Dingle - Southwest Ireland

You mention "We want to go to Skellig area"...

Does than include a landing on Skellig Michael? If so, you should plan the logistics for this as soon as possible. To give yorself the best chances of actually making the landing, you will want to stay someplace close to Portmagee (where the boats depart from) and ideally have at least a couple days there (landings are often cancelled due to sea conditions, they will make the go/no-go decision the morning of your trip; if your landing trip is canceled, you get priority for the next day). Portmagee is tiny and there are few options for accommodations in/nearby town. It's a good base for other nearby attractions.

Dingle is great as a base, though the town does get crowded with day-trippers. Try to do a day-trip yourself from there out to Great Blasket Island if you can, it's worth the effort.

Before or after your Galway cottage, consider a trip out to Inishmore. Take the little plane out and back (rather than the ferry), the flight is shockingly cheap, quick, easy and is a real hoot. The early plane (outbound) and the late plane (return) buys you golden hours on the islands when most day-trippers are not there. An overnight there (even a couple nights) is sublime.

You'll have a great time - Ireland is awesome and you have enough time to do the southwest justice (though there's a lot to see, so 2.5 weeks is not excessive, you will still need to prioritize).

Thank you for your response. I am now rethinking everything after Kilkenny. I really wanted a homebased point. But now I am thinking.....maybe Galway doesn't need to be 4 nights. And maybe I find a cute local area for 3 nights after Kikenny on the way to Dingle, then 3 nights in Dingle, then 3 nights someplace else, then back to the Shannon area for a castle like place. And Dkellig is probably out. I just wanted to see from the road. :)

Because Dingle Town is at the western end of the Dingle Peninsula it is not the most convenient place from which to explore the Ring of Kerry. If you do want to add a stop between Kilkenny and Dingle Town you might consider Kinsale or Kenmare. Kenmare is on the RoK and also very close to Killarney National Park. Depending on how active you are, and the weather, there's a nice broad view of the Skelligs from the Bolus Barrack Loop hike. https://www.discoverireland.ie/kerry/bolus-head-barracks-looped-walk

A cute place between Kilkenny and Dingle is Kenmare. Lots of cute (low and high-end) places to stay and a short drive to Killarney national park, sheepherding demonstrations, and the Ring of Beara. We stayed there for 3 nights this summer before heading to Dingle. Highly recommend!

Thank you!
I appreciate all the feedback!
I have revamped the itinerary.
Dublin 2 nights at Trinity City Hotel
Kilkenny 2 nights at Butler House
Kenmare 4 nights Bayswater at 17 Sheen Woods (airbnb)
Dingle 3 nights at Rathlins Suit at Captain's House (airbnb)
Galway 3 nights at City Center Thatched Cottage (airbnb)
County Clare 15 minutes from Shannon Airport a place called The Carriage House at Beech House

This may give us more options for day trips and relaxing days with no packing up.

We were recently in Ireland and drove from Dublin to Kinsale, Dingle and Adare and back. Stayed in Dingle for two nights and loved it. Falconry Experience was fantastic. Also, on Mondays and Thursdays there is a traditional music concert at St. James Church - tickets available at pub next door.

Thank you! That's great to know!

I am in Ireland presently with my adult daughter. In case any of this might be of use to you...........We met each other at the Dublin Airport after arriving from SF (me) and DC (her). Took an easy airport express bus ride that practically dropped us right outside our Dublin hotel.

Dublin- We stayed two nights at Wynn's Hotel. It is centrally located on Abbey St, just around the corner from O'Connell St. Wonderful two night stay there. Highly recommend on all counts. EPIC, immigration museum is a must do (IMO). Book of Kells and The Long Library was quite informative and certainly of great historical import, but I felt like cattle being moved along through the exhibit. It was packed in late September, so I can only imagine the crowds next summer. No air conditioning and with all those people it was uncomfortably warm, correction, it was actually HOT inside.

We went back out to the airport and picked up our rental car. and then drove from there to our friend's home in Annagry, County Donegal. Wow, wow, wow, is all I can say. If you prefer cities and not venturing so far north, then this area would not float your boat. I know your title states SW Ireland, but if you want to get away from heavily touristed areas, this would do it (particularly with the crowds in the summer). The people, the scenery, the food, everything was absolutely wonderful. Malin Head, Slieve League, Tory Island, little towns like Andarra. New recently opened whiskey distillery, Croithli-beautiful historic building, delicious whiskey and a nice stop en-route to or from Glenveigh National Park. Doagh Famine Museum- fantastic!

Next stop was, Westport, County Mayo. We stayed in a fabulous Airbnb x 3 nights that was right in town. Lovely charming town. Westport Manor House, Creigh Patrick, Ankyll and Clare Island. Because it was off season, they were closed, but the Lost Valley Tour would have been on our to-do list.

Ennis and the Temple Gate Hotel was next with a stop in Galway that evening. Really disliked Galway, but that might have been because it was loaded with American tourists and big tour groups for the short time we were there.

With Ennis as our home base, we drove over and spent a day in The Burren. We had an absolute fabulous guided walk with Mary O'Dea, hiddenburrenwalks.net. I know RS recommends two others, but this is a woman enterprise and she is an 8th generation resident of this area. Mary knows the history of the area/it's peoples, as well as the unique ecosystem. Burren Perfumery is NOT to be missed either. (Mary met us there). PBS has a two part documentary on The Burren that I highly recommend watching as well. I would have gladly spent another day on The Burren.

We are now on the Dingle Peninsula, staying at a sweet B and B just outside Dingle Town. Dingle is very busy this weekend due to the annual Food Festival. Which we will be checking out later today. Lovely hiking here as well.

Happy travels!
-Arline

We were in Galway for a week in April and had a great time. We had a wonderful experience at the School of Falconry at Ashford Castle and visited the little village of Cong while there. We were also lucky enough to get an up close look at the castle, which is now on our bucket list to stay, maybe for our 50th. We had dinner at the Pulman Restaurant which is inside a railroad car from the Orient Express film, if you're a fan like our son. When we visited Inish Mor (although only for the day), we rented electric bikes which allowed us to zip all over the island. I'm a planner so I made reservations ahead for everything we did and was glad I did. There's a hop on hop off bus to get around Galway. Have fun!