Take a look at my Ireland Itinerary?
 

Hi everyone - I put this on the poor little Ireland forum and got no response, so thought I'd go with the traffic here!

I've been religious about reading many Fodorite's trip reports, and suggestions and now I'd love to have your feedback. We are two adult daughters and our mother traveling to SW Ireland (then on to Italy) in October, will stay in a couple hotels and one B&B, based on Fodor's and Tripadvisor reports for price, location and accommodation. I'm open to any kind of suggestion or ideas for sights and dining!

Day one - arrival Dublin, train to Galway, sleep at Travelodge (not that exciting but we'll sleep well enough that first night) I also don't want to attempt left-side driving on my first day!

Day two - Pick up rental car at Galway Airport, then head to the Cliffs of Moher. Would like to see Ennis on our way to Dingle. Staying in Dingle at Cill Bhreac House B&B for two nights http://www.cillbhreachouse.com/

Day three - Dingle Peninsula (main event that day with time to explore). Cill Bhreac B&B that night.

Day four - Drive to Kinsale taking the scenic southern route through Lakes of Killarney, Kenmare and Bantry. Staying two nights at the Old Bank House Hotel.
http://www.oldbankhousekinsale.com/

Day five - See Cork and maybe Cobh.

On our 6th day we fly from Cork to Italy for another week. We make our way back to Ireland to spend our last night in Dublin at the Grafton Capital Hotel.
http://www.graftoncapitalhotel.com/
Thanks!

Sounds far too hectic to me - you are trying to fit too much in. With only 6 days I would choose one or two places to concentrate on. Are you committed to picking up your rental car in Galway? If so, I would stick with a few days in Galway and Connemara and then a couple of days in Dublin.

The Ireland-based contingent don't often disagree with one another, but here is one case: I think the programme is busy enough, but not too much.

I think, a chailin, a chara, that Sheri is treating Galway principally as the jumping-off point for a route through the south-west, ending in Cork.

The only suggestion that I would make does not involve changing the framing of the trip, and that is to hold day 5 open, and not commit mentally to Cork and Cobh; there is plenty to see from Kinsale, and Sheri can take account of how she feels when she is there.

That day from Dingle to Kinsale is really tight. There is so much to see in the Killarney area and you won't see much in a drive by. I would actually spend one night in Kenmare or thereabouts and do the Killarney National Forest on one day, then drive to Kinsale for one night.

Monica, that's adding to a programme that looks to me to be full enough. The transfer from Dingle to Kinsale can be treated as a scenic drive with some stops.

Personally, I prefer the idea of staying two (or more) nights in one place.

You can't do it all in one short visit, and choices have to be made.

Thanks Padraig and everyone - I am a bit worried about that travel day from Dingle myself and I'm certainly open to exploring more in the Kinsale area on the last day. There's so much to choose from, but I think the exploration will be exciting.

IMHO, you could easily spend the whole trip in County Clare and environs, and still have more to see. A day to see Galway, another to see the Burren, another two to see Dingle, and one for the Bunratty area - done!

I would suggest driving to Galway and stopping to see Clonmacnoise(?) on the way. It is a beautiful intro and the driving from the airport to Galway is not bad. I would skip Cork completely (it is an industrial town which is quite interesting but not with limited time) and also would skip the long drive to Kinsale and Cobh and stay closer to Dublin, perhaps in Cashel. Kinsale is a beach town which we felt was overrated and the restaurant prices were very high. There is not much to see in Cobh and the Heritage museum was not impressive. I would opt for spending more time in the wonderful places you are visiting such as Dingle, Dublin and Galway and Killarney.

If you like the movie 'The Quiet Man', you might want to visit Cong, where most of it was filmed. There is also a neat forest just north of The Burren, sort of an enchanted wood :)

Oh wow thank you all for the great input, I appreciate it so much!

Take care, Sheri. The first response to your post was that your draft itinerary was too much (granted, I didn't quite agree).

Suggestions since have involved adding to it.

I suggest that for everything you are tempted to add in, you identify what you are willing to take out.

I stayed in Ennis for two nights in June, and I wouldn't go out of your way to see it. It's a nice town and a good base for flying out of Shannon and seeing the Cliffs of Moher or the Burren, but the town itself is not as interesting as the other places you'll want to see. The Cliffs to Dingle is a fairly long drive anyway, especially on your first day of driving - personally, I'd just get on to Dingle and enjoy it!

sheru_lp: you are getting lots of good advice (maybe too much :) )

But just one comment re how the forum works -- &quot;<i> put this on the poor little Ireland forum and got no response, so thought I'd go with the traffic here!</i>&quot;

There is no &quot;Ireland Forum&quot;, little or otherwise. All threads are lumped together under Europe. Who knows why this thread was noticed and your other one was ignored. But they are both posted in the same place -- &quot;Europe&quot;. Clicking on a country merely lets folks search for some Ireland threads.

Just bookmarking this so that I may steal some ideas for our itinerary. :) Thanks!

Got it, thank you janisj. And Padraig's right - editing is important. Good to know that I can trim Ennis, and not spend too much time in Cork and feel I'm 'missing' something. Thanks again all.