Help with Itinerary

Check out the RS Best of Ireland tour itinerary which includes most of your sites. We loved this tour, but if you prefer independent travel then you could base your schedule or the tour itinerary.

Unfortunately you don't have enough time to cover all the ground you propose - certainly not as an independent traveler. The RS Best of Ireland tour would appear to be ideal for you but it requires 14 days. The Heart of Ireland tour is doable (only 8 days) but it only covers the south and west of the island. You could conceivably book that and then find a day trip provider based in Dublin to take you up to the Giant's Causeway for a day - that would allow you to see most of your sites without needing to rent a car or trying to sort out public transportation to get around.

Too much for your time frame.

What you’ve posted denotes the reality you would be visiting 2 countries; Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Stick to the West Coast of Eire. Forget Dublin, Giants Causeway which is in NI.

Fly in and out of Shannon.

Ireland is about the people and the country’s beauty.

Make your 9 days about fully appreciating both.

However, if visiting Newgrange is a must then fly into Dublin, rent a car, drive there and then head West. Look for an overnight midway between Rock of Cashel and the West Coast.

How about flying open jaw between Dublin and Shannon (into one airport and out the other). Be sure to check the price of flights in both directions i.e., is it cheaper to fly into Dublin or Shannon, etc.
You can sign up for a tour of Brú na Bóinne in Dublin at the visitor center. I believe it’s a half day tour from Dublin. You’ll also need to add an additional night to your Dublin stay.
Giant’s Causeway and the Old Bushmills Distillery is in Northern Ireland (United Kingdom). Because of COVID it’s easier to maneuver within a country and not between two so you may want to exclude Northern Ireland for now and assume that you will return.
Both Skellig Michael and the Gap of Dunloe are located in County Kerry. The Dingle Peninsula lies north of County Kerry. The Cliffs of Moher are located 30-minutes from Shannon airport north of Dingle. You can stop at the Rock of Cashel when driving between Dublin and western Ireland. Following is an idea:
Day 1 - arrive in Dublin and sign up for a Brú na Bóinne tour for day two. Spend the remainder of the day exploring Dublin; sleep in Dublin.
Day 2 – day trip to Brú na Bóinne; sleep in Dublin.
Day 3 – rent a car and drive to Kilkenny (2h); sleep in Kilkenny.
Day 4 – day trip to Rock of Cashel (1h); sleep in Kilkenny.
Day 5 - drive to Killarney (3h 15m); sleep in Killarney.
Day 6 – day trip to the Gap of Dunloe (30-minutes); sleep in Killarney.
Day 5 – drive to Portmagee Port (1h 30m); sleep at Portmagee Port.
Day 6 – take a ferry to Skellig Michael; sleep at Portmagee Port.
Day 7 - drive to Dingle (1h 15m); sleep in Dingle.
Day 8 – drive the Dingle Peninsula (4h); sleep in Dingle.
Day 9 – drive to the Cliffs of Moher (3h 45); sleep in Ennis (1h).
Day 10 – drive to Shannon airport (30-minutes).

Hello from Wisconsin,
You have heard this enough times already. Too much in too little time.

I would recommend a tour of the north. Start with a day or two in Dublin to recover and to introduce yourself to a language that resembles ours.

On the way to getting there is the Boyne River Valley is great, Drogheda and Sir Oliver Plunkett's head, Carrick-a-rede Bridge is a half hour joy, the Giants causeway can be hours long if the trail is open, a distillery is good, Belfast is a city to visit, the Green Glens of Antrim are worth every up the valley and back down. You could tip over into County Donegal. And then head for Dublin for a couple days before heading back home.

I like to leave a lot of space in visits to Ireland. Time to make talk with the locals and time to drink a Guinness in each of a couple pubs in the village/city where I am spending the night. No drinking and driving.

Other than the BIG roads in Ireland, it takes a lot of time to get from one place to another. A lot of time. And That is why visiting the North and the SW, is not a good idea with 9 or 10 days. Ireland is bigger than you think and the roads are slower than you can imagine.

wayne iNWI

Thank you all for your informative, experienced advice. It is much appreciated, and is very helpful. Rather than an organized group tour, I prefer to do a self guided vacation. I will be renting a car. Thanks again, I will continue to follow this thread for further information. Best regards!

