1st time Ireland and 1st DIY trip

Hello,

You will have an AMAZING trip! We did a similar trip in 2016 but shorter. I would suggest staying your first night in Dublin and grabbing a B&B for the night. We did, waking up refreshed and ready to go! Honestly, I did not have a set itinerary., we just set the GPS in the car to our next B&B and made stops in between. We ran into so many botanical gardens, waterfalls, and beautiful little towns. Waterford was pretty bland and just so you know “Waterford Crystal” was sold many years ago. I do believe there is a museum on the history of the crystal. Our B&B there made up for our lack of interest and was good downtime. Our next night we stayed in Killarney. This is a really cute place! I would highly suggest Larkinley Lodge for a B&B. The park is beautiful, we did a horse carriage ride which was nice. We did Dingle which had beautiful scenery. I would definitely have snacks in the car for the ride on that one. The Blarney Castle was nice. The gardens are actually really pretty to stroll through. They have an herb garden full of toxic plants. I thought that was pretty interesting. Galway was a busy seaside town. A few small ruins of castles we ran into and great seafood as well! Use RS Book, set your GPS and just roam!

I agree with NursCyn’s comment about spending time in Dublin to recover from jet lag. Move your two days in Dun=b lin from the end of teh trip to the beginning. You won’t need a car in Dublin

With 12 days you have plenty of time to cover the southern half of Ireland. BUT don’t underestimate how long it will take to drive between places. If using google maps add at least 25% to their drive times AND THEN ADD ON TIME FOR STOPS! Driving in Ireland is slow!

This is my suggested itinerary which leaves out Blarney Castle (an over rated tourist attraction and you have chance to see other better castles) and also Cork , Kinsale, Cobh... This assumes you have plenty of time to get back to Dublin on Day 12 for where ever you are heading to next. If you need to take out a night then delete Day 11. Spend another night in Ennis and then herad back to Dublin on Day 11 if you have to leave Dublin early on Day 12.

Day 1 & 2 Dublin

Day 3 Pick up car and drive to Powescourt (gardens are open all year) . After that visit Glendalough (a wonderful atmospheric early Christian site) and spend the night in or around Wicklow.

Day 4 Drive to Kilkenny and stop the night there for two nights. Spend the rest of the day in and around Kilkenny - visit the castle, St Candice’s Abbey, Rothe House and gardens, Black Abbey etc

Day 5 Drive to Waterford from Kilkenny and return to Kilkenny for the night. As well as Waterford Crystal there is Waterford Treasures which are three museums in what is descrinbbed as the Viking triangle.
http://www.waterfordtreasures.com/

Day 6 drive to Killarney for two nights via Rock of Cashel

Day 7 Kilarney National Park. Mucross House, Gardens and Farms, Ross castle, Gap of Dunglow. Overnight in Killarney

Day 8 Drive to Dingle and explore the Dingle peninsula. Overnight in Dingle.

Day 9 Bunratty Castle and Folk Museum - allow plenty of time - can take up to a full day. Spend the night in or around Ennis

Day 10 Drive to cliffs of Moher and then drive up round the coast through Doolin and Fanore, Ballyvaughan to Galway

Day 11 Spend the day exploring Connemara from Galway. Drive out to Roundstone with its small harbour and then to Clifden and do the Sky Drive. On a clear day this is one of the best short drives in the world. Then head for Leenane and think about a cruise on Kiullarey Harbour or else visit Kylemore Abbey. Return to Galway for the night

Day 12 drive back to Dublin via Clonmacnoise, another lovely early Christian Site.

Nat here are three things that fit the bill for reducing stress on your trip and offering some really awesome travel viewing. Take a couple of days out from behind the steering wheel and pay for a hired private guide. We hired Paul Brown for the Ring of Kerry and he was great. http://www.kenmaretaxitours.com/home.html You wont regret it if it works out for your schedule. He picked us up in Kenmare at our B&B and we did a whole day on the RofK and he helped us plan our self drive the next day on the Beara Peninsula. We also did a half day tour in Dingle with Denis Ryan and it was also great, they both share stories and special spots you will have to work hard to find on your own. http://dingletours.com/ Also up in Doolin we enjoyed an evening at the Doolin Music House, laid back, trad music, good early evening fun. https://www.doolinmusichouse.com/ We also had a blast up in Cong at the Ireland Falconry School near the Ashford Castle..http://www.falconry.ie/ just some food for thought

This info is just what I needed!!! Thanks you all so much for your thoughts and shared experiences.

