My husband and I are planning a trip to Ireland in July. Will be our first time and we have 7.5 days on the ground. We need to book flights - but need a rough idea about where we are heading so we can figure out if we fly R/T to Dublin or in to Shannon and out of Dublin (or visa versa). Once the flights are squared away, we'll book rooms, etc. Our interests are some city (Dublin), lovely country sites while driving, cute towns, some archeology, some cliffs, music, a castle or two. We've done similar trips to Italy, France, England and Scotland and are looking forward to some adventure (driving!), enjoying food and people. Galway looks interesting, ROK and Dingle look really great, too. We're hardy travelers and light packers do we are thinking 2 nights in Dublin and maybe a location in the SW and 1 night stays in other nice locations. Should we book Shannon/Dublin or Dublin RT? Also, if we arrive in Shannon day 1, what is the nearest cute village/town to book a first night (close by) since we will be beat (looking at Ennis)?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
I have always found that open jaw tickets are almost always the best approach especially for short trips if not staying in the same location for the entire time. It save time and money.
Posted by
Portland, OR
238 posts
I would definitely book open jaw tickets, probably into Dublin and out of Shannon. You could spend your first couple of nights in Dublin without a car, see the sites in the city, maybe do a day tour to New Grange (a must see) and then head west. You don't really have a lot of time so I would pick one or two spots to spend the rest of your time, positioning yourselves to fly out of Shannon. Galway is a perfectly nice city, but definitely a city rather than a town. We found the traffic there to be somewhat problematic. Dingle probably qualifies as a "cute town" though I imagine in July it will be fairly crowded. I've only stopped in Kenmare for lunch but it would also probably meet your criteria and many folks on this forum have extolled its virtues. There are lots of small towns along the Ring of Kerry--Waterville, Portmagee, Sneem all get good reviews. We stayed at a wonderfull Airbnb in Cahersiveen and found it to be an excellent base for day trips.
Posted by
1172 posts
With 7.5 days on the ground ( is the 0.5 day the day you fly out? If so, I would say you really have 7 days) I would either fly in and out of Dublin and concentrate on the area in and around Dublin or I would fly in and out of Shannon and then concentrate eon the West coast.
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3561 posts
I would just say get this booked and planned as soon as possible. Even when we booked our accomodations in November, some places were booked!
I also second flying into Dublin and out of Shannon. The west coast of Ireland is so beautiful!
Ennis or Bunratty are good for your first night, in Bunratty there is the castle and folk park and lits of B&B’s to stay at. We also liked Ennis.