My husband and I and another couple are traveling to Ireland, arriving August 1, departing August 6. So we will only have 5 days in Ireland before leaving for London. We fly into and out of Dublin. We are all seasoned travelers, but have never been to Ireland before. I need help in finalizing the itinerary!

Among the places I'd like to see are: Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Penninsula, Ring of Beara, one of the castles, and so much more, but I know we can't do it all.

I'm thinking the itinerary could be:
Aug 1 Arrive Dublin in morning - tour Dublin (overnight Dublin)
Aug 2 drive to Doolin - see Cliffs of Moher (overnight Doolin)
Aug 3 drive to Kenmare - by way of Bunratty Castle (overnight Kenmare)
Aug 4 Ring of Beara (overnight Kenmare)
Aug 5 Drive back to Dublin - by way of Cashel or something else? (overnight Dublin)
Aug 6 depart Dublin

Does this make sense? I know there's lots I'm missing, but is there something I should do instead of this?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

"<i>is there something I should do instead of this?</i>"

Have you already booked your tickets? If not -- flying in/out of Shannon (and skipping Dublin) would make a lot more sense.

Dublin to Doolin is about 170 miles and easily a 4.5 hour drive w/o any stops.

Doolin > Kenmare via Bunratty is 150 miles - over 4 hours.

Kenmare > Dublin is about 220 miles and probably a 5 hour drive

These are all <u>behind the wheel</u> times w/o sightseeing/meals/stops. So each one is basically an all day drive.

Some good points by janisj - don't be fooled by the map distance in Ireland, the roads aren't all highways with high speeds (very few of those) so the going in a bit slower than you might anticipate.

In terms of "instead of this", if you want to see all these sights, and are aware of the driving, then you'll be fine and should take the trip you want. It is doable, just not a short driving trip. Speaking of which, if you don't have to drive in Dublin (ie don't get the car on your first day in Dublin, take the hop-on-hop-off bus tour) then don't. Traffic is hideous and what should take 30mins to drive will take at least 2 hours. When coming back to Dublin, see if you can drop your car outside the city centre, it will make life much less stressfull.

You could fly into Dublin and over to London from Cork cutting out the last drive and giving effectively an extra day. Cashel is a lot closer to Cork than Dublin. Or fly into Shannon for Doolin and out from Dublin as suggested by janisj

Unfortunately, we've already bought our tickets in/out of Dublin. Would we be better just going straight down southwest and concentrating on Ring of Beara and Dingle Penninsula? Thoughts?

I'd fly directly on to Cork from DUB. Collect your car the next morning and visit the places you want in the SW.