Help on itinerary appreciated

A description of your interests and what you already have planned for each stop would be helpful.

1) Leaving aipport, plan to do the left side of the Burren figure 8 (Shannon - Ennis - Corofin - Lemenagh Castle - Ballyvaughn - Blackhead - Doolin (coming off flight, this will probably completely wear us out, but the drive isn't too long, just slow so I understand). Staying at Cois Na hAbhann close in.

2) Cliffs of Mohr the 12 km section of the Doolin cliffs of Mohr walk (considered Arin islands but I think that might eat too much time). Other than that not sure

3) Drive to Doolin - planning to go via ferry crossings (planning stops on the way, but research not done yet). Plan to come in via the gap. We'll probably plan some time around Doolin (town and closer in - in case we get their early enough (staying at Alpine Guesthouse)

4) Slea Head Drive and walking the coast and open for suggestions.

5) Drive part of Ring of Kerry to Portamagee. Do as much of Skellig Ring area as we have time for. Staying at The Moorings Guesthouse & Seafood Restaurant.

After dark look at the sky (Dark Sky Reserve).

6) Maybe boat to Skelligs (weather permitting) then complete Skellig area and do the ROK to Kenmare. Little to no work done on Kenmare at Brook Lane Hotel for now. (might go on and stay in

7) Kenmare to Kinsale. Staying at Perryville House.

8) Kinsale to Cashel. Stay at O'Briens Cashel Lodge

9) Cashel to Bunratty (See Cahir and Cashel for sure). Staying at Bunratty Castle Hotel.

10) To airport early and fly home

Still much planning to do. So looking for some guidance from people who have done this are. Second half seems pretty rushed.

Thanks for any help.

It seems like a lot of one night stays to me. On the positive side, Ireland is a country where one night stays are easier than in most other countries. The time overhead of checking in and out of B&Bs when you have a rental car is low. We even waited until driving into town to secure lodging on our 2002 trip, but I would not recommend doing that now. Distances are short but expect it to take longer than you expect it to take to get from place to place. You will probably find you want to stop and linger at various places on the way. I would want to go the longer route nearer the coast and see Bantry House, when traveling between Kenmare and Kinsale. If you can figure out a way to see both the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park, I would recommend it. Muckross House is a nice stop in or near the National Park. Could potentially consolidate some of these stops. Ennis is a good place to stay within easy reach of Shannon, Bunratty, and the Burren. Another alternative to staying in Cashel, that is right nearby, is Cahir which has the Swiss Cottage (outside of town) and a highly rated castle. It would be great to see the Rock after dark though. In recent years I have found that car trunks are getting smaller, so you will probably want to take a small bag. Rental cars are very expensive in Ireland - more specifically the CDW insurance. Maybe $80-100 per day when I have priced it out. I recommend getting an automatic.

A series of one-night hotel stands is a more stressful and time-consuming way to travel in Europe. It limits your time on the ground to actually see and do what you came to the destination to see and do.

Thanks for the help so far. I already have a car reserved with automatic and all the insurance, etc. North of $500. Bunratty was not really a site to see, just a place close to the airport to stay the last night. Someone mentioned Cashel as a place to stay - already planned to stay there.

On the one nighters, they are not very far apart. And, if you look at the trip on a map, what we are doing is driving, more or less, a half circle. Probably won't make the park this trip, as it would cause backtracking.

Also, you should know I live in the sticks in the South, close to a number of State Parks, etc. and right on a 80,000 acre lake, and have lived next to the ocean, etc. But, our ocean is calm and not very exciting, whereas the pics of the Wild Atlantic Way look freakin awesome and like nothing we have. If I choose to do the park, what would be the must sees?

Might consider cutting Kenmare, Kinsale or Cashel, but the drive between the 3 is less than 1 1/2 hours per Ireland Distance calculator (excluding the many stops between each, which makes up most of the day). But I have only driven on the wrong side of the road and car a few times and on much larger roads in the Caymans and Bahamas.

