Shanley

My husband and I are taking our two sons, ages 11 and 18 to Ireland in August. It has been a challenge to plan a trip that will allow us to take in as much as possible in 10 days without spending the entire time in the car. I have come up with the following itinerary and would like to run it by others who have been there and would have a better idea of how realisitc it is. Here's what I have come up with:

Day 1: Arrive Shannon (13:45). Drive to Doolin. Visit the Cliffs of Moher.

Day 2: Spend the day in and around Doolin, visitng the Burren and Ailwee Cave. Night in Doolin.

Day 3: Drive to Adare via Caggaunowen Project, Knappague Castle, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, and Limerick City. Spend the night in Adare.

Day 4: Drive to Dingle. Sightseeing in Dingle.

Day 5: More time in Dingle. Other than driving the pennisula, what is there to do or see in Dingle? Spend the night in Dingle.

Day 6: Drive to Glin. Spend the night at Glin Castle.

* Both Adare and Glin have become destinations to break up the 5 plus hour drive from Dingle to most destinations north.

Day 7: Glin to Galway. Spend the night in Galway.

Day 8: Galway and the Connemara (up to Kylemore Abbey).

Day 9: Drive to Dublin. Spend the night in Dublin.

Day 10: Day and night in Dublin before returning home the next morning.

I would greatly appreciate input from others, and any suggestions regarding "must see's" in or near the destinations that I have chosen. Had we not had the kids along I would have planned things differently, but they will not be happy campers if we spend the too much time in the car.

Thanks in advance for your assistance,

Shanley

Day

sandi_travelnut

if you don't get responses, you may want to repost with a more meaningful title like "critique my Ireland Itinerary"

d1carter

Shanley:
Check out my family's travel blog to compare your trip to ours, click below. I hope you enjoy the trip.
spaces.msn.com/cartersblog

yesiree100

You have a lot on your list for Day 3. Expect to spend a minimum of 2 hrs at Bunratty, 1 hr at Knoppogue, 1.5 hrs at Craggaunowen (I was diappointed with my visit to Craggaunowen last summer, the cranog was being rebuilt and there was only one person in period costume). Do you have must-sees in Limerick or are you just wanting to see the city?

You could consider going to Adare on Day 1, then onwards to the Dingle portion of your trip, then taking the Tarbert Ferry for the County Clare part of your trip and onwards to Galway.

chip

yesiree...

thanks for info on craggaunowen project.
I was just considering dumping it from my itinerary after reading some other comments that agreed with your opinion.

do you have any comments about other sights in that area-dysert o'dea castle, thoor ballylee, coole park, dunguaire castle, knappogue castle?

(we are looking for some quick stops on our way north...we are stopping at cliffs and bunratty later in our trip)

Shanley

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments/suggestions. I chose Doolin for the first day because it is the shortest car trip. I figured the kids would mutiny if we put them in a car for much over an hour after just having been stuck on a plane for 10 hours.

I think I will drop Craggaunpwen Project from the day 3 activities after reading everyone's comments. It sounded a bit similar to Bunratty anyway. Rick Steve's advises that Bunratty is very touristy, but I think my 11 year old might enjoy it.

Is Limerick worth stopping in or would it be better to spend more time in Adare?

Thanks again for all the help.

Shanley

Shanley

d1carter,

I enjoyed your pictures and travel journal. Is the drive from Dingle to Muckross House long? I had originally planned to spend 2 nights in Kenmare instead of the one in Adare (and one added to Dublin). I had wanted to visit Muckross House and some of the other sights in the immediate area, but dropped that area as I was afraid it would be too much driving.

Shanley

yesiree100

Shanley - Bunratty is touristy, but I think the castle a folk park are worth it. Everyone in your party will get something out of the visit.

I'd probably skip Limerick, however shopping at the department stores like the ones on Limerick's O'Connell St can be interesting for the entire family...a chance to compare and contrast them to stores back home.

Actually Adare is closer to Shannon than Doolin is to Shannon. Either would make a good destination for your first night.

Chip - Dysert O'Day has a lot of interesting sites...all a bit off-the-beaten-path. You can pick up a map for a few euros at the castle. The self-guided Castle tour is fine, but the other castles on your list are better. Walking through the cow pasture between the castle and the church is the best way to get close to the high cross. Dysert O'Day could be a 1hr stop or take up a better part of the day depending on how much you want to wander around...it's all self-guided, some of the ruins are hardly visible because of overgrowth and it's often missed by tourists.

Knappogue is a younger castle and is in good shape with a good tour(haven't been to Dungaire Castle yet). I liked the autograph tree at Coole Parke and their audio visual presentation on Lady Gregory was top-notch. Thoor Ballylee is great for Yeats fans.

