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Ireland - Another Itinerary Question....

Posted by (Columbus, Ohio, United States) on

Hello,

I'm trying to surprise my husband with a trip to Ireland this coming May/June. Just a bit about us: We are in our mid-30s and have only been to Europe once before (3 wonderful weeks in Italy), but have traveled throughout the United States. I love historical sites (I'm a social studies teacher), but we are not big museum people. My husband is an avid photographer, so what we really enjoy on trips is getting to view stunning scenery - which I'm sure we will have no trouble finding throughout Ireland. We also enjoy having a few drinks in the evening and getting to know the local people of an area.

Unfortunately, we will not have as much time for this trip as our previous experience in Europe, so it is probably a bit more rushed than what we would prefer. We will arrive in Dublin on the morning of Saturday, May 28th and depart from Shannon on either Monday, June 6th or Tuesday June 8th, so we will only have 9-10 nights.

This is my plan so far if we only have the 9 nights:
2 nights Dublin
1 night Kilkenny
2 nights Kenmare
3 nights Dingle
1 night Doolin

After Dingle I would like to visit the Cliffs of Moher. I haven't booked our flights yet, but the ones I'm looking at departs Shannon around 10:50 AM. If we stayed in Doolin the night before our flight, would we be able to leave in the early morning and get to the airport without feeling too rushed?

If I can figure out a way to extend our trip to 10 nights, where would you recommend adding the extra night to our itinerary?

Thank you so much for your help!

Jenn

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Posted by
9371 posts

You would be better off staying near Shannon that last night, particularly if you will have a rental car that will need to be turned in. Doolin is over an hour from the airport, and you will need to be there at least two hours before your flight (plus time to turn in your car and take the shuttle to the airport). There are numerous nice B&Bs in the Bunratty area, just six miles from the airport, right behind Bunratty castle. If it were me, I would panic trying to come from Doolin. I would shift one of your Dingle nights to Doolin if you want, then spend the last night at Shannon/Bunratty.

Posted by
191 posts

Dingle is my favorite place, but you could trim your nights in Dingle to 2 and that would give you more time to explore some additional places :-)

Posted by
2980 posts

Recommend keeping your travel day as stress free as possible by staying near Shannon airport, sleeping in a bit, and returning the car at your leisure.
An extra day or two in Ireland is always a good idea - could use the extra time to spend a day or two in Doolin and explore other attractions in the area...like maybe the ferry out to the Aran islands. Inishmore, and especially Dun Aengus, would be a photographer's delight on a sunny day.

Posted by
9371 posts

That's IF you get a sunny day, and if the water isn't rough enough to cancel ferries out or back.

Posted by
26 posts

Thank you so much for the feedback. I agree that it would probably be best to stay closer to the airport on our day of departure to avoid any stress. I will try to add the extra day so that we can keep the planned itinerary above and spend the last night near Shannon.

Thanks!

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