Best small town to park in for a few days while visiting Dublin?

Not knowing what you like and with the obvious caveat we all are different here are some thoughts. First the biggie....you are so right trying to cram in as much as possible is the exact wrong way to go. More than any other place we've been Ireland is best enjoyed leisurely ....less is more. That doesn't mean not to see a bunch of stuff...it means not pushing all the time, avoiding one night stays when possible and enjoy the many riches of a given area while not being in a car too much.

Honestly can't imagine being in Dublin for 9-10 days....it's okay but it's a city....a fairly modern city. There are nice day trips from Dublin.....Trim, Newgrange, Tara to the north.......or the gorgeous Wicklow mountains and Glendalough to the south. Also a day trip to Belfast is also well worth it.

But I would definitely bite that bullet and rent a car and head out for 3-4 days. Cork is another big city without as many attractions as Dublin. Places near it like Kinsale are nice but it would be low on my list. In Ireland....pick a spot, almost any spot, particularly in the west and there are many days/weeks of things to do very close by.

But here's one option we LOVED. We stayed in the Castlemaine/Milltown area (though Glenbeigh, Kilorglin and Castlemaine would do) This is a wonderful small Irish town with a few great pubs, restaurants and shops nearby that give you a real taste of wild Ireland. But what is best is that you would be perfectly situated for both Dingle and the Ring of Kerry and all the amazing sights near (not in) Killarney. You would be within an 1- 1 1/2 hours at most of all of Dingle, the Skellig Ring and Killarney sights......often much closer. So just down the road you would have on Dingle....Inch Beach, Beehive huts, old forts and ruins, Dingle Town, the harbor with dolphin cruises or cruises to Great Blasket Island (incredible), Slea Head Drive (again incredible), the Gallarus Oratory, Dunquin, Connor Pass and fantastic, shops, restaurants, pubs and music. Half hour away near Killarney you would have the Gap of Dunloe, Ross Castle, Muckross House, Torc Waterfall, Ladies View, the National Park, Kissane Sheep Farm and lots more.... Then in the ROK you would have insane scenery (our favorite stretch above Caherdaniel), Great small towns like Kenmare, Sneem, Waterville, Cahersiveen, Glenbeigh and more with ancient ring forts, castle ruins all against the backdrop of the Magillicuddy Reeks. Then there is the Skellig Ring with the insanely beautiful cliffs of Kerry (far less touristy than the Cliffs of Moher and IMO prettier too), Skellig Michael, Bray Head, Valencia Island, McCarthys Castle, Abby Ruins, Skelligs chocolates, the Glen, the beach at Ballinskellig...all on a road with no tour buses allowed. You literally could spend weeks/months there and not exhaust things to do. We have and there's plenty left. So in 3-4 days you could have your choice of a myriad of options....and at that time of year there are no worries about it being tourist clogged.

Best of all .... the Irish folks in Kerry are the warmest, down to earth, funniest people we've ever come across. Often they'll tease you at first, see how you react and if you're not full of yourself they treat you like family.

Anyway....that's one great alternative. There are many. Check out YouTube videos of the sights and see what suits you. But keep that great philosophy of not cramming in too much and try to see a spot well away from Dublin. It's worth it. Have a great trip.

Totally agree with ewewoolknit! If after you arrive in the Dingle area and don't want to do much driving there are a few options for private driving tours of the Ring of Kerry, the Skellig Ring, Beara..we had a blast there. It is a four hour drive from the airport in Dublin!

Here is another beautiful alternative that requires no car, go to Northern Ireland, Antrim Coast, very convenient to access by train/ bus from Dublin or Belfast. Take the train to Coleraine, walk through the terminal to the waiting bus and get to Portrush, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills, and the Giant’s Causeway.

I can recommend the Bayview Inn in Port Ballintrae as a restful location with gorgeous views. It is located on the bus line and convenient to all sites. We actually walked to most of them.

This is a very beautiful, restful, and easily car free location just a few hours from Dublin.

Thank you all! This is incredible advice! ewewoolknit, we're going to seriously consider just copying your itinerary completely.

As for driving, how bad is it adjusting to the left-side driving and the roads? That's one of my big fears about Dingle; I could imagine some of those roads being pretty thorny, since they're on the coast.

Driving is clearly very individual but I've found it a breeze. Driving IN Dublin is a nightmare and best avoided. Driving out from Dublin along one of the "M" - real highways- is a great and easy way to acclimate to being on the left. It really isn't hard. The narrow roads aren't anywhere near as bad as people make out. There is a rhythm and etiquette to it that is easily picked up. On top of that locals and bus operators know how to guide you. It's definitely different, requires concentration ....you won't be gazing off at a vista while driving but very doable. I've actually grown to prefer driving on the left. Another thing is in general you don't run into much traffic in the west. My wife commented one time we drove the Skellig Ring on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May and only had two cars going the other way. That's unusual ... but you won't get traffic like you often do in the states or other parts of Europe.

Have a great time. That other post on the north and Antrim is another great alternative ...there are numerous ones. Ireland is fantastic.

That's wonderful advice. We don't plan to rent a car while in Dublin, so maybe our first couple days in Dublin will get us used to the roads before we have to drive them ourselves.

So we found a B&B in Gortandeden (about 20-25 minute drive from Tralee, near Castlemaine I think?) that looks heavenly. We were thinking about spending some time there, since it's central to a lot of day trips, then doing maybe three days in Dingle at an Airbnb that looks almost as nice. Anybody know anything about Gortandeden?

That doesn't give us a lot of time in Dublin, though: Just one full day—followed by all those days on the west coast—followed by one night right before we fly back out of Dublin the next morning. Is that enough time in Dublin? We're more excited about the rustic portions of the country than the city, but we're worried that final stretch of our itinerary (traveling back to Dublin from Dingle on Saturday, followed by flying out of Dublin early Sunday morning) might be a little rushed/travel-heavy.