Need advice for 2 days in Ireland

I've not been to Ireland and have not researched anything about it.

But here is a recent trip report from a poster who did several day trips based in Dublin. I know it's not really answering your questions, but it might give you some ideas.

If you’re flying out of US on Thursday then you arrive in Dublin on Friday. If you need to travel to Glasgow on Sunday then you really only have one full day. Sure it’s doable but it depends on how much energy you have after an international flight and if you enjoy racing from one spot to the next. There’s lots of neat things to see in Scotland, too. I would recommend you spend your full 9 days there but that’s just my opinion.

I don't quite understand what you are proposing. Do you want to fly from Dublin to Shannon? If so, you can't. In another recent thread the fact that there are no flights between Dublin and Shannon is discussed. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/ireland/shannon-to-dublin-0c3266a3-fd3d-4e23-9d3b-62da7266a55c

If the Cliffs of Moher are a priority and you are arriving in Dublin I would take the bus to Galway upon arrival at the Dublin airport. The bus picks you up outside the terminal. You can spend your arrival day in Galway and take the tour to the Cliffs on your one full day. Then either take the bus back to Dublin airport to catch your flight to Glasgow or the train to Dublin City Center. Here's the CityLink website: https://www.citylink.ie/

Flying into Shannon (from the US) definitely makes sense if your priority is to see the Cliffs of Moher. I would compare the cost and time difference between flying from Shannon to Edinburgh and taking a bus or train to Glasgow (unless there is a direct flight to Glasgow, which my quick check says there isn't) vs taking the train to DUB and flying direct to Glasgow from there.

Are you arriving from the States off a Transatlantic flight? If so allow an easy first day to allow for jet lag. day

The day trip from Dublin to Cliffs of Moher is a killer - don’t do it!

Instead thin k about a day trip to Powerscourt Gardens and the early Christian Monastic site of Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains. Several companies do them

Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions.

We have decided to drop Cliffs of Moher.

We will be arriving in Dublin on a transatlantic flight around 7 a.m. on a Friday. We'll spend a relaxed day in the city to adjust to the time difference. On Saturday, we plan to visit Glendalough and Wicklow ( any recommendations for tour companies or packages?). We were originally interested in visiting Newgrange and Knowth, but unfortunately, Mary’s tour is fully booked for our date. We plan to fly to Glasgow the following morning.

PS: Re: our Glendalough and Wicklow tour on Saturday, we found these two options:

With Powerscourt Waterfall / With Powerscourt Garden

Or should we just do a half-day trip of Glendaough/Wicklow to keep things light: Half day tour

Thank you again for helping us decide!

The Powerscourt options are booked either through Viator or Trip Advisor who are third party sites . I'd avoid them on principle! Powerscourt recommend Hilltop Treks - see information about their day trip here.

Paddywagon get consistently good reviews on here.

Thanks, I did not think about that. I will buy directly.

Hi all,

I am back with one more question.

If our departure from Dublin (to Glasgow) is at 10.20 am on a weekend, when should we leave our hotel near Dublin castle? We plan to go by taxi/uber.

Thanks!

It's roughly a 30-40 minute drive from Central Dublin to the airport. Your flight from Dublin to Glasgow is effectively "domestic". So leaving your hotel hotel at 7.45 should be enough time. Given that it is a weekend morning you may want to ask the hotel to call a taxi for you while you are having breakfast.

Edit to add: Uber as a ride share program does not exist in Dublin. The app will work but it will simply call a taxi for you at a premium price.

Thank you for the helpful information.

We will call a taxi with the help of the front desk then.