We will have 9 days and 9 nights in late July, early August before flying back to US on the 10th day, in and out of Dublin. We will have a car and will self-drive the entire trip. We have a good idea of what we'd like to do but need just a bit of advice.
Day 1 - drive to Glendalough, stay in Kilkenny
Day 2 - tour Kilkenny Castle, Rock of Cashel - stay near Kenmare or somewhere between RoC and Kenmare
Day 3-5 - tour area including dingle Stay maybe in Kenmare/Kilorgian one or two nights then on to Dingle for one or two nights
Day 6 - Drive north, stop at Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, The Burren. Stay near Galway or closer to Shannon
Day 7-8 - Connemarra, Cork, Day trips of anything we've missed. Stay near Galway
Day 9 - Drive to tour Newgrange and stay near Dublin
Day 10 - Be at Dublin airport by 8 am for noon flight home :(
We want off the beaten path BnBs and feel we should secure them asap since August is such a busy time. We are just looking for advice on towns close to our stops that might be a little slower and have more ambiance than the bigger towns suggested on the tours.
We are also concerned that our 2nd night we may not make it all the way to Ring of Kerry area depending on how much time we take on tours of Kilkenny Castle and Rock of Cashel.
Also, on our way from Dingle up to Cliffs of Moher, we would maybe like to stop and see Bunratty castle. That is a huge day of driving from Dingle with a stop at Bunrarry and another at RoC and then The Burren before landing in Galway, so maybe one less night in Galway and a one night closer to Shannon. Again, small town with ambiance.