Ireland Itinerary Help
 

Mom and teenage son planning first trip to Ireland. Tentatively looking at a 2 week trip for late June, 2007. I've read numerous trip reports and suggestions on this board and hoping to get some feedback on what we're thinking so far.

We'd like to see a mixture of castles and other historic sites, scenic views, and small towns. I'll work on the accommodations later once we've firmed up the itinerary, hopefully avoiding too many 1 - night stays.

We're still at the very early planning stages, but here's what I'm thinking so far:

Arrive Dublin
1 night in Dublin (we're not really big city folks, so just one day to rest up is probably all we need)

1-2 nights Kilkenny (visit Inistioge, Kilkenny Castle, Black Anney, Cashel area)

1-2 nights Kinsale

3-4 nights Kenmare (base for seeing Ring of Kerry or Ring of Berra, Killarney National Park, Muckross House, horseback riding in Killarney area, skelligs boat trip)

1-2 nights Dingle - Dingle peninsula

1-2 nights Adare/Ennis/Shannon area (Knappague Castle and medieval dinner), cliffs of Moher

1- 2 nights Galway (if we don't spend time in Dublin, this might be a nice change of pace for my teenage son)

1 night Bunratty so we can depart Shannon next morning

Will definitely rent car, but would like to consider occasional guided day tours, boat trips, etc. to break up some of the driving. Any suggestions for where we should consider doing this?

Other things we'd really like to include:
medieval banquet (yes, I know it's cheesy, but I'm sure my 16 yr old would enjoy it)

Golf - somewhere reasonably priced and comfortable for a junior golfer. This is the part of the trip he is MOST looking forward to so I'm hoping to find an appropriate course somewhere along our itinerary where we can have reservations.

Horseback riding - would like to take 1/2 day ride somewhere. Thinking Killarney area may be best, but open to suggestions.

What we don't care about doing is a fast paced itinerary, Blarney stone kissing, and the Waterford plant. Since he'll only be 16, I suspect our evening pub visits will be somewhat limited but we'd still like to spend a couple of nights listening to good music and interacting with the local culture.

Any suggestions on improving our itinerary would be really welcome. The hardest part is deciding how many nights at each location and trying to avoid backtracking if possible.

thanks so much for your help.

This looks like a really good itinerary to me. You've definitely done your homework!

Deoending what time you arrive in Dublin, you may want to consider spending two nights there. If you're not city people and don't think you want long there then you can easily get away with one night as you planned.

Ideas for boat trips to break up your driving:
- Arran Islands
- Skellig Islands
- Garnish Island

You say you don't want to bother kissing the Blarney Stone but don't let that put you off seeing Blarney Castle if you're in the area.

It looks like you have a great trip planned.

Wow,

you have a very well thought-out itinerary. Are you sure you're a first timer to Ireland?

I can't really add a lot, except to say that I think you are wise to stay 3-4 nights in Kenmare, an excellent base for County Kerry, as you noted.

The castle and folk park at Bunratty is probably just what you're looking for as far as the banquet for your son.

I think you're going to have a wonderful time!

Thanks for the quick feedback and suggestions. You're right, I've been doing my homework. I'm quite the avid travel "planner"...as my son rolls his eyes at me! We basically got back from our last vacation less than a week ago and I've already started on the next one. Can't help myself! Keeps me motivated to go to work and earn the paycheck.

Any advice around the end of our trip? Still struggling a bit with where to stay and how many days after we leave the Dingle Peninsula area.

just returned from trip to Ireland which include 12 year-old nephew and 16 year old niece, 10 in our family group...

what they appreciated least were scenic drives(exceptions-liked healy pass, sky road, doo lough valley), what they liked most is exploring, hiking, stops at pull-outs on scenic roads, activities that weren't too structured...

I would suggest hop on/off tour of dublin with stop at kilmainham jail and trinity/book of kells...the literary pub crawl would give opportunity to see some pubs, fun guides.

on way to kilkenny stop at glendalough, outside of kilkenny, jerpoint abbey is interesting, good guides. could tour kilkenney castle.

if opt for stay in cashel, rock of cashel lit up at night plus bru boru center puts on a very good music presentaion with fun session that encourages audience participation...good opportunity to hear music. another good stop in area, cahir castle has a great tour also that he would probably like.

charles fort in kinsale has a good tour and the "ghost" tour in kinsale is fun. may also enjoy cobh (titanic info)

do healy pass on beara, also that day we all enjoyed boat ride to garnish island...even gardens interesting because of unusual plants and size of plants (view of seals on rocks) and nice walk...kids liked going up into tower on one of the paths.

pubs in kenmare, dingle, and doolin are more teen friendly...did not have problem with kids joining us to listen to music...usually went to dinner at 8 and stayed for part of the entertainment. I would stay in town, we liked the hawthorn house, very convenient to everything. can walk to stone circle in kenmare.