I, too, am concerned about too much movement - when we do a month on mainland Europe, we try to never stay less than 3 -4 days anywhere and stay some places a week, depending on which of the kids are with me and if mom comes too. I'm just not sure about these towns and have not really started planning the latter part of the trip. Are any of these towns areas that I need more than a day to see the area in and around the town? If so which should I cut and what should I keep.

Also on Bantry, it is an area and Bantry House is one we are considering. On of our physicians has driven all the way around Ireland on a bunch of trips. He strongly recommended Bantry House.

Sad to hear about the trunks, we usually just wear a backpack, but hoped to bring a few more clothes on this one. Hate to have to wash some clothes every 3 or 4 days on a short trip like this one.

Thanks again for the help.

1) The perk to this is that you can cut the day off if you are too tired to keep going and head to Doolin to call it a day. We did an excellent guided walking tour of the Burren with this group: http://www.burrenwalks.com/. Not only did we have amazing views and scenery (alpine flowers were blooming when we were there), the guide was excellent, telling us stories and history. I would highly recommend doing this if is of any interest to you. They have a little shop that's also a fantastic place to stop for a piece of pie and cup of cocoa. We explored a great ruin of a church, Corcomroe Abbey, very close to the place of the hike.

2) We only had a few hours at the Cliffs and I wish we would have had more (had to leave to catch our walking tour of the Burren). If you enjoy hiking and exploring nature, I think you'll enjoy your time there. You could also go look for Poulnabrone Dolmen and anything else in the area. If Irish Trad is of any interest to you, we heard some of the best music these nights in Doolin. Definitely plan to stay up one of your nights to hear some.

3) I'm assuming you meant to say Dingle. We took the ferry, which had some scenic views and was nice. We also drove Conor's Pass into town. It was fogged over, mysterious, and beautiful. Loved it. We had plenty of time that day since we left in the morning to go see some of the sights on the interior of the peninsula. I'd recommend seeing the sights on the interior to give you more time on the coastal road.

4) Slea Head is an absolutely beautiful drive. We would periodically stop and just hike off on different points that interested of us. You can easily spend a full day and still not have enough time if you enjoy yourselves. We really enjoyed the museum for the Great Blasket Island. If you have time, I'd recommend stopping. It was a bit of a spiritual experience to think about how the people lived on the island for all those years until they were forced to leave. I had found a great app that had downloads of audio tours for each stop of the drive. Can't think of what it was called, but you could look for it. It was really interesting to hear about each stop as we went along. Just bring an aux cable and plug it into the car.

5) The ROK was a blast. Don't miss Ballycarberry castle and the ring fort that is across the way from it. They were incredible! You can climb on the ring fort and get some incredible pictures. You can also climb on the castle. Another magical stop.

6) I don't know how much time the Skellig activity will take you. I'm guessing that you may have to move fairly quickly on the rest of the ROK drive that day because you won't have much time.

7) There are some great places to visit in Killarney...we particularly enjoyed Muckros House and gardens and Ross Castle. It's a particularly gorgeous stretch of road between Kenmare and Killarney as well. There's a beautiful walk between the House and Torc Waterfall -- once you get close the the waterfall everything gets covered in bright green moss. It's like a winter wonderland just with moss. We loved it. Also, if you are interested by ancient things, there is a stop called the Sheen Valley Heritage south of Kenmare that had a ring of standing stones and other ancient sites. I loved the ring of standing stones. Not sure what your reasoning is for heading to Kinsale, but I would suggest considering another night in this area since there are so many great sites to see.

8) We saw both Cahir Castle and Rock of Cashel. Both were great, but Cashel had a lot of scaffolding when we were there so that was a bit disappointing.

We stayed in Kilkenny so I don't really have any advice for Cashel. Didn't see Bunratty so don't have anything for that either. We didn't make it to Kinsale either so not much help there either. I can advise you that there is plenty of wonderful things to explore in the Kenmare/Kilkenny area, so maybe drop Kinsale and stay and extra day there? Happy travels!

You responded while I was typing up my response. A few more thoughts...

