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Ireland itinerary---does this look ok?

Flying to Dublin March 27th from Michigan, landing March 28 - returning April 6th with 2 adults and 2 teenagers.. Flights are already booked. We want to spend at least 2 nights in each location and keep drive times between places down as much as possible. Here is a tentative plan...thoughts?

March 28 - land Dublin in AM. Sightsee and stay in Dublin

March 29 - Dublin

March 30 - pick up rental car in AM, head to and stay in Doolin with possible stops in Clonmacnoise, maybe Birr Castle I think this will be our longest day driving

March 31 - Stay in Doolin again. See Cliffs of Moher and Burren, Aillwee Cave

April 1 - Drive to and stay in Cobh with possible stops at Bunratty Castle, Blarney Castle, Cork itself on the way

April 2 - Stay in Cobh again. Take some time to just relax.

April 3 - Drive to and stay in Kilkenny with stops at Cahir and Rock of Cashel on way

April 4 - Enjoy Kilkenny for the day

April 5 - Head to Dublin...possible to Malahide/Howth before returning rental car in the evening. Stay near airport.

April 6 - early flight back home.

Posted by
359 posts

Looks good. Great you are taking your time and allowing for exploring calmly.

Personally I'd skip the Cobh, Cork, Bunratty and Blarney (I strongly share Rick Steve's eye-rolling UGGH on the Blarney Stone and spending even part of a day there). Would much rather explore Dingle and Slea Head ....maybe take a boat out to the Blaskets...........or visit the Kenmare - Sneem area and the south side of the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring.....So much to do and see from historical sights to insane scenery and wonderful small villages.............or explore Wicklow with the gorgeous mountains, Glendalough and its amazing monastic ruins and breathtakingly beautiful walks etc.

But other than that it looks great. Hard to go wrong, Ireland is awesome and you are taking the time to let it be magical. Have a great trip !

Posted by
166 posts

If you go to the Bunratty area I would recommend the Bunratty Medieval Banquet Dinner, we booked this ahead of time and it was a great evening in the castle with excellent music and food. I agree with skipping Blarney Castle, it's purely a tourist trap. This will probably get me roasted here but I would skip the Rock of Cashel, it is mostly piles of rumble, in fact other than the beautiful view over the surrounding countryside, I wished we had spent our time somewhere else.