Family trip to Ireland with teens

I would rent the car from Dublin airport rather than taking the train and renting in Galway.

Depending on your flight times, you may want to consider renting the car when you land and have your days in Dublin at the end of your trip. You could also consider staying outside of the center of Dublin and taking the Luas into town; this way you could use your rental to get to the airport (Premier Suites in Sandyford has apartments http://www.premiersuitesdublinsandyford.eu/ and Clayton Hotel in Leopardstown are on the Green Luas line and are about 20 mins into city center)

Here is an example of a very doable itinerary and I highly recommend Dingle - it is my favorite place in Ireland.

• Sunday - Arrive in Dublin, Rent car, Drive to Bunratty and enjoy the Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet (it is a lot of fun) https://www.shannonheritage.com/BunrattyCastleMedievalBanquet/
• Monday - Go to the Cliffs o Moher and then drive down to Dingle
• Tuesday - Dingle (drive the Loop, tour the distillery http://www.dingledistillery.ie/tours/)
• Wednesday - Leave Dingle and head to Cork, spend the night in Cork.
• Thursday- Head back to Dublin via Cashel and see the Rock of Cashel. I would be sure to arrive in Dublin on Thursday so you have a full Friday in Dublin.
• Friday - Dublin - be sure to visit Kilmainham Gaol - you should reserve tickets far in advanced for summer (http://kilmainhamgaol.admit-one.eu/index.php?s=OPW_KILM&p=calendar&ev=TOUR&lang=ENG)

Stephanie thanks. You may have solved our problem. I was able to alter the flights to now arrive on Saturday but I may follow your itinerary for the other days. We will not get to Galway but all of the other drives seem manageable.

thanks

also open for other suggestions.

I would not recommend driving on your first day there ( assuming that you are taking an overnight flight from US/Canada. I would also keep it light on activity.

I would however recommend renting a car from Dublin airport. We used Sixt and had a great experience. Pay extra for automatic ( unless you drive standard at home)

great advice above, and when you get the rental car, get ALL the insurance so you can walk away clear when you turn the car in. It is almost certain you will scrape something along the way....

Personally I wouldn't drive on the same day of arrival. Jet lag, lack of sleep, and not being familiar with the local road system can all be a problem. There are some people that are not bothered by any of those things. Others think they are ok but are really driving somewhat impaired. Still others are complete zombies and should never drive the same day. Don't mean to rain on your parade, just something to think about.

all,

thanks for the suggestions. we were able to move our flights up a day and arrive on saturday now. as far as driving goes, i will already be un the UK so my flight from London is short. my family will be traveling the long overnight journey so i can handle the driving. i am thinking get to Bunratty / Ennis area for 2 nights and then down to Dingle. I would love some ideas of whether to stay near Bunratty castle or someplace up closer to Ennis or Galway. It looks like driving to Bunratty is easier and shorter than father north.

If you go to the castle dinner, I would stay in Bunratty. I have stayed at both the Bunratty Castle Hotel (http://www.bunrattycastlehotel.com) and the Bunratty Courtyard B&B (http://www.bunrattycourtyard.com). I liked them both so would choose based on if you want a hotel or b&b.

Bunratty is small and you can walk everywhere. There is a great store in Bunratty called Blarney Woolen Mills and there are a variety of pubs.