Please sign in to post.

12 day Ireland trip this May 2026 - Itinerary advice?

Posted by on

Hello all,
I so appreciate the wisdom of this forum!
Hoping for your insights on an upcoming trip.
We have an 11 night trip planned -- our first to Ireland - for husband, wife, and 5yo girl. We are renting a car, and flying in and out of Dublin from the US.
So far we have:
Nights 1 through 3 in Dublin
drive to Dingle (via Kilkenny or Kinsale?)
Nights 4 through 7 in Dingle
drive to Cliffs of Moher
here is where I need help on Night 8 -- do we stay in Doolin? Or Ballyvaughn? Or somewhere else?
Our Night 9 is a castle stay at Glenlo Abbey near Galway, but we could only get 1 night there, and we need to book somewhere for the previous night but not sure where to go.
From Galway we plan to go to Northern Ireland. We have 2 nights left before we fly out of Dublin airport at 1pm on our last day.
Option 1 is to spend both those nights in Bushmills or Portrush - benefit to not having to unpack again, but down side is VERY early start to drive straight to Dublin airport for our flight.
Option 2 is to do 1 night near Antrim Coast and the 2nd night closer to Dublin like Bangor.
Option 3 is to break our drive earlier (as I understand Galway to Antrim is quite a haul), and stay at Lough Eske for night 10, drive through Antrim Coast the next day, and spend our last night between Antrim and Dublin.

We are not fans of big cities, so are avoiding staying in Belfast.

Thank you to all!

Posted by
3916 posts

I assume you're not renting a car until you leave Dublin? You really won't need one there.

What time is your Dublin flight leaving to return to the USA? I am risk adverse so I wouldn't be in motion on that day and be much closer to the airport than Northern Ireland. I'd instead keep your activities in the Galway area instead of going to Northern Ireland and make your way back much closer to the airport on your last night. Remember that you will clear US immigration process in Ireland when you depart so you need to allow 3 hours at the airport.

If you decide to go to N. Ireland be sure to apply for and get ETA for all three of you. It is legally required whether or not it is ever checked. Here is a recent discussion on that topic https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/ireland/ireland-travel-uk-eta

Posted by
8732 posts

Night 8, stay in Lisdoonvarna. For an outstanding dinner (not cheap, but outstanding), go to Wild Honey Inn.

Years ago, we did the Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle, north of Galway and maybe 20 miles from Glenn Abbey (where I’ve never been). From the looks of the fancy cars parked out front, I’d guess it’s not an inexpensive place to stay, but would likely be a great experience, and you could do the Hawk Walk, too - highly recommended. With just the one night at Glenlo, you wouldn’t have to go too far to establish yourselves for night. If you wanted to be a lot farther north for Night 10, the Ashford might night be right for you.

After visiting Northern Ireland, we had our last night in Trim before turning in the car at the Dublin Airport for our flight home.

Posted by
14 posts

@CL - Yes we are not renting the car until our last day in Dublin
@Cyn - Thank you for the recommendation of Ashford Castle - we had looked into them but they sadly do not have rooms that accommodate the three of us.
Our search continues! I appreciate your insights!

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.