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Itinerary Advice

Posted by on

Hi there,
I am so excited to be planning a trip to Ireland in July. Unfortunately, I am on a tight time budget, which is sad, because the more I read through this forum and research Ireland, I realize I want to see EVERYTHING! However, that's obviously not possible, so I'll just have to know I'll need to come back!

We will be renting a car, and it looks like even travel days will have pretty drives, but I am concerned I am trying to fit too much in, and we'll be on the road too much. I don't want to try and see everything, not being able to stop and enjoy anything. We love to hike and be outdoors. Ideally, we would have flown into Shannon, but flights are purchased and we need to start in Dublin and end in Belfast. I've noted where we plan to stay the night in parentheses. Any advice would be appreciated.

We fly in the night before, so we'll have a full day on day 1.

Option 1:
Day 1 - Dublin (Dublin)
Day 2 - Dublin, travel to Kilkenny 1.5 hrs (Kilkenny)
Day 3 - Travel to Dingle, possibly stopping in Killarney (Dingle)
Day 4 - Dingle (Dingle)
Day 5 - Travel to Doolin (Doolin)
Day 6 - Travel to Belfast (Belfast)

Option 2:
Day 1 - Dublin (Dublin)
Day 2 - Dublin, travel to Kilkenny 1.5 hrs (Kilkenny)
Day 3 - Travel to Doolin (Doolin)
Day 4 - Galway area/Aran Islands - 1 hr from Doolin - (Doolin, possibly Galway)
Day 5 - Travel to N. Ireland/Belfast
Day 6 - Giants Causeway/coast (Belfast)

Thanks so much!

Posted by
317 posts

Greetings from Ireland!

The only potential negative that struck me in your first itinerary was that you might be the first visitor in history to go from Doolin to Belfast in one day, thats quite the epic drive. And of course you wouldnt see any of the North.

I got excited for you by your second itinerary, but then my heart sank a little for you when I read you'd miss Dingle. Its the highlight of Ireland for many people.

Im from the North and love it dearly, but I moved to Dingle to open and run a guest-house when not guiding for my good friend Rick because Dingle is quite simply - so wonderful.

In saying that, you've 6 days. Thats a short time, but its still a good opportunity to enjoy Ireland.

If I was designing your itinerary for you, I'd leave sacrifice Doolin and Inis Mor/Aran Islands. On a nice day they are an absolute Celtic paradise, on a rainy stormy day - the Aran Islands are known to many Irish professional tour-guides as 'Alcatraz'. Its a slight risk. Doily has good traditional music, but Dingle beats it ten times over, in my opinion.

Seeing as you've asked for advice, ill be so bold as to suggest you consider this.

Day 1: Dublin
Day 2: To Dingle via Cashel and Killarney (leave early, it'll be a long but adventurous day)
Day 3: Slea Head drive and explore Dingle
Day 4: Dingle to Galway via Adare (for coffee in a thatched cottage cafe) and the cliffs of Moher.
Day 5: To Belfast via Dublin (4 hour drive), explore the city and titanic quarter
Day: 6: Day trip to the Giants Causeway and North Coast and back to Belfast.

You could also drop Belfast on Day 5, see the Aran Islands, over night in Galway, and then over to Belfast the following day. You'd miss out on the magnificence of the Giants Causeway, Bushmills Distillery, the MacDonnell Fortress at Dunce Castle and the Rope Bridge, but hey - hopefully you'll come back sometime in future.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. I actually get paid (pinching myself) to go round and round and round Ireland every week seeing all these wonderful sights!

Le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Dingle & Derry
Rick Steves Ireland Tour-Guide

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