First Timers Itinerary Help :)

That sounds similar to the middle of a 3-week trip to Ireland I took several years ago. I stayed 2 nights in Kinsale (saw Cobh on my way there), 1 in Kenmare, 3 in Dingle, 2 in Ballyvaughn (in the Burren), and 2-3 in Salthill (suburban Galway). Skipped Cork and Killarney. This was a nice pace and I enjoyed all my stays. I also skipped part of the Ring of Kerry and did the Ring of Beara instead (gorgeous and remote, but not for the faint of heart behind the wheel).

Dingle was my favorite place. The Dingle Peninsula has beautiful views, beehive huts, and other worthwhile sites. The town itself is scenic and has a great trad music scene. But I'm sure everyone who posts will have their own favorite Irish town.

The last trip we did to Ireland we learned not to stay anywhere for just one night. Most of our sight seeing time was eaten up with traveling to get there and then traveling to get to the next place. Ireland is a small island compared to other countries but when you consider the narrow roads and the speed limits it takes longer to get from place to place than you imagine. We had several places we stayed for two nights and than a few places we stayed only one night. We decided then not to stay at places for just one night.
We are going to Ireland again this June. This trip we have rented three B and Bs for two nights each. We also rented three houses for at least 4-5 nights each. The houses are in central large areas where we can see several sights within a short drive of the home. We are also looking forward to cooking some meals and not having to eat out all of the time. Don't get me wrong Ireland has some good food but we are going to be there for awhile and want to maintain some normalcy.
So my suggestion is to see what is close in proximity and condense your accomadations.
Enjoy.
Jim Wilson

I wouldn't do both ROK and Dingle peninsula. Both are lovely, but one will do, IMO. I would choose Dingle peninsula so you have more time elsewhere. Killarney national park is lovely, but Killarney town not so much.It is wall to wall with giant tour buses. Look at some trip reports elsewhere on this site to get more detail on areas you are considering.

So here is our updated itinerary, still some decisions in the middle.

Day 1 - Arrive in Cork, head to Cobh, staying two nights. Thats our base for stops in Cobh, Cork and Middleton days 1 and 2
Day2 - Cobh

Day 3 - Leave Cobh for Kinsale, spend the day and stay the night

Day 4 - Leave for Killarney, visit Muckross, Torc, Ross etc then head down N71 to Kenmare where we will spend the night.

Day 5 - This is a question mark, do we spend an entire day, then a second night in Kenmare, is there enough to do ? Or do we spend the day completing the ROK and end up in Dingle ? If we do the latter then we end up with an extra night which we could of used in Kinsale ? Or are we shortchanging the time in Killarney/Kenmare

Day 7 - Arrive in Dingle after the ROK . Stay two nights as everyone suggests
Day 8 - Dingle

Day 9 - Head the the Cliffs of Mohr on our way to Galway, spend the nigh
Day 10 - Galway
Day 11 - Head from Galway to the Shannon Airport

Hi,

Congratulations on your first trip to Ireland, you will have so much fun.

Based on you travel plans I would say you have made one of the best decisions to stick to the west coast of Ireland. Cork and Shannon are along the wild Atlantic way so all you will be doing is traveling along it.

The first thing is to get a car rental as this would make your journey a lot more adventurous and flexible get an automatic car if you have to.

Also, the routes along the wild Atlantic routes consist of

So let's breakdown you journey.

Cork to Kerry
Kerry to Galway
Galway to Shannon

On each route, you can stop by a location and it would be seamless for you and you can arrange to pick up your vehicle from Cork and drop it off in Shannon.

Let us know if you need further help.