Ireland Trip Planning Advice
Planning an April trip to Ireland and would appreciate any input. Here is my proposed itinerary:
DAY 1 ARRIVE DUBLIN STAYING IN DUBLIN DAY 2 DUBLIN STAYING IN DUBLIN DAY 3 DUBLIN STAYING IN DUBLIN DAY 4 PICK UP CAR DRIVE TO GLENDALOUGH STAYING IN KILKENNY DAY 5 CASHEL STAYING WATERFORD DAY 6 WATERFORD STAYING IN WATERFORD DAY 7 KINSALE AND COBH STAYING IN KENMARE DAY 8 MUCKROSS HOUSE AND FARMS STAYING IN KENMARE DAY 9 RING OF KERRY STAYING IN KENMARE DAY 10 DINGLE PENINSULA STAYING IN DINGLE DAY 11 DINGLE TOWN STAYING IN DINGLE DAY 12 CLIFFS OF MOHER AND THE BURREN STAYING IN GALWAY DAY 13 GALWAY STAYING IN GALWAY |
I'm going to get in trouble here if I guess where this itinerary came from..
Do I assume you fly out day 14.. in which case night 13 needs to be closer to your departure airport. Whether it makes more sense to go Kilkenny~Cashel~Waterford or Waterford~Cashel~Kinsale depends on a few options. Kenmare is not the best place to start the Ring of Kerry.. The ring should be driven "Counter Clockwise" as recommended by the local tourist board and anyone who knows more than a travel writer who suggests Clockwise. even if you start in Kenmare go via Killarney before aiming west. and do get off the bus route to see some of the better parts of the peninsula. If you do need to fly out on the 14th take a night from Dingle so you keep 2 nights for Galway.. if you depart from Shannon see the Cliffs and Burren on the drop towards the Airport. |
This was my first draft of an itinerary. Thanks for your input. I got most of the from Mr. Rick Steves.
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Tony2phones, do you have a town you would recommend to stay in other than Kenmare?
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If I might I suggest you try a more open minded guide book, there are several available on line, libraries ect, check out a few trip reports.. a balanced view of possible locations might open some horizons.
Kenmare is fine, its a great base for Beara and southern corner. Its not a great base to start touring the ring that's all. Killarney is marked down as tourist central by your source and it has been a tourist location since Queen Vic visited in the 1800's. It does the job well and has lots of positives. Of course there are the tourbus spots like the Danny Mann bar of the Eviston which is every irish bar anywhere in the world except Ireland. I stay in the Eviston but I drink in Connors and tattler Jacks where you get a good mix of locals and visitors. Kilorglin is the north east corner of the ring and far quieter (apart from the Puck fair week) Another factor is when you aim to be over here as there are events which affect how busy any town is likely to be. |
I think you have a pretty good plan. You have a couple of weeks and you are not trying to see the whole county.
I assume you are flying into Dublin and out of Shannon? Depending on the time of your flight out, you might want to consider staying closer to the airport on your last night. Ennis and Bunratty are both popular spots. Ennis is better if you want to do any last minute shopping. Bunratty has the folk park and medieval castle dinner if you haven't done anything like that, with a good choice of B&Bs. As for the ROK, we have been a couple of times in the OFF SEASON and have driven it clockwise with no troubles, so it depends on what time of year you go. However, we prefer the Bears Penninsula, If you base yourselves in Kenmare, you will see a stretch of the ROK when you drive to Killarney. Some people say this is the prettiest section. If you do drive the ROK on a clockwise route, there is a very cool pass that you can take to cut down to Kenmare. The name escapes me at the moment and my battery is dying, so I will have to look it up and post later. |
Ballaghbeama Pass through the Magilucuddy Reeks. Eerie, desolate, beautiful. Watch out for sheep.
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Going first part of May. Thanks to all of you for your input on our first Ireland trip!
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Per advice received here, I have done a little more digging into other guide books and I guess my main problem is deciding on what to skip and slow this trip down a bit. Would like some advice on the first part of this trip as now configured:
Day 1: Arrive Dublin Days 2 and 3: Dublin Walking Tour , Trinity College, Kilmainham Jail, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar, Oconnell Street, Christchurch Cathedral, Post Office, Literary Pub Crawl, #29 Georgian House Museum. Overnight in Dublin Day 4: Drive to Powerscourt Gardens & Waterfalls, Glendalough, overnight in Kilkenny. Day 5: Kilkenny Castle, St. Canices and other sights in Kilkenny overnight in Kilkenny Day 6: Jerpoint Abbey Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle Overnight in Waterford Day 7: Waterford Area sights. Overnight in Waterford Days 8 - 11 Staying in Kenmare with plans for Muckross House and Farm and Abbey, Killarney National Park, Gap of Dunloe Tour, Tour Beara Peninsula and Killarney town. Day 12: Dingle peninsula staying in Dingle Day 13 & 14. Cliffs of Moher and the Burren staying in Ennis Day 15 Depart Shannon Appreciate your input! |
Think I have answered this somewhere? My only comment from memory was the Cahir/Cashel , possibly putting this into Waterford to Kenmare rather then Kilkenny to Waterford? just a personal thought.
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Tony2phones, do you think I have allotted enough time to see all of this or this is still too ambitious? I am wondering if I can get all of this in. I will move the Cahir/Cashel. Thanks for your assistance,
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It has taken some load off the 1st draft and is more or less reasonable. you will get the measure of your pace as you go along and can adjust accordingly.
Beara is the best of the peninsulas to my mind and better than trying to do the ring of Kerry the section of the ring between Kenmare and Killarney is a nice stretch of road. See St Mary's Killarney it has a strange atmosphere. |
I think all we have planned in the Ring of Kerry is the Gap of Dunloe tour. We will be driving Beara and Dingle
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I think your revised itinerary looks good, and Tony had some great suggestions. FWIW we really enjoyed Killarney (LOTS to see and do in the area), and Ennis was lovely with a laid back vibe. I might suggest a stop at Blarney Castle on the way from Waterford to Kenmare. The grounds are beautiful and it won't be too busy so you can get some good pictures. We went in April last year and the weather was great! No guarantees but I hope you enjoy sunny skies as well :). Enjoy!!!
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One more thing. After you see Cahir Castle-there is a paved walking path adjacent to the parking lot next door to the castle. If you follow it for about a mile, you will come to the Swiss Cottage which you can tour (just make sure to check Open/Closed times). Swiss Cottage is interesting and quirky. When you are done just go back by the same path. You can also drive to SC, but I can't advise on that.
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