We're heading to Ireland for the first time in July and are thinking of the following itinerary:

8 Nights in hotels:

Fly into Dublin and drive directly to Kinsale for two nights.
Then Ring of Kerry/Dingle area for two more nights (Thinking of staying in Tralee)
One night possibly in Galway (stopping at Cliffs of Moher on the way)
Drive to Dublin for three nights
Fly home from Dublin

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Where are you flying from? Google Maps says the drive from Dublin to Kinsale is three hours; in Ireland, I'd add a bit of time to that. A 3+ hour drive after an overnight flight from North America probably isn't a good idea, but no big deal if you're coming from somewhere in Europe.

With only 1.5 days or so, I don't think you'll be able to do justice to both the Ring of Kerry and Dingle, and Tralee did not seem like a place I'd want to stay (nothing awful about it, just sort of nondescript big town when we drove through). I would either stay in the Dingle area or the Kenmare area for your two nights and forget the other.

Flying from the US. Figured that since the flight gets in so early in the morning, we could get a car and have plenty of time to get to Kinsale.

It's not the time I'd be concerned about; it's driving on the opposite side of the road on little sleep and jet lagged. If you do that, make sure to stop often for your own and others' safety. Alternatively you could stay close to Dublin for a night, maybe go to Powerscourt or Glendalough rather than going into town.

No...Straight of a transatlantic drive to Kinsale? is it any wonder car insurance is twice as expensive for US licence holders.

Stay in Dublin the first night.

Kenmare is a good base for the south west corner, Kinsale is a legend in its own cookbook nice to visit but not for an overnight.

Dingle is another Rick Steves must see, but be honest on a road trip do you want to drive 6 hours for 1/4 mile of Slea head?

Ennis is a good Touring base for the whole of Clare, not just the coast and Cliffs.

Galway is a good base for one of the Connemara loop's and only 2 1/2 hours back to Dublin on the M6.

OK, OK, I'll take your advice and stay near Dublin the first day. In general, our thought is to spend a couple days in Dublin at the end of our trip, thus making it easy to get to the airport on the morning we're leaving. That being said, my wife really wants to see a castle or two, and I'm told that the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula and the Cliffs of Moher are must sees. And if possible, we would like to stay in nice little towns along the way. So, I'm wondering if you think we can do all that in 8 full days.

Have you bought your plane tickets yet, or if so, is the change fee outrageous? Your plan would be easier and give you a bit more time to actually see the country if you can fly into Dublin and out of Shannon.

If you're locked into those tickets, you will be in the car a LOT if you must accomplish everything on your list.

Day 0: Leave US
Day 1: Arrive Dublin, stay either in Dublin or go south toward Glendalough area
Day 2: Drive to Kenmare
Day 3: Ring of Kerry
Day 4: Drive to Dingle
Day 5: Slea Head
Day 6: Drive to Cliffs of Moher, end in Ennis or Galway
Day 7: Drive back to Dublin
Day 8: Tour Dublin
Day 9: Fly home

Every single day except Days 1 and 8 has you in the car for a few hours minimum, either traveling to get someplace or driving a scenic loop. Personally I'd drop one thing from your list. The Cliffs are the furthest geographically - they are beautiful, but you will be seeing a lot of beautiful things. For *me*, it's the most effort with the least payoff on your list.

classact..... what are the exact dates of your visit? I've got a vacation set up for the last weekend of june thru the 10th of July and I wanted to try to squeeze in some traditional music festivals for the family to attend, but sadly, the Puck Fair, Rose of Tralee Festival, and the local music fetes are in August. You owe it to your self to include some traditional Irish music in your visit.

If you can work it in, over in Clare at Miltown Malby, you can catch the Willie Clancy festival, a weeklong fiddle festival starting on the 6th, or 7th of July. Lodging will be hard to find in the town, but up the road a bit you might find something in Doolin or in one of the towns along the coast road heading up to Galway past the cliffs of Moher, or stay within a short drive up north to a B&B in one of the towns near the archeological sights in the Burren area.

Also if you can make a stop northeast of Limerick on that same weekend the is a local Brian Boru Festival/fair in Killaloe on the west bank of the Shannon below Lough Derg. It's the same weekend and there are B&B's/hotels in both Killaoe and Bahlina across the river. There are also quite a few motels/hotels in and around Limerick City that are a short drive from Kilaloe and King Johns Castle and Bunratty over theriver are worth a look.

My week will be in Kilarney in a rental house/lodge that is big enough for my extended family of 9. I plan to try to work in all or Kerry, and maybe a short look over in County Clare to give the kids a good perspective on their Irish heritage.

I agree with the other posters on you staying near Dublin on your first day, or outside of Shannon, if that's your arrival airfield. there are good inexpensive hotels at the airport or just up the road to the north of Dublin a/p. If you arrive early in the day, as I will, I'd plan to rent a car at the airport, try to drop off your bags at the hotel you pick, and the head north for a short drive up to New Grange. Great spot to see before you return to your hotel in the pm to crash. After a short nap you might be refreshed enought to head into down town Dublin for an evening meal or some music on Baggot St. Hope a couple of these ideas help you arrange your trip/plans.

PS Don't spend all your vacation moving from one B&B to another. Pick a town and stay for as many days as you. It's fun to justlay back and smell the roses for a weekor just a few days. There are still many beautiful self catering homes/cottages you can rent for the week that are much cheaper than hotels or B&Bs. good luck

I agree with the "must sees" you mentioned - please don't miss them. I would recommend switching airports if possible so that you can either fly into Shannon, depart from Dublin or vice versa. When we traveled from NY/US to Shannon (arriving early in the AM), we drove for a few hours...many will advise against it because of jet-lag, etc; however, we found our surroundings so inspiring, that we were not negatively impacted by the flight (you know your body better than we would). And on getting used to driving on the left lane, etc...the newness wears off...we got comfortable driving on the opposite side on the rent-a-car parking lot and because it was early enough in Ireland, traffic was very, very light - allowing us to take our time and build confidence driving...My two cents...