I am planning a short (unfortunately shorter than I would like) trip to Ireland for next fall (early Sept) and have a few questions. I would like to fly into Dublin ( spend 2 days there) and then head to the SW region to see the awesome countryside for 4 days. Question one is what is the best way to get from Dublin to that area? We plan on renting a car once in the Western region. Question two is where should we base ourselves? I would love to do the dingle penninsula, cliffs of Moher, the Burren etc. I read about a castle hotel in Clifden but looking at a map it looks like it will be a little north for the sights I am interested in. Then where do we fly out of (Shannon ?) Thanks for all of your input. Cant wait!!!

Hi...Arriving Dublin and departing Shannon is an excellent plan. Two days in Dublin is good. I wouldn't add to that. Next, your idea of concentrating on the SW of Ireland, given the limited stay, is exactly right. I would pick Dingle, renting a car from your hotel or B&B location when you are ready to exit Dublin. Exploring Dingle and the areas nearby will be easy with the car and it will enable you to see some of the countryside on the way. Depending upon when your flight might depart Shannon, you may wish to stay closer on that last night. We used Adaire which is a nice little village with good proximity to Shannon.

As you plan, keep in mind that the airports and the towns of Ireland are smaller than those you are probably familiar with. So are the roads. Travel time increases. See www.miamichelin.com or www.mappy.com to help estimate travel times and distances.

There are some excellent websites with info about Ireland. I will try to locate one or two for you. Also, the Rick Steves Guide contains an excellent, detailed tour of the Dingle peninsula.

The drive from Dublin to Dingle will take all day. If I were doing it I would break it up. With your limited time it sounds like you will have 2 days in Dublin, a day of travel to the SW, a couple of days in the SW and one night near Shannon Airport.

If you do not mind seeing a lot from the car and doing a lot of driving, your plan can be done. Most of the countryside will be done at an average of 35 mph.

If you prefer to actually enjoy some of Ireland you should consider either in and out of Dublin and sticking to the east or in and out of Shannon, sticking to the west.

I am just back from over a month in Ireland. I planned short hops on my trip and still did not see everything I wanted to. Most first-timers try to cover too much territory.

Sorry for an error that I made: it should be www.viamichelin.com. My bad.

Poster IrishEyes makes a good point regarding using a day to travel east to west in Ireland. On the other hand, it will give you a chance to get a small taste of the countryside which may well draw you back for another trip.

In addition to Rick Steves, we found author/traveler Michele Erdvig to be helpful. She has a website; www.irelandyes.com with detailed topics at the bottom and a book available which is called 'Best Little Gudie to Ireland'. We were pleased with them all.

We went to Irealnd in 2003. While Dublin was ok, the west coast, especially Dingle were fabulous. I don't care if I ever go to Dublin again. But, I will go back to the west. Do not miss the Blasket Islands off of the coast of the Dingle Peninsula. Also, you may want to stay in dingle and then head up toward the Cliffs of Moher and stay around there too. As someone said earlier, the driving time is very slow.

Fly out of Shannon. That will save you backtracking.
You want to do the West and Southwest: you could catch a CityLink Bus Dublin-Galway http://www.citylink.ie and go from there. The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren are in west Clare. not far from Galway; but the Dingle peninsula is much further south and west. You could rent a car in Galway and drop it off at Shannon airport.

I would base myself in Ennis for the west Clare day or so, but you might go to Tralee or somewhere thereabouts for visiting Dingle. Just an overview!

First, some general comments. Driving in Ireland requires having a detailed map. The Michelin Ireland map works well. Buy it now and use it for your planning. (It's available from amazon.com.) If you use viamichelin.com for driving routes, take the estimated time given and increase it by 50%.

If you stick with your plan to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon, here is a possible itinerary. After your second night in Dublin, take either the first train or bus to Galway. You'll arrive between 10:00 and 10:30. Pick up a rental car. Or pick up a car as early as possible in Dublin that morning and head west. See the Cliffs of Moher and drive through the Burren. Spend the night in either Ballyvaughan or Kinvarra.

Get up early and drive to Dingle, taking the Killimer-Tarbert ferry across the Shannon River. Spend the night in Dingle, tour Slea Head and as much of the rest of the Dingle Peninsula as time allows, and spend a second night in Dingle.

Drive toward Shannon. Depending upon how early your flight leaves the next day, spend the night in Adare, Bunratty, or Ennis.

If you decide to skip Dublin in favor of more time in the west and southwest, then fly both in and out of Shannon.

WOW! Thanks for all of the input expecially the detailed itinerary from the last post. It sounds as though I should just skip Dublin or maybe just spend a day there (might be a waste.) Can I fly from Dublin to Cork or Shannon? I am suprised they dont have any high speed trains that connect the east to west. Thank you for all of your help. Just in the prelim stages of planning and researching...I always buy Rick Steves before a trip because he has such detailed instructions on what towns to see and miss etc. But I love my fodors forum because of people like yourselves giving me the low down!

