Let's Play "Rate My Planning Skills!"

Why not stay in Cashel ? Great pub grub there......Some of the best chowders and soups we had in Ireland. Plenty of places to stay. Portmagee to Cashel is a haul but doable. Cashel to Dublins not bad and you can wind through the Wicklow Mountains if you want. Hore Abbey is neat to see there too.

I like your itinerary overall. You'll have a great time. Google driving times assume a constant speed and no stops that just does not happen. To be safe unless traveling on an "M" road...a true highway.... I always ad half again to the times. Sometimes that is optimistic and sometimes you get lucky and you trim off a bit of time. Awesome that you are slowing down at Portmagee....So much to do in the area and its so beautiful. The Skellig Ring is so wonderful.

Good job just be prepared for more road time....... Sad to say. You'll have a GREAT trip though !!!!

I would skip Rock of Cashel as it is a underwhelming pile of ruble, instead I would stop at Kilkenny visit the castle and shops.

Totally disagree. Cashel is a ruin but it's history is so rich as the seat of High Kings, with a massacre on the grounds and Cormacs chapel along with beautiful crosses in the graveyard. It's a great two hour visit and a wonderful spot for photography. We found it haunting and very evocative for our imaginations. I suppose if you have no interest in Irish history or don't enjoy the excellently lead tour guides it might be uninspiring for some. But it's a great stop for most.

Kilkenny is nice as well though shopping you can do anywhere.......but Cashel is worth it if things like ringforts, castle ruins, deserted Abbeys, standing stones or the burial mound at Newgrange are of interest to you.

Is there a reason why you chose Portmagee as your stop over for 3 nights? It is very pretty but there isn't much around there.
Limerick is pretty underwhelming as well

I think if you were telling us what you want to do and see, it may be easier to comment or recommend places to stay along the way

Near Portmagee you have within 30 minutes for example....boat access to Skellig Michael, beautiful Valentia Island, the Cliffs of Kerry (far better then the tourist overrun Cliffs of Moher), two amazing ringforts at Cahersiveen, Castle and Abbey Ruins on beautiful Ballinskellig Beach, horseback riding on the beach or up into the MacGilkucuddy Reeks (mountains), being in an Irish speaking preserve, being in a UN dark sky preserve with insane night skies, great pubs and restaurants in Portmagee, Waterville, Cahersiveen, Caherdaniel etc. hiking options that would last a month and sea kayaking and bike rentals all over. That's just one wonderful part on the Skellig Ring/Ring of Kerry. Why drive all over Ireland when it's right there.

It's one of the best locations in Ireland. The town itself is limited in choices but the area.....my Lord you could spend a month there and not cover the things nearby.

So the reason I picked Portmagee is because if all the stuff that eyewoolknit said above. I am concerned because we do like food and the town seems limited.

We are both big on hiking and experiencing the out doors. She is big on gardens. I'm a big history guy and am very interested in the historic sites. We both also enjoy good food but could care less about shopping.

I want to see Ireland but, I don't want to exhaust myself driving all over the place every day. Some driving is fine, but my plan to go to Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Killerny, Cork and back to Dublin in 9 days is too much.

Does that help, Sharon?

Two excellent restaurants/pubs in Portmagee......more just across the bridge on Valentia.....and many more nearby in Waterville, Ballinskellig and Cahersiveen and no tour buses on the Skellig Ring making hiking and bike riding far safer and fun. Portmagee itself IS limited. Draw a 30 minute driving circle around it and it's insanely rich as long as you don't want lots of shopping. If you do want the town with more stuff right in it that's near a lot of these things Waterville is wonderful as well.