Jumpstart to itinerary

3-4 weeks in September sounds wonderful. We'll be there for 3 weeks next month. Driving, and parking in big cities will be a challenge, but gives you more freedom. We usually take trains in Europe, but in Ireland we've taken buses.

Dublin is more expensive for hotels, but has a lot of nice things to see. You'll have no shortage of ideas there. Dublin has the Guinness Brewery, and the Guinness Storehouse where you can take a tour, sample, and learn about them. I'll be doing that next month. You do need to make a reservation for it. Location is close to central Dublin, easier to take busses around Dublin than to drive and park. There are also distillery tours, but I don't know much there (although my favorite is Tullamore D.E.W.). A nice pub is Devitts Pub on Camden Street. My great-grandfather was a Devitt, so I have to go there each trip.

Dingle is definitely our favorite town, lots to see around there. We watched a Hurling match in Murphy's Pub (my favorite beer there). Good craic.

We liked Killarney, took a 3 hour bus ride from Dublin airport to get there. Stayed at the McSweeney Arms Hotel. Next day we took a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry from there, a very enjoyable day (Paddywagon Tours).

Haven't been to Belfast yet, but if it interests you, there is a big museum about the Titanic there.

Oh yeah, the Irish folk music (called "Trad"). There will be a lot of that in some pubs. In Dublin, everyone will mention Temple Bar, but I've read it's jammed full of tourists, and The Brazen Head is much better.

You'll find so much to see and do, it's a beautiful country with very friendly people. It will be a great trip!

(edit... replaced Ennis w/ Killarney... oops)

While 3-4 weeks sounds like a lot of time I think you would feel rushed if you tried to cover Dublin, Dingle, and Northern Ireland in one fell swoop. Once you get off the divided highways you will rarely go the posted speed limit. Even some of the national roads are only one lane in each direction. The small roads are 1-1/2 lanes with pullouts for oncoming traffic. I would choose either the west and south of the Republic of Ireland or the west and north of the Republic plus Northern Ireland. I wouldn't try to do both. I personally dislike Dingle town. I was first there 40 years ago when it was a true fishing village. It's now a tourist attraction with an all pervading odor of fried fish. I actually like the Kerry Peninsula better. Don't try to rent a car in the Republic and return it to Northern Ireland. You're returning the car to a different country. You will need a ETA to enter Northern Ireland. https://www.gov.uk/eta

We spent 4 weeks in Ireland and Northern Ireland in 2019. Here's a link to my trip report to give you an idea for a 28 day itinerary and what we saw. Some of the data is obsolete and some of the places we stayed are sadly out of business.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/may-in-ireland

Re Dingle - I was there in April two years ago. I abhor the smell of fish. It did not smell like fish for the two days I spent there. I'm wondering if it was the time of year. Perhaps some months are smellier than others. Dingle is not my favorite place but I hope to return there.

Wicklow mountains - my favorite place for the scenery.

Re Dublin - I spent a day in Dublin and really liked it. I'm not a city person, but Dublin was okay. But only spent a day there.

Killarney - Killarney was a fun place. Yes, it's touristy, but I was a tourist! Lots to see and do and I didn't see it all.

Wherever you decide to go in Ireland you'll find the countryside beautiful.

Happy Travels!

About your rental car: having a car will permit maximum flexibiity when touring the countryside and the more rural areas but it will be a royal PIA in the city - especially in Dublin and Belfast where traffic and parking can both be problemmatic. Better to rely on public transportation, taxis, or your legs to get around there I think.
Remember too that collecting a car in Dublin and returning to Belfast (or the reverse) will entail a one-way international drop charge that can amount to a couple of hundred Euros.
Renting at Dublin airport is our preference - a wider selection of vehicles plus a better chance of getting an automatic - the default rental will be a manual so be careful there when booking.
Many here (ourselves included) like AutoEurope for car rentals in Ireland. I particularly like their zero deductible option for the peace of mind involved. Do shop around though, especially if you have memberships at places like Costco, USAA, etc. - could happen upon some good deals there. There are a couple of newer rental car companies that have emerged in the last few years, including NewWay and My Irish Cousin which would be worth a look. Do be careful to include the insurance cover in your calculations - it's the long pole in the tent for rental car costs in Ireland whether you opt for cover from the individual company or you rely on coverage provided by some of the premium credit cards.

