tidy

I have tried to looked at recommendations to revise our Ireland itinerary. Please give feedback. In May we will arrive and depart (go to Wales) from Dublin and have a car except when in Dublin.
Day 1- May 10, arrive in Dublin
Day 2 and 3 - Dublin
Day 4 pick up car and drive to Trim Castle, Bru na Boinne and then overnight in Belfast
Day 5 Belfast (Titantic experience, maybe cityhall and Falls Road black taxi) overnight in Belfast 2nd night
Day 6 Drive coastal road from Larne to Portrush (stop at Carrick a -reded, Old Bushmills Distillery, Giant's Causeway
Day 7 spend 2nd night in Portrush, not sure what we will do this day???
Day 8 Drive to Derry (Bogside Musrals, Walk the Walls and maybe Tower Museum) then drive to Rathmullan
Day 9 drive north and then west to either Ardara, Glencolumbkille or Killybegs. Probably would not make a reservation but just find a place along the way. Only 1 night
Day 10 To Westport or Clifden (again find a place on the way for only 1 night)
Day 11 To Galway, see sights along the way
Day 12- Take ferry to Aran, spend the night in Galway
Day 13 Drive to Cliffs of Moher (stop in Doolin) and then drive to Dingle(overnight)
(This looks like it might be a long day???
Day 14- drive around Dingle island
Day 15 to Blasket Island
Day 16 Drive Ring of Kerry and then spend night in Kenmare
Day 17 To Muckross House and then Kinsale
Day 18 Kinsale
Day 18 To Cobh visit Titanic site (is this needed since we did Titanic experience in Belfast?) then drive to Cahir (overnight Cahir)
Day 19 tour Cahir Castle and Rock of Cashel and then drive to Glenadough
Day 20 Visit Glenadough (should we stop in Kilkenny on the way??) not sure where we would spend the night yet
Day 21 to Gardens of Powerscourt and then spend the night in Dun Laoghaire (this will allow us to drop the car at the airport in the morning. We would then take the ferry to Wales and our friends would travel to Edinburgh.
We for sure have one more day available and could possibly add 2 days. This itinerary does not include Wexford or Waterford, any thoughts on that. Should we add a day to Kenmare or include and overnight in Doolin???? My choice is not to do 1 nights stays and I think we have about 7- one night stays; it just seemed best to not back track. I think I am okay with this since they are smaller towns and easier to get in and out of and we will have a car so do not need to worry about storing our luggage for the day. I appreciate any feedback.

travelhorizons

Less is more! For instance, I wouldn't do both the Ring of Dingle and Ring of Kerry, and of the two, I'd choose the Dingle Peninsula.

It seems like your itinerary is a list you've made of lots of things to see in Ireland, so you're busy, busy, busy, constantly driving, constantly sightseeing … and not spending any time to relax, take in the 40 shades of green, spend time with locals.

Do less, discover more!

abram

Day 7: We enjoyed Dunluce Castle, but you wouldn't need more than 1-2 hours.
Day 12: In our 34 days in Ireland, our day going to Inishmore was something I wish we had skipped.
Day 15: make sure you have a plan B, as the boat trips to Blasket Island often get cancelled, even when the weather looks good
Other things we loved: a day spent in the Burren, especially a guided hike with Shane Connelly; a day in Connemara--hiking in the National Park, Kylemore Abbey, a boat trip on the Killary Fjord, driving/hiking Slieve League.
Killarney National Park is definitely worth a full day--there's more than just Muckross House--Ross Castle, Gap of Dunloe, scenic drives.
You could easily spend 2 nights in Waterford--several excellent museums, guided walking tour, crystal factory.

jaja

There's no airport in Dun Laoghaire; I expect you meant the ferryport. We picked up our rental car there but it was driven in from Dublin and we met in the ferryport parking lot. (Dan Dooley).

tidy

Yes we would be taking the ferry to Wales. I did wonder about both touring dingle and Kerry. I hope others respond to this; if not, I may post that question separately.
Abram, would you then add a day to Kenmare to have time for the National PArk. Then where would you add a day to accomplish Connemara, would it be Westport , Galway or another place??? for some reason Waterford does not have much appeal to me but what do I know I have never been to Ireland. I had a friend who rally liked their day at Inishmore.

tidy

Clarification. I was only thinking of staying in dun Laoghaire so that it would be easy to drop our car at the airport in the morning. Then we will go to Wales via ferry and our friends to Scothland. Neither of us flying out of Dublin at that time.