First time to Ireland - Intinerary Questions

Hi Catherine,

We were in Ireland last spring. We considered seeing Northern Ireland but decided to save it for another trip since there was so much that we wanted to see in southern Ireland. It's too hard for me to give you much advice since you don't really know what you want to see. I can tell you that we easily spent our 10 days between Doolin, Dingle, Kenmare/Killarney, Kilkenny, and Dublin. I don't see Kenmare/Killarney on your itinerary, which is fine, but there are a lot of fantastic things to see in those areas. I do believe there are some long, guided day-trips from Dublin up to the Giant's Causeway. It could be a good way for you to briefly see the GC and a bit of Belfast, if you are comfortable having a limited time at those sites.

Come back with some more ideas. In response to johnarroyo's post on car rental, do some in depth research on rentals. There is a current thread going that has some great information.

I rented a car from Avis when we went in October 2013, and had no problems at all. I'm sorry that Johnny did, but I wouldn't exactly "beware" of Avis. Also, note that almost every credit card company expressly does NOT provide coverage for Ireland and a few other countries where the roads are more difficult (this is not to discourage you from driving in Ireland, as I enjoyed it quite a bit). We rented from Avis in Dublin city (near Kilmainham) and dropped off at Shannon Airport. I paid for the full insurance coverage. We had no problems whatsoever, and they even upgraded me for free.

Dingle was our favorite place in Ireland. Probably Dublin second and then Kilkenny third. I would love to have gone to Northern Ireland if we had time. We had 8 nights - I think you can definitely pull off Belfast, etc. with your extra few nights.

Just remember that driving in Ireland will always take longer than you expect. Dingle to the Antrim Coast will be a long haul, I would strongly recommend stopping for a night somewhere along the way (maybe Galway).

Thank you all for the feedback... especially about the rental car. Good to know! Julie, I will add Kenmare/Killarney to our tentative itinerary (have heard a lot of good things about that area) so thank you for the information. One more question, any suggestion on which route to take out of Dublin? Should we go to Belfast first, or would it be easier to travel south / southwest first?

Catherine, this seems doable. You could fly open jaw Dallas to either Belfast or Dublin and home from Shannon. Belfast and the coast makes sense perhaps if you went to Dublin after that, then on south and around through Kinsale, Dingle, Cliffs, etc. If anything maybe pare the Northern Ireland portion a bit so you can do it in day trips from one location so you're not spending so much time moving.

As for the car thing-can we assume you will drive? Renting in Ireland requires, IMO, taking the insurance from the rental agency-I opted for zero deductible from Budget in Dublin city (Drumcondra Road location) and it was well worth it when someone clipped me and did not stop. Don't rely on a credit card for insurance coverage. Ireland is hard on cars and this is well known, so they will look for damage closely when you return the car. As Steve says, I enjoyed driving in Ireland, it does take some extra focus though.
You'll want to rent separately for Northern Ireland and the Republic to avoid large fees for dropping in another country.

Killarney National Park and Muckross House and Gardens can be a day trip from Dingle if that works better. Be sure to see Slea Head, and consider taking a private tour for these very scenic coastal areas so you can look and listen instead of driving. This was the highlight of our time in Ireland in 2013, and was well worth the 80 euro.

Catherine,

I don't know as much about Northern Ireland, so take this with a grain of salt. You may want to consider flying into Dublin and spending two days there. I'd pick your rental up on the outskirts of town and then drive up to Belfast, seeing Newgrange on the way. You could spend a day exploring Belfast if you want to. The next day I would spend seeing Antrim Coast and Giant's Causeway, possibly drive on to Donegal for the night. You could spend the next day exploring Connemara area on the way down to Doolin. The next day you could spend exploring the Cliffs of Moher and possibly the Burren area. Each have a lot to offer and we loved them both. You could spend your next two nights in Dingle and the following two nights in either Kenmare or Killarney.

Dublin: 2 nights
Belfast: 2 nights
Donegal: 1 night
Doolin: 2 nights
Dingle: 2 nights
Kenmare/Kilkenny: 2 nights
Fly home out of Shannon.

This route (or similar, effectively uses up your 11 days. I don't think you can do Kinsale/Center Ireland (Rock of Cashel) and Northern Ireland on one trip and do justice to the areas you are seeing. There's a lot of drive time in here, too. You'd have to cut something. Perhaps cut Kenmare/Kilkenny if you are really wanting to see Kinsale. I've never been there so I can't compare the two areas.

My other suggestion would be:

Fly into Shannon
Doolin: 2 nights
Dingle: 2 nights
Kenmare/Killarney: 2 nights
Kinsale: 1 night (see Rock of Cashel/Cahir Castle on next day's drive)

Option 1:
Trim (or somewhere in vicinity): 1 night
Belfast: 1 night
Dublin: 2 nights

Option 2:
Dublin: 3 nights (guided day-trip up to Belfast and Giant's Causeway)
-- Option 2 doesn't account for 1 night. You could easily put it anywhere you feel like you'd want an extra night. I'd vote Kenmare/Killarney, but there are a bunch of people here that love Dingle and I'm sure they'd vote for that. Or you may find something else in your planning that you'd like to allocate a day for.

Dave's suggestion of flying into Belfast could work well, too.

Again, thank you for the feedback. A lot of great information and suggestions that I'll use when finalizing our itinerary.

Before you decided on your route you want to travel, check this website out. I've done the tourist things in Ireland in the past and after doing only half of this mapped out route last month, my mind is blown. If you end up in Co. Donegal check out the village Glenn and the bar there, it has a restaurant in the back, one of the best meals I've ever had in Ireland.

http://www.ireland.com/wild-atlantic-way/

If you have a worldmastercard it should cover your insurance. If not I would look into getting one, it will cut your rental fees in half. As far as your itinerary goes I highly recommend Kinsale. I go back every year for a week to 10 days and hope to retire there one day.

"If you have a worldmastercard it should cover your insurance."
Wrong. I had a World MasterCard which told me, even in writing, that I was covered, but then they denied my claim after a small accident. And of course, they aren't going to get sued for a $500 repair, so....be very careful about believing that any credit card insurance will cover you in Ireland.

I paid the deductible down to zero for about 25 euro extra per day on a 5 day rent. I instantly saved 1300 euro when a hit and run driver sideswiped me in Tralee. I turned the car in at Cork airport a couple days later with no hassle. No calls to my credit card company, no nothing.