Hello Everyone,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland for May 2026. This will be our first trip to Ireland/NI, and will most likely be our only trip, even though I am sure we will love Ireland. We are both in our 70’s and at our ages, we prefer to visit new countries (with a few exceptions) while we still have our health and mobility.

This will be a 3-week trip, most likely the last 3 weeks of May or possibly the last 2 weeks of May and the first week of June. We have a family commitment starting around mid-June in Texas, so we need to leave time in between both trips to recuperate. I have a draft itinerary for 21 nights on the ground but am willing to add one more night on the ground if it enhances the itinerary.

We love coastal, mountain, and pastoral scenery. We enjoy big cities, small cities, and villages. We like easy hikes/walks, flat, not too strenuous. Also enjoy history, art, culture and eating local foods. We also love castles, especially castle ruins. Would like to hear some Irish music but it doesn’t have to be every night. We tend not to stay out too late. Starting to feel our age! We will rent a car, and my husband is the designated driver. He has driven in Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand, so he has some experience driving on the left.

Please review my draft itinerary. I welcome all kinds of advice! I have read trip reports by AllessandraZoe, coral22, and TravelTherese. And I have used the following guidebooks for my planning: Rough Guides, Lonely Planet, and DK. I will include sights we are interested in so you will have a better idea if I should add/subtract nights in some places. I realize we won’t be able to see everything. We plan to fly in and out of Dublin from Boston. I haven’t made any reservations yet.

Dublin (3 nights):

· Grafton Street
· St. Stephen’s Green
· Trinity College and Book of Kells
· Christ Church
· Ha’Penny Bridge
· St. Patrick’s Cathedral
· Kilmainham Gaol

Pick up rental car after our stay in Dublin. Should we pick up the rental car in Dublin center or at the airport? Drive from Dublin to Killarney: 4 – 5 hours

Killarney (3 nights): Or is Kenmare a nicer place to stay? I have read that Killarney is very crowded but it looks pretty and is conveniently located. Is Kenmare just as convenient?

· Ring of Kerry
· Killarney National Park

Should we stay in Killarney (or Kenmare) or should we stay in Dingle to visit the Dingle Peninsula? I don’t want too many long daytrips because I want to make the driving as easy as possible for my husband. So we might prefer staying in Dingle even though it means another hotel change.

Drive from Killarney to Dingle (if we decide to stay in Dingle): 1.5+ hours

Dingle (2 nights):

· Drive around Dingle Peninsula and see Slea Head – this takes all day – would consider hiring a private driver

Drive from Dingle to Galway with a stop at the Cliffs of Moher: 3.5+ hours (does not include stopping at Cliffs of Moher)

Galway (3 nights):

· Explore Galway city, eat oysters, listen to music in pubs, Galway cathedral
· Possibly a daytrip to Aran Islands or The Burren.

Should we visit Connemara NP from Galway or should we stay in Clifden to visit Connemara?

Clifden (2 nights):

· Connemara NP
· Kylemore Abbey

Drive from Clifden to Derry (4.5+ hours)

Derry (3 nights):

· Explore Derry – wander through the Bogside and The Fountain – visit Peoples Gallery
· Walk across Peace Bridge
· Walk the City’s walls
· Tower Museum
· Museum of Free Derry
· St. Columb’s Cathedral

Drive from Derry to the Giants Causeway (1 ¼ hours)

Stay in Bushmills or Portstewart or Portrush (1 night):

· Giants Causeway
· Dunluce Castle
· Tour and tasting at Bushmills Distillery
· Carrick-a-rede-Island rope bridge (not sure about walking across the rope bridge – looks scary to me) But would also be an amazing thing to do.

Drive from Giants Causeway to Belfast (along the coast – 2 ¼ hours) – possible stops along the way.

Belfast (3 nights):

· Titanic Belfast
· City Hall
· Grand Opera House – either attend a performance or have a guided tour
· Explore the Entries
· St. George’s Market (if we are there on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday)
· St. Anne’s Cathedral
· Street Art
· Maybe a walking tour or Black Cab tour?

Drive from Belfast to Dublin – 2 hours – for our last night before we fly home.

Thank you in advance for reading my lengthy post! And for any advice you can give!

Hi Karen, it looks like you've put together a really thorough itinerary (as always). We have only been to Ireland once, in 2012 so just want to comment on the places we have been to.
Dingle: people frequently say that it is too touristy but we loved it. We stayed in Pax House which is just a short walk from the town https://www.pax-house.com/ Some rooms have gorgeous views of the bay, service was exceptional and the breakfasts are fabulous. In a country of great breakfasts, Pax House was the best. There are plenty of excellent restaurants in the town and we were able to catch some live music at a pub. Slea Head drive was great. We did Killarney from Dingle as a day trip.

