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2 week Dublin/ Atlantic Coast Itinerary Feedback

Hi all! My partner and I have an upcoming 2-weekish trip to Ireland. We are both very interested in ancient history, and we love hiking and being outdoors. My partner is also a musician, so we are hoping to catch some live music in pubs in the evenings. We are not fans of cities and are mostly avoiding them for this trip. We are also not including anything north of Castlebar in Co. Mayo, as that will be a different trip. We will be doing a combo of pubs, b&bs, and cooking for ourselves/packing picnics when we have the ability to. We are both pretty active and can do difficult hikes, however we do enjoy our rest. Im looking to pare this itinerary down a bit so we can fully enjoy this trip, but its hard when everything looks incredible!

Day 1-Thursday: Dublin
- Arrive in Dublin. Chill out, get groceries, adjust.

Day 2-Friday: Dublin

- National Museum of Ireland,
- National Botanic Gardens

Day 3-Saturday: Dublin-Wexford
- Pick up car (if we haven't already).
- hike in Wicklow, then end up in Wexford for the night.

Day 4-Sunday: Wexford-Kenmare
-Irish National Heritage Museum
- Stone circles along drive
- stop in Kenmare for dinner

Day 5- Monday: Kenmare
- hike, drive, and explore Ring of Beara

Day 6- Tuesday: Kenmare to Doolin
- Scenic drive through Killarney up to Doolin

Day 7- Wednesday: Doolin
- Cliffs of Moher via Hags head in the morning
- Bunratty
- Craggaunowen (if time)

Day 8- Thursday: Doolin
- Explore the Burren!

Day 9- Friday: Doolin to Castlebar
- scenic route via sky road if time
- National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park

Day 10- Saturday: Castlebar
- Explore Connemara

Day 11-Sunday: Castlebar to Boyne Valley,
- Stops at Carrowkeel on the way.

Day 12- Monday: Boyne Valley (town TBD)
- Newgrange

Day 13- Tuesday: Leave from Dublin.

My questions are:

What should I consider skipping, and what needs to be given more time?

Thoughts on accomodation plans/town reccommendations?

Is there anything amazing on my route that I should consider (hikes, museums, pubs, towns, history sites, beaches, so on)?

Posted by
869 posts

I believe that access to the Cliffs of Moher via Hagshead is currently closed fom Hagshead to the visitor center but the cliff walk from the Doolin end is open. Check for updated information before you go. Here is one source. Based on your interests, you might like a day or part-day trip by ferry to one of the Aran Islands from Doolin if the ferries are operating while you are there.

Posted by
2910 posts

Sounds good to me - reasonably paced and visiting some interesting places. If you have time on Ring of Beara, do take the cable car to Dursey Island. Also don't miss the Hag of Beara . We found it decidedly spookey.. .

The National Museum of Ireland is fascinating - particularly the recordings of the way of life in the 1950s and 60s and the customs. some of them sounded really pagan! We could have spend all day there.

Posted by
3212 posts

We've relied on the AllTrails app and website for hiking in Ireland. It provides the same information you may be familiar with if you've used it at home - excellent descriptions of the various options: trail conditions, relative degree of difficulty, user reviews, etc. It also provides detailed driving directions to get to some of the remote trailheads.
Know that trails can be boggy even if it hasn't rained in a while so waterproof boots are highly recommended.
A favorite hike on the Beara peninsula is the abandoned famine village of Cummeengeera - you can Google it to see if it might be of interest.

Posted by
966 posts

We stayed at Foley's in Kenmare and we were surrounded with places with music. Foley's usually had music, too, but the musician had broken his wrist just a day or two before we got there:(