Please forgive another itinerary question! Pretty please....
 

Hi All,

I know itinerary questions can be tedious, but at the onset of holiday planning it is sooo important to get it right.

My 16 day Ireland itinerary has been occupying my thoughts and I know I'll feel better when it is sorted.

Background - mid-June to early July, hubby and I, in a car, probably staying in B&Bs.

My hobby is photography, so I'm sure this won't be a problem with all the lovely scenery.

We are from Australia, so spending lots of time in cars isn't a problem.

We would like to see as much as possible and with the daylight hours being so long in that time I'm sure that will help.

Anyway - here's my initial draft. It doesn't cover the whole island obviously and we had to make some hard decisions as to what to leave out (Wicklow, Waterford etc mainly).

Here goes. These are my thoughts for where we would spend each night - thoughts, comments, recommendations and constructive criticisms welcome!

1. Dublin

2. Dublin

3. Kinsale

4. Kenmare

5. Dingle

6. Dingle

7. Galway

8. Aran Islands - I'd love to stay here overnight, would consider flying (I prefer a short plane ride to a bumpy boat)

9. Galway

10. Westport

11. Donegal

12. Derry

13. Portrush

14. Belfast

15. Belfast

Thank you all so much!

Cheers!

We have done two road trips in Ireland. First time in 2005 my husband and I spent 3 weeks there and this past June we took our family of 11 for 2 weeks. I would just say that driving distances in Ireland seem short, but the driving times are usually long. Therefore, I would think your itinerary a bit ambitious--especially if you want time to wander, take photographs, listen to music in a pub, etc. Probably doable, but you might find your time rushed.

Thanks weaverm. I'm thinking maybe we should concentrate on the west coast and up around the northern part of Ireland (incl Northern Ireland). That would probably mean missing Kinsale and maybe going straight to Dingle instead of Kenmare. Would that help?
Cheers.

If you are going to overnight on the Aran Islands, I would suggest that you do that after your two nights in Galway and then drive to Westport.

If scenic photography is your passion, the west coast is definitely where you want to concentrate. If it's people etc. anywhere is great. the Wicklow Mts are pretty but have nothing on the rugged beauty of the West. History you'll find everywhere. Kinsale is a very pretty little town on the coast but there are others on the west coast just as picturesque. And Kinsale is pretty much out of your way in the rest of your itinerary. plan on it taking about half again as long as it looks to get to someplace. for example, it doesn't look that far but it was a four hour drive from Dingle to Shannon airport. it was an hour just from Dingle to Tralee. The roads are narrow, not always well maintained and not well marked so plan on being lost a lot, which for us was part of the fun seeing things we hadn't planned or known about.

The ROK is very pretty but also pretty much clogged with tour buses in the summer. My Irish friends, everyone I know who's been both places, myself included much prefer the Dingle pen. I know it's out of the way and there are no big cities or attractions and that's what we all love about. There are still tourists but not nearly so many. We took the ferry and drove along the coast up to the Cliffs of Moher, avoiding the Shannon estuary and Galway etc and the drive was breathtaking.

Please! You are making some people's day by asking an "itinerary" question so they can parade their expertise, and a travel message board is ONLY good for such questions.

! There is nothing tedious about your question. No craven apologies necessary.

I suggest you check out AA Roadwatch (route planner) for travel times and then add 20/30% to their estimates.

www.aaroadwatch.ie