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Advice needed on self drive itinerary

Posted by on

We are headed to Ireland the beginning of September and I've been working on an itinerary for my husband and myself. We have already have flights booked Dublin round trip (it was the best deal!) We are early 40's, looking for what everyone else is on their 1st visit I'm sure...beautiful countryside, historical sites, a bit of activity like hiking or biking, not too rushed and a bit of relaxing (we would rather have a more relaxed pace and enjoy our days and not move hotels every night). This is what I have so far:

Day 1- arrive in Dublin, overnight.
Day 2- Dublin, overnight.
Day 3- pick up rental car and drive to Kilkenny via Glendalough and Wicklow. May have time to visit Kilkenny castle. Overnight Kilkenny.
Day 4- drive to Killarney via Rock of Cashel. Any other towns to stop on the way? Overnight Killarney
Day 5/6 Killarney National Park/Muckross/Gap of Dunloe one day and Dingle Peninsula the other. Weather dependent. Considered ROK instead of Dingle and I welcome advice on this point! Overnight Killarney.
Day 7- driving north, 2 options. Can overnight at Dromoland or Ennis. How much time would we have to enjoy Dromoland? Scenic option for a drive or villages to stop along the way?

Day 8- drive to Ashford Castle via Cliffs of Moher/Burren. Overnight Ashford.

Day 9- Kylemore Abbey and Cong- would we have time to enjoy Ashford? Falconry and such? Overnight Ashford.
Day 10- depart Ashford for Dublin. We have an early flight (8:30am) on Day 11. We can either stay late around Ashford or explore the area on our way out or leave and see other sites along the way. I'm just not sure about this last day. Also, would it be better to stay at a hotel right near the airport or is there a cute town we can stay and enjoy close enough (30 min or so) if we leave earlier?
Day 11- depart for home.

I welcome your advice and critique, and thank you in advance for your help! This has been a labor of love and I just need a bit of guidance :)

Posted by
3122 posts

To your last question, I always advise staying near the airport the night before flying home. You never know if there might be some transport disruption, and I like the peace of mind knowing the airport is right there. For an 8:30 AM flight, err on the side of getting to the airport plenty early, because Dublin is one of the foreign airports that requires US-bound passengers to clear passport control, immigration & customs on the ground in Dublin before you can go the boarding area for your flight. This can take an hour or more, depending how many people are in line ahead of you.

Posted by
1172 posts

The Falconry experience at Ashford was the absolute highlight of our trip last summer so I would definitely make the time to do it.

On our way out of Kilkenny to Killarney, we also stopped at Blarney. I know many poo poo it but we absolutely loved the grounds.

We loved driving the ROK but also really enjoyed Dingle so that one if tough for me. I know you want to minimize the changing of hotels but if you are open to it, I would leaver Killarney, dive the ROK and then on to Dingle and spend the night in Dingle.

We left Ashford on our way back to Dublin for our flight.... we so loved Ashford that we stuck around as late as we could. There wasn't much on the way back to Dublin that we wanted to stop and see though.

Above all, enjoy your trip!

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you! I will book an airport hotel for sure and just plan on staying at Ashford and arriving in Dublin in the late afternoon or evening the night before we leave. I was on the fence about staying in Dingle and I think I may just do that. Maybe even for 2 nights to enjoy our time on the coast. Then we would just have a long drive day from Dingle to the cliffs and on to Ashford. Then it would look something like this:

Dublin 2 nights, Kilkenny 1 night, Killarney 2 nights, Dingle 2 nights, Ashford 2 nights and airport hotel 1 night.

Posted by
19 posts

We recently returned from 2 week sin Ireland. Make sure you make reservations for the Falconry experience WELL IN ADVANCE. We were unable to get in when attempting to make reservations 4 days ahead. Live and Learn. Also Ashford Castle for us was a bummer. They charged us E10 each to get in the gates, and we could not enter the building unless we had reservations. I would skip Ashford if not reserved for the falconry experience. Cong Abbey and grounds are very close and beautiful and mysterious, right out of Middle Earth! Others may have had a different experience at Ashford, but that was ours.

Posted by
239 posts

We will be traveling in the Sept/Oct timeframe. We were originally going to stay in Trim our last night before the flight home. We have a 3:00 PM flight. Even though we have a later flight we decided to stay closer to the airport in Swords. There are chain hotels there but there are also B&Bs. We chose the Evergreen B&B just about 2 miles from the City Center (we still wanted to feel like we were in the country). I believe the B&B is 15 minutes to the airport. Depending on what you want to do you can catch a taxi or I believe there are also buses to take you into Dublin for one last look around or the town of Malhide (not sure that is spelled correctly) is very close by. Take a look on Trip Advisor and filter for either a hotel or a B&B. Usually people will comment on how close they were to the airport. Another option if you stay in Swords is to turn your car in the night before you leave and catch a taxi/shuttle back to Swords and then either taxi/Shuttle to the airport the next morning. Since your flight is early you won't have to spend the extra time returning the car and being shuttled back to the airport. Enjoy!

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