Budget airline options:
Dublin-Shannon on Aer Arann & Aer Lingus
Dublin-Cork on Aer Arann & Ryanair
Dublin-Kerry on Aer Arann

I would actually recommend skipping Dublin, unless you have your heart set on it. I am no longer enchanted by the place, unfortunately, and with limited time, you could do much more justice to staying in the west.

I highly recommend County Clare (Cliffs of Moher, the Burren), the Aran Islands (Inis Mor, etc.) and Dingle Peninsula. I preferred Dingle over Ring of Kerry, as it is less touristy and crowded. You won't have too much problem with crowds in September, though.

We stayed 4 nights in Ennis and 4 nights near Killarney, so if you like, you can click my name and pull up my trip report. I also have pics on my website trip report, located here:

http://www.greendragonartist.com/BItripreports2006.htm

I second the value of Michele at www.IrelandYes.com - great forum board and helpful folks!

RChandler1118, Most people here find that the Rick Steves' book about Ireland is not up to the standard of his other European guides and hardly skims the surface of the Emerald Isle. You may want to invest in a better guide book.

RChandler1118, I agree with IrishEyes about Rick Steves books except the one and only time I found it helpful was on Dingle. As far as he is concerned the rest of Ireland does not exist. I take that back, his 2004 book had a few more places in Ireland. I like Lonely Planet among others. When I first traveled I took Fodor's as it is light weight. My trip of 2005 I took IrelandYes.

The castle hotel you refer to in Clifden could be one of two: Ballynahinch, which is about 20 minutes out of Clifden, which is very authentic, and quite pricey, and I'm sure would be wonderful (never stayed there but visited). The other would be Abbeyglen Castle Hotel, which is actually an old manor house with crenelation added to make it look more like a castle. It is far less expensive and I have stayed there and enjoyed it very much. Lots of fun and great food. Clifden is about 1.5 hours from Galway (I could be a bit off there--can't really recall).

Skip Dublin! Fly into Cork City, then head directly for Skibbereen-you won't be sorry! The Famine Cemetary will break your heart, and the scenery will mend it. Along the way stop at the cathedral ruins in Timoleague. After Skib, drive down to Baltimore before you head out to the Dingle.

Thanks once again for all of the input. I always buy several guidebooks and while I rarely rely on Rick Steve's hotels I do find him useful for overviews of a country especially if you are someone who does not have a lot of time. Is is possible to:
Fly into Shannon, rent a car and take two days to head to Dingle stopping along the way in the various towns and sights that were mentioned (havent ironed out those details yet). Spend one day in Dingle then head to cork (leave car there) and fly into Dublin for just 1 1/2 days then depart Dublin? I havent made up my mind on Dublin yet so I am just exploring my options.

Stay in the southwest if you possibly can... it is more than enough to keep you occupied, and driving to (and in!)Dublin is more headache than it is worth, IMHO.

I have to disagree with the other posters I loved Dublin! We covered a lot of ground when we went to Ireland this summer and actually left Doolin after one night because we didn't care for it at all and went back to Dublin. Altogether that was four nights in Dublin. I felt like I could have spent even more time there. I loved the Irish countryside but I also like Dublin. But I love the big city, Manhattan, Paris, Rome, London. It could have to do with living in a small town in Washington state.

Whereas I lived in Miami for over 20 years - big cities aren't something I crave (though I love London)

to echo your own sentiments...I liked seeing Dublin, but loved the west

suggest...in and out of shannon

1st day drive thru burren then to cliffs and stay in doolin (not really a town but cluster of some nice B&B's and 3 great pubs with good food and traditional music in a great location)

day 2 drive the coast to ferry across the shannon river, then to Dingle (more great B&B's, food, pubs, music, plus shopping and a harbor with bonus touring activities)

day 3 tour slea head and spend another night in dingle

day 4 drive thru Killarney National Park...optional stops at Ross Castle and/or Muckross House...past ladies view and moll's gap...stay in Kenmare (good B&B's, food, pubs, music, shopping...bonus stone circle)

day 5 drive beara peninsula/healy pass...stay in kenmare

day 6 drive to Bunratty...tour Folk Park and Castle and enjoy optional Banquet

if you can't pass on Dublin...would suggest 2 nights in Dublin (optional day tour to Newgrange/Hill of Tara)...my not to miss sights would be Kilmainham jail and Book of Kells and library...hop on/hop off bus nice overview...also enjoyed literary and musical pub crawls.

pick up rental early and head to Cashel(Rock of Cashel) with a stop at Glendalough on the way.

on to Dingle for 2 nights

then take ferry over shannon up coast to cliffs of moher...to last night in Bunratty (either tour Folk Park/Castle or drive part of Burren).