Ireland itineary - feedback requested

With so few days, are you sure you want to include Northern Ireland? If NI is important to you, then eliminate some other segment of your Republic of Ireland route. Also, you're not allowing yourself any time to see Dublin.

The Rick Steves guide has sightseeing priorities (p. 10 in the 2016 edition) according to how many days you have. On pp. 8-9 there's a list and map for a 3-week driving trip that covers all the "key spots" of the entire island (both countries). You have less than half that amount of time, so you need to scale back, otherwise you'll just be madly rushing from one place to the next.

I think you are attempting too much for the number of days you have. You are spending virtually no time in Dublin (maybe you don't want to?), then you are essentially trying to drive a full circuit south, west then all the way up north. You won't have much time to actually stop and see anything. When you have such limited time you should probably cut out the north, then divide what's left in half, somehow, and stick to the half that most appeals to you. Kilkenny, in my opinion, is a more interesting town than Waterford to spend a night. If you cut out the two days in the north you could spend them in Dublin. Otherwise, I think you should consider either going west to Galway then Dingle, or head south through Kilkenny, Waterford, Kinsale. Cutting back the stops you make actually gives you more time to stop and enjoy yourself.

I used the 2017 Rick Steves book to sketch out my trip. Is Dublin worthwhile spending extra time there? What if I cut out the north island and went from Galaway to Belfast back to Dublin. I'm trying to maximize my time in country and see as many of the key spots with my limited time.

Thanks!

Dublin is certainly worth a couple of days. What you need to do is figure out what sights are of real interest to you, and plan your trip around getting to those places. What I do is plan for one major place before lunch, and one after lunch, and then see what else I can get to on the path to those. So, if your main interest is getting out to Inishmore then you should head for Galway. On the drive from Dublin to Galway you could make a stop at Clonmacnoise (for instance). If you really want to go south to Kinsale then you could stop at the Rock of Cashel on the way. One way to figure out a reasonable route is to look at the itineraries other companies do in a day or more and use that as your guide. If you really want to go north then you should probably cut out the furthest southern areas like Dingle and Kinsale. Here is another very useful site http://irelandyes.com/

I agree with the others, I think you are trying to cram too much in. Do you arrive in Dublin on a red eye early in the morning? And what time does your flight depart on the Sunday you leave?

Unless Northern Ireland is a priority, I would save it for another time. I would do two nights in Dublin, two nights in Waterford (actually, I would rather do the overnights in Kilkenny, but that's a matter of personal preference), then two nights in Dingle, and two nights in Galway. As long as your flight home isn't first thing in the morning, you'll have plenty of time to get from Galway to Dublin (one of the few great highways in Ireland). And then plan things to do along the way to break up the drives. From Dublin to Waterford/Kilkenny, stop in Glendalough. From Waterford/Kilkenny to Dingle, stop at the Rock of Cashel. From Dingle to Galway, stop at the Cliffs of Moher and drive through the Burren.

Basically, your current itinerary gives you one full day in Dublin at the start (and that's assuming you arrive early in the morning). Then you have a couple hours in Kilkenny before overnighting in Waterford (which is sort of out of the way). Then you drive all the way to Dingle (remember, it takes longer than Google Maps suggests). One full day in Dingle, then a driving day to Galway. Really no full time there since you are doing the day trip to the Aran Islands. And then your drive from Galway to Portrush is probably at least six hours with no stops. It's just too much in my opinion, you'll be spending the entire trip in your car.

A bit of advice I share with my friends going to Ireland - it's much less about crossing off places and events than it is about spending time in pubs, talking to locals, listening to music, etc. If you are just racing from one spot to another, I just think it makes for a hurried and stressful trip, and you'll miss out on so much that you'd get with a more relaxed pace.

Also - are your flights already booked? If not, you could try flying into Dublin and out of Shannon (or vice versa). Would save you a bit of time.

Thank-you for all great advice. Yes, flight are booked in/out of Dublin. I checked open jaw flights into Dublin and out of Shannon but the flights were a lot more expensive and added a bunch of travel time. Arrive at 5:00am, ready to tour Dublin for 12 hours😊, depart around 11:00am on outbound.

I agree, too much; cut out northern Ireland. Also, why go from waterford to kilkenny then back down to kinsale. Do kilkenny on way out of Dublin then just go south and around coast. You can easily do 3 days in Galway with aran islands, conomera route (RS booK) and the National Park not to mention half day at Cliffs of Moher. Then relax in Dublin again.