Ireland Itinerary Advice
 

I am taking my daughters(18 & 22) to Ireland in May for our trip this year. We like to visit old towns and beautiful country sides, do a little local shopping, eat some local fair, see a museum or 2 and visit a few old and grand castles, churches and synagogues. We like some adventures too. Think Hot air balloons, Whale watching, Zip Lining and cave dwelling. Any old synagogues we should see?
Will admit I got advice from Co-Pilot in making this itinerary so I could use some human wisdom from those that have been there:

Saturday, May 10, 2025
Flight from BOS Aer Lingus -EI134
Rental Car & Fuel
Sunday, May 11, 2025 Dublin
Check into hotel/Airbnb in Dublin
Explore Trinity College and the Book of Kells
Visit the Guinness Storehouse
Monday, May 12, 2025 Kilkenny
Arrive in Kilkenny and check into hotel/guesthouse
Visit Kilkenny Castle
Visit St. Canice's Cathedral and Medieval Mile Museum
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 Cork
Drive from Kilkenny to Cork
Arrive in Cork and check into hotel/B&B
Visit Blarney Castle and Gardens
Explore gardens and kiss the Blarney Stone
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Killarney
Drive from Cork to Killarney
Arrive in Killarney and check into hotel/guesthouse
Visit Killarney National Park
Visit Ross Castle and Muckross House
Thursday, May 15, 2025 Killarney
Take a scenic drive around the Ring of Kerry
Lunch at a café or restaurant along the route
Continue exploring the Ring of Kerry
Return to accommodation in Killarney
Friday, May 16, 2025 Galway
Drive from Killarney to Galway
Arrive in Galway and check into hotel/Airbnb
Explore Galway City and visit the Spanish Arch
Saturday, May 17, 2025 Dublin
Drive to the Cliffs of Moher
Arrive at the Cliffs of Moher and explore
Drive back to Dublin
Arrive in Dublin and check into hotel/Airbnb
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Return Car
Flight DUB to BOS EI135

Just one person’s opinion……

Skip Killarney and the Ring of Kerry and do the Dingle Penninsula instead. The tour buses and masses of people will be less and you will enjoy it more.

Again, just one person’s opinion after doing both.

Ditto the above.

Whether you do Dingle P. or R-o-K this will be a very fast paced jaunt.

My 2c. Too much moving around in too short a time. No time anywhere just to slow down and enjoy being where you are. This itinerary sounds like you want to zip around Ireland and check off as many must see places as you can, not geared to the objectives you say you want.

It may help you to look closer at actual times for each day. For example your flight arrives at 6am. Where will you be hanging out after 3-4 hours of sleep, with your luggage before, until you can check in.

your check in times at many places may be no earlier than 3 or 4 pm.

I would cut the number of different lodgings in half and add 2nd or 3rd nights in a few places.

Skip the Blarney stone too.
Don't rent a car on your arrival day - you don't need it in Dublin, and you shouldn't drive after a long haul flight, especially an overnight one. I don't care how well you think you sleep on a plane, just don't do it.
Cut down the overnight stays, moving on daily gets old fast, and as mentioned above you can't check in to most places until the afternoon anyway.
I would advise you to look at online resources and guide books rather than using AI to plan a trip for you.
Above all slow down, you will enjoy the experience so much more if you stop and really explore a couple of places rather that rushing around the country trying to tick off some random list of "must sees" along with every other tourist visiting Ireland.

Looks like I need to slow it down a bit. Thank you all for the advice,

Yes, Ireland is definitely a 'slow it down' sort of place. The driving -- especially on the really scenic west coast bits -- can be much slower than the online mileage calculators tell you. You can reasonably expect to add 25% up to even 75% to the drive times. Luckily you are visiting in May so the crowds won't be that bad and there will be fewer caravans (travel trailers) on the roads.

Oh yes, choose maybe two or three base locations, day trips by rail....slow down! Enjoy! The Titanic Experience in Belfast could take an entire day. Consider taking the train from Dublin to Belfast your second day to adjust and mellow out, only two hours super interesting, captivating. Just being there is all you need. Can't do it all in a week, plan another journey....pack light, travel less.

