I have spent many hours researching Ireland as we are planning for September 2015 and I am relieved that I have so much time to plan as there is a lot to know and research. From my research I am interested mostly in the Southwestern part of Ireland. We will have 10 full days on the Island and I want to do Skelligs Rock, Great Basket Island, Killarney, Killarney National Park, the first half of the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, take ferry across Shannon River, Galway, Aran Islands, road from Kinsale to Kenmare. No flights have been booked yet and my biggest concern is do I fly into Dublin and out of Shannon or do I fly into Shannon and out of Shannon as most of my travel interests are in the Southern part of the Island. Will I feel I missed out if I do not see Dublin? Based on my interests I am getting the sense that I am more interested in the Countryside as opposed to the city side. We will be hiring a car! My points of interest are obviously in no order. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

This seems a very ambitious itinerary for only 10 days. Is that 10 full days on the ground, or does that include the two flying days? (which would give you only 8 on the ground). Whichever, definitely fly in and out of Shannon since you aren't very interested in Dublin. That gives you a little extra time. Also, take into consideration that driving times in Ireland are much longer than in the US or in Europe. You will do well to average 40-45 mph. If you aren't accustomed to driving on the left, make that 35-40 mph. For starters, I can tell you that Dingle is a whole day and Ring of Kerry is another. Maybe choose one rather than both? I suggest you get a road map of Ireland, plot your points of interest, figure your driving times along with the time it takes to actually see and enjoy the sights and figure in sleeping, eating, checking in and out of hotels, etc., then see if you can streamline your itinerary to fit your actual sightseeing time. I really don't think you have time to see everything you've outlined. You might also consult one or more travel guides - Rough Guide, Frommer, Fodor, Rick Steves, etc., for itineraries. I'm sure the Ireland experts on this site will offer lots more advice.

Given what you say about your interests, I see no reason for you to include Dublin in your itinerary.

I don't think your wish-list is excessive, but obviously sequencing things efficiently is important. I don't think the Shannon ferry is necessarily the best way to connect the Cork-Kerry element of your trip with the Galway element.

Sorry reality check.. Skellig/Blasket and most remote Islands are weather dependant and September on the Atlantic seaboard can be rough, so these "might" not be possible.

The Invara (Ring of Kerry) is a full day drive round and best appreciated by getting off piste away from the tour bus route at a few points.

Dingle, the world and his wife will tell you how wonderful 0.6% of the island of Ireland is so I won't. But the tour bus takes 4 hours to do the peninsula. 2 hours to do Slea Head.

Beara is for me the best of the sw peninsula's and has not yet caught Kerryitis, so remains relatively unspoiled, a little bit of Ireland as it was 30 years ago. Then the Cork peninsulas of Sheep's head and Mizen come high on my list of well worth a look.

For a non guide book guide book of the area get hold of McCarthys Bar, a light read and humorous. Rick Steves waffles high praise on Dingle and is apparently a great guide book for that locale. For the rest of the island throw his book on an open fire.

If heading to Clare from Kerry you have the ferry or the tunnel option for the journey. I only recommend the ferry if you are taking time to see the Loop Head peninsula and sw Clare below Quilty, otherwise take the tunnel.

The Arans should be reachable (Inis Mor anyway) from Rossaveal west of Galway. Inis Oirr and a Cliffs cruise from Doolin (the only reason to go to Doolin) might be possible but again weather dependant.

The Cliffs and Burren area has been declared an "eco" park and covers twice the acreage of the Dingle Peninsula, however only the Cliffs and the Moonscape of Blackhead fit most tourist guides.

You have 2 years to plan and will no doubt still be wondering if you are doing right until the point you wonder if you had done right. 10 days on the ground is not long so make sure the basics at least are what You want for Yourself not what everyone else wants for you.

I have to admit that I favor the Irish countryside as well -- though there is plenty of interest in Dublin. If you have 10 day, I would leave out Dublin and focus on the country.

As for planning your route, I would also suggest that you find an itinerary that you like and modify it to suite your time frame and interests. Guidebooks often have good ones (I prefer Michelin green guides or Karen Brown) or you can view this itinerary online -- which I believe has just about everything you want in the first 7 days (the second half is Scotland):

http://www.ipswichtours.com/small-gr...eland-scotland

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Jean Moss

You have chosen a wonderful trip--the scenery is outstanding and it's fun driving to the small towns and staying in B&B's.
We did this in Sept.'10 and again in May'11.

Sept.'10---the west coast(flew in & out of Shannon)
May'11--down the middle to Kinsale(flew in & out of Dublin)

IMO, fly in & out of Shannon if you can.

We were highly surprised at the quality of the food, thought we'd be eating fish'n chips all the time. I'll note our trip reports below. We only went to some of your choices but you might gain some useful info from out thoughts.

