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Help! How to spend 2 days/3 nights between Westport and Dublin

Hello all! I'll be travelling with my boyfriend and his parents (us 20s, them late 60s/early 70s) in late May/early June for 2 weeks. I am specifically looking for advice on how to spend days 12 and 13, but am open to feedback/recommendations on all other parts of our itinerary as well! Please note that our accommodations have been booked for days 1-11 and will be difficult, if not impossible, to move. Our current itinerary is as follows:

Thursday 5/22 (day 1): Arrive in Dublin around 9 AM. Slow day getting acclimated and walking around city. Visit Kilmainham Gaol and/or Guinness Storehouse if possible.

Friday 5/23 (day 2): Drive to Kinsale. Stop at Rock of Cashel along the way.

Saturday 5/24 (day 3): Drive to Killarney. Visit Gap of Dunloe, Torc Waterfall, maybe Ross Castle or Muckross House.

Sunday 5/25 (day 4): Killarney. Drive/take tour bus of Ring of Kerry.

Monday 5/26 (day 5): Drive to Doolin. Take Killimer Ferry, do some/all of Moher Coastal Walk.

Tuesday 5/27 (day 6): ferry to Inishmore, stay overnight. Rent bikes.

Wednesday 5/28 (day 7): Inishmore for the day, return by ferry to Doolin in the evening.

Thursday 5/29 (day 8): Day trip from Doolin to the Burren.

Friday 5/30 (day 9): drive to Delphi. Stay at Delphi Resort.

Saturday 5/31 (day 10): Westport. Doolough, maybe hike Croagh Patrick.

Sunday 6/1 (day 11): Bike the Greenway in Westport.

Monday 6/2 (day 12):

Tuesday 6/3 (day 13):

Wednesday 6/4 (day 14): Depart for USA from Dublin (11 AM departure).

I am trying to determine what the best way to spend the final leg of our trip is. Would you recommend returning to Dublin and spending a few days there? Spending a day or two taking the drive from Westport over? If so, what town(s) should we spend the night in? Remaining in Westport for an additional day? Please note that I have accommodations booked for all other nights, so I can't redistribute the days earlier in the trip - I would if I could!

Thanks so much for the help!

Posted by
1705 posts

The long answer depends on your interests. I will only caution that you will want to stay in or near the Dublin airport the night before your flight. Assuming you are returning directly to the US from Dublin you pre-clear US immigration in Dublin. The recommended time to be at the airport is 3 hour before departure. There are several places you could stay near the airport that offer interesting things to see or do. Trim with its Trim Castle (used as a movie site for Braveheart and "renovated" to explain how defensive castles were used over the ages) and Malahide with its Malahide Castle and gardens (really a manor house) are two examples. Trim is about 30 minutes from the airport, Malahide about 15 minutes.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you for the response! I've looked at staying in both Trim and Malahide, so it's good to get those reaffirmed. If anyone has advice on whether we should spend 2 nights in either, or if there's a different interesting stop between Westport and Dublin that's worth a night or two, please do let me know!

Posted by
2512 posts

With an 11am departure from Dublin airport, I would want to be staying in an airport hotel the night before...

Trim works well as a place to stay on Day 12. It is going to take just over three hours to get there, so you'll have plenty of time to explore Trim and visit the castle in the aftrnoon.

Day 13 - think about Newgrange which is 45 minutes drive from Trim . This is older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids and is an amazing place. The passage tonb is only visited by guided tour from the Visitor Centre and these are very popular. Tickets are released a month in advance and do book up quickly during the summer months, so book as soon as you can. It is worth booking the tour that covers both Newgrange and Nowth - they are both very different - as well as the Visitor centre.

Then make your way to your airport hotel, stopping off at malahide on the way...

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you so much for the response! The Trim -> airport hotel timeline makes complete sense to me, I think we'll go that route. Thanks again!