Ireland Trip Itenary
 

I am trying to plan a trip to Ireland, I only have about 5 days to spend there it looks like since 2 of my days are going to be traveling on planes. I am traveling from the US to Ireland, arriving at the Dublin airport and leaving the Dublin airport. I am arriving at Dublin on the 6th of June and leaving on the 13th so I obviously want to cram as much sightseeing in as I can. I am renting a car so that is how I will be getting around the country. I would like to at least see the Dingle Peninsula and the Cliffs of Moher, which I realize are on the other side of the country, which looks to be about a 3.5-4 hr drive, so we had planned to get a hotel or bnb for one of the nights we drive over to the west side so we could spend another day over there. Does anyone that has experience in Ireland have any tips for me? I would greatly appreciate it, thanks!!

I would suggest only renting the car for the days you'll be travelling outside of Dublin - you'll likely not need it while you are in the city. If you think you'll be up to driving once you land, I'd suggest renting the car at the airport and heading west. Then you can drive back to Dublin and return the car at the airport and head into the city. Also, get a small car - some of the roads on the west coast there are quite narrow! Enjoy your trip to that beautiful part of the world.

Land Dublin get an express bus to Galway on the 6th.
7th rent a car from Budget in Galway city and drive past the Cliffs to Ennis
8th drive to and stay in Dingle
9th drive from Dingle to Killarney via the ring of Kerry possibly return the car in Killarney
10th tour from Killarney and late train to Dublin
11th Dublin
12th Dublin
13th departure.

What time do you arrive in Dublin on the 6th? What time do you depart Dublin on the 13th? Basically I would avoid driving after an international long haul flight. Do you plan to see any sights in Dublin? If so, put your Dublin days at the beginning of the trip. Pick up the car when you are ready to head west. Also, I think you have more than 5 days for this trip.

Day 1 June 6 arrive Dublin - sightseeing, overnight Dublin
Day 2 June 7 Dublin sightseeing, overnight Dublin
Day 3 June 8 - pick-up car early, depart Dublin drive to
Killarney; vist Muckross House & KNP (overnight
Killarney)
Day 4 June 9 - day trip to Dingle, overnight Killarney
Day 5 June 10 - day trip Ring of Kerry, overnight Killarney
Day 6 June 11 - depart Killarney and drive to Cliffs. Explore
Cliffs and the Burren; overnight in Ennis
Day 7 June 12 Depart Ennis and drive back towards Dublin, return
car; hit any attractions you may have missed in
the beginning if you have time.
Day 8 June 13 - Depart via Dublin Airport


If you lay it out like above it is easier to fill in the blanks. Also, any chance you can change your departure flight to return to USA from Shannon (SNN)? If so, you will not have to back track to Dublin.

Thank you guys for the replies so far, very helpful! Ok, I bought the trip thru Expedia, minus the rental car which I can change since I haven't paid for it yet. I liked the idea of not renting the car until I need it. I checked my itinerary again and I was leaving the US on the 6th so I won't get to dublin until around 1PM in the afternoon on the 7th, and I booked the Clontarf Castle hotel in dublin so it would be nice if I could just get to dublin, see some things that afternoon and eat somewhere and get back to the hotel without having to get a car that day. Then on the 8th I get a car and drive to Killarney/Dingle like you guys are saying. I can't change my flight from Dublin as it was a package deal, at least I don't think expedia will allow that.

Be careful using Expedia for car hire, they only quote the Day Rate without the not so optional Insurance add on's. Ring Dooleys toll free or try Conn's Ireland car hire for Hertz.

Yes Tony2phones, I learned about Expedia the hard way when it comes to car rentals when I got to Canada, lots of hidden fees they didn't tell me about. I no longer book my car rentals through them, only through the car rental sites.