I'm a solo non-driving 75 year old planning to visit Ireland for at least 3 weeks in Sept/Oct. I want to spend some days in Dublin and Belfast to see some highlights, but I'm keener on slow travel with longer stays in quaint places for walks and pub visits. Also I'd like to find a location as a base for day tours - would Galway work for the Cliffs and Aaran Islands. Alternatively i could book three + day tours for some sight-seeing. Any suggestions on an itinerary and cities/towns would be appreciated. TIA
Posted by
2035 posts
Galway is a good base for the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. For the Southwest of Ireland you might consider Killarney as a base. While not particularly quaint it would provide access to day tours, pubs and Killarney National Park - an excellent place for walking and hiking. Killarney is reachable via public transit.
Posted by
Chicago
4365 posts
I had a great solo, non-driving trip to Ireland last May. My trip report might give you some ideas:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-ireland-may-2025-my-trip-report
If your trip was next year, I would also suggest the new for 2027 My Way Tour. Mentioning it here for others who may be reading.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/ireland/my-way-ireland-vacation
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
1895 posts
Two popular day tour companies operating in Ireland are https://www.rabbies.com/en-us and https://www.paddywagontours.com.
Both have tours originating in Dublin and Killarney. Paddywagon also has tours originating in other cities.
Here is a map of the train routes in Ireland:
https://www.seat61.com/reference/Ireland-map.pdf?dl=0
You'll see that the lines fan out from Dublin.
To get between cities not connected by rail, you can use https://www.transportforireland.ie.
Posted by
10101 posts
We had a great group tour with Gate 1 Travel. It was 10 days only cost about $2000 pp and included most meals, hotels, tours and transport.
Loved the Western coast of Ireland: Connemara, Galway, The Cliffs of Moher and Ring of Kerry (Dingle Penn.).
Another great tour company is Rabbies. We did one of Devon and Cornwall and it was cheap, but fantastic. It had a smaller group.
Posted by
West Michigan
752 posts
We were in Killarney in 2022, took a Ring Of Kerry tour with Paddywagon tours. Very good tour, very scenic. It left from the tourist office in Killarney, short walk from town center.
Posted by
571 posts
Highly recommend Insihmore for anyone keen on slower pace. After having spent 2 nights I'm very glad we didn't "day trip" it. One of the highlights of our trip.
Brad