Hello - my 2 sisters and I are off to Ireland June 14-24. We have struggled and struggled with putting together an itinerary that will allow us to see as much as we can without running ourselves raged. We would love some opinions from Ireland travelers/experts. We really want to allow ourselves time to enjoy some pubs and music in a lot of the towns.

Day 1 - land @ Shannon airport at 7am - p/u rental car and drive to Bunratty Castle. Drive from Bunratty to Galway for night. Spend afternoon/evening seeing Galway.

Day 2 - From Galway drive to see Connemara including Kylemore Abbey. Stay in Galway again.

Day 3 - take ferry to Inismore. Return on 4pm ferry. Drive to Doolin for night. Will we be able to make it to Doolin by a decent hour??? How late is too late to check in to a B&B???

Day 4 - From Doolin, see Burren and Cliffs of Moher. After Cliffs of Moher, drive to Dingle for the night. Is this too hard from Doolin to see both considering they are in different directions?? Could we see the Burren on Day 1 as we are heading to Galway??

Day 5 - tour Dingle Peninsula and stay in Dingle again.

Day 6 - Depart Dingle and drive Ring of Kerry - counterclockwise - to Kinsale for the night. Again...is this too much for one day and too late to arrive in Kinsale???

Day 7 - Depart Kinsale - see Rock of Cashel & Waterford on the way to Kilkenny for the night.

Day 8 - Depart Kilkenny....drive through Wicklow Mtns to Dublin. *****We have to drop off our car at Hertz at Dublin Airport and then get to our hotel. Would people suggest going to hotel via taxi?*****

Day 9 & 10 - Dublin

Day 11 - fly home


We are thinking that the end of the trip could be really pushing it from Dingle to Dublin and we may take a day away from Dublin and arrive there on Day 9 instead. Not sure how we would break up days 6-9 to make it more doable.

PLEASE...we really need advice!! Share all you have!! Are we missing anything we shouldn't? Are we seeing something we should skip?

Thank you!

Any time a poster asks if they are doing too much, I think the answer is always yes.

I suggest you consult www.viamichelin.com to check out the mileage between these places. Viamichelin will also tell you the driving time also. My experience has been that you need to add an extra 1/3 to 1/4th of the driving time. It always takes me longer to get to a place than viamichelin says it will, but it does provide a kind of a guide.

Remember that the roads will be narrow. You won't be on freeways most of the time.

I wish I could help more, but this is the best I can do.

I would definitely change Day 6. No way you can drive all this distance and enjoy you day or see anything; you are missing all the beauty of Killarney National Park.

You are fast paced, but with some tweaking, it's doable.

The above advice is correct. Don't count on ANY more than 35 mph on any road, no matter how fast you think you'll drive. You will want to stop for the sheep in the road, to explore that great ruin, to moo at the cows, to stop at the pub, to catch your breath as the lorry comes barreling down in the other direction on a one lane, windy, twisty road.

The first day is a bit much - I'd stay in Bunratty that first night, exhausted from flight and jet lag, rather than drive a dangerous distance on unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar vehicle. Plenty to see in the Bunratty area for the afternoon if you do have some energy, without endangering others

Instead of Kinsale, try Kenmare - easier to get to from the Ring of Kerry, and a lovely little foodie town. Day 6 will still be a very long day, but it won't be punishing. If you are going to take a day away from Dublin, put it here, and do the Ring of Kerry on the second day. Much more pleasant.

Try to plan your trip to Ireland as if you'll be back to see the things you can't see this trip. You'll never see everything you want to see, certainly not in one 10-day trip! I'm still finding stuff to see and I'm planning my fourth trip. Don't go for the 'green blur' tour - Ireland is best enjoyed when savored in a relaxing, low-key way.