Clifden: we really liked Clifden and surroundings. Again some great restaurants in town. Very handy for Kylemore abbey and scenic drives. Also great breakfasts.

Sorry I can't help with anywhere else. Have a wonderful trip!

Hi Karen. While we did not stay in Killarney, we loved our stay in Kenmare. We found plenty to do there, with lovely restaurants and shops, plenty of music. The drive to Killarney on the day we took a tour of the Gap of Dunloe wasn't difficult except for the drive back with all the Ring of Kerry tour buses in the on-coming traffic on narrow roads. As for the Ring of Kerry, we turned around about an hour in. It seemed to be a conga line of buses, and at least as far as we went we weren't impressed. (We didn't take photos.) I'd be hard pressed to decide between Dingle and Kenmare as we stayed in both places. Dingle has lots of music, great seafood, blustery weather and lots of sheep! We were fairly unimpressed with Clifden as far as access to good walks which is one of the things we like to build into all our trips. We did not go to Northern Ireland, so perhaps Clifden is a good overnight on your way further north.
I've attached my husband's photolog. Perhaps this will give you some ideas, and help decide about Kenmare and Dingle.
Please note that our trip was in 2012, so perhaps too far back when dinos roamed the earth. I'm sure that no matter what you decide, you will enjoy the trip.

P.S. If you do look at my husband's photolog, you will need to click on each photo if you want captions.
PJ

Interesting Karen we've to Ireland 3 times and have only been to Dublin, Belfast , Galway and Derry from your list .We always picked up cars in Dublin centre -you don't need or want a car there. We just walked to the the hire place.
To visit Bushmills, the rope bridge, Giants Causeway we stayed in Glenarm -so pretty. Then you can drive to Belfast.

I would recommend visiting Newgrange when you are going to Dublin from Belfast.

Jackie44, thank you so much for your thoughts about Dingle and Clifden, and for your recommendation of Pax House, which looks gorgeous! Did you drive yourself around the Dingle Peninsula and Slea Head, or did you hire a private driver?

Hi PJTravels, thank you so much for your comments and for your husband's awesome photos! You and Jackie44 have me sold on Dingle, so we will stay there to drive around the Dingle Peninsula. And we will stay in either Killarney or Kenmare (but leaning towards Kenmare) to visit the Ring of Kerry and Killarney NP. What month were you in Ireland? I am hoping that the ROK won't be as crowded in May. Do you remember where you stayed in Kenmare and Dingle?

Hi Northie, so nice to hear from you! It was about this time last year that we were in Melbourne and meeting you and Lew for dinner! The year has flown by, hasn't it?
We definitely won't have the car while in Dublin. Was it confusing or stressful driving out of Dublin? That's the only reason I was thinking we would pick up the car at the airport after we are done with our stay in Dublin. But of course that means taking a taxi from Dublin Center back to the airport, so that's an extra logistical step involved.

Will look into Glenarm. Did you walk across the Rope Bridge? I remember being a little skittish on one of the suspension bridges when hiking the Hooker Valley Track in NZ last year. I read that the Rope Bridge not only bounces but also sways.

Thanks for the tip about visiting Newgrange!

Karen, as usual, you have a well-researched prospective itinerary. It's been 15 years since I went to Ireland, and it was affected by almost constant rain (not light drizzly rain, but downpours). That's not to say I didn't like Ireland! I had 10 days and did Dublin, Killarney and Galway. Great music everywhere. I loved Galway and also really liked Killarney (big place on the main drag if you want beautiful sweaters and scarves). I'm not big on bus tours, but I didn't have a car and did one to Dingle from Killarney and one from Galway to Connemara that were great.
One thing - is there a reason why you haven't included the castle in Dublin? I was disappointed because I couldn't go in due to a special event going on, but the chapel on the way out was lovely.

Karen, this is a good plan overall, and largely mirrors our itinerary from 2023. Just adding some input, with 2 caveats - we do keep a fast pace, and I don't mind shifting bases to break long drives/optimise the route.

We snagged a great rental from Sixt at the Dublin airport, a city pickup could also work. Its a long drive from there, we broke journey for a night in gorgeous Kinsale.

We based in Kenmare for 2 reasons
- it's more atmospheric than Killarney (too developed for our liking)
- we covered the Gap of Dunloe (a must do), Muckross House, Torc falls etc. before getting to Kenmare (having based in Kinsale the previous night). This released time for the rest of the RoK, and gave us an early headstart over the crowds heading clockwise. And I can't recommend Rockcrest House enough, one of the best B&Bs in Ireland.

I would stay in Dingle. The Dingle Peninsula is less crowded and arguably more interesting than the RoK.

We broke journey in Doolin as our base for the Cliffs of Moher (taking the trail southbound). Doolin is also a wonderful place to experience trad music / a lively pub scene.