Sounds like a wonderful trip!

It doesn't sound like you have your accommodations so may I suggest reversing your direction?
You don't have much time in Dublin and you are really chopping it up.
I would eliminate Cork and the Blarney Stone

May 11, Sunday land in Dublin, immediately take the bus to Galway
Stay in Galway, you will be time adjusting and tired and the bus ride will give you a chance to close your eyes

May 12, pick up car, enjoy the area, stay in Galway
May13 &14 drive to Killarney, stay 2 nights in Killarney
May 15, stay in Kilkenny
May 16, drive to DUB airport, return car, taxi to hotel
May 16& 17 stay in Dublin
May 18, taxi to airport, hopefully you will have time in the morning to fit in a few sites.
I highly recommend Kilmainham Gaol(Jail) but it does sell out quickly, so you have to be on top of it

A lot will depend on how much you like to drive and if you have any experience driving on the left side of the road. Many of the roads are windy and narrow, and driving times are usually longer than projected with getting behind huge coach buses, tractors and sheep. We found it to be very tiring after awhile. We also enjoyed the Dingle Peninsula drive but only did about 2/3 of it, DH had enough of driving by then. You do need to give yourself leisure time and taking in the fabulous views on the west coast. Enjoy!

If you click on my user name, you will see our trip to Dublin and surrounding counties for one week. We had a great time!!!

Thank you all for your very gracious advise.. I think we will try the Belfast suggestion and decrease the number of stays. We will have a decent sized car and I don't mind driving. If we do Belfast it seems we should probably keep the sequence the same. Considering a private tour guide which worked really well in Morocco but can't seem to find a reasonable outfit in Ireland yet. If anybody knows of one please let me know.

I didn't want to sell you too hard on Belfast but we were totally taken in by the Titanic Experience. Almost missed the train back to Dublin we had set aside several hours but it was so well done and touching. Make sure to get reservations online ahead of time and walk right in. Be aware you will be dealing with British pounds there while the rest of Ireland is the Euro. Also the city is maximum crowded clogged, we took the train and taxi but it was still very nasty. You will also get a better understanding of The Troubles and it's impact just by being there.

I guess I am being a contrarian in suggestions today. I think you could have tweaked your original itinerary nicely and had a pretty good trip.

I traveled a lot with my two daughters, sometimes with and sometimes without their father (who was awfully busy working hard to pay for our trips). We did a lot of hiking, kayaking and cycle trips together out West and in Europe, and in later years, we'd hang together in various cities enjoying nightlife together too. At the precise ages your kids are, you all should a) be doing adventures and b) DOING PUBS, even if you don't drink, with and without you. The sheer pervasiveness of music in Ireland has to be just as good, if not better of an experience than the Cliffs of Moher, what have you.

While I adore Belfast and Northern Ireland, I don't see that as the best use of your seeing Ireland with the girls. With the idea of adventures AND nightlife (not that there's not nightlife in Belfast-- husband and I loved it), I could more easily see you doing the Temple Bar area with them in Dublin, and a lot of the pedestrian area in Galway at night. Why? Both of those cities have excellent and effortless listening opportunities not limited to pub scenes, and both allow you to do a ton of cultural things without a "forced march" type of planning.

I agree with Coral22 and think the Kilmainham Gaol is a superb experience provided the girls did a bit of pre-reading about the Irish struggle for independence. I heartily recommend it. While I think the Guinness Storehouse is a total tourist scam, the view at the top, and the sheer genius of its advertising on display on the ground floor ARE worth seeing, plus the girls will want to say that they saw it when they report back to their friends.

The idea, though, that kissing the Blarney Stone should be on anyone's bucket list we've always thought was a tad ridiculous. Please skip that, and while you are at it, skip Cork for the time being.

Yep, I agree with others that you could avoid picking up a car for days by doing Dublin and then Galway (lots of easy public transport options and Dublin's HopOn/HopOff tourist buses are good) and then as others suggested, you could pick up a car and hit the road for other adventures. Or not. Flex could be you.

