Ireland road trip in June: Where to stop?
 

I am an American who lives in Spain, and I am visiting Ireland for the first time in June. I could use some help planning 5-6 days on the road. I plan to fly from Barcelona to Dublin, maybe spend a day/night, then pick up a car. I like smaller towns, with a more local feel, and the outdoors, hiking, castles, views, etc. Here are my thoughts:

Day 1: Dublin

Day 2-3: Cork or Killarney, or both across a few days? I haven´t seen much about Cork and what it has to offer. As for Killarney, I hear it is quite touristy, which I do not like. But I also hear there is a great hiking and parks in Killarney, which I love! Any other things to see and do in Cork or Killarney?

Day 4: Drive along west coast, Cliffs of Moher, County Clare (where my family is from), end up in Galway

Day 5: Galway

Day 6: Drive back to Dublin, spend a day or night. Would it be better to see Dublin on one of the first days, or save it for the end of the trip?

I am also a bit nervous about driving on the other side of the road. Any tips?

Thank you so much for your help!

Ryanair fly Cork/Barcelona so why not fly into Cork and do the Arc up and across, fly out of Dublin? or into Knock and drop from there to Galway>Cork>Dublin.

Generally I say leave Dublin to the end but if you go in one out another it depends where Dublin Fits.

Whichever option you are packing a lot into a little time. Maybe prioritise what is important? It will fit its just the quality time, stop and see time you need to decide on.

Hi

It does sound like a huge amount of time in the car. We did a two week trip of the west coast and we started just east of Cork and finished in Westport. Cork was probably my least favourite place and Galway was top of my list. The drives along the coast are spectacular and we just stopped where we wanted and did shorts walks. We drove through Killarney and it did look very touristy but the countryside around it is beautiful and a contrast to the coast.

Hope this helps.

Top tip with driving on the wrong side is just be confident - I drove across Brooklyn Bridge in NY and round the Arc de Triomph in Paris - both great fun.

Thanks for your help! I don´t have a lot of time which is why I have asked whether I should skip Cork and Killarney or whether I should choose one or the other. Should I skip both and just do the west coast, Galway, and Dublin?

If you cant fly in on out the other maybe just concentrate on the Clare~ Clare/Galway interests. If you know where your ancestry is that might be a starting point. Remember there is a full county and not just 1/2 mile of 12 miles of Cliffs an a Moonscape. I can be in Clare in under 5 minutes but its an hour to Doolin only if I want the Inis Oirr ferry in summer.

Lots of walking. The Burren way which includes the Cliffs path, The west Clare Wey, loop head, mid Clare and then over here to East Clare and the Lough Derg Lakelands. Far less tourist traffic than Kerry but some great walks and scenery.

West of Galway you have the Connemara which is 4 times the size of the Dingle peninsula and gets about a quarter of the tourist numbers. Lots of wonderful coastline including Coral beaches and clear water but also mountains and vast areas of open countryside.

Tony2phones - very helpful, and I was just thinking that I might cut out Killarney since I have limited time. I may stick with Galway and Clare. I see there is a train from Dublin to Galway. Once in Galway, I may rent a car for a day or two. Would that be the best option as it gives me flexibility to explore the coast, or are there other options?

You could get the express bus from Dublin airport to Galway.
see the city day 1, if its a weekend then there are a couple of Afternoon tours?

Car rental in Galway is a little limited, Budget have a city collection and a couple of others rent from industrial areas outside the city.

You could get the train or bus back to Dublin for the last section.

some options for west Clare
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d-...hs&usp=sharing

And west of Galway.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Pz...x0&usp=sharing

East Clare and Lough Derg
http://visiteastclare.ie/
http://www.discoverloughderg.ie/

Couple of walking routes pages.
http://www.irishtrails.ie/trails.aspx?c=Clare
http://www.walkingroutes.ie/WalkingTrails/galway

Thanks Tony! These are very helpful. I have just booked my flight and arrive quite late at night in Dublin so I may spend the night and then get up and take the bus or train to Galway for the first few days. I hope to take some trips outside of Galway, either by rental car or with a tour group. I fly out of Dublin a few days later so I will finish the trip there. Thanks again for the advice!