eldrethb

NEED HELP!!! Could really use some of your advice. We are travelling from Dublin on a 5 day/5 night trip with our 2 year old daughter. We can't figure out what would be a feasible route in the time that we have. Should we drive from Dublin on our first day, through Tipperarey onto Cork (Blarney Castle)and stay the night, onto Killarney for the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Penninsula and stay in Killarney 2 nights. Here should we just do part of the Ring and part of the Penninsula if that's possible or should we just focus on one? From there it's back to Dublin to spend the night and the next day before we fly home. Is there anything we should see between Killarney and Dublin on the ride back to break the drive up a bit?
How far are the CLiffs of Moher from Killarney? Is this impossible to fit in?
THanks,
Beth

Padraig

Let's get the picture:
- You fly into Dublin and out again from there five days later. Is it a transatlantic journey, involving jetlag?
- You will have a young child with you. How well does she travel?
- You want to do a whole lot of stuff in the south-west.

Are you willing to go back to the drawing-board and consider a completely different programme involving much less travel?

eldrethb

We are flying from/to germany. I should have been more clear.

eldrethb

Our little girl is a great traveler! We just want to be able to take in as much as we can, but not overwhelming ourselves w/ all the driving.

thanks for the help

Susan7

This looks a bit rushed to me. To save travelling time you could fly out of Cork rather than going back to Dublin. Is that possible? Garnish House in Cork is a fabulous B & B. The most extraordinary breakfasts and very friendly staff.

I would pick either Dingle or Ring of Kerry.

Padraig

I assume that your starting and finishing in Dublin is a given, so I won't go down the line of suggesting that you change that.

Your draft itinerary involves a lot of driving, certainly more than I would like to do. While you say your child is a good traveller, it might be that she will not enjoy a lot of time in a car (or she might -- I don't know her, and you do). I assume also, that you know how to keep her amused and happy. I expect that she will not be big into scenery, but the attentive company of her parents and excitements like seeing a sheep on a hillside might be what she wants.

I get the impression that you want to hit as many as you can of the most popular tourism destinations. You don't make it clear if you want scenery or antiquities or a cultural experience or something different. So, with limited information about your preferences, I make some suggestions.
1. Forget Blarney. It's basically a tourist trap, even though the setting is nice enough. And we are coming into the queuing season.
2. Choose either the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula. My choice would be the Dingle Peninsula.
3. I think Killarney is not a great town (we argue about that here from time to time). But it is a town in a great place, and there is a lot of local stuff to enjoy. You could spend a day or more around Killarney doing interesting things and not driving too much.
4. If you decide to omit the Ring of Kerry, note that one of the loveliest roads in Ireland is part of the route -- the stretch between Kenmare and Killarney (preferably travelled in that direction).
5. If you lessen your ambitions for Kerry, you can easily get in the Cliffs of Moher. From Killarney you drive north to Tarbert, cross the Shannon estuary on the ferry, and it's just up the road. That would leave you with a different route back to Dublin.

Do you want to pursue these ideas?

eldrethb

Yes I would like to pursue your ideas. A scenic and or cultural trip is what we had in mind.

We arrive on a thursday night, so that day is ruined, giving us 4 full days w/ a late flight on day 5 from dublin. We thought we would do Dublin sight-seeing on that day. Saying that and doing what you suggest, what would be a no kidding "very doable" itinerary?

Padraig

I don't know how you arrange things for your daughter. You might look for accommodation with a babysitting service so that you might go out for an evening meal, or a drink.

Given how ambitious your first ideas were, I presume you have the stamina of enthusiastic young people rather than the chronic exhaustion of some young parents.

Friday. I suggest that you head straight for Killarney as early as you can get organised. It should take between four and five hours, and you might add a short break in Adare to stretch your legs and look at a postcard village. Target being in Killarney for early or mid-afternoon so that you can do some local tourism. Plenty of choices, and you don't need to pre-plan: see what suits the mood of the day.

Saturday. I propose another early start. Head for Dingle (about 40 miles, slow driving). Elevenses, quick look at the town. Then out west to do the Slea Head drive. It's a little over 30 miles, but very slow driving and much stopping. Give it 3 hours, more if you stop somewhere for lunch. You can decide if you want to return from Dingle via the scenic but hair-raising Connor Pass. Back to Killarney. Perhaps another little taste of local tourism, depending on how time and energy levels work out.

Sunday: Decision point. You could stay in Killarney and do more local tourism -- perhaps towards Kenmare and Glengarriff. Or you could head for the Tarbert-Killimer ferry and make for the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, perhaps ending up in Galway for the night.

Monday: Back to Dublin. If you are going from Galway or somewhere near it, you could visit Clonmacnoise on the way.

Is this showing promise?

eldrethb

Excellent! At first we honestly thought we could get it all in. I apprieciate you bringing us back to reality.

I believe on Sunday we will head for the Cliffs of Moher and the Buren and back to Galway for the night.

We actually fly out on Tuesday night so what would you suggest for Monday?

We really do apprieciate your help.

Padraig

The first part of the day is travel. It's about 3 hrs 30 mins from Galway to Dublin, and Clonmacnoise could add an hour or two to that.

I presumed you would like some time in my home town -- part of Monday, part of Tuesday. Is your daughter old enough to enjoy the Zoo? Up to now it's been pretty well a trip for her parents.