JWH

Hello. My wife and I will be flying from Atlanta in to Shannon in mid June. We will have 9 days (8 nights) and we leave from Shannon as well (tried to leave from Dublin but couldn't get a flight). We are looking for suggestions/advice on the following. Will touring by car be difficult? Lodging (we know we want to stay in at least one Castle) and where to go/what to see. I want to see Kerry (my ancestors came from there) and Dublin. We are both in our 40's, we love fine food and wine, nature (I want to try some fising), and history. This will be our first trip to Ireland. Money is a consideration but we can splurge a bit on some of the lodging since we are using fequent flyer miles for the trip. Thanks in advance. Jim.

Budman

Grab a map. You are flying in and out of Shannon and want to see Kerry. Just doing the Southwest portion of Ireland will take a good 9 days/8 nights just to scratch the surface.

I would recommend leaving Dublin for another day. Just getting to/from will take up a good 2 days for travel by car.

Take a look at Galway, Doolin, Dingle, Kerry, Killarney, Kenmare, and associated peninsulas, Kinsale, and back to Shannon, with last night in Bunratty.

MaryZ

I'd second Bud's advice. There's so much to fill your time in the west. I wouldn't spend the time visiting Dublin on this trip.

sss

I love Dublin but it does not make any sense on this trip. Agree with the others. Skip it. go back again some time.

LLC

Shannon will work just fine, but I would also suggest skipping Dublin and saving it for another time. Instead, I would just stay on the west coast, adding the Connemara area, maybe going to Clifden. Renting a car is not a problem, just get a small one and watch out for your mirror!

Travels_with_Food

I concur with everyone else. Leave Dublin for another time. Why? It's just like every other city. My friend ultimately regretted staying there for 2 days instead of 1 day when we were there. The rest of Ireland is so much more beautiful.
Touring will not be difficult by car as long as you remember to drive on the left side of the road and not get into an accident at the round-abouts. You will get a small car, regardless of what you want. They only have small cars! Most people can't fit their luggage into them so pack lightly!
The roads are not as fast-friendly as they are in the USA. What looks like "1 day's travel" really is more like 2-3. I thought I would get from Dublin to Shannon in 1 week. It took us 2 weeks. Also, driving the Ring of Kerry in June will take you 2 days. It's a 2 lane road and no room to pull the car off the side of the road and take photos. Traffic moves slowly. The same will go for the Dingle Peninsula.
You made a great decision flying into/out of Shannon. It's much more pretty than Dublin.

BarbBC3

Ditto on leaving out Dublin. We only had 7 days (from Shannon) and went to Galway/Connemara region/Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, and Dingle Penninsula. We ended up putting over 800 miles on the car and this was during off season, with very little traffic. I'd pick 2 or 3 cities from which to tour around - maybe Galway (i think there's fishing in this area), Killarney or Dingle, and a castle location. If you feel like you absolutely have to see Dublin, I'd go from Galway (which is a straight shot across the country and is connected by a national highway).

39Steps

I'll jump on the No Dublin bandwagon as well - skip it on this trip and tell yourself we'll be back. The west coast of Ireland IMHO easily warrants your 9 days and is the highlight of the Emerald Isle. Since you're heading south to Kerry, you could go a bit farther east and take in Waterford and Kinsale. Kinsale is upscale by Irish standards with wine bars and better restaurants in a great setting. Of course there's nothing more Irish than a pint in a smokey pub and you'll find plenty of those. The Dingle penisula rivals the Ring of Kerry as a choice spot. My favorite Irish experience on a nice day is a picnic lunch at the Cliffs of Moher, just outside the golfing mecca of Lahinch. Awesome!

JWH

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We are listening. We are leaving out Dublin. So...where do we stay and what do we see the first night? I liked the idea of using three towns as bases for exploration. Votes for the three? Also..we are now looking at going as far east as Blarney (touristy I know), should we gradually work our way down to the south and then hightail it back the last day or two? Thanks again for all the advice. I think it is saving me from making some huge mistakes.

bigtyke

Driving is not much of a problem, but have the non driver act as a navigator (and to remind the dirver to stay on the left hand side of the road!!)

I wouldn't plan on making more than 30 mph unless you are diring on the freeway. Even tho there are stretches of good roads between towns, the traffic slows to 25 mph or so in towns, alsong with traffic lights, etc.

On small roads, 20 mph might be more realistic.

We spent 9 days and went from Dublin to the west and back again and didn't seemed rushed at all. THat was in March however.

sjbisanz1

You are getting great advice from people who have been there often. My suggestion would be to go South to Dingle, spend a couple days there, head over to Killarney (stay in Kenmare though) and spend a couple days there. Or head further East and stay in Kinsale. From there head North to Cahir and Cashel, then continue back to Shannon.

I found the easiest way to determine what I could realisticly do on my trip to Ireland was to get a good book (Fodors, Frommers, etc.). From that I saw what places interested me, then I highlighted on a map where these places were. Once I saw all this, I could then determine my route and where to stay. After you do that, post your itinerary here for suggestions.

Go to www.viamichelin.com when you are further along in the planning process to determine distances. 35 mph is the best average to go by.

Good luck! You will have a great time.

Shelly

Punkyl44

Hi JWH. We did a similar trip last August. We felt after that we had been overly ambitious- we started in Dublin, hit Galway, worked our way south until Kinsale, then cut back up to Dublin. My advice is to stop along the way. Consider Kinsale for a night- it's touristy but charming. After leaving there we stopped en route back to Dublin at the best B&B we stayed at in Clonmel-The Kilmaneen Farmhouse. www.kilmaneen.com. It was a bit off the beaten path, but a lovely drive and such wonderful hospitality it was worth. Plus it's on the way back to Dublin.

ed_jacobson

Driving by car is fairly easy. The last time I checked, MasterCard (not Visa or AmEx) was the only card that covered car insurance, so check on that, and get a MasterCard now if you don't have one.

I would recommend staying 2 or 3 nights in two different places. That will allow for some day trips. Perhaps Galway, Dingle, and Killarney. I highly recommend staying in/near Dingle and spending 2-3 days on the peninsula. We found it less touristy and more approachable than the Ring of Kerry. If you do the Ring of Kerry, at least plan to go to the Skellig Islands while you are out there.

Possibly using Galway as a home base, or when travelling from Galway to Dingle, you could spend a day in The Burren, Cliffs of Mohrer, and possibly the Aran Islands.

If you want to try fishing, there are some B&Bs in the Killorglin area that provide fishing for guests.