I hope this helps. I have two recent trip reports on Fodors--one on Northern Ireland and one in the Republic where we moseyed from Westport to Galway to Dingle to Killarney to Cork and back to Dublin--but neither of those two recent trips were with our marvelous daughters. Years before, we spent one entire week in Dublin with our youngest, then a senior in college, plus long before were three quite extensive cycling trips with both of our girls--two on the West Coast and one on the Southern Coast--that were just lovely. And we've dipped back into the country for shorter trips along the way, too.

And it just so happens that on all these trips to Ireland, we've never rented a car. We were always cycling or hopping on buses or taking trains or hiring drivers. That was just us--YOU be YOU.

Enjoy this precious time!
AZ

I defer to others with more experience! We landed on QM2 in Southampton and decided to knock around five days in Dublin. We are burned out on castles and cathedrals so we did hang mainly in Temple Bar area...there would be a lot to do with teens or kids. Took the double deck bus tour, messed around. We didn't know what to do but the Titanic deal sounded cool so we just made it a day trip. Not sure you would want to stay overnight in Belfast or how that works with the overall route. We left Dublin by train at 10am, Belfast by noon, five hours in Titanic (barely enough), train back to Dublin by 8, dinner and bed. Cool day. Thing was we could keep our gear in Dublin, not drive, trains are great, really interesting stuff in Belfast, back and ate and to bed. I just thought it would be an interesting day not having to drive and check in again etc etc....I'll bet the kids would really love it. But it may not really fit with trying to see other important sites. Planning is the great part of travel ..good luck!

I didn't want to be negative about including Belfast, especially since I have never been there, but since Alessandra Zoe has weighed in, I will second the idea to skip Belfast on this short trip. She is the ultimate reference source and please treat yourself by reading her trip reports!

The west coast of Ireland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and it would be great to focus on that area and savor it and not jump around so much. Sometimes the driving can be tiresome and to have leisure time is really wonderful.

I agree that Guinness is a crowded tourist trap, but DH really wanted to go. It has a wonderful history and it is a beautiful building. We didn't do a tour and bypassed the line by saying we just wanted to go to the gift shop, so they sent us up the back way. We also had lunch in their wonderful cafe and caught snippets of the tour narration from different groups along the way.

This is great stuff. Thank you so much. Finding it hard to cut down on the number of places. We did decide to forgo Belfast. One question though. If I am renting a car, doesn't it make sense to get it from the airport and drop off at the airport? That way I would not.have to pay for taxi/uber for both trips. Also seems like most of the rental agencies are there anyway. Also, would it be better to stay 2 nights in Galway or 2 nights in Killarney in terms of energy and activity?

Saturday, May 10, 2025-Dublin
Flight from BOS Aer Lingus -EI134
Rental Car
Sunday, May 11, 2025-Dublin
Explore Trinity College and the Book of Kells
Visit the Guinness Storehouse
Monday, May 12, 2025-Kilkenny
Drive to Kilkenny and check into hotel/guesthouse
Visit Kilkenny Castle
Visit St. Canice's Cathedral and Medieval Mile Museum
Tuesday, May 13, 2025- Cork
Drive from Kilkenny to Cork
Visit Blarney Castle and Gardens
Explore gardens and kiss the Blarney Stone
Wednesday, May 14, 2025-Kilarney
Drive from Cork to Killarney
Visit Killarney National Park
Visit Ross Castle and Muckross House
Thursday, May 15, 2025-Kilarney
Drive to Dingle and the Three Sisters
Explore Dingle and the Three Sisters
Back Kilarney
Friday, May 16, 2025-Galway
Drive from Killarney to Galway
Explore Galway City and visit the Spanish Arch
Dinner at a restaurant in Galway's city center
Saturday, May 17, 2025-Dublin
Drive to the Cliffs of Moher
Arrive at the Cliffs of Moher and explore
Drive back to Dublin
Arrive in Dublin and check into hotel/Airbnb
Dinner in Dublin Temple Bar
Sunday May 18th, 2025
Breakfast at accommodation
Drop Off Rental Car
Flight from DUB