I think your reservations sound fair. Good call on the automatic. Roads are narrow and in some locations there are stone walls / cliffs right next to your car, literally inches. It's good to have the CDW just because it can get a little crazy. We drove Dunloe Gap in the evening and it was crazy. Also drove Priest's Leap which was awesome!! We stumbled across it and it was a lot of fun, though some don't care for it.

I'd say that two nights is ideal for each stop. If I were you, I really wouldn't change much, just drop Kinsale (add to Kenmare/Killarney) and stick with the rest of your itinerary. I think it's reasonable, personally, and allows you to see a lot. The Wild Atlantic Way is gorgeous. We stopped at a point on the ROK for views of the cliffs and sea and the Skellig islands. It was worth the small fee to go up there. Incredible views and definitely like nothing I've ever seen in the states.

Via Michelin is a fairly accurate way to measure time for driving. I'd recommend using both an atlas and a GPS. You can use the atlas to think for yourself but the GPS usually gets you where you need to go. Both are very helpful.

I can't tell you anything about Bantry. In regards to trunk space, we had a mid-size VW. Plenty of room for our luggage. We had a carry-on size piece and one larger piece (but not mega). We were fine. And we had room in the backseat. You should be fine. There's an easy to use laundrymat in Kenmare that we used to wash our clothes.

When are you going? We were there in end of April / May and some of the stops I needed both my windbreaker/rain jacket and my heavier jacket that I wear in winter. But I get cold easy. Some days we didn't even need a jacket, but in some places the winds howl and cut right through you.

Julie

Thanks so much for taking the time - a lot of time typing.

Yes I meant Dingel. My typing sort of sucks.

On the Skellig Ring, we are breaking it in half and staying in Portamagee for the night. We wanted to see the sky in the "only Gold level Dark sky zone in the Northern Hemisphere and are considering (weather and seas permitting) going out and walking the 500 steps to the top of Skellig Michael in the morning, then finishing the ring to Kenmare. But yes, the second half of the Ring may be rushed.

Kinsale came from somewhere in or around Rick Steve's guide/site. And it flows toward Cahir/Cashel in my semicircle. We are staying across the road from the Rock of Cahir. Funny you mentioned scaffolding. It is an important part of our travels, whether it be the four rivers fountain in Rome, the Washington Memorial in Washington, or the Arc de triomphe in France, it seems to follow us everywhere we go anywhere. It is sort of a family joke - we even take pictures of the scaffolding, because people would never believe how often we see it otherwise. But, as I have planned, our trip has got smaller and smaller in circumference. We initially were looking at Galway also.

I am going to rethink Kinsale. I would really like to stay 2 days as often as possible. Do you think 2 nights in Kenmare or one in Kenmare and one in Killarney, if we are headed to Cahir for a night next?

Again thanks so much for the help. I have always tried to supply maps and all my research to people that I know are going somewhere, but have never spent much time on forums. I am a bit (my kids would say completely) ano-retentive when it comes to planning and have maps of most of the cities we have visited with numbers inserted which reference grids with information on restaurants in most parts of town, just in care we end up there. Problem is they get dated. And I lean pretty heavy on Trip Advisor for ratings which is pretty fluid.

Sorry, missed a question. We are going April 14-24 Tuesday to Friday (Usable in country really 15-23). Just me and my wife this time. Son is 3rd year Medical Student - Daughter a Senior at Samford in Birmingham will both be in class. Usually do early to mid may trips, but can't miss her graduation.

You're very welcome. I've had quite a bit of help from people on forums so I like to share when I can. :)

HA! It's funny how that works! Don't visit the Trevi Fountain this year (or do?) since it sounds like it is under heavy restoration this year.

It's so hard to reign trips in. There is so much to see and it all looks so good! As Americans, it's hard to go see it all between the shorter vacation time frames and the distance. You won't regret not having a crazy fast pace though...going a little slower lets you really soak the flavor up. I remember stopping in a little pub on the Slea Head drive and hearing these old boys cussing in a mix of Gaelic and English while watching and gambling on horse races. I loved just sitting there and soaking that real Irish moment over a pint of Guinness. If you go too fast, you miss those moments.