dingle has an early evening dance/music show at/near a church...look for info at the tourist center or the music store had info...we were there on wrong day

if you have a nice day, gap of dunloe by jaunting cart, lunch at lord brandon's cottage, and boat ride on lakes was one of the highlights!

ross castle is also a great tour.
muckross house and friary is good stop, they also have a folk park, but I have not toured.

between kenmare and killarney on way to dingle, go thru moll's gap and stop at ladies view, hike up to torc falls.

definately drive slea head loop on dingle pen., lots of good stops to explore...there are also guided tours available

I would opt for section of ROK -kenmare to killarney (park/lakes).

dingle was very easy to do horseback riding and golf(pitch and put cheap and easy par 3 course...the guys really enjoyed(from novice nephew to golfer father-in-law), only takes about 1 1/2 hrs. -just over bridge going out of dingle
did riding...long's stables in ventry, just outside of dingle...tip-if want to do beach schedule for early as pos...mountain path is fun too, they provide all equip.)

do boat ride to see funghi or plan ahead for a morning to swim with him...check out dingle web sight for more info...didn't do but if had more time kids would have liked

they also were interested in checking out surfing...I think I saw info on clare/bunratty/burren site.

take kilmer/tarbert ferry across shannon

go to cliffs of moher

suggest checking out info on guided walks of burren, would make more interesting

I don't think galway would be of much interest to a 16 year old...may want to expore connemara or spend the day going to aran islands, kids did like cong...walk path behind abbey, can take all the way to ashford castle, we didn't make it that far.

the part of connemara kids liked was sky road and exploring coral beaches just outside of clifden.

they also liked delphi area, falls, fjord, doo lough valley but this would probably be taking you too far north.

I would reccomend bunratty/banquet and folk park-pleasantly surprised by bunratty folk park, kids/everyone really enjoyed and the banquet there was another highlight, great lastday/ night, fun/lively/entertaining. the castle is one of the few that along with guided tour, you can explore on own up into all of the towers, and touch things...most castles are roped off...I think that it is a great last night, esepcially for first time and with teen.

one of our stops was thoor ballylee (yeat's home) boring movie, but again, another opportunity to go up steep spiral stairs and actually come out on top of tower...if you can make it that far.

if you find a pull off near an area where they are cutting peat...take a quick/careful walk on the bog...bouncy!

encourage your teen to try new food...our 16 year old was very adventurous and loved all the "different" foods, also enjoyed time to shop, listen to music, and stopped at some internet cafes to email friends back home...very "cool", also stopping for coffee and tea were "cool" for her too.

I also like your itinerary. I'm not a great fan of Dublin, but I think a 16-year old would enjoy it more than Galway. (Galway can get lively late at night - but it's not the kind of lively you'd want your 16-year old to be a part of.) Look here:

http://www.indublin.ie/

and there might be something both of you could enjoy.

I second the suggestion about Cobh - not only are the displays interesting but they have information on the Titanic and Lusitania (including where you can listen to survivors' stories on the telephone). There's also a Wildlife Park nearby - we've never been but it might be something a teenager would enjoy.

Some other suggestions:

- north of Adare (which, by the way, is over-rated), is Cragganowen (I don't think I've spelled that quite right). It shows how ancient Celts lived, with a built-to-scale lake fort and hill fort and a tunnel you can climb into. Lots of things for the whole family to enjoy. The Brendan is also there with videos of the trip across the Atlantic - if your son read the book by Tim Severin - The Brendan Voyage - ahead of time, seeing the boat would be a real treat.

- when you are in the Kinsale area you might travel east and visit Youghal, a great beach there. A bit further east is Ardmore and there is a great, windy, waves crashing walk along the cliffs. You can get the map from the Tourist Office. One of the best things is a crane that broke away from a ship and ended up against the rocks. Ardmore also has some of the few remaining round towers in Ireland.

- at Glengarriff you can take a boat (which is, in itself, an adventure) to Garnish Island, seeing seals laying about on the way. On the island is the most amazing garden with lots of places to hike up to enjoy the views.

We've never golfed in Ireland, but everytime you turn around there seemed to be a course. I'm sure there's a website listing the courses and then you could find if you can just walk in.

Have fun.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'm revising our plan a bit. Now considering:

1-2 nights Dublin (will depend on what time flight arrives)
1-2 Kilkenny
1-2 Kinsale
3-4 Kenmare
1-2 Dingle or nearby area
3 Bunratty/Ennis area - still looking for ideal base while still being near Shannon airport for departure

Chip, your comments from the perspective of your teenagers was especially helpful. It sounds like my son would like similar activities.

Once I settle on our basic itinerary, then I'll hone in on more of a day-to-day rough plan and that should help me decide number of nights at each place. As usual, I'm sure I'll have to trim things back a bit and remember we can always come back for another visit some other time.