Clifden is a delight to stay, set amidst gorgeous Connemara landscapes, also the start and end point of the Sky Road loop. Not trying to overwhelm you, but the Donegal coast, further north, is wild and rugged.

We spent a night in Portrush (not much to it, but convenient) to get an early start at Giants Causeway, before the tourist hordes arrive. Get there early.

Belfast is fascinating, and frankly was the surprise of our trip. I can't recommend Tara Lodge enough, perfectly located with helpful private parking.

Have a great trip!

We drove ourselves. It was slow at times but we weren't in a hurry. John at Pax House gave us a printout of Rick Steeves self guided tour of Slea Head (I'm sure there's an app for that now); that was really helpful. We stopped for a picnic lunch along the way. We had perfect weather that day.

Jackie44, what month did you go to Ireland?

We went in May. We had just one day of drizzly rain.

SusanP, That's too bad about all the rain you had on your trip. Admittedly, that is something I am a bit concerned about. But there isn't much we can do about that. One reason I chose May is because according to my research, May seems to be a bit drier than some other months. Of course, I realize that can change any time. We don't want to go in the summer when it is most crowded. What month did you visit Ireland? And thanks for the reminder about Dublin Castle. The State Apartments are something we would enjoy seeing. Where did you stay in Dublin?

Hi ANUJ,
Thank you for all of your helpful comments. Did you write a TR for your Ireland trip in 2023? I don't see it on your profile, and I do read all of your wonderful trip reports. So I assume you didn't?

I looked up Rockcrest House in Kenmare and it is gorgeous! Just the type of place we would love to stay in.

I have definitely decided to stay in Dingle in addition to Kenmare. I think this makes the most sense to avoid a couple of long daytrips.

Do you think it is possible to drive from Dingle to Galway and stop at the Cliffs of Moher all in one day?

You have convinced me to stay in Clifden to visit Connemara NP and Kylemore Abbey. I have read about Donegal, and it sounds rugged and beautiful, but I don't know how to include it without making our trip longer. Unless I omitted a destination, but I don't think I want to do that. How many nights would you recommend for Donegal? In the last 14 months, we have taken a 6-week trip, a 5-week trip, and most recently a 3-week trip, and we both agree 3 weeks works better for us. Anything longer is too tiring for us.

Specifically, how early is early enough for the Giants Causeway? 9am? or earlier?

Will consider Tara Lodge in Belfast!

Karen - nope, I didn't write a TR for our Ireland trip in Sep 2023.

It would be a long day of driving (300kms/6+hrs), from Dingle, going over the Connor Pass, stopping at the Cliffs of Moher, past the Burren finally to Galway. Its possible with an early start, but will be exhausting. We chose to break journey in Doolin (and walk southward along the cliffs from there). As a bonus, our B&B host Danny at Fishermans Rest was the one of craziest, funniest guys we've ever met.

I think we arrived even before 9am at the Giants Causeway, parking at a paid lot nearby. We had no interest in the Visitor Centre which opens around 10am.

Hi Karen- You will be glad you decided to stay in both the places.

In Kenmare we stayed at https://www.shelburnelodge.com/. It was a lovely stay and we enjoyed walking into town for dinner and music.

In Dingle we stayed at https://www.greenmounthouse.ie/. I had gotten advice from TPAYT for our trip and she recommended both places.

Like ANUJ recommended the MuckRoss House https://muckross-house.ie/. It is in the middle of Killarney National Park and is really a beautiful spot to explore.

Have a great time.

Yes, I hope you don't run into so much rain. The locals kept telling me how the weather was beautiful the two weeks before I arrived! I was there in July (I worked in a school at the time and couldn't go in May or September).

In Dublin, I stayed at the Hilton because I had points to use. At the moment, I don't recall where I stayed in Killarney or Galway. However, I did write a trip report (although if I remember correctly, I didn't quite finish it). If you click on my name and scroll down to the Trip Report Section, you should be able to find it.

Hi Karen. Our trip was from May 14-June5, 2012. In Dublin we stayed at the Fitzwilliam Hotel which was perfectly located, and we walked everywhere except to Kilmainham Gaol. We took the bus there, but as I recall it was a ways, so you might want to take a taxi. Our stay in Kenmare was a ways out of town. Look into Shelbourne Lodge in town which was highly recommended to us by friends. We wanted to stay there, but it was booked. In Dingle we stayed at Castlewood House, which was nice, and they have parking. However, it was a bit of a walk into town so you might want to research that. In Clifden we stayed quite a ways out of town at Hillside Lodge. It was a nice stay, but if I were to do it again I would stay in town. Hope this helps.

Perhaps ask Moderators to include ‘Northern Ireland’ on this info-filled post?