I am traveling to Ireland November 29-December 7th. We are renting a car and have all of our places already booked. We are staying 1st night Dublin, (arriving in am). We then head to Athlone 1 night, Galway 1 night, Ennis 1 night, Dingle Peninsula 1 night, Cork 1 night, then last night again Dublin. I would love suggestions for my Itinerary. We are planning Guinness tour, Trinity college, Kilmainham Gaol, temple bar and Brazen head for Dublin. Besides that Seans bar, Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry or Slea head drive (or both) Blarney castle. Its myself and my 3 daughters who are 20-27 years in age. We are adventurous and active. I would appreciate any ideas of what else to see and also help with what to see in each town I am slightly confused on where to visit in each stay.
Posted by
Chicago
703 posts
Dingle Peninsula: See the Gallarus Oratory, the Beehive Huts and spooky Minard Castle. Have some pints at the South Pole Inn in Annascaul. A good day walk can be had along the Dingle Way trail (https://www.dingleway.com/); I walked 100 miles of it once, but it's good for day walks.
Galway: Take a walking tour of the Claddagh. It'll be a stretch, given your tight schedule, but a visit to the Aran Islands via the Rossaveel harbor boat would be wonderful.
If you have the time and inclination, visit Glendalough (https://glendalough.ie/), an 1,200-year-old monastic settlement about 25 miles south of Dublin. It's situated in a glacial valley.
Ennis is probably the second-best medieval town in Ireland -- after only Kilkenny. Just wandering is fine.
Driving: You will be driving on the left side of the road. Be careful.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
3028 posts
Maybe consider swapping in the town of Cobh on the night you’ve planned to be in Cork. Cobh is a real charmer—a photogenic. seaside town with only 12K people. Cork is Ireland’s second largest city with a population of 220K. Cobh is only 14 miles from Cork, so it works well with your itinerary and you could still stop off in Cork if you wanted to, yet overnight in Cobh.
Have fun in Ireland!
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
998 posts
I doubt you'll have time to see all the things in Dublin.
In Athlone, there's a castle and the Clonmacnoise monastery nearby.
In Cork, Sin é is a good place for a pint and some music. https://corkheritagepubs.com/sin-e/
I disagree with the earlier comment to stay in Cobh. Especially in winter, there won't be much on in Cobh. Cork may be the second largest city in Ireland, but it's very small. The English Market is a great place to wander around, maybe have lunch, either at one of the stalls or in the gorgeous Farmgate Cafe upstairs.
Keep in mind that days are short in winter: sunrise is around 8:30, sunset around 4:30 at that time of year. You don't want to be driving in the dark. I would consider taking a late afternoon train to Athlone and the same thing the next day to Galway. Pick up the car in Galway, drop off in Cork and again take a late afternoon train to Dublin. And expect to be out the door early every day.
For "active" people, this trip involves a LOT of time in a car. In particular, the drive from Dingle to Cork via ROK is a very long day. I would have a backup plan in case the weather is such that you can't enjoy the ROK.
Posted by
TN, USA
2225 posts
Not too far from Galway is Ashford Castle (original home of the Guinness family. If your budget allows, it would be fabulous to stay there at least one night. But, regardless of whether you stay there or not, your crew might really enjoy the Hawk Walk experience thru the School of Falconry right there at Ashford. Intro about hawks, then demo, then each person walks thru an open but sort of wooded area launching and landing his/her own hawk. You could also have breakfast, lunch, or dinner at the castle. If you look for the town/village/whatever of Cong on a map, Ashford is right there...walking distance.
Enjoy your trip!!! And, yes, daylight will be short that time of year.