ANUJ, After giving it more thought, I agree with you that it will be a very long and tiring day to drive from Dingle to Galway, with a stop at Cliffs of Moher, in one day. You have me sold on Doolin! I will add an extra night to our trip so that we can spend one night in Doolin. This means we will have 22 nights on the ground.

Pagngo, Thanks so much for your lodging recommendations. Just curious. When did you stay at Shelburne Lodge? I checked their website and it now looks like they are under new ownership. And the new owners have turned the lodge into an air bnb. You have to rent the whole place. I can always contact them to make sure I am not mistaken. Greenmount House looks wonderful!

SusanP, when I have a minute, I will look for your trip report.

PJTravels, I will check out the Fitzwilliam Hotel in Dublin. Thank you!

nyse, how do I contact the Moderators? I knew at one time, but now I've forgotten and can't figure it out. If I hover over the orange triangle, it says "report post" so it sounds like I am complaining about a post.

We went MANY years ago during the end of May. It was very dry and very hot. The newspaper headlines were "Sizzling Twenties". We're from the south. It felt "normal" to use. The good weather continued on during our visit to England and Scotland. There was about 15 minutes of light rain when we picked up our rental car in London and it snowed on it at Loch Ness,

One surprise was a bank holiday at the end of May that interrupted our plans a bit. Check to see if that will impact yours.

We added on a visit to the Aran Islands and were so glad we did. We drove the Dingle peninsula instead of the Ring of Kerry.

On my return trip I want to go to the Waterford crystal factory. That is my one non-negotiable. I loved it.

Have fun! Our trip to Ireland was magical!

Karen, that’s another meticulously researched itinerary, kudos to you!

We have been to Ireland two times, once in August 2015 when we were in the east, Dublin and Cork. Visits included Kinsale, Rock of Cashel, Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, Glendalough and Powerscourt, the latter has been voted one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. I also highly recommend Newgrange, which dates back over 3000 years and is older than the pyramids and Stonehenge.

We also visited Blarney Castle. Though it’s considered cheesy and very touristy, we went early and the castle wasn’t crowded. The grounds are magnificent, I particularly enjoyed seeing the medieval poison garden.

Our second trip was longer, about 12 days, in June 2017. Dublin again, then to the Galway on west coast, we stayed at the suburb of Salthill. From there we went to the Cliffs of Moher, Burren, Wild Atlantic Way, etc. Then Belfast, including the Giant’s Causeway, Titanic Museum and a Black Cab tour. The last was one of the highlights of our visit, as a young man our driver had fought against the British and his stories vividly brought the Troubles to life. Extremely tough and trying times, with so many young lives lost.

In Dublin do include the castle, and Kilmaon Gaol and Trinity College/Book of Kells of course. Then just walking around the Temple Bar area and listening to music.

We were lucky to have glorious weather on both trips, it actually got pretty hot towards the end in Dublin. No rain at all, most unlike what I imagined Ireland to be. But it was still so green everywhere, you know why it’s called the Emerald Isle.

You’ve always been lucky with the weather and I’m sure you’ll do fine! Let us know how the planning goes…

Karen, a small point to note : remember to inform your rental agency in Dublin, that you intend to take the car over to NI - this incurs a marginal cross border fee (to extend insurance coverage). You could also flag this while booking online.

Karen, your instincts are right - it is the yellow/orange triangle. And I agree, it’s badly worded!

nyse, I contacted the Moderators. Thanks!

Starrs, did you visit the Aran Islands as a daytrip? Or stay overnight? Is the drive around the Dingle peninsula stressful? We may hire a private driver for that drive but haven't decided yet. The weather is so fickle. I guess we will have to bring some clothes for cold weather and some for warm weather, which always makes packing light a challenge.

Geetika, thanks for all of your tips and suggestions. I hope we are as lucky with the weather as you are.

ANUJ, thanks for reminding me that we have to notify the car rental agency that we intend on driving into NI.

I made some minor adjustments to our itinerary so thought I should share my revised itinerary. I didn't include all the sightseeing on this version. We will stay in Dingle to drive around the Dingle peninsula. And stay in Kenmare instead of Killarney. And we will stay in Clifden to visit Connemara NP and Kylemore Abbey. And I added one night in Doolin.

Dublin (3 nights)
Kenmare (3 nights)
Dingle (2 nights)
Doolin (1 night)
Galway (3 nights)
Clifden (2 nights)
Derry (3 nights)
Stay somewhere along the Causeway Coast, such as Bushmills or Portstewart or Portrush (1 night)
Belfast (3 nights)
Dublin or hotel near the airport (1 night)

For a total of 22 nights on the ground.

