a day. And, I absolutely want to be able to enjoy the trip, and not do too much in too short a time!

On our last trip, we flew into Shannon, then: Kinsale 2 nights, Kenmare 3 nights (from there we drove Beara Penn and ROK) then to Killarney 1 night, Dingle two nights, and up to Bunratty for one night. That was far more relaxing than our 1st trip with our teens in 95: Dublin, Avoca, Kilkenny, Blarney, Dingle - all one nighters - then two nights in Galway and one more in Westport. We spent our last night outside Bunratty in Cratloe. It was go, go, go the whole time! In retrospect, I wouldn't have missed any of those places and the sites along the way - ie on the way to Kilkenny we stopped at Glendalough, which is not to be missed, but I much prefer the more relaxed version of a couple of nights in each place because you get to know the area better and aren't constantly packing.

I would definitely prefer to spend two nights per stop, whenever possible, unless there is an especially short drive between stops. Does anyone have hotel/b&b info for me to look into reservations?

Lois, Since you do not have exact places in mind that you want to stay yet I would suggest googling "ireland great places to stay". You will come up with many websites with excellent reviews of various accommodations all over Ireland. You can also try the search function here but sometimes it works well and at other times not so well. I'm sure that when you have specific towns and cities that you need recommendations for that everyone on this forum will have plenty of suggestions.

Most B&Bs will still be open at the beginning of October so don't worry about that. You may even encounter discounts and sales.