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Advice on Itinerary with kids

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We have about a week, flying in and out of Dublin and based in Adare (a groupon type thing) with a rental car. Kids are 6, 8, and 10 and are good travelers and handle jet-lag, late bedtimes etc pretty well. They are drawn to natural beauty (danger) so I thought they'd enjoy Ireland. I think I'm trying to fit too much in but there's so much I want to see. I'm at the point where I think I need to make some serious cutbacks so seeking advice on that, plus anything else more seasoned travelers might have to offer!

Side trips I'm contemplating: a couple days doing Killarney and then on to Dingle (renting a B&B in Dingle for the night to break up driving and give us a little more time on this journey)-- thats 2 solid days

North to Cliffs of Moher (ferry to Aran Islands?)-- onward to Galway?

South to Kinsale (or Cobh-- Kinsale looks prettier)

Still need a day to lay off driving to explore Adare and grounds, and maybe do short drive to Bunratty Castle for Folk Park and then Medieval Dinner (probably cheesy but think kids would like), plus need a day in Dublin... should I skip Galway or Kinsale? Are there overly "repetitive" elements here? I'm ok with changes once we arrive just want to have some idea of a plan before we set out!

Posted by
317 posts

Hi Jane, greetings from Ireland, I think everything you mention is doable and definitely worth doing.
Id suggest that Kinsale might be a bit far, however the Limerick to Cork road isn't bad for most of it, and Kinsale is definitely a beautiful town. I rate it way higher than Cobh.
Dingle is a must-do and Killarney also in my opinion especially with kids.
Let me know if you have more detailed questions
Le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Rick Steves Ireland tour-guide

Posted by
191 posts

I would definitely go to the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park for exploring (I loved the animals, especially the wolf hounds), and the Medieval Dinner. I have been a few times to the Dinner with visitors and it was always really fun with very nice singing entertainment. Eating with your hands = fun ;-)

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks so much to you both! stephenmc-- it does seem that Galway City is a good bit further than Doolin/Cliffs of Moher. Would you consider a day where we do cliffs and maybe one of Aran Islands by ferry and then head back to Adare (skipping Galway entirely?) That seems like a long day but not a long driving day. I hate to miss Galway but am thinking that I'd need more than a couple hours to really digest a city anyway and we're already going to be doing a fly-through of Dublin in a day later in the week. Or we could skip Aran and ferry (since we're planning on lots of nature time in Dingle and Killarney) and do the city thing in Galway? Also hesitant to miss out entirely on the southern coast- like Kinsale? Seems like its not too far to drive from Adare to Kinsale, stopping at Blarney along the way. I'm torn because I feel like in the end you never regret going the extra mile to see something new but when you are doing it with the little ones you question your sanity! I may just have to play by ear a little but I'm concerned that I'm taking on too much! I don't know if we'd be bored having a day or two to just hang in Adare... we plan to do some activities at the Manor (hawk walk, maybe archery) and our full day is Easter Sunday so I'm curious if there would be activities geared toward the holiday.

Posted by
3 posts

And Stephanie-- what time would you recommend arriving at the Folk Park? The park closes at dinner time which is 5:30 but they said last admission to castle is 4:00 because of dinner set-up. I want to make sure we'd have plenty of time to explore and see all the animals, etc....

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