Help with Rough Itinerary - July 2024

One problem with plan B is that driving from Dingle to Cliffs of Moher is going to be a round trip of at least 7 hours in the car....
Dingle isn't a good place for taking day trips from, apart from around the peninsula and Slea Head. Your day trip to one of the Aran Islands just isn't going to work from Dingle either.

Your itinerary does seem very unbalanced. 1 night in Dublin and 1 in Kilkenny is hardly giving you any time to see anything in either place. Don't inderestimate driving times in Ireland. Distances may not look far but will take a lot longer to cover than you might expect. Less is definitely more in Ireland.

I think you need to go back to the drawing board...

Thank you - that's exactly the kind of feedback I needed.

After four trips to Ireland, even with three weeks each, try to focus on a region. That way, your next trip (inevitable) can focus on another region, without driving over the same ground. We basically circumnavigated the island each trip, and finding new places involves a lot of repeats since they are scattered all over.

The length of stays depends more on whether you want to see what's in a city/town or what lies between towns. We almost exclusively spend one night in most towns because we like the Neolithic stuff, castle ruins, gardens, waterfalls, and hikes. We only spend time in the towns drinking Guinness and listening to music. We're not shoppers.

For example, two nights in Dingle gives you a full day to explore the peninsula and two evenings/earley mornings to explore town. You could find things to do on a second day, but maybe you spend a full second morning, then depart to somewhere like Ennis/Ennistymon/Doolin that's a shorter drive. You can get a boat in Doolin that includes the Cliffs and Inismor although the boat from Galway or Rossaveal is more weather tolerant though you miss the Cliifs.

My experience is wherever you go, Ireland is wonderful. You probably can't make a serious mistake except biting off longer drives.

Thanks - that is helpful!
Based on your feedback, i"m leaning toward
Dublin - 2 nights
Doolin area - 2 nights
Dingle Peninsula - 2 nights
Kilkenny - 1 night
back to Dublin for flight to London

Agree that a day trip to Aran Islands from Dingle is just not possible. Consider another night in Galway and a day trip to Inis Mor is possible. From Dingle, the Beara peninsula is possible, but as others have noted Dingle is not a good base for day trios, too long getting to/from anywhere but the Dingle peninsula. I’d decide what you want to see in that area, then pick the best base(s) for them.

Ennis might also be a good base for cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. And a caution on boat tours, the weather the past 2 weeks has been high winds and downpours, not the usual occasional light showers and gentle drizzle. We had originally booked a return from Inis Mor to Galway via the Cliffs of Moher but changed to the much shorter trip to Rossaveel and bus to Galway considering the high seas and low visibility.