Quin Abbey is also worth a visit. Killaloe is a little off the typical path, but I like visiting the Brian Boru fort, the Graves of the Leinstermen and the Five Counties Lookout when I'm in the area.

Shanley

yesiree100,

Thanks for all of the useful info. I got all of my travel (drive times) from Ireland's AA, and was surprised by the long travel times. I knew that Dingle to Doolin was long, but was surprised by some of the other travel times as well ex: Dingle to anywhere.

I have planned our itinerary trying desperately to keep travel times in the 2 hours or less range, because of the kids.

Did you find that there were many places to stop along the roads between major destinations, such as the long stretch between Doolin and Dingle? Fodor's just shows the towns with something of interest are there others not shown by Fodor's?

Did you by any chance visit Kenmare? I had really wanted to go there after reading what Fodor's had to say about it, but I was afraid that the added distance (and added time in the car) might not be worth it.

Thanks again for your input. It really helps.

Shanley

chatham

Shanley, I think there is more for your sons in Dingle rather than Kenmare. I love Kenmare and it's on my list of favorites, that said, Dingle will appeal to the younger ones.

yesiree100

The AA travel times are very optomistic. Your best bet is to take the mileage and figure that you'll average 35mph (maybe faster if your traveling strictly on the main roads-designated with an "N" in front of them).

Don't worry though, there are lots of places to stop along the way...gas stations, picnic areas, sites, towns. Plus, with the winding roads, don't be suprised if the kids are constantly falling asleep (a mild symptom of car sickness)...remember that when you find yourself nagging, "all this beautiful scenery and you guys are sleeping through it."

From Doolin, I'd suggest taking the Killimer/Tarbert ferry across the Shannon. AA doesn't offer the ferry as an automatic travel route, so you have to put in Doolin to Killimer and Tarbert to Dingle as separate routes. The route is shorter and it's convenient (you won't be waiting around for the ferry...it just keeps traveling back and forth). The amount of time you save won't be huge, but the towns along the way are easier for family stops and you have less of a chance of hitting the traffic you might in Ennis or Limerick.

McShane

Hi,
I have some ideas for tweaking your itinerary. We were in Ireland in 2004 w/ our 11 year old and again in 2005 when our son was 13. For the second trip, our 22 year old daughter was with us. Trip reports are here, under my name.

So here's my suggestion:
Day 1: Arrive Shannon (13:45). Stay in Bunratty or Carreygarrey house (my son LOVES Carreygarry House.) Visit Bunratty and one other place. I really liked Caggaunowen project because of the Brendan story. Fascinating and compelling! I liked Bunratty as well - it's fun.

Day 2: Drive to Dingle. Stop at Adare to stretch your legs. Spend the night in Dingle

Day 3: Dingle. Explore the Peninsula.

Day 4: Kenmare. Go for a hike on the Beara or Sheepshead Peninsulas. Or, take the Skellig Michael trip - a boat trip over open ocean to a small island. You hike to the monastary. It's completely cool - unlike anything else you'll do there. My son loved it.

Day 5: Kenmare. Explore the area. My son liked the bookstores and shops of Kenmare as well as the hike to the end of the Sheepshead Peninsula.

Day 6: the Burren. Stay at Ennis or Doolin or Lisdoonvarna. Explore the Burren, see the Cliffs. We found little in Doolin to interest kids.

Day 7: Galway

Day 8: Galway.

Day 9: drive to Dublin - look for castles to stop at along the way.

Day 10: Dublin. Go to the Gaol and the Guinness Storehouse. Check out the shops.


OR - Version 2 - you might consider dropping the Galway/Connemara portion for this trip so there's less driving:

Day 1: Bunratty area
Day 2: The Burren
Day 3: Ferry across Shannon to Dingle
Day 4: Dingle
Day 5: Kenmare
Day 6: Kenmare
Day 7: Kenmare
Day 8: Kilkenny or Dublin
Day 9: Dublin
Day 10: Dublin

What we discovered with our kids is they don't like the long scenic drives. They weren't that interested in Galway and the scenery of Connemara held little interest for them. What they liked was spending time in the towns or going on hikes. They loved the adventures, such as ferry trips to an island or to Skellig Michael. Stopping at ruined abbeys was special. They also loved Dublin.

It does get tiresome spending every day in the car on those narrow roads! I love the scenery but the kids just aren't that into it! If you can spend more time in fewer areas you might have more fun.

Good luck!

Shanley

McShane,

Thanks so much for the helpful information. It's especially useful because you also traveled with kids. I am definitely going to incorporate your helpful suggestions!

Shanley

gr8_fun

MCShane,
Where did you stay in Kenmare?? I thought it would be helpful asking someone w/ kids in tow.