Hi Ninja,
We were in Ireland 3 weeks last year with our 13 year old son and 22 year old daughter. I love your itinerary. I'd also recommend not going to Galway but spending another day in Dublin. Both kids really enjoyed Dublin. Our daughter loved the nightlife and our son loved the Guinness tour and simply seeing the scene. Galway was more like Greek Row meets Irish Pub.

Both kids loved the castles, especially the ones off the tourist track. They also loved exploring ruined abbeys that they'd spot from the road. We'd turn around, park and explore. There's often interesting graves and things inside and they felt like true explorers.

The trip to Skellig was a highlight for us. And of course, every day you must have tea in a tea shop. That's probably what they talk about most and I've noticed tea time shows up in my son's creative writing assignments.

We spent a week in Kenmare and could have spent more time there. I'd recommend Ennis or Shannon over Adare and I think 2 nights should be plenty there. It's one of the few places where it's quick to get around. Ennis is a real town, convenient to things and probably would be more interesting.

The pubs are fun, even for teenagers and the no-smoking rule makes it more comfortable.

Just when things were falling together nicely, we suddenly have a new wrinkle in our plans and need your advice once again. Teenage son has kindly reminded me that he won't be able to take 2 full weeks off work next summer so we're having to scale our itinerary back considerably. We're now looking at 7 nights plus our 2 travel days.

Now I'm thinking of carving out Dublin, Kinsale and Kilkenny areas entirely and flying to/from Shannon. How does this revised plan look?

Day 1 arrive Shannon - overnight Ennis, Kilkee or head straight to Dingle? I suspect we'll be pretty tired, but anxious to drive about some and try to make the most out of our first day in Ireland. Any ideas for a good first day?

2 nights in Dingle peninsula area (hopefully The Shores in Castlegregory, but somewhere closer to town may be more convenient now that our time is more limited). Still thinking of taking a boat trip one day, but Portmagee may be too far from where we're staying.

3 nights Kenmare (probably the Lodge). Allow 1 day for Gap of Dunloe tour, Beara peninsula drive (instead of ROK), and one day for golf and/or horseback riding

1 night Bunratty - do castle tour, folk park, medieval dinner before flying home next day

Not quite the plan I had originally envisioned, but I'm still excited about putting together a nice doable itinerary for the 2 of us. Am I on the right track?

You are on the right track, to my way of seeing. Partmagee is doable from Dingle--a couple of hours. However, you might consider a trip to the Great Blasket from Dingle or nearby Dunquin. The Blasket Center in Dunquin explains what you will see. This was a highlight of our weeklong stay in Dunquin 2 years ago. The thing about the Skellig tour from Portmagee is that it is weather dependent and you could end up driving down there and not going. google Blasket for the story.

The earlier recommendation of a boat trip in Dingle to see Fungi was a good one as were many of the others so I won't repeat.

Have fun!

We played golf on a couple of short "pitch-putt" type courses. Once at Sligo, and once at Doolin, on the little road down to the ferry dock. That was the most fun, and you got a great view of the Cliffs of Moher to boot. Bring your own balls and a couple of wedges, or they'll lend you some. The cost is very reasonable, and there are lots of short courses to choose from.

Everyone has been so helpful. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I've continued researching and here's our latest revised itinerary. How does this look? Anything I'm overlooking?

Day 1 - Arrive Shannon, work our way over to Kilkee, Loop Head peninsula, overnight Kilrush

Day 2 - take ferry over to Tarbert, quick visit to Ballybunnion, (teenage golfer will love that experience) head to Dingle via Tralee and Connor Pass. Overnight Dingle

Day 3 - Free day in Dingle (options include boat trip to Blasket Islands or Skellig - weather permitting, horseback riding, pitch 'n putt, exploring in town). Overnight Dingle

Day 4 - Head out early, complete Slea Head drive and work our way over to Kenmare. Overnight Kenmare.

Day 5 - Gap of Dunloe, Ross Castle, Muckross House, Torc Waterfall, Ladies View. Visit Killarney area. Overnight Kenmare

Day 6 - Free day to golf, shop, horseback riding - if we didn't do this in Ventry), overnight Kenmare.

Day 7 - Today we have 2 Options (or can we do both on same day??) Beara Peninsula drive via Healy pass, cable car to Dursey Island OR head to Glengariff, Garinish Island, boat to Ilnacullin gardens. Overnight Kenmare

Day 8 - drive Kenmare to Glin Castle. Overnight Glin. This helps break up the long drive back to Shannon and allows us an overnight stay in a castle which we would both really enjoy.

Day 9 - drive Glin to Buratty. Visit castle, folk park, medieval dinner. Overnight Bunratty.

Day 10 - depart Shannon airport

Does this look doable? Are we paced correctly with not too many long days filled with driving?

