One week trip help?
 

Hello all,
I have just found this wonderful board and am reading many of your posts. Happily we have dates for our one week trip to Ireland. We are flying into Dublin in Mid May and will fly out of Shannon. My husbands company will put us up at the Clarion? on the first night (or 2 if we want).
I need real help with the itinerary. Obviously we will land and sleep and spend a day in Dublin. Do we need 2?

After that we had planned to go to Waterford, but thanks to all of your input we will skip it.
I guess what I need is a good itinerary that takes in the SW area. If you could give me an estimate of the amount of driving we would be doing per day that would help too. We love mountains, lakes and coastlines. Not much for the hiking though.
Also if you could help with hotels or better B and Bs that would be great.

Looking forward to hearing from the experts.
Thanks in advance,

Ellen

Ellen -- I'm sure you'll get lots of helpful advice here, but if you haven't already come across the following site, I highly recommend it, particularly the Ask Pat Q&A: http://www.ireland-withpatpreston.com/

On my first trip to Ireland I chose some towns and hotels based on Pat's recommendations and was very happy with them all. (I have no connection to the site -- I'm just a fan.)

I love Ireland's west coast and smaller towns, so I'd only spend one night in Dublin. (But, that's not nearly enough if you really want to explore that city.)

So, I might think about:
Night #1: Dublin
Night #2:Cashel
Nights #3,4: Kenmare
Nights #5,6: Dingle
Night #7: near Shannon (Bunratty, Ennis, Killaloe)

Dublin to Cashel is 2 1/2-3 hours. You could visit the Rock of Cashel and also nearby Cahir Castle.

Cashel to Kenmare is another 2 1/2-3. Kenmare's a neat little town and a good base for day trips to Killarney Natl. Park and the rugged Beara Peninsula.

Kenmare to Dingle is about 2 hours. The Dingle Peninsula has some of Ireland's most memorable coastal scenery and the town of Dingle is delightful.

Dingle to Shannon is about 3 hours.

Thanks for the info. As my husband and I continue to talk about this trip we realize that we really want to do more in the west, so we might take the train to Galway from Dublin (1 night there), then a night or 2 in Galway so we can see Aran Islands and then head down to Dingle. Is that too much driving in a day?
Then maybe go to Kenmare for a night or 2 and back to Shannon.
Now that I've changed things up, any suggestions???
Any hotel and B and B suggestions too?

Also I'll check Pat's website for more help. I love this site!!
Getting excited.
Ellen

Galway to Dingle is a bit of a trek, probably 4-4 1/2 hours. In Galway, I've stayed at Four Seasons B&B and also at the Spanish Arch Hotel. I liked them both.

Aer Aran flys within Ireland and there is an airport in Co. Kerry near Kilarney. You have to check thier website for the schedule but I know that they do fly from Dublin to Kilarney. The fares seem to avarage about 50 dollars including tax per person. I would start in Kenmare and work my way up to dingle and then to Aran Islands/Galway. On the other hand, the train trip to Galway sounds nice, and that way you can see the countyside.

Your love of mountains and lakes makes me think you would like the Kilarney/Kensale area. Dublin 1, Kensale/Kilarney 2-3, Dingle 2, Co. Clare near ferry to aran Island 2. Or maybe you could skip dingle and just spend more time in co. clare.