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Recommendations for 2 week driving tour of Ireland

I’m planning a 14 day trip around Ireland with four people. Everyone can walk a good amount but I’m not sure hiking will be in the cards for some of us. As a group I think we are more interested in food, drink, pubs, attractive towns, natural beauty, and historical sites. I have decided to leave Northern Ireland for another trip. Of note, I’ll be driving and have a good bit of experience driving in Scotland and New Zealand.

I looked at Rick’s recommendation for 14 days. I like the route but would prefer to slow down a bit and do a little less checking in and out of accommodations.

I’d like to visit dingle, Middleton in Cork, kilbeggan distilleries along the way as well.

As of now it would be his recommendation of Dublin->kilkenny->waterford->kinsale->kenmare->dingle-> Galway-> Dublin.

Rough sketch but it would be nice to keep one night stays to a minimum, although happy to have one or two short stays.

Any recommendations? Am I missing anything if I use Rick’s route? I could extend up to Belfast but wasn’t sure that was absolutely needed.

Two of us have been to Dublin before, and one has done some exploring around the country. We love Scotland, so am excited to experience Ireland.

Posted by
734 posts

One word of caution: tolerance for "drink driving" is extremely low, so if you are the only driver and want to swallow your tastes of whisky, then I recommend you stay within walking distance or plan to take a taxi (understanding that a town the size of Kilbeggan might not have its own taxi service, but maybe Athlone does? see below).
The first thing I would do is plot the distilleries (as well as your fellow travelers' "must see" sights and "must eat" restaurants) and look for nearby accommodation. For Midleton, you could stay in Cork (making sure your accommodation includes parking). There is a train to Midleton. Cork has a lot to see and do and also gives access to Blarney (which I resisted for a long time, but the castle was pretty cool--I didn't kiss the stone), Cobh, Kinsale.
For Kilbeggan, look at Athlone, which has a pub that is rumored to be the oldest in Ireland, a castle and Clonmacnoise. Athlone is also between Galway and Dublin.
This approach should organically create a sensible itinerary/route. Be sure to consider which direction works better for you. For instance, do you want to buy Kilbeggan whisky to enjoy during your trip or to bring home (or both). And remember that with a car, you can stay anywhere you can find accommodation with parking.
I stayed in Kenmare in 2018 and wouldn't go back for anything in the world. I found it overrun with Americans and Disney-esque. Others have commented that Killarney is far worse in this regard.

Posted by
7 posts

Great advice. Especially regarding Kenmare. With the distilleries I will take drivers drams if offered and not drink anything myself, unless I am not driving.