Ireland Driving Vacation in May
 

Hi all,
My wife and I are flying into Ireland's Shannon Airport on May 1st at 8am. We are looking to see as much as we can and explore / hike everyday. We rented a car for the entire trip and we're planning on staying at hotels / B&B's
Here's our itinerary.

Galway - May 1st - 3rd
Dublin 3rd - 4th
Cork / Kinsale 4th - 6th
Killarney -6th - 8th
Dingle - 8th - 9th
Adare Manor- 9th - 10th

Do you think this would be too much for 10 days of travel? We are hikers and would like to do as much traveling as possible, so we aren't worrying about burning ourselves out.

Any advice for this trip would be appreciated!!

Thank you.

Looks reasonably well paced, but having a car in Dublin will prove problematical and a wasted expense.

Since you are not going north of Galway the best hiking is in west Cork. The beara, the Mizen and the sheep heads peninsulas all have great hiking trails as does the Dingle peninsula. The Gap of Dunloe in Killarney is a nice hike and the National park is lovely. In kinsale there is a nice walk out to Charles Fort, walk up to the Spaniard and follow the signs. I would skip Adare Manor and spent a night in Kenmare and maybe Glengarrif. Have fun

Thanks for the hiking advice.
Is Adare Manor a waste of time? My wife is really pushing for it but I'm not convinced it's worth the money.

Adare Manor and the town are alright but they are just not a good base for for traveling to other locations. On the plus side it is about 30-40 minutes to Shannon airport. The town has a row of thatch roofed tourist shops and there is a small heritage center. Would your wife consider one night with the other night further south?

U have plenty of time. Havent been to adare manor but if u r coming to ireland...why not. Otherwise maybe convince your wife to stay in the europe hotel with a nice room. Different vibe from a castle but luxurious.
Dingle is beautiful. Plenty of nice places to eat...ashes...or Dick macs or foxy johns for a pint. If i were you...sat nav is a must....go to dunquin. Half hour outside of dingle and there is a walking trail up the closach...pronounced cluh sock...ask a local. Its a half hour up...short but omg the view of the blasket islands. Just wow.r u could get a ferry from dunquin to the blasket islands. Really steep landscape. Only a few of the houses r inhabited some of the time. Bring food and toilet paper. Nothing commercial on this island. If u arent from ireland this place will blow ur mind if u read even a small bit of history.this would take just over half a day depending on ferries. Drive safe. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for the advice!!!

You have less time than you may think.

You list the same dates in two places -- sort of ignoring the travel times.

What you actually have is more like:

Galway - May 1st - 2nd . . . 1.5 days
Dublin 3rd . . . 1/2 a day
Cork / Kinsale 4th - 5th . . . 1.5 days
Killarney -6th - 7th . . . 1.75 days
Dingle - 8th . . . most of one day
Adare Manor- 9th - 10th . . . half a day if the 10th is your departure day