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May 2024 Itinerary - Feedback Please

Posted by (Seattle) on

We are planning a two-week trip to Ireland in May 2024 (we will be using air miles so need to book early) and I would appreciate some thoughts/suggestions on the following itinerary:

Arrive Dublin early afternoon and train/bus to Galway or Westport?
Either 1 night in Westport then bus to Galway for 2 nights or 3 nights in Galway (Aran Is. boat tour, Galway weekend nights, local sightseeing)
Pick up a rental car and depart Galway for Doolin (Cliffs of Moher hike, etc.) to break up the drive to Dingle.

1 night Doolin (pubs) - depart Doolin in the morning and drive to Dingle (sightseeing along the way/Dingle Peninsula)

1 night Dingle - depart Dingle and explore on the way to Kenmare (Ring of Kerry, etc.)

1 night Kenmare - depart Kenmare and explore on the way to Kinsale

Either 2 nights in Kinsale or 1 Kinsale & 1 Cork? Should we spilt the nights? I hear good things about Cork market and food scene. We know it's a short drive, but we are nervous about driving on the left and want to enjoy the pubs in these towns.

Drop car in Cork (Friday morning/afternoon) and train to Dublin (weekend fun)

3 nights Dublin then train to Belfast for 2 or 3 nights and depart from Belfast.

Posted by
2280 posts

I try and avoid one night stands as they can be hard work... I much prefer to use one base if possible. I'd plan 3 nights in Galway rather than I night Westport and 2 nights Galway. You can easily visit Westport during a day's sightseeing around County Galway (Galway, Ballinrobe, Westport, Leenaun, Clifden, Galway).

Doolin to Dingle is going to take about 4 hours to drive, which may not give a lot of time to see Dingle Peninsula. Similarly driving the Ring of Kerry between Dingle and Kenmare is again a lot of driving. I think you are short changing both these days compared with Galway to Doolin for Cliffs of Moher. I can understand why you want to break up the drive to Dingle from Galway (it is a long way) but think you need to head further south then Doolin (unless there is some compelling reason you want to stop in Doolin?) Using the Killimer to Tarbert Ferry would cut down on driving distances and takjes you through some lovely scenery. Think about an overnight in Tralee.

To cut down on one nighters, use this as your base for two nights. Explore Dingle and the penisnsula the first day and return to Tralee. Tralee is also better than Dingle as a start point for the Ring of Kerry and makes it a much more achievable drive.

Again I would base in Kinsale for 3 nights. If you want to visit Cork, then use the bus. The 226 is an hourly service taking around 50 minutes.

Posted by
59 posts

remember when you go to Belfast youre entering Northern Ireland and hence the United Kingdom
so you will need UK Pounds for Belfast

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