The night sky thing sounds fantastic. So does seeing Skellig Michael. We didn't have time for it but I'd sure like to if we go back. I suppose if the weather isn't conducive to sailing you'll always have more time on the ROK. We saw another ring fort on the south end of the drive that was a bit off the beaten path but it was also an awesome stop. Very different from the one on the north end of the drive. This one was nestled in low mountains, had different landscape, and was very rural. It left me with a bit of an eerie feeling...kind of haunting would be a great way to describe it. If you end up with time that day, I'd recommend seeing it.

The drive between Kenmare and Killarney is deceiving. If I remember right, I think it takes about 45 minutes. It's short on the map but very slow going. But beautiful. Kenmare is more convenient as it's closer on the end of the ROK, and it's a cute town with a convenient laundromat. But...our favorite B&B of the entire trip was Friar's Glen in Killarney. It was a dream...beautiful, comfortable bed, a cup of tea by a peat fire, beautiful views of the mountains of the national park, delicious breakfast, and so on. I would stay there again in a heart beat if I had the chance.

That's a brilliant idea for the maps and restaurants. I've pinned something on pinterest showing a way of saving a google map with pre-marked pins. Haven't tried it yet though. I am the same...definitely the planner between myself and hubs and have a nice excel sheet of itinerary and pre-printed maps for each area. Hadn't thought about doing that for the restaurants though (just in case we find ourselves in the area, kind of thing, that's brilliant). I've also downloaded an app by Ulmon called CityMaps2Go, supposed to have an off-line map system, you just have to download it before you go. Need to look into that one too. I too find TripAdvisor pretty reliable.

After our discussion, I am leaning toward cutting Kinsale and adding a night in Killarney. rst will probably stay the same. We have done Europe a few times and we have already bought a European GPS. I also bought the Collins comprehensive Ireland Atlas in case our GPS goes "crazy susan" on us and we end up in a goat trail or like the Japanese man it tries to take me through the Bay.

I have already downloaded a few aps - the Geocities Burren one is very good.

On planning, my kids and wife have gotten pretty lazy. I started giving them required reading on planes and trains so they would know more about where we were going and appreciate the areas more. When they were younger, I even saved PDF menus on tablet for New York, etc. to make it easier to choose from a pair of reservations I made each night.

Again, thanks for the help, If I can ever help drop me an email. We haven't been everywhere, but we have covered quite a few places.

Mike

I've been considering purchasing a European GPS. You running a TomTom or Garmin or something else? It's always good to have back up. And sometimes, you just need at atlas to make your own way versus what the darn thing tells you to do.

I'll have to look for the Geocities Burren. I'd love to go back and explore that area more. I'd also like to get up into Connemara on our next trip. Who knows when it'll be (my list is endless), but it's on that back burner.

I need to start reading more of the history stuff myself to better appreciate it. We go to see the sights and enjoy the culture, but are both guilty of not doing enough historical research prior to going. I did a whirlwind backpack trip in college of Italy, Munich, Paris, London, and southern Ireland. DH and I honeymooned in Italy a few years ago and went to Ireland last spring. We are planning on a fall trip this year, and are very close to being set on Spain. Looking at Barcelona, Mallorca, and Andalusia. Have you ever been? If so, drop me a line (jules.knop@gmail.com). I don't need to hi-jack an Ireland thread with a Spain thread.

We always used Garmins, but I bought a Tom Tom because it had EU maps and free updates for only $115 or so on Amazon. I haven't even charged it yet, so no opinion yet. We use I phones more in the US than GPS though.

When I said we planned to do Galway, that included the Connemara over to kylemore Abby.

