xxxx

Day 1 -- Arrive Dublin. Night Dublin
Day 2 -- Dublin. Night Dublin
Day 3 -- Pick up car. Glendalough & Kilkenny. Night Kilkenny.
Day 4 -- Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Hore Abbey. Night Kilkenny.
Day 5 -- Jerpoint Abbey. Head to Killarney
Day 6 -- Ring of Kerry
Day 7 -- Dingle Penninsula
Nights 5, 6, 7 Killarney or area
Day 8 -- Bunratty Castle, Adare
Day 9 -- Cliffs of Moher, The Burren
Day 10-- Drive East. Clomancloise along the way. Night north of Dublin.
Day 11-- Sites north of Dublin: Fore Abbey, Monasterboise, Newgrange, Knowth. Night near airport.
Day 12-- Fly home.

We may have one additional day. If so, I was thinking the best use would be either in Dublin or in the King of Kerry area. Opinions?

This is my first attempt at an itinerary. I am looking for feedback on if it is realistic and if we are planning too much or too little in general. We enjoy castles, churches, abbeys, and other historical sites. We prefer smaller towns to cities and have experience driving on the left

Thanks.

wojazz3

Very good first attempt. One thing that would be good to know is what time of year you are traveling.

You have a very doable itinerary. With an extra night, I would consider two nights in Dingle and two in Kenmare (as opposed to Killarney), especially if during high season. Im not sure where you are staying on nights 8-9. I wouldn't recommend Adare if that's what I'm reading. I'm guessing you are picking somewhere else.

From Kenmare you could easily get to the Beara Peninsula which is much less crowded. Another nice option is the Gap of Dunloe tour. in Killarney National Park. Some people thumb their nose a bit at the RoK, but I think the south half is beautiful. The internal area is lovely too.

You nead to allow at least 3 hours on site at Newgrange to see both that and Knowth. Get there early in the day as they tend to sell out by early to mid afternoon in the high season and weekends.

Let us know when you are traveling.

Bill

xxxx

The end of Oct.-beginning of Nov.

On this itinerary, Day 1=Oct. 27. The dates of travel cannot be changed. We know the weather won't be great and for that reason, do not plan on making reservations for lodging other than for the first nights in Dublin. That way, if the weather impacts our plans, we are not committed to being in a certain place on a certain night.

Any place I haven't listed a spot for the night, just means I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm trying to avoid one night stays and still keep moving along.

wojazz3

The time of year does make a bit difference as does what you want to do in the evening Daylight Savings time will end the weekend that you arrive so it will start getting dark earlier. Sunset will be around 5ish most of the time you are there. As I said in another post, Killarney will have a bit more night action (some music) at that time of year but I still really like Kenmare.

I've traveled in November and really liked it. Very few toruists so we had what places are open to ourselves. A number of places will be closed but the scenery will always be open.

Not booking in advance will work fine, but you might want to consider, when you are ready to move on, to call ahead and book a room from your current B&B. If you like your B&B, ask the owner if she has a recommendation for your next town. Some of the B&Bs have a bit of a "network" that they work with of other B&Bs that they trust. Take the Town and Country B&B book with you. A lot of places, even though they say they are open, may close if they have no bookings and be off on holiday somewhere.

As I typed that, I realized that the 1st weekend you are there is a bank holiday. You may want to book your rooms in Kilkenny also. Even with inclement weather, you will find plenty to do around Kilkenny. Just take rain gear. Also, The Guinness Jazz Festival is in Cork that weekend. If you are a big jazz fan, that's a pretty big festival usually. Probably means you won't find much trad in Cork that weekend.

Hope this helps.

Bill

GreenDragon

Great first attempt! It almost mirrors what I'm doing in June, but the other direction

Jerpoint Abbey is only about 15 minutes drive from Kilkenny, while Cashel and Cahir are farther (an hour?). I'd do Jerpoint on day 4 and switch Cashel to day 5.

On Day 11, see if you can stop by the Hill of Tara. They are building a motorway there next spring, so see this ancient site while you can

You are planning fine with one or two major sites a day. I like much the same as you do.

If you like, email me at greendragon-at-bellsouth.net and I will send you my trip plan (I wrote it all out extensively, including local sites and pictures for my travel companions).

youngblueeyes

I agree with GreenDragon, there is no sense heading back to Kilkenny from Cahir, when your next destination is Kerry (opposite direction). Head to Kerry from Cahir, about 2-2.5hrs drive. You'll be going via Cork, so may plan a stop enroute if this is too much travelling for one day.

Itallian_Chauffer

Actually, if you are driving from Cashel to Killarney, the most direct route is the N72 through Mallow, which totally avoids Cork.
There are LOTS of really worthwhile things to see along the southern route from Cork to Killarney, but you haven't budgeted any time for them and the pace would be entirely too frentic that time of year. Same the SW for another trip and use the N72 to expedite your travel to Kerry.

Bob