I'll be traveling to Ireland the end of September to the first week of October. We arrive in Dublin around 9:30 am, and we'll be starting off with 4 nights in Dublin (Th, F, Sa, Su) and will be devoting one day (Sunday) to take a tour up to Belfast, Giant's Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede bridge. We head from Dublin up to Redhills, County Cavan for three nights (M, T, W) and then down to Waterford for two nights (Th, F), then on to Castleisland, County Kerry for three nights (Sa, Su, M) before heading back to Dublin for one final night in the Clontarf Castle Hotel (Tuesday night). Our flight leaves midday on Wednesday.
We've been to Ireland once previously, have driven on the left before, and are aware that everything takes longer than we'd typically calculate based on mileage alone. We'd have found that we do tend to take less time to visit attractions than is recommended by most guidebooks (e.g. If a book says we should plan for 2 hrs at a location, we typically are done in about an hour to an hour and a half.) I'd like to have an itinerary that strikes a balance between too many things crammed in and not seeing much to maximize our time there without rushing too much that we don't enjoy it.
Does anyone have suggestions for places to see around and in between these areas we'll be visiting? We enjoy historic homes, gardens, animals, museums, boats, whiskey, and nature most of all. Generally skip churches, extreme physical exertion, and cemeteries.