Lastly, is anyone familiar with the Medieval festival in Bunratty usually held in early July? We're thinking of coordinating our travel plans to accommodate this event. Thoughts?

day 1-would add a stop at cliffs of moher

day 2-dingle-you would have plenty of time for some pitch and putt this day (18 holes would be around 2 hours depending on speed of play...just over bridge going out of dingle, minutes)

day 3-dingle-would make reservations for early morning horseback riding, so could do beach, at long's stable in ventry (10 min. from dingle...call to verify when you get to dingle)
afternoon-boat ride of dingle bay, tour town....stay in Dingle

day 4- add day to dingle to enjoy slea head loop (this is one of best scenic drives and several historic sight stops) and pos. blasket island

(I would skip your day 8...1-it is really not that long of a drive from kenmare to bunratty, 2-I just think the money/time for a stay in a fancy castle would be better spent on activities and would be a waste for most 16 year olds...especially boys...will get castle experience at Ross Castle and Bunratty Castle...and Muckross House)

day 5-your day 5 is at least 2 days of activities...note that gap of dunloe tour is an all day thing (we were able to include ross castle only because we had a private driver and arranged for an earlier start thru the gap, earlier pick up at lord brandon's and had our driver meet us at ross castle and reserved the last tour of the castle, plus great weather...lots of things had to work to make this happen)...you can arrange a tour in killarney for full tour...starts at 10 or 10:30, they take you to kate kearney's cottage at gap entrance...arrange jaunting cart and boat ride, then return to killarney...

you could also just drive to kate kearney's and hike into the gap a bit and back and not go all the way to the cottage

if not good weather...tour ross castle and muckross house/friary as alternative

would suggest quicker route to kenmare this day and save scenic route for another day

stay in kenmare

day 6-killarney national park/muckross/ross castle (if did not do on day 5) or Skellig/southern coast of ROK

day-7 we easily did garnish and beara/healy pass in a day

went first to glengariff and did boat to garnish island (enjoy cute/lazy seals on rocks on way over) your son will enjoy going to the top of the tower

no experience with your other activity...do know that we had extra time to explore/shop in kenmare when we returned that day...don't forget about the stone circle in kenmare

day 8-extra night in kenmare to do whatever didn't get to do above

day 9-bunratty castle/ folk park and banquet...not familiar with festival...but better book early if planning anywhere during a festival...if you want to enjoy a festival there may want to add a day and do 8+9 in bunratty... frankly...this area is congested enough without adding a festival...we were there at the end of june...crowds not so bad...that is what I would shoot for time wise...the day at bunratty will be "festive" enough.

Thanks for the great suggestions, Chip. For the most part, we're taking a lot of ideas from your trip report and earlier postings.

I'll move a few things around a bit to allow for more time in Killarney and we may consider doing the Slea head drive on day 3 instead of day 4. That way we have more time and if weather doesn't cooperate, there's always the next day.

For now, I think I'll keep the night in Glin Castle - I actually think we'd enjoy it, certainly not something we could do in the States. May need to free up that day, however, to spend in Killarney/Kenmare area though.

I'll also tweek our route for the Beara peninsula. May need to choose between Ilnacullin gardens and visiting Dursey Island by cable car. Sounds like a really full day.

Any other recommendations? This board has been so helpful.

I just returned from Ireland w/ five kids including 17 and 16 year old boys. Their favorite things: playing Lahinch (not the famous course there, but the one across the road, much more reasonable), playing at the pitch and putt in Lahinch and also the pitch and putt in Doolin, the ride out to the Aran Islands, and Lahinch itself: we went there three times for dinner. They really liked the walk up above the beach and they enjoyed checking out all the surfers in Lahinch.

The other kids - ages 15, 13, and 8 loved Clonmacnois in the Midlands and Kilkenny Castle. I bet your son would like the Ailwee Cave in the Burren, too. That was a big hit with our group. Have fun.

I agree with fitznj. We did the Lahinch chip & putt. Very nice.
We also did the Bunratty banquet. Very cheesy but we had a blast.
You could probably stay in Ennis as its not too far from Shannon Airport. There are plenty of B&Ss there. We stayed at the Grey Gables. Very nice.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I'll modify the plan one more time and see where we net out. At least it sounds like I'm on the right track. Thanks again for all the help.

One thing my kids missed on our trip to America was being able to go into a bar & relax to live music/tv/card games & general conversation about the days events. In Ireland we were able to go in most bars at managers discretion - some had 9.00pm cut off & others if the bar was full refused entry but when empty the day before had let us in. Since the smoking ban came in the bars are much cleaner but on the downside the reduced trade has affected if live music is available. 1 night some teenagers from America popped into the bar during a break at the church bingo & performed some American/Irish dancing that entertained the crowds.
Look out for local town festivals as they can be great entertainment - donkey races, funfairs & tombolas.