IMO, Killarney and the ROK are both too traffic congested, a driving nightmare. Stay in Kenmare instead, check out http://shelburnelodge.com/ Best B&B of 2 trips.

The Dingle Penninsula was our absolute favorite part of Ireland although we didn't care for the town of Dingle that much--except for our stay at http://www.greenmounthouse.ie/ and also "Out of the Blue" restaurant which were both fantastic.

So many people really like Kinsale but for us it was just OK. The area along the coast to the West was more to our taste and we plan to return and see The Beara Penninsula soon.

Here's our TR's. Scroll through to the places you want to visit to get our take on the areas. Everyone's likes are different of course.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-surprises.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-adventure.cfm

Fast & musical slideshow
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...st-musical.cfm

Happy planning----Fodors is always the place for hands on information.

I just wanted to give a quick thank you for your responses and suggestions! I will have time this Saturday to go through your suggestions and website links, and then I am sure I will have more questions. Just one quick question for TPAYT....did you prefer May or September for traveling Ireland?

Thank you again,
Rosa

I've been to Ireland twice, both in mid-May so I'm partial. The days are long, airfare isn't crazy and it isn't crowded yet.
September may have 2 of those things, but not the longer days.

Tony is correct in that some of your wish list depends on the weather. Once you're in Ireland, as long as you're flexible you'll have a great times. Don't run from spot to spot, stop and have a pint or a coffee.

We spent time in 3/4's of the places you mention (I'd love to see the islands, but my stomach won't let me). We spent 6 days exploring around Beara and you'll never run out of good things to do.

We prefer Sept. over May
Why?
The flowers are still fully in bloom in Sept.
In May there were more buds.
We've been traveling to Europe in Sept. for 12 years now.

Also I see that the TA WOW fast & musical no longer shows our photos. I don't know why and I've emailed them to find out.
Anyway, the photos are included in the text of my trip report.

The photos on the TA fast & musical are back up.
Enjoy!

Ok so here is a tentative itinerary. We have extended our stay to 14 days. No sense rushing our trip as it may be the only time we get to Ireland. Your input is very much appreciated.

Day 1 Arrive in Shannon pick up car

Day 1 drive to Innis or Doolin (if weather is looking good for Aran Islands) If weather is not then drive to Dingle and jump to day 3. (Is driving to Dingle too much after a long flight)

Day 1 Visit the cliffs of Moher

Day 2 (weather permitting) take ferry from Doolin to Inis Oirr

Day 2 Spend night in Ennis

Day 3 Drive to Dingle

Day 4 Drive Dingle Peninsula and area Stay in Dingle

Day 5 visit Blasket Island (weather permitting) drive to Killarney

Day 6 Killarney National Park stay in Killarney

Day 7 Free day

Day 8 Ring of Kerry / Skellig Michael (weather permitting for Skellig) stay in Glengarriff

Day 9 drive from Glengarriff to Kinsale

Day 10-14 I would like to head inland from Kinsale to Cashel/ Tipperary and toward Shannon. If we weren’t able to do Inis Oirr hopefully we can do it at the end of our trip.

Day 15 fly out of Shannon

Now it has been suggested to me that I should see Dublin and that I could fly into Dublin and take the train from Dublin to Limerick and hire the car in Limerick and then return it in Limerick and take the train back to Dublin. Any thoughts/suggestions on this idea would also be appreciated.

Thank you!

I had read that the boats to Inish Mor from Doolin get cancelled more often that the boats from Rossaveal (near Galway) to Inish Mor. We didn't think Inish Mor was worth a day, but that wasn't the question.

We had planned on a cruise along the Cliffs of Moher from Doolin and a cruise around the Blasket Island from Dingle; both got cancelled on days when the weather looked pretty nice to us. I completely trust the captain's decision, though.

We rented our car in Dublin at the airport and returned it to the airport, very easy to come and go from this location.

Is driving to Dingle from Shannon too much after a long flight???

IMO, yes it is especially if you are not used to driving on the left and shifting with your left hand. I guess it depends where you are flying from and how many hours you will be up.
We fly from Chicago and can't get a direct flight to Shannon, so with changing planes somewhere it's really a long time in transit.

I have to say that even though we had no interest in seeing Dublin it was easier with a direct flight from Chicago to Dublin. Still after flying into Dublin we only drove to Trim for the 1st night.

The other problem you will face is not being able to get into your room early and most flights from the US arrive a 8-9AM.
We fly to Europe yearly and have never come up with a good solution for this. We just plan to be a wreck on the 1st day, try to go to bed somewhat early and be ready to enjoy our travels on the next day.

Keep up the planning.