This is my first trip to Ireland and I am having some difficulty planning my itinerary. I am flying into Shannon with 2 friends on Nov. 11 and leaving in the afternoon on the 14th. I would like to stay north of Shannon as I am told that it is much more beautiful than the south. I would also like to visit as many quaint, traditional, less-touristy Irish towns while still fitting in a few landmarks. Also if you know of any good bed and breakfast in any of these towns or other towns please let me know. I greatly appreciate the help.

My current itinerary:

Nov. 11: Land in Shannon at 7:45 am. Drive to Dingle going through Limerick and Adare.

Nov. 12: Tour Dingle, drive to Clare via Tarbert-Killimer ferry. Spend the night in Kilkee.

Nov. 13: Drive to Galway visiting the Cliffs of Mohr and Burren.

Nov. 14: Drive back to Shannon for flight home.

ttt

You're trying to do/see WAY too much given your extremely limited time. Ireland is a place to be experienced; it doesn't have a checklist of sights like Italy or Paris.

I would spend all 3 nights in Dingle. Great pubs, and being November all the tourists will have cleared out and you'll be left with locals. There are some great bike/car routes on the peninsula. You can take a boat out to Blasket Island, weather permitting. There are some good mountain routes to drive on the peninsula. The Captain's House B&B is a fine place to stay in Dingle.

Alternatively, spend all 3 nights in Galway. You can hit the Cliffs on the way there. You could daytrip to the Aran Islands, Connemara, or the Burren. I'm not a big fan of Galway itself, but it is a good base for the region.

Tring to spend 3 differnt nights in 3 different places would be madness. You would spend more time driving and checking into B&Bs than you would spend experiencing Ireland. You'd get absolutely no sense to a town's daily life and rhythm. In short, it would suck.

Mobine,

while your itinerary is very logical, I wholeheartedly agree with Edward2005. Pick one place and stay there.

With one possible exception--you could stay in Dingle your first 2 nights, and then drive to Clare to spend your last night. However, I wouldn't choose Kilkee. Stay somewhere closer to the Cliffs of Moher & the Burren, perhaps Doolin or Ballyvaughn. As long as you have an afternoon flight, you can get to the airport fairly quickly (within 1.5 to 2 hours anyway) from most places in West Clare.

This alternative is still a lot of driving & moving around for essentially 3 days. So I would strongly consider having a great time in Dingle (but be aware that's a long drive back to Shannon for your return flight).

Lastly, I don't know who is telling you about Ireland geography, but I wouldn't trust them very much. Dingle is south and west of Shannon, not north. Second, there are places south of Shannon (County Kerry) that are just as beautiful as places north of Shannon (County Galway, County Donegal). Absolutely untrue that north is much more beautiful than the south.

Try this website:
http://www.ennistradfestival.com

If you get to Ennis you may not want to go on any further. From Ennis you can daytrip to Doolin & the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, and even Galway.

That is alot of driving for a short time. Dingle is worthy of your entire stay. Cliffs of Moher are stunning. But the beauty of the entire Dingle area should be savored. I would drop any time in Limrick and the other place and just concentrate on driving around Dingle. Rick Steve's has a very good book that has a commentary on the drive around the Dingle penninsula with very specific directions that will take you to things that you would miss on your own. While in Dingle go to the pub across from the church. It is an old shoe store made into a pub. It still has boxes of shoes on the wall.