Need Help with 9 day ireland itinerary!

You need to be sure you are including your travel time in any plan you make. You're flying into Dublin, but are you flying out of Shannon or going back to Dublin? Check www.viamichelin.com for driving times between locations, but add maybe 25% to their estimates. Do you have 9 FULL days, or are you including the day you arrive and the day you leave (so you actually have seven)?

you will most likely tour all the tourist sites but if you can and I have done this, is fly open jaw there. I arrived in Dublin and left from Shannon. I did this because even though i have been to ireland plenty of times to visit family my friends had't and wanted to see sites. My family comes from Roscommon so that why we left from Shannon. I assume you will rent a car. As for the extra day spend it in Galway, Dingle is nice but nothing worth spending too long in if you only have 9 days. best thing about Ireland is you can do multiple sites in one day and then spend a few days in the major cities like Dublin and Galway. I didnt see Waterford on your trip but its a nice spot to check out as well.

Thank you so much for the tips! Since we are early in planing we have not booked our flights yet. We have nine full days in Ireland. Is it possible to see all of these sights in that time frame? Is it more expensive to fly in to Dublin and out of Shannon?

3 things jump out at me: (1) If you are going to be in Trim, do not miss Newgrange. (2) On Day 5, I think you might want to stay south of Galway for the sites you mention. What about a B&B right in Doolin? (3) And finally, since you've got an empty day, why not put it on the front end of your trip and stay the first night in Dublin? You're going to be jet-lagged, so you could take the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus to maximize your time there (and not wear out). Also, for your night in Dublin, why not get a nice hotel room to ensure a good night's sleep in some comfort after flying all night?

The open jaw suggestion is an excellent one...would save you back-tracking to Dublin.

You also may want to move this post over to the "To the North" blog....you'll likely get more responses there.....

You have picked some wonderful places to see in Ireland. It is a little ambitious, but doable if you don't mind moving around a lot. I would try to stay two nights in the same place whenever you can; it will make it a little less stressful.

I second the idea to see Newgrange.

I totally disagree with the view that Dingle is nice but nothing special. Dingle is my favorite place in Ireland. The peninsula is absolutlely beautiful, and Dingle town is charming. Definitely stay there two nights. You could stay even longer, but with all you want to see, I would probably hold at two nights. You could spend the extra night in Galway, since you left no time to see anything in Galway. Another option is a night in Doolin. That would allow you to spend more time in the Burren. Or finally, you could add a night in Dublin. I'm not a huge fan of Dublin (I much prefer the countryside and small towns), but there are some great things to see and is definitely worth a night.

Flying into Dublin and out of Shannon (or vice versa) is generally not more expensive than round trip to one or the other. Book it as a Multi-city flight, not two one-way flights.

What time of year are you travelling? Many of the places you mention are very popular and will have long lines during summer months, making this itinerary more wearing than it might be during a shoulder season.