No we have done - Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Verona, and Cinque Terre in Italy, Paris twice, Dublin London twice, Edinburgh, The Bernese Oberland in Switzerland, Munich, Dubrovnik, and Prague. (two different 1 month trips with kids, and some with wife and a couple of weeks in Rome), also done 5 trips (mission to Ukraine) so got to spend a day or so in Kiev and day in Vienna on the way back. A lot of place in Ukraine that I could not name including Nipopetrosk and Vaporoski (spelling incorrect on both. Probably 10 to 15 trips to Guatemala, 6 or 7 to Honduras, couple to Venezuela before Chavez and once to Ghana Africa, but those were missions so sightseeing was not much on the docket. Also quite a few larger cities in US. Not so much compared to many people, but a lot of places for a southern boy that grew up the son of a construction welder.

Thanks again for all the help, I really appreciate it.

I would stay two nights in Kenmare instead of one in Portmagee and one in Kenmare. Also, two nights in Kinsale instead of one there and one in Cashel. You can get to Cashel pretty quickly on your way back up toward Shannon for your departure. Definitely set aside ample time for the Cliffs of Moher. There is plenty of scenic driving in County Clare. We had a very memorable late lunch at Dromoland Castle, which has been converted into a fancy hotel. Bunratty Castle is also worth a visit. Someone mentioned Ross Castle, and that looks pretty cool. Not sure how I missed that up until now, because I love castles. Ireland might be the next trip for my wife and me, after thirteen years. I too am struggling with how to make the most of limited time!

Sorry for the late response -- been a busy week! I've heard that about the free updates and maps for the Tom Tom. If you get a chance, let me know what you think.

You have covered so much! So exciting! We plan to go back to Italy for our 5 year anniversary and see more of the Tuscany region. I've been to Paris but DH has not. I've also got a beginning plan for a France trip but don't know when we'll make it. Also would love to go to Scotland and Switzerland. And so many other places. We're excited to keep traveling. If you get a chance, drop a line after your Ireland trip and let me know how it goes! :) Happy travels!

Noticed you said you have rented an automatic car with insurance for "north of $500.00". Double check this fee as I would very much doubt for the time you are there you are only paying this with insurance. You really need the CDW for Ireland and our credit cards almost always do not cover Ireland and if they do, the rental agency can put a large hold on your card until you return the car. just something you need to check on before you go.

Gail, I looked back through my paperwork and we paid 404 euros for our automatic rental and CDW. We pre-booked everything with Avis via internet. We ended up grabbing a GPS at the station and that cost us a little more, but totally worth it.

Here's the agreement, am I missing something? Rental as above through Avis.

I purchased the Damage Excess Refund, and Insurance ( - Collision Damage Waiver - Theft Protection - 3rd Party Liability ) is included - see below. I plan to call Avis (our company contract) before I leave to see what the exception coverage is going to cost me. Car DER and CDW, etc. is only about $400.

Damage Excess Refund is included with this booking.

This means that:

• If your vehicle is damaged during your rental and your supplier charges you from your excess for that damage we will refund you.
• Damage to bodywork and vehicle parts incurred during most driving incidents is covered.
• You may still be required to leave a deposit on your card when you collect your vehicle for your excess.
At most destinations there are exclusions to your Collision Damage Waiver (CDW - a kind of cover). Items such as windows and glass, tyres, undercarriage, replacement locks, replacement keys and towing charges are often not covered by the CDW and are not subject to an excess, so they are not covered by your Damage Excess Refund.
You may be offered alternative products which provide you the same cover as Damage Excess Refund or which offer additional cover for these uninsured items. Sometimes you will be offered the opportunity to remove your excess completely for an additional charge.

Package Pricing Includes
Unlimited Kilometers , Insurance ( - Collision Damage Waiver - Theft Protection - 3rd Party Liability ) , Vehicle Registration Fee**

I think you've covered everything with the car hire. We also opted for the liability coverage and the damage excess refund. It's still a good idea to check with them to make sure everything is in order. You shouldn't have any surprises at the counter since you've got everything lined up. I'd follow up again within a week or so of your trip. Never hurts to re-confirm reservations of any kind, IMO.

Thanks for everyone's help.

volrx and Julie, I would suggest editing your posts and removing your email addresses, Forum members can Private Message each other and perhaps avoid some spam.

As for the topic, I personally would look for ways to compact it a bit and have more nights in each place, just my two cents.