My husband, 24 yr old daughter and I will be in Ireland for 8 days in early August. We have been toIreland before so won't need to spend time in Dublin, Blarney, Giant's Causeway. We are flying in and out of Dublin. We would like to include Northern Ireland in our travels. We would like to include the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and some of the Game of Throne sites in our travels. We would also like to hike Slieve League, Ring of Kerry and revisit Killarney National Park. We will have a car. I would appreciate any help on this itinerary.
Posted by
London, UK
512 posts
Northern Ireland is so beautiful, well worth visiting. Apart from Derry and Belfast, both fascinating, there are lots of Game of Thrones tours of the north coast covering the various filming sites. You could base a tour on their itineraries and add to them, but you’d miss out on the stories that the tour guides tell, which I found really added to the fun of the tour.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
2669 posts
Have you seen the Game of Thrones Driving tour maps? Check out here and here. Use them to plan the first part of your trip...
Day 1 Land In Dublin and spend night there to recover from jet lag
Day 2 hire a car (check they are happy for you to take it into Northern Ireland) and head to Belfast for the night, visiting Tollymore Forest Park, Castle Ward and Inch Abbey in the way.
Day 3 From Belfast drive up the coast. Do the slow but very scenic detour round Murlough Head for Murlough Bay and Fair bay. Then head to Carrick a Rede, Ballintoy Harbour (detour for Dark Hedges is a must), Larrybane Quarry and the ruined Dunluce Castle. Plan on an overnight in the Pot Stewart/Portrush/colraine area.
Day4 into Donegal for Slieve League cliffs. Do consider a slight detour to Grianan of Aileach stone fort which is about 8 miles west of Derry. (Map here.) depending on what you are planning to do when you get to Slieve League, this may take most of the day, so plan for an overnight near here.
Day 5 drive to say Killarney - this will take all day and stay there for 2/3 nights.
Day 6 & 7 Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park
Day 8 Return to Dublin for flight home - OR if it is an early flight, book 2 nights in Killarney and head for Dublin on the afternoon of Day 7 and drop the car off at the airport. Stop the night in an airport hotel.
Posted by
Downingtown, USA
2640 posts
You will need pounds in northern Ireland and the new ETA which you can get on line in literally minutes. Be sure to see the Giants Causeway not too far from the bridge. To the causeway we walked down and took the shuttle bus back up to the visitor center. Well worth it.
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
996 posts
I think you're trying to do too much and should choose Northern Ireland or Killarney/Ring of Kerry. If it were me, I would choose NI, spending nights in Bushmills, Derry and Killybegs, divided up based on your interests. If you're worried about driving on the "wrong" side of the road immediately after an overseas flight, an option might be to take the bus to Belfast and stay one night there, picking up the car in the morning. As another poster said, make sure you're able to cross into the border with the car, regardless of where you rent it. Another option would be to get the car on arrival and just drive a short distance north, say to the Boyne Valley. I would not recommend going into Dublin at all on this trip.
Posted by
London
471 posts
I agree with others here who suggest just sticking to the north- meaning NI and Donegal in this case. There is so much to see in NI you can easily fill eight days. If you have time, I really recommend a visit to Rathlin Island which isn't that far from Carrick-a-Rede- really beautiful landscape and in August the seabird centre will be open.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks so much for the great suggestions! The sites you shared will be helpful as i finalize my plans!