Ireland Itinerary - Feedback?
 

We're planning a trip to Ireland - September 24 - October 2. Here is our proposed itineary. Is it too much?

Day 1: Fly into Shannon, drive to Kilkenny.
Day 2: Day trip: Ring of Kerry
Day 3: Day trip: Cork
Day 4: Day trip: Dingle Peninsula
Day 5: Drive to Galway - via Burren/Moher, stay in Galway
Day 6: Drive to Dublin
Day 7: Dublin
Day 8: Day trip to Belfast?
Day 9: Fly out of Dublin

Is the Galway/Burren/Cliffs of Moher too much?

Thanks!

You are joking, right? You are zig-zagging your way throughout a country that is not known for its highways or superhighways.

Look at a map. Consider flying in/out of Shannon. Forget Dublin & Belfast.

I would suggest Shannon (Burren/Cliffs), Dingle, Killarney, Kinsale, Cashel, Shannon. Slow down and enjoy the countryside. ((b))

Hi Gwot

For day #1 do you mean Killarney instead of Kilkenny? The reason that I ask is that Cork, the Dingle Pen and the Ring of Kerry are not day trips from Kilkenny. You can use Killarney as a base for those places. If you have never been to Ireland, please keep in mind that roads particularly in the west are narrow, winding and are shared with farm traffic. What looks like 20 minutes on a map can easily be over an hour.

The Burren/Cliffs of M. part of your trip is doable if you are driving from Killarney. I would not consider Belfast a day trip to Ireland. The drive is not so bad but if you want to spend anytime in Belfast, it will be a very long day. I would suggest you go to the Wicklow Mountains instead of Belfast. Glendalough is a truly magical place. I have been to Dublin twice and there is a lot to see there particularly if you are interested in Irish history.

I am sure that day 1 you meant to type killarney...and do day trips from there...right?

I would skip galway...you wouldn't have time to see much by the time you get there anyway...

day 1 doolin (or ennis)cliffs/burren
day 2-3 dingle, slea head
day 4-5 killarney or kenmare- ROK
day 6 cashel or kilkenny(stop in cork)
day 7-9 dublin (day trip to glendalough or newgrange)

Budman is right too much.Id drive to Galway the first night and stay two days.Visit the Burren and Connemara as side trips.Then head south to Dingle Peninsula visiting the Cliffs on the way.Two nights in Dingle town with one full day for the Peninsula.Skip the ring of Kerry(Dingle is better).Then either Kenmare or Kinsale on the way to Dublin.You need two days for Dublin.You could day trip to Belfast but the Boyne Valley north of Dublin is better and much closer.BrunaBoine atNew Grange is something unique to see.You could visit Killarney on the way if you like big cities but there are much better choices.Ireland is a great place to visit and I hope you have a great trip.best regards.

Thanks for all of the feedback! Of course, you were all right, I did mean to type Killarney with day-trips from there......

I've had three groups of visitors since I moved here four years ago; I've ferried all three round the island and I can honestly say that, though doable, your itinerary is cramped. The first group I took round the island in five days; we took a bus trip round the Dingle Peninsula, didn't do R of K because of it, and started driving from Cork the following day. We made it to Galway the first night in a reasonable amount of time, but I don't think we parked the car for longer than it took to fill it up at a filling station. We made it to the Cliffs, the Burren and Kylemore Abbey in one day, but we were pushing it. The stretch from Galway to Sligo is just about a day right there. From Sligo, we went to Malin Head (you really should go there, if only for the massive contrast in scenery and the starkness of the northernmost point on the island), then from there to Giant's Causeway. Ended up staying there and driving to Dundalk the next day, bypassing Dublin entirely. We did Dundalk to Cork in one straight shot, stopping briefly at the Rock of Cashel.

The most recent tour group faired a lot better, though we did nearly what you're proposing to do, and as a result, ended up in Dublin at 9pm and having to drive to Wicklow to find accommodation. I usually let my tourists dictate where they want to go, but in reality, as most of the Irish will tell you (Dubs excluded; sorry, Dubs), if you <i>really</i> want to see Ireland, avoid Dublin. There is literally so much to see here that it's worth your while to do so. I agree with chip, who said to avoid Galway. There's truthfully not that much to see there. It'd be a great place to overnight, but if you get in late, I wouldn't stress about it.

The Boyne Valley is lovely, particularly in the sunshine, but in late September that might not happen (Irish weather is a coin toss). Newgrange is fascinating and it doesn't take that long to see; however, you could do worse than go to Glendalough instead.

May I suggest that you'd be better off, if you haven't already cemented your plans, to drive straight to Cork from Shannon, then drive west to Killarney, taking in the Ring of Kerry on your second day? From there, then, you would head north, take a tour of the Dingle Peninsula (and the extraordinary Connor Pass), heading further north through Listowel towards Moher and Galway. Stay the night in Galway but head north the next day to the Burren (doesn't take too long to see); but instead of heading east to Dublin, keep going north and up into the North. If you still want to see Belfast, that would be easier than trying to fight Dublin traffic going north. You could caress the northern coast, see Giant's Causeway (a truly astonishing place) and come down the Antrim Way. What a drive! That would put you into Belfast quite late, but you'd be placed there for the following day, and you can easily drive Belfast to Dublin airport in half a day.

What do you have planned for your day trip to Cork? Just curious: it's where I live!

Thanks! I'm not sure what we're going to do in Cork yet. I've heard it's a good place to visit!