Planning a road trip in Ireland this coming year, need advice :)

There are a number of specialty travel agents servicing that market--like Tripmasters.com. They have fly/drive packages and hundreds of places to stay. The trips .can be customized too.

Since you are visiting the west/southwest, have you considered flying into Shannon? Not sure where you are coming or connecting from, so that may or may not be a possibility. You could pick up your car at the Shannon airport and work your way back toward Dublin. It would save you from driving east to west when you first arrive.

Greetings! we were in Doolin, Dingle, Kenmare in late April early May. My favorite B&B for the trip was in Doolin,
http://www.dalys-doolin.com/, Susan was wonderful as is the B&B, also in the Doolin area we went to the Doolin music house one early evening and if you like traditional irish music it is a must see. https://www.doolinmusichouse.com/ if you play an instrument take it along, they encourage additional players, it was a blast. In Dingle we stayed at Brownes and really enjoyed it, close to town, we got the downstairs room and it was large, great meals at both spots. In Kenmare I have two recommendations, for B&B http://www.ashfieldkenmare.com/ and for an awesome private tour of the ring of Kerry or other local tours we really enjoyed Paul Brown http://www.kenmaretaxitours.com/home.html. I hope you are not moving too late to reserve these spots, they fill quickly. We enjoyed O'Connor's Pub for music and food in Doolin. For me it would have been difficult to do the Dingle/Slea Head tour and the Ring of Kerry and stay in Kenmare. We did the Dingle Pen. while staying in Dingle and Ring of Kerry (dont miss the Cliffs of Kerry) and Ring of Berea while staying in Kenmare...it is possible to do both from Kenmare but for me I would split it up...you will be rushed with all you have on your plate, you'll have a great time regardless, I guarantee!!!! We found trad music everywhere but for us Dingle was the most plentiful. We accidently arrived in Dingle the weekend of a music/arts festival, the last weekend in April. It turned out to be a great thing as there was extra music on all round and also art related stuff. You might consider that weekend, the crowd was not a problem and the additional music scheduled was awesome. Dave, Bedford, Indiana

Wonderful!

I see you haven't filled out your profile so we can't see what you like to do, your limits on walking/hiking/cycling, if you like history/photography with that rural scenery/play your own music or just want to hear it.... or other things that might help us suggest more! Let us know more so we can all help you, better!

I see you're planning quite a bit in the Southwest. That area is called the "Southern Peninsulas" on the Wild Atlantic Way maps/books. There is so much to do - I've lived in Waterville 4 years and still haven't seen it all! Maybe staying somewhere like Sneem or Glenbeigh or Portmagee could be a good base. I love my own village but it is at the end of the peninsula, so maybe not the best place to stay for a few nights if you intend to travel far like Beara or Dingle P. But if the Iveragh area, including Valentia Island, Ballinskelligs, etc, interests you, Waterville is certainly nice!

Do you prefer Guesthouse, B&B, Hotel or private room in a hostel? Do you know the differences to help make that choice! My husband likes B&B, I prefer hotel or guesthouses..... there's a difference! Are you interested in kayaking/swimming/beach exploration/seaweed walks? There's plenty of that on the Skellig Coast.....

Let me know a bit more specifics and I'll recommend some places to stay....

Susan
Expat living in Waterville, Ring of Kerry (Iveragh)
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Update to previous post:

Sooooo excited to be going to Ireland for 10 days in later June and I’m trying to at least get enough of a route planned that I can book lodging. I’ve wanted to see Ireland for years and am finally taking the (financial) plunge and bringing my sister with me!! :)
We have 10 days and are renting a car.
I’m wondering if these seem like a good batch of towns for home bases to explore from?
I’m thinking of Belfast 1 night, and then dividing up the rest between Galway, Doolin, Dingle, Beara Peninsula, with the last night back in Dublin.
Primary interests: traditional music (listening vs playing), local pubs, outdoor photography/scenery, hiking/biking, coastline (driving or exploring beaches/tide pools), horseback riding, off the beaten path finds. 🙂
Looking for affordable lodging options, pretty open as far as accommodations. Thanks soooo much in advance, Sláinte!

Susan, any clarification on the differences between the lodging options you mentioned would be much appreciated! :)

Hi.....if you wish to avoid the tourist crowds I would skip Galway. It's a beautiful city.....but it is a city and it is clogged with tourists. Not knocking it.......but it is hectic and a full blown city. Also.....Doolin. I love it, however if your main point in going there are the Cliffs of Moher.....they are beautiful but also a tour bus, hoards of tourist, souvenirs shop sight. Doolin does have some nice B&B's and excellent trad music......but many other spots have them that aren't quite so tourist filled.