As others have already shared, you don't have time for all of that. Cut your list down by at least 50% (maybe more). Start by being honest with yourself about exactly how many FULL days you have in Ireland (not counting your arrival and departure days, no matter what time your flights are).

You need to pick a smaller geographic area to cover. Ireland may look small on a map, but it can take longer to get around than you expect, and there are other issues. Specifically, you don't say what time of year you are planning to go - that makes a big difference.

BTW, it's "Skellig Michael" not "Michael Skellig", and in season (summers only) you need to get lucky with the weather in order to go (boats don't launch when the conditions are rough, and they often are -- but you won't know one way or the other until the morning of the boat trip). Boat trips often (usually) sell out, so yo need to book well in advance if you want to give yourself the best shot at going (and be prepared to not go that day if it's too rough). You will need to plan your attempt to get out to Skelig Michael carefully.

Addendum. I will be traveling in early to Mid September. I am aware that “Skellig Michael” must be booked well in advance, and have contact information to do so. I plan to create my itinerary first, and then secondly, look at booking additional items. Thanks again for advise. Much appreciated!

Well, the good news is that by traveling in September you'll avoid the worst of the summer crowds and the weather should still be relatively good.
It's usually a lot cheaper to fly RT into Dublin versus trying to include Shannon, but it's worth checking to see if that would work from your particular departure city.
Most here agree that it's generally a bad idea to hit the road immediately upon arrival after the long overnight flight from the US, especially if you're not already experienced driving on the left. Add the fact that as a solo traveler you won't have a copilot to help with navigation duties and it becomes even more ill-advised. Better (I think) to take the bus or train to your first stop, rest one night, and then pick up your car the next day when you'll be more alert and generally more fit to drive. There's an express bus from Dublin airport that'll get you to Galway in a few hours for example. Likewise the train will take you to Cork or Killarney if you want to start there.
For the time you have available you have two choices I think: either head north into NI and do a loop drive to include the major sites there, continuing around to Donegal and down to Galway so as to explore some of Connemara, or alternatively to concentrate on the southwest, ie the area around Dingle and the Ring of Kerry. Most first times would opt for the latter option and since a visit to the Skelligs seems high on your list that's what I'd suggest. Know that there are two ways to do that: book a landing on the island with a local operator or take the daily excursion boats from the Skellig Visitor Center near Portmagee that circles the islands but doesn't physically land there. Both are subject to cancellation due to high sea states, but the landings are the ones most often affected.
Point being that it really needs to be one or the other but not both. Trying to "see everything" will be a recipe for disappointment as you'll be doing what is essentially a windshield tour of the highlights of Ireland and running yourself ragged in the process.

I decided to make it a personal challenge to create an itinerary which would include all of your desired destinations. However, I wouldn't do it. I would probably be vibrating with lack of sleep, over stimulation and complete exhaustion by day 3. I certainly wouldn't remember anything either.

Day 1: Arrive Dublin; bus to Belfast. Sleep Belfast.

Day 2: Rent a car or hire a driver for desired destinations in Northern Ireland. Sleep Belfast.

Day 3: Bus to Dublin airport, rent car at Dublin airport, drive to Ennis. Sleep Ennis.

Day 4: Cliffs of Moher on the way to Dingle. Sleep Dingle.

Day 5: Dingle peninsula, drive to Killarney. Sleep Killarney.

Day 6: Killarney National Park including the Gap of Dunloe. Sleep Killarney.

Day 7: Drive to Portmagee and go to Skellig Michael. Sleep Killarney.

Day 8, option 1: Drive to Rock of Cashel on way to Dublin and return car. Sleep Dublin.

Day 8, option 2: Drive to Rock of Cashel on way to Trim, sleep Trim.

Day 9, option 1: Take organized tour to Newgrange and Bru Na Boinne, sleep Dublin.

Day 9, option 2: Tour Bru Na Boinne on own, sleep Trim.

Day 10: Return home.

An additional word of caution. It is highly unlikely that you will be able to drive posted speed limits anywhere except on the M roads and most N roads. Therefore, it is recommended that you add 25-30% more time to whatever the driving apps are suggesting for how long a trip will take.

