crhq5

My future hubbie and I are heading to Ireland for our honeymoon in mid- to late- June. We are going to be there for about 2 weeks, will be flying into Dublin (would prefer to fly out of Shannon, but that just wasn't feasible with where we live), and then renting a car. We are in our early 30s, like to try different foods, explore areas, and try new things and new food. We don't typically like touristy areas, neither of us have ever been to Ireland and would like to experience as much as we can. We also enjoy beer. I would love any opinions on our itinerary, and ideas on what to see and do.
Day 1: Leave home
Day 2-3: Arrive in Dublin and stay there.
Day 4: Rent car and drive to Kilkenny
Day 5: Stay in Kilkenny
Day 6: Drive to Cork
Day 7: Stay in Cork, possibly the Blarney Stone
Day 8: Drive to Killarney
Day 9: Stay in Killarney
Day 10: Drive to Dingle
Day 11: Stay in Dingle
Day 12: Stay in Dingle
Day 13: Drive to Dublin
Day 14: Fly home

jent103

Congratulations on your marriage, and kudos to you for not trying to fit the entire country into your two weeks! For the places I'm familiar with (Dublin a bit, plus Killarney/Dingle), your time looks pretty good to me, although I think you could add a day in the Killarney area. We had the amount of time that you list, and could have used another day at least. Cork tends to get underwhelming reviews from a lot of people here, so if you're not married to the idea of it, you might think about dropping it and adding time to Killarney.

Also, think about staying in Kenmare rather than Killarney. We did stay in Killarney but visited Kenmare, and on a return trip I'd prefer to stay there. There seemed to be more dining options and it just looked like a more attractive town to me. However, if you plan to do any day tours, many of them do leave from Killarney (we did a Gap of Dunloe "tour" with Deros that was basically dropping us off at one end and picking us up to ride boats across the lake at the other). Kenmare is about 45 minutes further than Killarney from Dingle if I remember correctly, so it would be more driving, but it's a very pretty drive on the Ring of Kerry road.

dtorps

If you want to go off the beaten path of Ireland visit Inishbofen and the inishbofen house hotel. You can take the quick ferry out of Cleggan to get there. Talk about old world Ireland with panoramic views of the sea...

http://www.inishbofinhouse.com/

indy_dad

Photos and blog from our trip to Killarney/Dingle/Galway if that helps. We wanted to see the Burren, Connemara, and the Aran Islands and chose the Galway base over Cork. Our choice -- yours is fine.

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/ireland.html

The Guinness tastes better in Ireland.

Congrats and good luck with all the plans.

Bette

The OP is not anywhere near County Galway, so I think Inishbofin is probably out for this trip (as much as I love Insihbofin, home of my grandfather).

I would also suggest staying in Kenmare rather than Killarney if you do not like touristy areas. Kenmare will give you access to both the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Beara. You will find fewer tourists on the Ring of Beara.

Glad you are including Dingle -so gorgeous.

crhq5

Thank you guys so much for your help! I am not married to the idea of Cork, but my fiancee really wants to do the Blarney stone for some reason, and since I am planning most of the trip, I have to give him something. I will look into doing Kenmare over Killarney, but I am curious how much further away that is from Dingle? I am not sure how much more driving I want to add since I feel like we will be driving around 3 hours every other day. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to stay in any of these areas? We don't need anything too fancy, just a comfortable place. If we did decide to splurge a night or to on accommodations, does anyone have any good honeymooney ideas? Also, my fiancee loves fishing, does anyone have any information about fishing in Ireland. I think he probably wants to do more freshwater fishing if anyone knows anything about that. Thank you so much for your help so far!

irishface

If it's the Blarney Stone you're after, I'd stop on the drive from Kilkenny to Killarney. Add those two Cork nights to one of the other wonderful places youve chosen. Or drive Kilkenny to Cashel via Blarney. Spend the night in Cashel, explore the Rock and then add one night somewhere else.

Blarney is something everyone wants to do and I get it. (I've kissed the stone several times, which, my sibs say, is massive overkill as I've never been known for a lack of words). The grounds at Blarney are lovely and if you are into shopping, there are the Blarney woolen mills and craft stores. However, after my first time, I only went because traveling companions really wanted to include that on the itinerary. I was glad to give the place the back of my heels once we'd done the obligatory kiss and a stroll about the grounds.

irishface

I am back. Just had a brief interruption and decided to "submit" rather than have what I'd written erased. Sorry.

Personally, I would stay in Killarney. It may be a bit touristy but there are lovely places to stay and it is closer to some of the things you might want to see.

An extra day here (see previous post) would let you explore the National Park, visit Ross Castle in the lake, visit Muckross House and the farm museum, hike up to Torc Waterfall, etc.

While you are in Dingle, if the weather permits take a boat tripsket Islands. The Blasket Center in Dunquin (at the end of the peninsula) explains the history. The day I went was a perfect day weatherwise and I found the place enchanting. No food services so carry a picnic with you.

jent103

irishface's suggestion of stopping at the Blarney Stone en route is exactly what I was thinking.

Kenmare is about 45 minutes south of Killarney, if memory serves correctly, which puts you 45 minutes further from Dingle. The extra drive is along the Ring of Kerry road with views of Ladies' View. Either choice will be fine - I think it boils down to convenience vs. a little bit better ambience.

crhq5

Thanks! I really like the idea of just stopping by the Blarney stone instead of staying there. My only concern would be that I read somewhere (I can't remember where) that it isn't a good idea to park your car around there with all of your luggage in it. Is that a false concern, or isn't something I should actually worry about?

jent103

I haven't been to the stone so I don't know if there's special concern there, but I generally wouldn't leave a lot of stuff hanging out in the car uncovered anywhere. If we'd packed lighter (which I highly recommend!), we could have fit two carry-on size rollers in the trunk of our car. I think ours was a Nissan Micra (2007, though). The cars there are usually smaller (for good reason - you don't want a boat on those roads!), so you probably won't be able to fit as much as you could cram into, say, a Camry.

littlejane

I know it's in Kenmare, which may rule it out, but a nice "treat" honeymoon type hotel could be the sheen falls lodge www.sheenfallslodge.ie

crhq5

I will check out the Sheen Falls Lodge, thanks! I was also looking at Ballyseed Castle in Kerry and was considering staying there instead of doing Killarney. Does anyone know much about it?