Looking for advice or improvements to this general itinerary. 10 days in early October. Just the two of us this trip. Took the kids 4 years ago and did 2 nights each Dublin, Kilkenny,, Dingle Lisconnor.
Day 1 Arrive via Dublin airport, car rental and drive to Cobb sleeping in Kinsale.
Day 2 spend day exploring Kinsale possibly visiting Cork. Sleep in Kinsale
Day 3 depart for Killarney visit national park and drive to Dingle. Sleep in Dingle
Day 4 Dingle
Day 5 depart for Doolin ferry to an Aran island sleep in Doolin
Day 6 depart for Galway sleep in Galway
Day 7 depart for Clifden to see Connemara National Park Visit sleep in Clifden
Day 8 exploring Connemara sleep in Clifden
Day 9 Drive back to Dublin, return car take taxi to Dublin for last day/evening, hotel in Dublin
Day 10 check out of hotel to airport for afternoon flight home
Looking for suggestions not so much of activities and sights we have ideas and our own list of options. Looking to see if these bases to sleep are reasonable. My travel partner loves to drive and did all the driving last time. Never have been to Doolin or Connemara and our last trip to Galway was only a few hours and we didn’t give it a fair exploration. Thank you!!!
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
2058 posts
Are you able to fly into Shannon instead of Dublin? It's a lot more convenient for this itinerary. I understand your partner loves to drive, but a lot of this driving wouldn't be necessary, and you'd have more time to see the sights.
I'd recommend skipping Dublin entirely on this trip. Since your flight isn't until the afternoon, you could add one more stop on the way back from Clifden: maybe Athlone? Or somewhere in the Boyne Valley?
P.S. It's Cobh, pronounced "Cove."
Posted by
2076 posts
Are you arriving in Dublin from North America (your screen name suggests Oregon)? Although your partner likes to drive it's a 3.5 hour drive to Kinsale after an overnight flight. The M50 in the morning can be a mess and the drive down into Kinsale can be tricky. What if you took the bus to Cork from the airport? It picks you up outside the terminal and you could then spend your first day and night in Cork, rent a car from there the next morning then drive to Cobh and Kinsale and on with your itinerary.
Edit to add: Alternatively, reverse your itinerary. Galway is a shorter drive from the airport. Or like Cork, there's a bus that takes you there from the airport.
Posted by
Mountains of S. Oregon
1209 posts
You don't mention what you like - Neolithics, views, hikes, music, etc. - more info yields better advice.
Driving from GLA to Cobh and on to Kinsale is a lot of stuff for the day of arrival. There's lots of interesting museums/walks in Cobh. I've driven from GLA to Clonakilty, but it was the last time I'd do that, and I was young and stupid.
I suggest spending an overnight on Inishmore versus a day trip. October may bring dicey weather, but even a day trip is risky. The tourists are probably sparser in October, but the island "quiets down" after the last ferry leaves.
Since you've already been to Dingle, maybe you could cut that segment to give you a couple of nights elsewhere. We love Dingle, though Doolin is a good substitute.
Depending on how much hiking you want, Connemara may not require two days. We did two hikes (a medium and a short) and felt satisfied.
We've done five 3-weeks trips and have two more planned, and there's still places I wish we could add. You really can't go wrong.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
3104 posts
It's just as well your partner loves driving as that is a lot of driving - it is very much a whistle stop tour on some days
I'd also advice caution about collecting a car and driving to Kinsale via Cobh on the first day. Not only is their the issue of jet lag but have you worked out the timing logistics of what you want to do?
What time are you due to land at Dublin Airport and realisticallyt what time do you think you will be picking up your rental car to begin the drive?
You need to allow about three hours to drive to Cobh (more if trasffic is bad.) It's nearly an hour to drive to Kinsale from Cobh.
What are you expectations of Cobh as you may not have a lot of time to explore there. Similarly you wont't have chance to see much of Kinsale either., especially if you are planning to see something of Cork too on Day 2.
Again looking at Day 3 - the drive from Kinsale to Dingle is going to be at least three hours plus stops. What are your expectations of "visit to Killarney National Park"? .
Day 4 You need to allow 4 hours to drive from Dingle to Doolin and don't forget to add time to check in for the ferry to Aran. What time ferry were you planning on catching and how long is this actiually going to give you on the Aran islands?