3 Days / 3 Nights Ireland Itinerary

We were there in April/May--staying outside Waterville in a bed and breakfast. It was a little early in the tourist season, and we found everything very quiet.
Note that it's best if you could go into and out of the Shannon Airport as Dublin is about 200 miles from Dingle. The roads run on Irish time, and driving is very difficult when you get off the beaten path.. Since you have so few days, I would suggest staying out of Dublin.

Honestly, I think this itinerary is crazy. With 3 days, stick to Dublin and maybe take a one ay tour outside to Wicklow or New Grange. Driving so much on day 1 after an overnight flight is down right dangerous. You will spend all your time driving and will see next to nothing.

This itenerary would be shear torture! Either fly into Shannon and see the Cliffs of Mohr on day one, then spend your time in Dingle or go to Dublin and spend 3 days enjoying the local sites.

If you attempt this itinerary all you are going to do is drive and not have time to actually see much.Park yourself in Dublin, spend a day wandering the city then do a guided day trip to Newgrange, and maybe one to Glendalough.

Wow, thank you so much for the amazing feedback, everyone!

So would it then make sense to do this instead:

Day 1: Arrive/Visit in Dublin // Overnight Dublin

Day 2: Visit Blarney Castle // Overnight Killarney

Day 3: Visit Dingle // Overnight in Dublin

Day 4: Fly out of Dublin

Questions:

1. Wondering mostly how to maximize Day 3 and still get back to Dublin from Killarney with time left to spare?

2. Open to any there any other itinerary suggestions with just the 3 days/3 nights (Flying into and out of Dublin is locked in)

Sincerely appreciate every one of you!

It is still far too much driving with no where near enough time to actually stop and enjoy what Ireland has to offer.

I think you may not fully appreciate the driving time and distance between Dublin and Killarney/Dingle. At a very bare minimum, with no traffic and complete familiarity with the route and roads (and driving on the left), with no stops, and pedal to the metal, you are looking at a 5 hour drive one-way. That is just getting to Killarney. As the other posters have mentioned, you will probably have a much more pleasant experience if you stay in and around Dublin, maybe spend a night in Wicklow where you can find monastic ruins, lovely mountains, nice towns and gorgeous gardens all within a 1-2 hour drive from Dublin.

Agree with all the other posters.....way too much driving.
Spend your time in Dublin and its surrounds, or fly into and out of Shannon for the west coast sites.

Short answer, no.

As others have said far too much driving.

Do Dublin, Glendalough and Powerscourt, and Newgrange. Perfect 3 day Eire visit.

Thanks again for the honest feedback! We really mostly wanted to kiss Blarney Stone. So last shot:

Day 1: Drive to Blarney Stone and Overnight in Killarney
Day 2: Visit Killarney / Drive back to Dublin/ Overnight Dublin
Day 3: Visit Dubin / Overnight Dublin
Day 4: Depart Dublin

What would the itinierary recommendation be with the 3 days/3 nights in/out of Dublin to definitely hit Blarney Stone? Is it worth the loss of car time? Thanks soooo much again!

I'm quite sure I would never put my mouth anywhere near that thing...

Blarney Stone is a big miss, and you don’t want to hear the stories of what gets done to it when nobody’s looking. There are so many amazing things you could see and do, even with just three days, but the Blarney Stone would never make my list. It ranks the same as a plastic leprechaun souvenir. Even if it did make my list I wouldn’t spend half of my available time just getting to that location and back. A visit to Kilmainham Jail, or going into a passage tomb at Newgrange is so much more memorable. If you really must do Blarney then leave it for a return trip when you have more time.

I know a lot of people poo poo Blarney but the grounds were amazing and if it is the one thing you want to do, I say go for it

I would spend day 1 in Dublin though as I would not want to drive after the overnight flight. I would head out early on day 2 and make the drive to Blarmey. Instead of heading farther away from Dublin for the night of day 2 though,I would either stay in Cork or start making your way back to Dublin and maybe stop in Kilkenny for the night

The one thing that is guaranteed, is that you will want to go back to Ireland

We went to Blarney Castle on our first trip to Ireland. It was in the summer and we had long days of sunlight. We also had about 9 days to travel around. The Castle was interesting to our teenaged boys. I liked the gardens. In the very small town you will have the woolen mill and a couple of places to eat. Very little else.

I hate to say this, but trying to see it in your timeframe is too crazy. Especially if you are planning to drive another couple of hours to Killarney. Instead, enjoy Dublin. Visit Killmainham Gaol, Trinity College. Take a day trip on Day 2 to Glendalough or Newgrange. if you love Ireland as much as many do, you will go again.

You may want to check out Collins Day Tours. We're taking a day tour from Dublin > Glendalough > Kilkenny > Dublin in a few weeks! Here's the link to their website. https://www.collinsdaytours.com.