10+ days in Ireland w/car itinerary

Do you have the RS Ireland guide? We used it for our driving itinerary several years ago. I think his suggestions would help you with planing your 10 days.

Hello from Wisconsin,

This sounds like a list of Irish cities and locations that are famous. It might be a good idea to check them off your list of places to visit. My first trip I went to Winchester to see the cathedral and Abergavenny in Wales because of songs I listened to.

Glendalough in the Wiclow Mts. is famous and walking around it is a must. From there I would cut over to Cashel via secondary roads and enjoy the views. I would then head to Skibereen. The jagged coast line from there to the Burren is worth exploring. Ireland's coast line is the best along here, County Donegal, and the Green Glens of Antrim. The communities along this jagged coastline are small and quiet.

Ennis, not Limerick is where I would go. It has a great medieval high street. People should explain to me what takes them to Limerick other than poetry of sorts. Other than one memorable evening with a priest and my sister it just seems grey to me. The Burren!!! Great.

Galway is another famous (for what?) city in Ireland. Clifden, up the road into Connemara territory is worth a visit. Once again,a smaller place. It was a market town up until at least 1991. Actually, the road to Clifden from Oughterard and then to Westport is pretty beautiful. If you head in to Cong you will see some nice country. From Westport north until you get to County Donegal is less appealing.

The Boyne River Valley. Boy, there are times of the year where the drive along the river is to die for. So much history.

Where ever you go find an excuse to talk to the locals. Small grocers...ask them which cheddar is the best. Ask them which publican has the best Guinness. The people are what makes Ireland special.

This is just one person's view.

wayne iNWI

That itinerary, with that many days, will be tight.

It takes longer to get around Ireland than most first-time visitors expect. And it's a long way to the southwest, where many of the most interesting things are. I would look to prioritize and cut some things. There are a couple tricks you can use to shave a day here or there, such as:

1 - Save Dublin for the end of your trip (you have to spend the night there anyway before you fly out).

2 - Upon landing in Ireland, take the bus straight from the airport to Galway. You'll be a wreck from exhaustion and jetlag that first arrival day anyway, you have no business getting behind the wheel and driving in the shape you'll be in; the bus from the airport is super easy, drops you right in Galway.

3 - Get a good night's sleep, pick up your car the next morning in Galway, and off you go.

Figure out the rest of your plans in the west/southwest (you will need to be ruthless and prioritize).

4 - When you are done with your car, you don't need to drive it all the way back to Dublin. Drop it someplace where you can find a rental agency that's near a rail station, take the train back to Dublin.

With your list of places you want to go, with the distances/time required between places, and the time you have, you will need to trim things to make it work. You will need to trade off days in Dublin for some time elsewhere (and maybe still cut some stops from your list).

Hope that helps.

I think you posted in another thread that you have plans to be in Dublin for the Northwestern/Nebraska game and that you plan on being in Dublin for 4 or so days. Mullingar is about 60-90 minutes from Dublin so maybe use one of your Dublin days as a day trip to see them. Alternatively, make that your first or last night's stop - since Mullingar is fairly close to the Dublin airport. You can also use the Mullingar time as a means of seeing the Boyne River area which is in Meath. I would severely edit your list of stops starting with the elimination of Waterford (they don't make the crystal there anymore, it's just for show), Blarney Castle and Limerick. I would also choose between the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula. With such a short time there's no point in trying to do both.

If the OP's plan is really to spend 4 days (or even longer) in Dublin, then the itinerary is simply not possible. Need to pick: 4+ days in Dublin, or the west/southwest. Can't really do both.

That’s a lot of places to stop even with a car, and ten days to do it. I agree with the suggestion to leave Dublin until the end. There is a lot to see in and around Galway. If you use it as a home base you could easily use up 3 to 4 nights just there ( Connemara, Aran island, Cliffs of Moher and Burren area). I would take Blarney and Cork off the list, but would add the park and Gap of Dunloe near Killarney. Kinsale is also a nice stop ( instead of Cork). You don’t want to be packing up and moving on every day. Make some two night stands, and three is better for some places. It sounds odd, but if you shorten your list, you will see more because you will be able to go slower.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I am going to be in Dublin from August 23 to August 29th... that should give us more than enough time in Dublin. With that being the case, we will probably do a day trip from Dublin. That will cut down some on driving/sightseeing time. Plus, we will probably cut a few stops on our road trip. I tend to over schedule a bit. Looking at the day tours offered there seems to be quite a bit of variety offered.

Again, thanks for the information

vaughn