Three weeks is great. I've been to Ireland 5 times and have never stayed that long. Four is better, of course. Here is Rick's suggested itinerary for 2 weeks by car:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/ireland/itinerary
It's a clockwise loop. Lots of folks do the loop in the other direction. With your additional time, I would definitely add Donegal (the county, not necessarily the town). Killybegs is a good place to stay in Donegal.
Keep in mind that with a car, you can stay anywhere that suits your needs and budget. Google Maps is good for finding places along a route, of course, but I like to set the map wide on AirBnB or whatever booking site you like and see what I find.

There is so much choice - Get a good guide book - DK eyewitness Ireland is a good one as it has a lot of wonderful pictures and decent descriptions. It also covers places that don't feature on the other guide books. It has decent maps for initial planning and also has suggestioins for itineraries.

Identify areas that really appeal to you and base your itinerary around them. Plan on 3-4 nights in a plave to explore in a bit more depth. Don't foiget to allow time at the start of the itinerary to recover from jet lag.

Don't try and be too ambitious and cram everything in. Distancces may not seem big compared to US but will take a lot longer to cover the ground that you might expect. Ireland packs a punch in a small area and is the kind of place to slow down and savour. You will find plenty of scenery and quaint villages.

I do have the Eyewitness Travel book for Ireland. Will watch the RS Ireland tv shows on my upcoming plane ride, though they all seem to be 20 years old!

Oops, didn't think about Northern Island being a different country. I don't think it would be tragic to drop Belfast. I think we would like to see Derry and Antrim coast area, however. I'm assuming we could drive through Northern Island and then return the car when we get to Dublin? Thanks for the reminder on the ETA. We are familiar since we went to England last year.

Thanks for the tips on car rental. We do use Autoeurope a lot, though when we can find a reputable local company, we like to use that. Unlike AMEX, Chase does have car rental insurance for Ireland. Absolutely, an automatic! In the last couple years, we have been to England, Australia and New Zealand so we've had lots of practice with driving on the "wrong" side of the street. My husband always drives, I always plan the itinerary and navigate. I will watch for an extra charge for driving into Northern Ireland.

Killybegs does look like a lovely town.

Nice trip report, Katheryne. Thank you. Love your comment about food. We are foodies, but don't think of Ireland as a "culinary destination". Sheep paths ;) Google maps has led us astry a few times--private driveways in France, and one bike trail! In Luxembourg, a horse path! A gal on a horse gave us a friendly wave.

With that amount of time, you could look at doing some (if not all!) of the Wild Atlantic Way: https://www.ireland.com/en-gb/destinations/experiences/wild-atlantic-way/

That only covers the Republic, however. You could do part of it and then the Antrim coast.

Regarding Northern Ireland, it's part of the UK, so you need an ETA to enter. It's pretty easy to apply for it online. Be sure you use the official website, it cost approx. $22. Don't use a reseller who will tack on more expense, and not always work.

When I map out an Ireland itinerary, I always have trad music sessions on my mind. Once I have the stops defined, I test the entire itinerary by sliding the flight departure over a week and sometimes juggling stops to maximize sessions. I also test running the itinerary in reverse for all seven days. Many places have music on specific days of the week. For example, our next Ireland trip is 21 days and we're stopping in Belfast and 10 places we've never been and are expecting music on 16 nights (always sniffing around for unexpected ). It drops to 7 nights of music if we leave on the wrong day.

We're pretty picky about finding "sessions" rather than two guys with instruments doing all the popular drinking songs. Temple Bar is mostly the latter, although there are exceptions. I use thesession.org and Facebook pages. When I pick a town, I go to the web info for EVERY bar/pub in that town, then look for lodging within walking distance of the most promising place.

We're not visiting anywhere south of the midline, so I won't bother to share the plan.

We're taking a rental car into Belfast, as I've picked a hotel that has parking just off the freeway. It's cheaper to have the car for a few extra days days (with parking) than paying the international drop-off fee. We rented through Costco on our last trip (and used Costco's Visa for insurance coverage). $730 for a compact SUV for 21 days.