Thank you all very kindly for your help. I am taking in all of what you are suggesting and piecing our trip together accordingly. I will be renting a car, as previously stated. I will be traveling with 3 other girls, so I will have someone I can rely upon for navigation. I do agree with many of you that my initial “wish list” was simply too much for the time we have allotted. I think I just needed that reinforcement. So, I have revised my itinerary and have some questions about my revisions, and also some general advise. I am contemplating reserving a Hotel/ B and B for nights 1, 2, and night 9, but am considering arranging accommodations for the other nights when we arrive in town that day (no later than 4 pm). I am wondering if this is doable and/or advisable? My itinerary is as follows, please reply with your thoughts if this is too aggressive, and if I need to further edit this. Thanks in advance.

Day 1. Fly into Dublin early AM. Flight arrives at 5am. Pick up rental car. Go to breakfast. Drive to Bru’ Na Bo’inne (Newgrange) and possibly Trim Castle. Return to Dublin. Sleep in the Grafton Street area. Eat dinner/listen to music, early to bed.

Day 2. Drive through the Wicklow Mountains via Glendalough. Sleep and explore in Kilkenny.

Day 3. Rock of Cashel. Drive to Kinsale, sleep in Kinsale.

Day 4. Drive to Molls Gap/Gap of Dunloe. If time permits either see Muckoss Farm/House, or Kissane Sheep Farm. Sleep in Killarney.

Day 5. Drive to Portmagee and take Skellig Michael Island tour. Sleep in Dingle.

Day 6. Dingle Peninsula Drive. Sleep in Dingle.

Day 7. Dingle. Sleep in Dingle.

Day 8. Drive to Cliffs of Moher. Sleep in Galway.

Day 9. Return to Dublin, more city exploring, possibly Kilmainham Gaol, Temple Bar area. Sleep in Dublin

Day 10. Flight home.

Please give advice where you see it is needed. I could also sleep in Ennis on day 9, and Fly out of Shannon rather than Dublin on day 10.

Thoughts?

Thank you so much, I very much appreciate your advise!

Day 1– arrive

My initial reaction is you do not want to have a car in Dublin city center, especially any where near Grafton Street. Even if you find your way there, where will you park? How much will it cost? Spend the first night in Trim.

Agree that a car in Dublin is nothing but an expensive headache. Avoid if at all possible.

Flying in to Shannon and out of Dublin (or vice-versa) will "buy" you at least a day (think of it as a sneaky way to make your trip longer). Do it if you can, even if it costs a bit more (important axiom: time is usually our most scarce commodity....you can usually find more money, but it's harder to find more time).

Always avoid going someplace, then returning to the place you came from - that's just wasted time. If you must be someplace twice (eg Dublin, for your flights), try hard to do a "loop" that begins and ends there. Better if you can do a one-way from A to B, with all your stops along the way. If you must start and end in Dublin (and often one has to), don't spend time there at both ends of your trip.

Remember: you are going to be wiped out when your flight arrives in Dublin (or Shannon). Do not underestimate this. Not a good idea to arrive exhausted, jump in a car and drive (off especially in Ireland, where roads are often narrow and for many of us, it's "wrong side" driving). Instead, land in Dublin, press on immediately via bus or train to a destination far from Dublin (if you go "the other way round", Galway is a perfect first-night destination, but you can also head for other places). Wherever you end up your first night (without driving), crash and burn there, sleep and recover, then get up the next day and start your trip (pick up your car then). Save Dubin for the end of your trip (drop your car and be done with it).

It's natural to figure your early morning arrival in Ireland marks the beginning of your trip. Many folks do a lot better by 1) avoiding driving entirely on the arrival day, 2) take a bus/train and put the big city behind you, and 3) start your trip in a more forgiving location, after you've had a good night's sleep. You're (probably) going back to Dublin at the end of your trip anyway, do Dublin then.

BTW, I would not recommend sleeping in Killarney and expecting to drive to Portmagee the morning of your (hoped-for) trip out to Skellig Michael. They make the go/no-go decision in the morning, on short notice. Best is to stay in or close to Portmagee if you can. Makes logistics easier and if you're right there, you'll get a good idea what the weather is doing before you get the formal decision.

I am considering Reserving Hotels for the 1st and last night of my trip, and not reserving rooms for the other days. I’m looking for feedback on if that is advisable. Obviously the safest thing to do is reserve rooms, but if I’m not 100% certain of how my days will work, I’m thinking of “winging it” and reserving a room no later than 4Pm each day. Thoughts?

By mid September most of the crowds of summer will have departed, so winging it even in the more popular tourist areas should be fine.

Get the tickets for Kilmainham Gaol as soon as possible. They sell out.