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Driving from Dublin to Cork - itinerary and lodging?

Posted by (Lakewood, CO, United States) on

Super excited to begin planning a family trip to Ireland in mid June- this will probably be our only visit to Ireland! We're all adults, no children, and interested in just about anything Ireland has to offer in terms of sights to visit/places to eat/things to do. At this point we are thinking of flying into Dublin, spending about 2 days there and then heading toward Cork. Once in Cork we will be staying there about 5 days and doing the rest of our sightseeing and day trips from there. From Cork we will be planning day trips for the Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, and Dingle.

I'm looking for any recommendations for places to visit while driving from Dublin to Cork and a good town to spend a overnight in. In reading some other posts on here it seems like fitting in Cashel and Cahir Castle are recommended; I'm also seeing people planning stops in Kilkenny, Waterford, and/or Wexford. If you had about a day and a half to drive from Dublin to Cork where would you go and where would you spend the evening? Since Cork will be our "home base" for the rest of the trip I'd like to make the most of out the drive from Dublin to Cork by stopping at places that wouldn't be part of our day trips from Cork.

Thanks!

Posted by
66 posts

I stopped at both Cahir and Cashel on a driving trip around Ireland and enjoyed both. If I were to skip one for one of the other sights you mention (which I haven't seen), it would be Cahir.

If you have time while you're in Dublin, don't overlook nearby Newgrange.

This may be heresy, but I enjoyed driving around the Dingle peninsula more than the Ring of Kerry, although both were beautiful.

I'm really glad I made the trip to Skellig Michael.

Keep in mind, it usually takes longer than one might think to get from point A to B in Ireland (LOTS of roundabouts, etc.). You might want to consider additional "home bases".

Enjoy! Here are some snapshots to whet your appetite: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chuck_llama/albums/72157634971862233

Posted by
21 posts

Thanks Chuck! That advice will be very helpful in our planning. Those pictures were amazing- where was the erie303 taken?

Posted by
66 posts

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Eire 303 (and the next couple photos) are Little Skellig, which we passed on the way to Skellig Michael. Boats aren't allowed to stop at Little Skellig. If the weather permits, I'd recommend this trip to anyone who is up to a fairly steep hike.

One further bit of advice about driving - it will be much easier to make your way through the roundabouts if you memorize the names of the next few good sized towns on your route, rather than trying to pick out the road number.

Posted by
21 posts

Skellig has definitely made it to the top of things to see when we are there! I hadn't come across it yet in planning the trip, but I'm going to spend some time looking into it.
Thanks for the tip- that will come in very handy as we make our away across Ireland!

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