The great thing about Dingle and especially the ROK and its insanely beautiful offshoot the Skellig Ring is that you can avoid the tourists pretty easily. The Skellig Ring has NO tour buses......and scenery, historic sights and ocean and mountain walks that are incredible......and peaceful. There is horseback riding available in many areas of the ROK. The one I'm familiar with is just outside of Kenmare that offers sea side riding and paths up into the mountains. Just an incredible experience. If you're interested I can check my travel log for the name....it's not coming to mind right now. There is Trad music all over and many many lodging options. Also just outside Portmagee are the Cliffs of Kerry which are NOT tourist overrun and in my view far better than the Cliffs of Moher. Better site.......less tourists.

As Rick S. advises avoid one night stays if at all possible....they drain time and are like non stop jet lag and rob wonderful exploration and interaction time. B&B 's offer great interaction with other guests (often a communal breakfast) and with the owners. It's a lot of fun. It is hard to feel fully "at home" relaxed though for me. Hotels research carefully. They can be awesome, historic with great amenities,great food and privacy, but some are no different than staying in a Holiday Inn in Des Moines Iowa. The spectrum is wide. It can be the best or soul sucking. Research carefully. Our favorite is to stay in one spot for at least 4 nights and use it as a base for exploration finally realizing racing all over seeing "must see sites" was about the worst way to travel. So we rent a house for the week.....and if we only use 4 nights it's still less expensive than a B&B or Hotel for the same 4 nights......plus you can get insane locations, room, privacy and a great sense of the area while freeing up LOADS of time. Just another alternative.

For what you describe as your interests and your general destination and time strongly recommend Dingle and the ROK. As Susan from Waterville (a GREAT town) says, you can be there years and not see it all.....and its right up all your "likes" alleys.

On your way back to Dublin the Wicklow Mountains and the monastic settlement at Glendalough are FANTASTIC. Well worth the time. Gorgeous, haunting and so much fun to explore. Oh....last thing avoid driving in Dublin.......seriously......the city itself is a great spot to visit but a driving hell. Park and ride.

Hope you have a GREAT trip !!!!

Wow! Thanks so much @ewewoolknit! That’s a ton of helpful information. I’m so torn about Galway because I feel like I should skip it, but have heard great things about the music/pub scene. I was also thinking of the Cliffs of Moher, but we could see them on our way along the coast without staying in Galway and/or investigate the Cliffs of Kerry which I hadn’t even heard of! (Good sign probably…lol).
I’d love the name of the horse riding place you mention if you come across it, I did find one in Dingle that sounds great, but more options are usually a good problem. 
I’ve been agonizing over the lodging issue. I totally get not wanting to uproot every day (that makes so much sense), but I also don’t know where to stay then with a plethora of areas we want to see ranging from Doolin down to the Beara Peninsula area….would we be better off staying somewhere like Killarney? I do want the experience of staying right in town somewhere like Dingle at least one or two nights. What site did you use for looking to rent a house?
Also, I had shelved the Wicklow Mountains out of fear of too much crammed in, but they looked great and with your recommendation maybe we should allot more time for that and skip Belfast on this trip….so many decisions!!
Lastly, when you say “park and ride” in Dublin, how does one do that? We’ll be renting our car from the airport in Dublin and returning it there so will have it the night we stay in Dublin….any advice on how to avoid as you recommend is appreciated!
Thanks again for taking the time to be so helpful!

Hi.....scattershooting here before heading to work. My wife is making fresh scones this morning so I want to get them warm !!! :) if I miss something wIll get it later.

Sight we use for looking at houses/cottages. Shamrock Cottages.

Dromquinna Stables near Kenmare. They were great !!! The scenery....wow.

Almost anywhere on the ROK is great EXCEPT Killarney which sadly is a tourist trap horror. Made Rick Steve's top ten tourist traps in Europe. There are great spots to visit right near Killarney but not the city itself. An excellent spot is Kenmare. Great town....plenty of pubs and music......great access to the ROK ...all of it......also access to the Beara Peninsula. It's also only about 2.5 hours from Dingle. Really any of those towns are great with loads of music options near......Kenmare, Sneem, Kilorglin, Castlemaine.

Dublin there are hop on hop off buses that you can use for a small fee. We park outside the city in a easy access lot....there are many of them and head in and around from there. Depends on the timing of things but you might drop your car back at the airport and then head into the city if you don't need it afterwards for more trips. You can get around Dublin fairly easily without. Driving there .....a nightmare.

Belfast is fascinating but a long haul and way out of the way from where you will be primarily. About 2-3 hour drive from Dublin ......and 8-10 hours from the west Dingle/Kenmare. That's driving time better spent in Wicklow/Glendalough or almost anywhere out west. Belfast well worth a visit but not on limited time. Just can't see everything without losing too much.

Cliffs of Kerry WAY better than Cliffs of Moher. Plus right next to Portmagee (access to Skellig Michael). Cliffs of Kerry are the wild, peaceful stunning cliffs people dream about. Cliffs of Moher are beautiful but tourist overrun.

More later.....scones calling !!