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Is this Itinerary doable in 12 days?

Posted by on

We are flying in/out Shannon and not including Dublin this trip. We are more interested in the outdoors, the coast and the countryside, smaller villages, pubs, Irish culture and people. In addition, we are including Kilkenny and County Mayo (Village of Knock in particular) because my partner's last name is Kilkenny, but her family can be traced back to Knock. So, both places she wants to include, though they spread out trip out a bit.

So here it is:
Sunday - Arrive Shannon early am. Go to Cliffs of Moher (if up for it), or if not, just head towards Adare, where we are staying first night.

Monday-Rock of Cashel, Smithwick's in Kilkenny

Tuesday- Kilkenny Castle, St Canice's Cathedral

Wednesday- to Kenmare, exploring on the way or Beara Penninsula if time

Thursday-Ring of Kerry. Stay Kenmare again

Friday-Dingle Penninsula. Stay Dingle

Saturday - Dingle

Sunday-to County Clare, The Burren, Cliffs of Moher if not visited on day 1. Possible stay in Doolin

Monday-to Knock, County Mayo, possible stay in Westport

Tuesday-Connemara, possible stay Rossaveel

Wednesday-day trip to Aran Islands, possible stay Rossaveel

Thursday-day of wiggle room, in case we stay longer on previous day. Make our way to Shannon for last night

Friday-early am departure

Appreciate any suggestions!

Posted by
2839 posts

Quite doable I think. With your long driving days only about 3 hours in duration you'll have the latitude to meander a bit and still be at your destination in time for a pint.
If this is a "roots quest" of sorts for your partner I'd suggest a quick stop in Cobh, from where her Irish ancestors probably emigrated. Interesting Titanic exhibit there too, since Cobh (Queenstown as it was called then) was the last port of call for the great ship. Kinsale would be a good lunch stop - time permitting.
Minor tweaks:
If Knock is a highlight why not just stay there for the night, then drive the Connemara loop the next morning? Let it be known in the pub that you're a returning "expat" and you'll probably drink for free all night as the locals try to figure which of them might be related to you.
Also, there's much more to do in Galway than in Rossaveal and so that would be my suggestion as a base for a couple of nights. The ferry company runs a shuttle from the city out to the ferry terminal, fyi.
All in all a pretty compact itinerary. Plan for at least a day or two of rain, dress accordingly, and you'll be fine.
Safe travels.

Posted by
317 posts

Greetings from Ireland,

The itinerary looks great.

A few quick points:

  1. I would avoid Rossaveel as an overnight, I know you say you like rural, but that might be taking it to the extreme.
  2. I wouldnt bother driving the whole way south to Cobh, theres not an amazing amount of things to do and see there either, in my opinion, except for the emigration museum, and if your partners ancestors were from Knock they were equally, if not more likely, to have emigrated from Sligo or Derry and not made the long journey south to Cobh (Queenstown)
  3. Its a pity you're missing out on our capital city in this momentous anniversary year of 2016. Maybe next time

le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Rick Steves Ireland tour-guide
Dingle & Derry

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