Ireland in May 2024 for 6 days.

We took a Rick's tour of Ireland led by Stephen McPhilemy. Stephen still does RS tours but also has his own tour company.

https://www.essentialirelandtours.com/

I cannot recommend him enough. He'll make you laugh, sing, and cry. He knows his stuff cold too.

We took his tour of Northern Ireland this year in a group of 8. Perfect.

Give us a hint at what you favor - hikes, museums, ruined castles, posh castles, music, Neolithic ruins, art, scenery. Six days is not much time - six nights or just five? Longhaul flight? Rental van?

For only 6 days, I might stay in Dublin and take a few day trips. Dublin is expensive so alternatives are take a train to either Galway or Killarney and do day trips from there.

If there is any way you can do the tour company mentioned by David, the company's castle tour goes to the places I most enjoyed in Ireland. (We rented a car and did this independently). I know you wouldn't have any time in Dublin, but even the Book of Kells didn't really excite me that much. My favorite thing was the Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle.

I would either spend all the time in Dublin and use the various guided day trips to see sights, or split the time between Dublin and Galway. It’s fairly quick and easy to get to Galway by train, and then do a day trip or two. The problem with so few days, though, is you lose a sightseeing day when you change locations, which is why staying in Dublin makes sense. You can get day trips to Newgrange, Glendalough and a variety of other places, and Kilkenny is an easy day trip on the train. Staying in Dublin will simplify things, and if members of your group want to go to a different place, the they can choose a different day trip.

Depends on what you want to see and experience in Ireland--which regions, or do you want city or rural? With six days I would split my time between Dublin and some other regional hub--Galway, as has been mentioned, or Limerick, or Cork, to see another part of the country. Would you be open to the train, or do you want to just keep transportation to a minimum and use one urban center as a base? Do you want to get out into nature or visit villages? Coast or islands? You might have a group of 10 with varied interests and expectations.

In 2017 we had 6 nights - so we drove to Doolin for the first 3 and then returned to Dublin for the remainder. In Doolin we visited the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands and well as a few neighboring towns. Then we took a daylong roadtrip back to Dublin that included the Rock of Cashel, Waterford, and Kilkenny. Once in Dublin we stayed put enjoying its attractions. Have fun!

Thank you, all, for your interest and suggestions. I followed up on several recommendations of Essential Ireland Tours.

Stephen McPhilemy, the owner, has been a delight. We are booking their "Wild Atlantic Way" tour for May of next year.
Once again, thank you for telling us about his tours. We can't wait!

The primary problem you will face (same problem many people face) is that the "best" parts of Ireland are out in the middle of nowhere, far-flung, along small roads. So getting to those places and seeing the best stuff (everything along the Wild Atlantic Way) requires more than a little time in a car/bus/vehicle. Ireland is not a small place, and it takes longer to get around much of the country than many first-time visitors expect .

For some reason, many Americans glance at a map of Ireland and think, "it's Europe, so it's small, and because it's Europe, there will be great, fast, efficient trains to take me where I want to go." In fact, Ireland is not that small, and while yes, there are trains, they are not the sleek, efficient trains that most Americans picture when they think of Europe.

It takes time to get around Ireland, especially the most scenic parts in the west/southwest. You need to either be willing to spend that time getting around, or limit yourself to other parts of the country that can be more easily done as shorter excursions out from Dublin or other places easily reached.

Thanks, David. Wise words… please see my recent post above.