So, we've booked our flight---$633 from Chicago to Shannon in Sept. Now it's on to the details.

Day 1---arrive Shannon about 10am after long flight. Drive to Ennis for 1 night at GreyGables www.bed-n-breakfast-ireland.com to recuperate.

Day2---leisurely drive to Westport for 3 nights at www.boulevard-guesthouse.com

Day 3---tour north into County Mayo where MDH's grandparents were from. Return to Boulevard Guesthouse.

Day 4---tour Clew Bay & east to Leenaun or possibly back north for more relative stuff. Return to Boulevard Guesthouse.

Day 5---long drive to Kilrush. Stay at Hillcrest View B& B, Kilrush to be near the The Tarbert Ferry in the morning to Dingle.

Day 6---Ferry and drive to Dingle for 3 nights. Check in & tour town.
www.pax-house.com
www.greenmount-house.com
or other---open to suggestions

Day 7---Dingle Penninsula

Day 8---Connor Pass

Days 9 & 10---here's where we need help. We'd like 2 days & 2 nights in another area. Should it be Killarney(some have suggested we would need a bigger town after all that scenery)----Kenmare(looks like our kind of place)---or the Bantry area?

Day 11---head up to Adare later in afternoon . Stay in Adare 1 night (it looks so cute with lots of photo ops) .

Day 12---tour around Adare as we will have arrived late yesterday. Late drive to Oakwood Arms hotel (or similar) at Shannon Airport for morning flight.

We have driven around Europe often, but usually stay in a Gite for a week or more. All of this hotel changing will be very different for us. A new adventure.

On another thread someone said something like-----make a plan, then throw it out the window. That's kind of what we do, but we do like to have our hotels reserved as I hate going on a "hotel oddessy" at 3-4pm, makes me crazy.

We are just in the process of reserving hotels, so any and all suggestions will be welcome. We've just chosen the above places from Trip Advisor and Fodors posts.

I have stayed in Killarney, just visited Kenmare. My impression of Killarney (the town) was that it is small and there's not much to do or variety in terms of restaurants. We were on a tight budget, and it was very difficult to find somewhere to eat. Kenmare seemed like it had more options and was more of a town than a tourist base, if that makes sense. Just my impressions, but they were pretty strong from my one visit.

Congratulations on not trying to cram in the entire country. I have not been to Adare and don't know if it's "worth it" (I've read varying opinions on the forums). If you decide you can spare a day anywhere, I do think the Killarney National Park area is worth two full days. We spent an entire day doing the Gap of Dunloe, and there is more in just the park I wish I could have seen, not to mention Muckross House or Ross Castle or the like if that interests you.

As far as b&bs, we stayed in a hostel in Killarney but stayed at Emlagh Lodge (emlaghlodge.com) in Dingle. The house and Maggie were both wonderful. It isn't "luxury" or as large as your other choices, but it was very comfortable, clean, great breakfast, and fantastic location on the water, five minutes' walk from Murphy's Pub in town.

I agree with jent that the Killarney area will provide lots to do. At Muckross House there is a farm museum, houses,tools, etc. that would have been used in the "old days". A walk up to Torc waterfall is a pleasant time. On the peninsula (Ring of Kerry) is Staigue Fort just beyond Sneem. It is a prehistoric fort with 12 foot thick walls. It is up a windy narrow road so tour busses can't go up and that means there won't be many others there with you.

In the Westport area(which is Grace O'Malley country) there are lots of sights realtive to her life. There is a museum in Louisburg which tells you about her life. Crogh Patrick, from which St. Patrick dorve the snakes out of Ireland, is between Westport and Louisburgh. Clare Island, a small island with a population of about 350, is accessible from the quay at Louisburgh. Don't know how often the boats run in September.

Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks so much for the input. We are now looking at Kenmare for those 2 nights. I'll start research on B & B's. Anyone have a favorite?

Irishface-----one of MDH's grandparents was an O'Malley. I'm sure there are thousands of them. Our reservation at "Boulevard Guesthouse" in Westport came through so we are all set there.

The place we are looking at in Adare is www.adarecountryhouse.com Has anyone stayed there?

Still thinking about where to stay in Dingle. So far our first choices are above, but we did look at all 100 photos of Emladhlodge and it's on our short list----thanks jent103

When we were in Dingle we stayed at Heaton's Guesthouse (http://www.heatonsdingle.com/) and absolutely adored it. The rooms were great, the owners were very nice, breakfast was to die for (order the pancakes if you go, they're similar to french toast, only 10,000 times better) and the view was amazing. It's a tiny walk from town (5 minutes?) but on a safe and easy road/sidewalk.

A travel agent kept pushing that we go to Adare and to be honest we weren't really that impressed. There were a few shops that were neat but it really didn't strike a chord with any of us.


Sorry I can't offer suggestions for anything else. Great price on flights though!

Iowa_Redhead------Thanks, we have been second guessing Adare and now may do 3 nights in Kenmare and drive through Adare on the way north.
I shortened up the websie you posted as it did not work. This did www.heatonsdingle.com

Another good suggestion. Now it's down to:
www.pax-house.com
www.greenmount-house.com
www.emlaghlodge.com
www.heatonsdingle.com

What a diffucilt choice. Since we'll be there 3 nights we want to choose what's right for us. I think I'll do a separate post and see if I get more views to help in our decision.

For whatever reason, when you put a link inside parentheses, Fodor's thinks the closed parenthesis is part of the link.

I've only stayed at Emlagh, but have read good reviews here of Emlagh, Heaton's and Greenmount (I don't recall seeing anything about Pax House, but I may have missed it). My guess is it's one of those things where it's hard to go wrong.

I agree with Iowa Red that Adare is worth a couple of hours (if it's on the way to somewhere else) but I would put the overnight somewhere else.