We are planning a two week trip to Ireland in Spring 2023. Would it make sense to rent a B&B on the west coast for most of the trip and do day trips? We are thinking about flying into Dublin, staying for 2 or 3 nights, then onto the West.
We want to experience music, culture, and breathtaking sites; some history.
So, a couple things...
The west coast of Ireland is a large place, with plenty to see and do. Two weeks there would be great. But it's simply not practical to pick one place on Ireland's west coast and "day trip" to all of it, because, let's say you pick somewhere roughly half-way up (or down) the west coast, it takes pretty much a whole day to reach the southern or northern extremes (which it turns out have some of Ireland's best stuff), so you would spend way too much of your time just driving between your base and the things you came to see. You could make things work better if you picked multiple locations along the coast to use as bases. Still more than a little driving, but at least the ratio of time spent getting there/getting back to time spent actually being there, would be more reasonable. That said, if you have a car (and you'll need one) your plan would be way more efficient if you simply picked places to stop in a roughly circular route around the island, stopping for a night or a few nights along the way, depending on your pace.
Ireland is a big place, bigger than most first-time visitors expect, and it takes longer to get around than most people plan for. Two weeks would be great, but you still need to be realistic about how much you can reasonably cover. Even with 2 weeks, you will need to prioritize, pick and choose.
Spring weather will probably involve more than a little moisture falling from the sky -- that's why things are so green. Not a show-stopper, but you should be prepared for rainy days, maybe lots of them (take the wet seriously, bring appropriate gear). This is a feature, not a bug.
Airbnb is a company. A "Bed & Breakfast" (B&B) is a traditional kind of short-term rental, with a long history in Ireland. Not the same thing.
Ireland is wonderful. You will love it.
Excellent commentary from David, as always.
It's not so much that Ireland is bigger than many people expect (though it is) but rather that the rural roads - particularly in the west of Ireland - make for such slow going by car. Most here agree that you should add another 30% or so to the drive time estimates you'll see on any of the mapping apps. Some of the posted speed limits on the N, L, and R roads must have been created by someone with a real sense of humor - you just can't drive as fast as you're (apparently) allowed, nor will you want to once you see just how narrow and twisting some of them are, with sightlines ahead blocked by rock walls on either side of the road., and the ever present possibility of having to wait behind a flock of sheep, a herd of cattle being moved to another pasture, or a slow moving tractor - they really are rural roads.
My suggestion is to find a few accommodations centrally located between places of interest in order to keep you from having to relocate every couple of days.
Rather than staying over in Dublin at the outset of your trip, you can "steal a day" and still deal with your jet lag by catching the airport bus to Galway upon arrival. You could delay collecting your car for a day or two while you explore the town and spend one of your days out on the Aran Islands, either by ferry or (better) flying over and back. Collecting your car then would allow you to explore some of Connemara (our particular favorite) before heading south along the coast towards the Ring of Kerry.
Staying somewhere along the stretch between the villages of Glenbeigh and Killorglin along the northern part of the Ring of Kerry would allow you to base yourselves in one location for several days without having to constantly relocate, and would be central for easy day trips (less than an hour) to Dingle and Slea Head Drive, over to Killarney to explore the National Park, the very pretty Gap of Dunloe, and the pretty little village of Portmagee which is where the excursion boats out to the Skelligs depart from.
Relocating down to the village of Kenmare would then allow you to explore the southern half of the ROK, revisit Killarney (if you must) and also to explore the beautiful Beara peninsula immediately to the south - it's one of Irelands better kept secrets and a driver's delight.
You could save yourselves some transit time by returning your rental car at the Kerry airport near Killarney and flying back - takes less than an hour on RyanAir.
I agree - you're going to love it.
Thank you all so much for the great suggestions. I appreciate the quick and detailed responses. We are retired. This is our first international trip and we are beyond excited.
Looking at the map, I really thought Ireland was small enough for day trips. I didn't take into account the winding roads. We will follow your advice (and Rick Steves Travel book) to do a loop around the country. I know we can't see everything. We've highlighted some of the things we really want to see. Hopefully we can see a lot. Also, it wouldn't be a huge deal to make the trip a little longer.
Happy Travels.
Making your trip longer is almost always a good thing to do, if you can get away with it: longer trips let you get more from the cost of your flights. If you blow a bunch of money to fly to Europe and back (and flying to Europe is never really "cheap", especially lately), but you only stay for the weekend...woo, your cost per day for your air fare is painful; stay 3 weeks and the cost per day drops way down (of course, the longer you stay, the more your total trip cost will be, so everyone needs to strike the right balance for them).
It always better to slow down a bit and savor the experience, rather than rushing....if you can manage. Most people are primarily constrained by the number of days they have, si it's very tempting to try and cram in too much (a common pitfall for first-time travelers). With more days you can slow down a bit, and/or go to more places (again, the key is striking the right balance for you).
One suggestion for future posts: You'll get better results if you give your post a title that better describes what you're asking about. (For many people these days, "AirBnB" is an app on their phone.) 😎
I doubt you can make your trip longer by enough to see everything. We've been in Ireland for a combined eight weeks and I have a two week trip under planning for next Spring which only goes to places we've missed, and it still leaves plenty that we won't have seen. We are "intense tourists" with jam-packed itineraries and we religiously avoid the really "must see" places like Waterford, Blarney, dog trials (we have our own border collies). With just two weeks, don't try to see everything!
Good advice about slowing down. I tend to be Type A on vacations.
We will avoid Waterford (not a crystal fan) and the Blarney stone.
We have a list and we are working on reducing it to see "must sees". The Rick Steves book helps.
Thanks all