At the OP's request we have edited the thread title to include Northern Ireland and added a United Kingdom tag.

KarenWoo We visited middle part of Ireland and Belfast-Giant Causeway in April this year. We used public transportation to Galway, Killarney, Cork, Dublin and Belfast. We also joined the local tours to see all the well known sights.

We loved the tour to Dingle and Slea Head. We got a map from the local tour company. I am attaching it and hoping it will give you some ideas when driving the areas.

Happy travels!

Cherthor, thank you so much for the map! That is so kind of you. Do you remember the name of the company you used for the Dingle Peninsula tour? Was it a small group tour? I might want to hire a private driver or take a small group tour to give my husband a break from driving, and so that he can enjoy the scenery more.

We were based at Killarney, so we went to the tourist information center to check out the local tour company. They gave us Deros Tour Killarney which was just across the Tourist information center. We took the couch tour since it was off peak. They do provide private tours.

Deros Tour Killarney- The size of the vehicle vary from 16 seater minibuses to top of the range – current year model of 49 seater coach. We can also arrange private tours with top class Driver/Guides from Mercedes Saloon, 6 Seaters, 12 Seaters, 16 Seaters and 23 Seaters. Please contact this office directly“

We did enjoyed the couch tour and the bus driver/guide is really good and is a local resident. He is very knowledgeable and also very friendly.

Cherthor, thank you so much!

A day trip. We added it in literally at the last minute (after arrival) and so glad we did.

Drove the Dingle peninsula myself but that was years ago. I think a private driver would be great - for the reasons you list. I did not find it stressful. There was a tiny pottery we stopped at that I'd love to return to. I may Google around to see if I can find it.

Starrs, thank you for your comments!

Geetika, what made you decide to stay in Salthill instead of Galway? Were you happy with your decision? Where did you stay in Salthill? Thanks!

Karen, we prefer to stay in an apartment instead of hotel and I couldn’t find something suitable in Galway itself. Instead, we rented a beautiful serviced apartment overlooking the bay in Salthill, which is like a suburb of Galway. The address actually says Salthill, Galway. There were some lovely walks along the water, also an excellent bakery right next’s door, their soda bread was to die for!

The town center is a short drive away and easy to access, though oftentimes we had to park a little distance away. Salthill itself had a some very lively pubs and a couple of good restaurants. We were mostly away during the day, but we did have a couple of good dinners.


Below are the details in case anyone is interested


Jameson Court Apartments, Salthill, Galway
[email protected]

Hi Karen, yes it does seem like yesterday we met.

We just walked to the car hire place from our hotel in Dublin -easy and it wasnt difficult getting out of Dublin. We stayed at Harding sHotel which is on the edge of Temple Bar -you'll get Irish music there.Its opposite Christ Church cathedral. we didnt do the rope bridge as luckily it was opened until after we left lol.
re weather in ireland -in the 3 times we've been there we've not had rain but I know this last few months have been so wet and stormy.
I see Glenadlough and Powerscourt were recommended but its likely your travels would take you in a different direction. They are superb.

Coming to this a bit late but thought I’d throw my tuppence worth in! Your itinerary looks so well researched already Karen, but some thoughts overall after around 7 or 8 trips to Ireland (very easy from Scotland!) mostly the Wild Atlantic Way but also Derry, Antrim Coast , Dublin and County Wicklow.

For more detail and photos I wrote up the various trips - usually one week’s driving tour with some walking, either solo or with my husband and one week I did with a friend.

https://annestravelsandhikes.com/201...-atlantic-way/

The link here starts with the Cliffs of Moher with links to Connemara (beautiful), Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Dingle and also Donegal (stunning - fantastic beaches.) I also visited the Aran Islands two years ago, revisited Connemara but also headed up through Mayo and Sligo and Achill Island.

I agree about the Ring of Kerry - we weren’t wowed by it (that said Day 1 was drizzly) though it’s pleasant enough.I actually thought that the Skellig Ring which sits just off the main Ring of Kerry route, was way better than anything we saw on the latter.In fact, it was gorgeous.Adjacent Portmagee and Valentia Island also had some wonderful scenery.Sadly, we were unable to do the Skellig Michael trip due to sea conditions.

The Dingle Peninsula is wonderful - the further out you get to Slea Head and Dunquin beach is stunning, a great coastal drive - again way better than the Ring of Kerry IMO.I’ve visited this area twice and it doesn’t disappoint.

