My wife and I (in our 60's) are itching to travel again. We try to see new places, but so many are still limited by covid. From what I can tell, Ireland is open, and we are leaning toward a return. Last time we spent 4 weeks driving from Dublin, going south and basically driving around the coast all the way around and ended in Trim.
So, my question is, what towns would you suggest for an interior drive of about 3 weeks?
Glendalough, Kilkenny and the Rock of Cashel.
We spent 7 days of our 2016 trip on a boat on the Shannon. The towns along the route are all pleasant, including Carrick-on-Shannon, Dromond, Lanesborough, Athlone, and others. Sights like Athlone Castle, Clonacnoise, wildlife, beautiful scenery, Lough Ree. Really pleasant way to get out of the car and have a floating base station. Compared to ground lodging, it is actually a lot less expensive. In 2016, our rental car only cost $175 for two weeks, so parking it for a week wasn't that painful.
Birr Castle is very interesting and the town of Birr is pleasant. If you are interested in whiskey, Tullamore is supposed to open a new "visitor experience" this spring.
There are several sites near Kilkenny as well including Jerpoint Abbey and Kells Priory. Also Cahir Castle and the Swiss Cottage are just south of Cashel.
jjgurley - That sounds cool, who did you use? Was it a round trip or one way?
One day we drove from Doolin: to Tipperary for breakfast, the Rock of Cashel, Waterford for the crystal factory, Kilkenny via Kells Priory for a few beers, and then up to Dublin. Kilkenny was touristy and fun and would be a good base for a couple of nights. Waterford seemed larger and I wished we would have spent the night.
