we are planning 5/6 days (mid sept) 2017 driving around Ireland. fling into Belfast, road trip along Antrim Coast to Giant's Causeway down to The Ring of Kerry and make our up to Wicklow Mountians, Dublin and back to Belfast. looking for advice on, what to pack cloth wise, car hire, sight seeing ideas. and accommodation, we are looking for 3star, willing to share bathrooms, whether double bed or 2 singles. cheers liz
Posted by
Massachusetts
398 posts
That is a pretty much impossible itinerary given your time constraints. The drive from the Giant's Causeway to Killarney is at least 7 hours, if not more, and that's not factoring in any stops. You are basically looking at:
Day 1 - Day in Belfast (and that is assuming you arrive on a red eye early in the morning). Stay Belfast.
Day 2 - Drive to Giant's Causeway and see Antrim Coast. Stay somewhere near there.
Day 3 - Drive to Killarney or near Ring of Kerry - that's your whole day. Stay in area.
Day 4 - Drive and enjoy the Ring of Kerry, stay in area.
Day 5 - Drive to Wicklow Mountains and end up in Dublin. Drive from Killarney to Glendalough is at least 4.5 hours.
Day 6 - Fly home from Dublin.
You'll have wasted one full day just driving (even if the sights are beautiful). You'll have less than 24 hours in Dublin, most of which is at night. You'll barely have time to enjoy or hike around the Wicklow area. You'll have only part of one day in Belfast. You'll be rushed along the Antrim Coast.
Bottom line, unless you want to spend your entire trip in a car or in a hotel, I would strongly recommend that you reassess what places are priorities for you, and narrow your itinerary dramatically. Ireland is not a place to be rushed or a place to mark off landmarks that you've hit. It's about enjoying the people, the culture, etc. I don't mean to come across as rude or blunt, but I just can't see this being an enjoyable trip for you.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
thanks steve for your input. can you please advice me on how many days we will need. if we fly into belfast, spend 2 days looking around, pick up a hired car. drive the antrim coastal route. first stop the gobbins cliff paths,make our way to ballyvoy, than to armoy,look at the dark hedges ( game of thrones) to ballintoy to walk carrick-a-rede bridge. have a stay over, look at gaint's causeway. from here we want to see the cliffs of moher to the burren, the ring of kerry, wicklow mountains, newgrange and back to belfast, stay over and than catch ferry to scotland. do you think 10 days be more realistic. cheers liz
Posted by
Massachusetts
398 posts
Ten days makes it a bit more realistic, but still rushed I think. It seems to me that Belfast and the Antrim Coast are your priorities. So if you drop the Ring of Kerry (which is the furthest away from Northern Ireland), you could do:
Day 1 - Belfast
Day 2 - Belfast
Day 3 - Antrim Coast
Day 4 - Antrim Coast
Day 5 - Drive to Galway (stay in area)
Day 6 - Stay in Galway area (day trip to Cliffs of Moher and through the Burren)
Day 7 - Drive to Wicklow area, stay night. Stopping at Newgrange on the way. This is a long day still and you'll have very little time in the Wicklow region.
Day 8 - Dublin
Day 9 - Dublin
Day 10 - fly home.
If you could add four more days, then I think you should spend two nights in Kerry, and an extra night in the Wicklow area and Dublin each.