I find the Rick Steves itinerary is Go-Go-Go. If you look over at TripAdvisor's Ireland forum, people will tell you LESS is MORE. Dont try to change hotels every night 1-2 nights. Ireland is best explored at a slower pace. I would try to do at least 2-3 nights in each location.

Maybe the first night do a 1-nighter. But I would want at LEAST 3 nights each in Killarney and Galway. Probably 2 in Dublin at the end. That gives you 3-4 more nights to add places in.

The RoK is at least 1 day from start to finish. Dingle requires at least 1 full day, so either a day from Killarney, or spend 2 nights in Dingle (remember 2 nights is only 1 full day on the ground).

If you haven’t booked your flight you should Fly into to Dublin and fly home from Shannon. No back tracking needed. Spend the night in Dublin after your arrival.

Next morning after breakfast take the shuttle, taxi or bus back to the airport and pick up your rental. Drive Powerscourt then to Glendalough and then Onto the Rock of Cashel. Stay the night Cashel or Cahir or Clonmel. Explore whichever town you stay in.

Forget Waterford.

Next morning head toward Kinsale. Stay the night.

From Kinsale to Dingle. Base in Dingle for at least 2 nights. See Killarney National Park, Gap of Dunloe the Kerry Cliffs of Portmagee, and Sneem.

WOW! You have all blown my mind with your suggestions....thank you so much! Based on your thoughts, here is my new itinerary. Does this 12 day itinerary seem doable? Thank you in advance-

Day 1 & 2- Fly into DUB and spend 2 nights in Dublin. Relax, get acclimated and ready for a great tour of Ireland.

We need an automatic car rental and I have heard that renting from the airport will guarantee you an automatic. Can someone confirm this please?
Since we aren't renting a car until day 3, can anyone suggest a hotel with a shuttle to take us from airport to hotel on day 1 and then hotel to airport on day 3? If not, are taxi's readily available or is there another less expensive travel option?

Day 3 & 4- Get transportation to DUB to pick up automatic car and drive to Kilkenny. Stay in Kilkenny for 2 nights in same hotel to serve as our home base. Possibly stop at Powerscourt House and Gardens or Glendalough Park on the way to Kilkenny.

Places to visit from Kilkenny- Castlecomer Discovery Park, Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny walking tour.

Day 5- Drive to Cork and stay for 1 night Visit English Market, Blarney Castle (any other suggestions).

Day 6, 7, 8- Drive to Killarney and stay for 3 nights.

Day trips we are considering doing from our Killarney home base- explore Cliifs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Connors Pass, Ring of Kerry driving tour, Bunratty Castle. I know this list needs to be cut down so any suggestions are welcome.

Day 9, 10, 11- Drive to Galway and stay for 3 nights
What day trips are great ones from this home base? Sheep farms might be interesting if nearby.

Day 12- Spend the day leisurely driving from Galway to DUB to drop off rental.

Find a hotel with possible shuttle from airport to hotel and vise versa. Spend 1 night in DUB airport hotel to rest before early morning flight out.

I'm not sure anyone save the rental agency can "guarantee" that you will get an automatic transmission car. I have rented twice from Conn's Ireland (a Hertz franchise) and have always gotten the car I requested, the smallest automatic available. I rent from the South Circular Road location in Dublin. They also have an airport location.

Re staying in Dublin. A number of folks on the forum have recommended Dublin airport hotels with shuttles. They will probably speak up at some point. I like to stay in Dublin City Center. There is a bus that goes from the airport terminal to the City Center. It's about $7.00 or $8.00 per person. Or you can take a taxi, there are plenty of them, for about $30-$35. There are a couple of nearby villages you could also consider staying at your last night. They include Trim and Malahide. Both have B&Bs and hotels which offer free parking.

Galway is closer to the Cliffs of Moher than Killarney.

The Aran Islands are a nice side trip from Galway (either for a day, or overnight). You can take a ferry to Inishmore from Rossaveal, or there are flights.

Agreed with the previous poster that Cliffs of Moher is closer to Galway than Killarney. The Burren is also in that general area.