Hey Jules, will you be interested in Trad music? There is a lot of it in Dublin here and there, and in plenty of other cities and towns. There's a great thread here about it.

And some more info I've found on this great forum:

Great site to find where and when there are sessions is "The Session"

For Dublin, so many folks here mention Temple Bar, but I read it's jammed with tourists, and The Brazen Head is better. Also, Devitts Pub has trad music (my great-great-grandfather was a Devitt from the area, so I'm sure it's his pub, haha) Lots of others.

I bought my tickets! Incredible price. A couple questions for the start of the route. How easy is it to drive from Dublin airport to Kilkenny? (We arrive early morning, and will have the whole day to take a leisurely/safe drive, and we are used to driving on the "wrong" side) I'm seeing anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours mostly bypassing the busiest parts of Dublin. I'm seeing tolls. What are typical toll prices? I read that a detour to drive the coast by Wicklow could be interesting. It adds at least an hour, and does seem to go through busier parts of Dublin to get to the coast. We are going to drive most if not all the Wild Atlantic Way (thank you, Cat! ) Would bypassing into Wicklow add to what we are doing on the Wild Atlantic Way? Obviously, its a different view. Is it significantly different than the Wild Way coastline?

@Travelerguy, I had to look up Trad music. Irish Folk music? It looks/sounds like the music I associate with Irish pubs? We will want to hear some, but probably not the devotee you are! Thanks for the recommendation.

I thought the ETA lasted one year. When I looked up renewal, it appears to last 2 years. Hurrah, I'm good!

Congrats on the tix and the great price. Regarding tolls, the M50, the ring road around Dublin, is cashless automatic tolls. You will be on it when you exit the airport. Many if not all of the car rental agencies have toll transponders for automatic billing. Check with the rental agency to confirm. My memory is that there are some toll roads in the west with baskets for coins but that may no longer be the case. A drive through the Wicklow Mountains is picturesque and if you want, can bring you to Glendalough, an important monastic site, and Powerscourt, a beautiful garden and waterfall.

I was in Ireland last May. I didn’t drive, but my trip report might give you some ideas for what to see in the locations.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-ireland-may-2025-my-trip-report#top

Irish music comes in several flavors:

Pub music - many pubs have a pair or trio of paid performers (typically a guitar with concertina/accordian or second guitar) that plays the music people seem to crave. Galway Girl, Galway Shawl, ballads, pirate-ish sing-alongs. This is what's found in Temple Bar (the pub and the area).

Trad Sessions - these are seeming spontaneous collections of a dozen or more musicians (flutes, accordions, fiddles, whistles, drums, banjos etc.) that sit facing each other, typically in the corner of the bar, playing jigs,reels etc. They are usually being paid in beer by the pub although there is often a leader who sometimes get's paid a small amount to gather his/her friends. In places like Cork, where the town council subsidizes music, the entire group gets a stipend of varying amounts. Twenty years ago it was just farmers having a beer that brought their instruments. Now it's a little more "professional". Sessions often take breaks for an aCapela singer for ballads/love songs. The music will halt while the players refill their drinks, chit chat among themselves (and audience). Seems very casual. Many bars have a "trad session night" on one day a week all year, although that can increase in the summer months.

There are also famous groups (Chieftens, Corries, etc.) that have lots of players that are more along the "concert" line, and they will bridge the gap between the former and latter. Then there are major festivals - this year a festival in Wexford drew 900K people !

There are lots of hybrids. The Pogues merged rock & trad. You can sometimes have step dancers join the fun. There are also buskers in the larger towns.

We happen to prefer sessions, but that's just us. Pub music will keep us tapping our feet if that's all we can find.

Thank you for the Irish museum explanation! We are looking forward to the music. We've seen the Chieftans a few times when they've come to Minnesota as well as some Irish step dancing.

I think what we will try to do, and it will be a couple weeks before I start working on an itinerary, is to start in Kilkenny (by way of Wicklow), then Kinsale, then follow the Wild Atlantic Way, then some time in Derry (1/2 day?) and Antrim (3 nights??) and end in Dublin. We may make a day trip to Howth.

There is a plethora of castles. Looking for help choosing a few.

Opinion on adding Aran Islands, sounds like Inishmore, would be the island to visit.