7 Nights in Ireland--home base besides Dublin?

I think that sounds like a good plan. Kilkenny is very charming and you’ll enjoy it. I don’t think you have too much time in Dublin - I would leave that as is. Have you looked into connections between the airport and train station to get you from dublin airport to Kilkenny? Something to check to make sure that’s manageable. If you’re uncomfortable driving on the left, make sure you get an automatic rental car. That will help. It takes a little getting used to (it feels weird being on the other side of the car), but you’ll be okay. Have a great trip.

Thanks, Dana. From what I can see, there are several trains and buses per day from Dubin to Kilkenny.

Whoops. Just realized that's not what you are asking. There are buses to the train station, or we could take a taxi.

Your itinerary looks good to me. Just want to give you a couple of things to think about as you plan. Consider whether you will be trying to rent a car in Kilkenny on a Sunday. My experience has been that most of the car rental offices in the smaller towns aren't open on Sunday. You may have already considered this but also look into whether you will have a one-way drop charge in Wexford. It's possible that the agency from which you rent in Kilkenny will not be affiliated with one in Wexford. Getting used to driving on the left isn't that hard, especially if you've spent some time walking in Ireland first. Something we found helpful was sitting in the front seat when in a taxi. You'll get a feel for what it's like to see oncoming traffic on your right. And speaking of right, remember to look right when crossing a street, either as a pedestrian or a driver. Most of the near misses I've seen involved folks who only look left when they first start across. Also, look right when entering a roundabout.

Thanks, Trotter. We've been places where driving was on the left before (Hong Kong, Tokyo, England, Scotland, Namibia), and it's definitely hard to remember to look in the correct direction when crossing the street. Good reminder.

It would be a Friday that we would be renting the car, so that should be all right. I'll just need to make sure about the drop-off bit.

In Dublin you can sign up for tours to Brú na Bóinne and Trim Castle at the visitor center.

We spent 3 nights in Kilkenny and saw all the items on your list plus more. There’s not much to see at Kell’s Priory, so if you are pushed for time I’d skip it. St. Canice’s in Kilkenny is worth seeing. The Black Abbey was my favorite.

Awesome, thanks.

Cork is a good place, putting all of the following within easy daytrip distance: Cork itself, Blarney Castle, Killarney and the National Park, Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Kinsale, Kenmare, Waterford.

Thanks. I'm rethinking the plan. Turns out car rental is more challenging (and expensive!) than I thought. Automatics in Kilkenny are more difficult to get than in Dublin, but I don't really want to drive in/out of Dublin and rent the car for more days than necessary. On the other end, I can't drop off a car in Wexford on a Sunday, apparently.

So, I think I'm going to plan on a couple of bases that I can book daytrip tours from.

For car rental at Dublin airport you do not have to drive in and out of Dublin. It's very easy to get on the main roads with no city driving.

Thanks, Gail. I'm still considering it, but it would mean driving to/from Dublin, which I didn't want to do (i.e. adding to the amount of driving I would have to do overall), and it would add to the number of days I for which I'd have to rent a car.

I'm considering just going to places I can reach by train and maybe adding a day tour or two from those places.

If it's by train you want to travel everything you need to know, including a countrywide rail map, is here:

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/

And I'd delete two of those four nights in Dublin and sleep instead in Kinsale or in another scenic, "countryside" town on the south coast.

Thanks very much!

Well, we've rethought this trip. I looked at the various options for renting cars and decided that I'd really rather not. So, instead, we are going to head to Belfast the morning we arrive. It's only a couple of hours by train. We're going to spend 3 nights in Belfast and do a day tour of the Giant's Causeway and some castles. So, we'll have the first afternoon and another whole day to explore Belfast. Then, we'll take the train back to Dublin and use that as our base for the last 4 nights (3 full days, in addition to our arrival day). We're going to do a Boyne Valley tour on one of those days. I'm thinking we'll do another day tour or take the trains someplace for the day on another of those days, but I'm not sure where, yet. Cork? Kilkenny? Limerick? Galway? Wexford? At this point, I'm still thinking Kilkenny would be a nice place to visit for a day, even if we can't get out to the surrounding area.

In Belfast we did a black cab tour and it was one of the best things we did in Ireland. For Dublin be sure To book tickets for the gaol and perhaps do a day trip to Newgrange. We did not do a day trip there as we were driving and enjoyed it so much we went back several .more times the same with the gaol. Only went to Guinness once it was just not interesting to us but everyone has different tastes enjoy your visit and be sure to get pounds for Belfast and Euro for Dublin.

Awesome. Thank you, Gail.

Hello! I am reading your itinerary with great interest!

We are planning a trip from New Jersey from Fri., April 8th through Sat., April 16th.

Arrive in Dublin - Spend two nights in each of: Dublin, Galway, Killarney.

We want to get to Kinsale too ...
Any suggestions on best day trip from any of the above?

Is it an easy drive? (We will have a rental car)

Thanks for any suggestions. Debbie

One of the things I really wanted to see as a day trip from Kilkenny is the Rock of Cashel. In Kilkenny, there are the Kilkenny Castle and the Black Abbey.

I wasn't planning Galway, but my understanding is the Ring of Kerry, the Burren, and Boyle Abbey are all not too far from there.

From Dublin, we are going to the Boyne Valley. https://www.discoverboynevalley.ie

You might get some more responses that are specific to your plans if you start a new thread, also.

Happy travels!