Ditto what's already been said. Assuming the sights listed in your itinerary are a given, may I suggest an itinerary similar to this.
Day1 - Bunratty castle, Cliffs of Moher, overnight Doolin.
Day2 - Burren, Galway, overnight Galway.
Day3 - From Galway drive to see Connemara including Kylemore Abbey. Stay in Galway again.
Day4 - Take ferry to Inismore. Return on 4pm ferry. Stay in Galway again or somewhere along the way to Dingle.
Day5 - Tour Dingle, stay in Dingle.
Day6 - Tour Dingle Peninsula and stay in Dingle again.
Day7 - Depart Dingle and drive Ring of Kerry - counterclockwise. Stay in Kenmare or Killarney [visit Muckross House].
Day8 - See Rock of Cashel & Waterford on the way to Kilkenny for the night. [Consider dropping Cashel or Waterford and stopping at Cahir castle instead].
Day9 - Depart Kilkenny....drive through Wicklow Mtns to Dublin.
Day10 - Dublin
Day11 - fly home

Enjoy your trip.

Loving all the info!! Thank you.

What is everyone's opinion of Bunratty Castle??? Is it a must see? If we skipped it...and headed straight from Shannon airport towards Burren and then to Galway for the afternoon/night would that be more adviseable? Considering it's our first day? According to Michelin site it is 89km/1 hr 23 min.

See this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...k-who-knew.cfm

Bob

Thank you Bob!! My sisters and I all thought it would be a great first stop but had gotten some poor info from other travelers. I'm so glad you commented! It stays on our day 1 itinerary!!

Bunratty is a great place, and I really enjoyed our day there. The folk part is lovely, with animals, flowers, and a host of historic buildings to explore. There is a fun 'ceilidh in the corn barn' - yeah, it's touristy, but a little more down to earth than the banquet in the castle, IMHO.

Driving all the way to Galway would only be an option if you get rest on the flight over, I would think. it's not a short drive (though not terribly long), but you will be tired and jetlagged at that point. It's a fairly easy run, so use your own judgement.

Take the number of miles, and use the measure 35mph, no more. Seriously.

Ok...so 89 km is about 55 miles @ 35mph it's less than 2 hour drive. Seems doable. We are planning on sleeping on the flight.

Just so you are aware that you will be tired and jetlagged Like I said, it's doable - but not always easy for everyone.

I've driven many times after the flight over, and I'm familiar with the cars and driving rules over there. I'm also used to manual transmission, which most of their rentals are... so I wouldn't hesitate to try it. Not everyone can, though... and if you doubt, it's safer to you and others not to try.

I remember flying into Dublin once, and then driving to Kilkenny, which is only 3 hours. However, due to weather and flight delays, we got in much later than we intended. Rather than arriving at 10am, we got in at 3pm (after being re-routed to London), without my baggage of course. So, filling out baggage forms, getting the rental car, and we finally got to Kilkenny at 8pm - it was rather dark by then

Driving from SNN to Galway is not that bad. But I would never like to drive on Day 1 with jetlag etc.

Anyway, if you are determined to drive, you will have a decent motorway (M18) for 1/4 of your trip. Please do not drive 35mph on that leg, it's 75mph or 120kph (unless posted otherwise). After you bypassed Ennis, you may encounter slow traffic or stopping on old N18 due to the construction of the remaining part of M18 to Galway. It's not easy to foresee if or how much that will ruin your average. Once you get to the outskirts of Galway you will hit dual carriageways until you get "downtown".
If you don't stay in a hotel or B&B in Galway proper, get good directions from your hosts since neither street names nor house numbers exist in rural Ireland (or villages). But B&Bs usually put up signs near the road so it's not that hard to find them if you manage to find the right road.

Just one generic remark re. driving:
Speed limits are in kilometers per hour. Except for motorways, a speed limit is NOT a recommendation or an indication of how fast you should or can go. You will find tiny one-lane roads with signposted 80kph speed limits which only a lunatic will take for a recommended speed.
Signs with distances are in kilometers when they are new. And in miles when they are smaller, black & white, and look a bit battered. Both happily co-exist, especially on rural roads.

And, based on Murphy's Law and the Inverse-Square Rule -- generally speaking, the OLDER the sign (and MORE battered!) --

---the LESS likely it is to be pointing in the RIGHT direction!!

Bob

pegontheroad----love the www.viamichelin.com site. Thanks for the tip.

Cowboy1968----also appreciate your driving tips.

I remember us laughing at some of the speed limit signs in Ireland. They want us to go HOW FAST? on THAT road???? Ha! We went as slow as we needed to, and let the locals go around us whenever they came up on our tail.