Hi, this will be the first time in Ireland for my family of four (kids are 12 and 8)! Don’t think we’re likely to get back again soon. My son has his heart set on Giant’s Causeway while I’m more interested in the west. Looking for advice on whether the following seems doable in 12 days (early July):
Days 1-3 - Fly into Dublin. 2 days in Dublin, and a one-day tour to Giants Causeway and Belfast (looking at Finn McCools tour) on day 2 or 3.
Day 4 - Pickup rental car. Drive from Dublin to Killarney, possible stop at rock of Cashel on the way? 3 nights planned in Killarney. Thought about switching to Kenmare but found the best hotel option with most space for us in Killarney.
Days 5-6 - Killarney NP. Don’t plan to do Ring of Kerry, but maybe drive out to Sneem, def visit Kenmare. Might do partial Gap of Dunloe walk and turn around; not the full thing.
Days 7-8 - Drive to Dingle Pen. 2 nights in Dingle, plan to do Slea Head Drive, explore town.
Day 9 - Drive from Dingle to Doolin, see Cliffs of Moher on the way. Sleep 1 night in Doolin.
Day 10 - Aran Islands visit, likely Inisheer from Doolin, then drive to Galway. Sleep 2 nights in Galway.
Day 11 - Galway, nearby area
Day 12 - fly home from Shannon airport to Boston.
The flights are already booked. So are accommodations, but can make changes.
Opinions on the day tour to No. Ireland? This is the part that I’m questioning, but we really want to see the north and I think the kids can handle it. They are good car/bus nappers and would likely bring a tablet so they could watch a movie. That trip, followed by driving to Killarney, will be a lot of car time, but after that we’ll be in the west with less total ground to cover for the last 8 days.
Tried to keep number of overnight locations to 4-5. Thought about ditching the Doolin overnight, but it looks much easier to get to Inisheer, possibly combined with seeing Cliffs from the water from Doolin vs trying to go there from Galway area.
Thank you!