Kenmore is a delightful wee place though Killarney, to me is in much finer scenery.Killarney is very touristed, very busy but strolling through Muckross Gardens (the rhoddies should be out in May/June) was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, as was a hike up Torc Mountain (steepish.)We stayed just outside Killarney so it was very quiet.We also had an early dinner on the sunny terrace of the rather huge, corporate Europe Hotel which wasn’t really our scene at first glance but turned out to have the most wonderful view of the lake and the mountain range.And good food! Quite a wow inside too, the hotel.

I really liked Clifden, it certainly has a lot of choice re eating out/lunch albeit no views as such.Roundstone is in a beautiful spot (with some well regarded eating places) though we stayed well round the coast at spectacular Renvyle.

I’ve also stayed in the very pretty village of Cong (C.Mayo) though that is only a 1hr or so beautiful drive from Roundstone - it was a must as I am a big fan of the film, The Quiet Man!

I’ll come back on a little more , a bit later!

Carrick a Rede is quite the experience! More in detail here with photos if of help:

https://annestravelsandhikes.com/202...ants-causeway/

The bridge does bounce quite a bit and some of the netting is in rather poor shape but although I don’t particularly like heights , it was fine.There will be quite a queue and they only let so many over at the one time.
The whole coast there is spectacular, very lovely with various short walking routes to admire it.
Games of Thrones might not be of interest but there are quite a few places along there that were used in the filming.A really stunning site, I thought, was the road now called the Dark Hedges because of the way the trees branches have formed quite an amazing tunnel.

I stayed near pretty Ballintoy Harbour rather than in Portrush or Portstewart, neither of which appealed to me at all - quite built up (and not in a good way) along that coast given the big golf resort too.But certainly handy for where you want to visit.

Derry - if you get the chance on route, the Grianan of Aileach ringed fort is well wroth a look.Parking very close by.

Malin and Fanad Head lighthouses north of Derry (in Donegal) were wonderful spots, I thought.Some great beaches down that coast south of the lighthouses too.

Dublin didn’t appeal to my husband and I hugely (main interest was the Book of Kells) though we did enjoy a great, relatively inexpensive lunch (given the venue)in the lovely Shelbourne Hotel in St Stephen’s Green (if they still offer that deal!) There was also an excellent Yeats Exhibition in the nearby National Gallery.As a big Yeats fan, it was sheer luck it was on while we were there.Came out of it very teary-eyed!

Karen, I am so happy you are heading to Ireland!
You have a very well planned out trip (as usual.) We didn't go to Northern Ireland or have as much time as you do.

I will relate that if you want an automatic car, the availability is much more likely at the airport than at a city location. The city location could have an automatic car that would be available to you, but if the previous driver is late in returning it, your trip could be delayed. It was a quick, inexpensive taxi ride to the airport. Also, if you use your credit card to cover your insurance costs, the Republic of Ireland does not honor the insurance coverage of many of them. We used Chase Sapphire and the car rental companies request a letter dated 3 weeks out from Chase Sapphire but we did not have to pay for any additional insurance.

We enjoyed Killarney and the location for the ease of getting to so many places on our list. We were there in exactly the same time frame you will be there, and I don't think the crowds had arrived yet. We loved The Lake Hotel, it was a little away from the center. We didn't get to Kenmare, but it sounds lovely and it sounds like that is where you will will be staying.

We loved Dingle and thought it was the cutest place we stayed. We also, loved Pax House with its stunning views, and delicious breakfast.

I think getting a driver for the longer drives is a great idea, it did start to wear on DH after awhile.

Doolin for the night works well, because when you arrive in the afternoon you have a shot to go to the Cliffs of Moher then or wait until the morning to play off which day has better weather. It is spectacular, but obviously rain or fog, makes it a waste of time.

We also stayed at Jameson Court apartments in Galway. We got it with points and the main draw was the laundry facilities. We enjoyed the water views and it was very close to the center. The kitchen would have worked out well but we were only there for one night to get set up to meet our relatives. Galway was just ok to us and the most crowded place we visited. We were there just one night so we probably didn't give it a fair chance, because so many do love it.

Happy planning!

Scotlandmac, thank you so much for your information and your links to your blog. I have read some of your blog, will read more later, and it is fascinating and very informative.

coral22, so nice to hear from you. I enjoyed reading your TR for Ireland. We will rent an automatic so thanks for the tip that reserving an automatic will be easier if we pick up the car at the airport. I am seriously considering the Pax House in Dingle. Will check out Jameson Court apartments in Galway. Thanks!