Sep 2014 Trip to Ireland

I'm not familiar with the lodging vouchers. Even if they allow reservations up to a day ahead, they must cover limited locations which can sell out. Are they for large hotels? If you simply want to make reservations as you go, and pay as you go, you can choose from any B&B or other accommodation in town that has space. We would stay in Cobh, not Cork, for a better focus on that charming town.

We had just parts of 2 days, and 1 night, on Inishmore, and would've liked more time there. We didn't have a wedding to deal with too, but it's good you have a few days on the island. Our trip was overall just to the west of Ireland, and we were traveling by bike, so even though it's not an enormous country, we didn't manage the time to see any of Dublin or the south/southeast or north. Are you comitted to flying out of Shannon? Coming back from Newgrange by highway might not take that long, and depending on where you are on 22 Sept you could be working your way west anyway, but it seems a shame to have to backtrack from east to west in order to depart.

We spent a whole week in the Dingle area in late June. It appears their high tourist season runs from July 1 thru the first or second week of September, so some activities there are on a more limited availablility outside those times. Maybe you don't have a lot of Dingle on your agenda, or have priorities to see other parts of Ireland, but the Dingle area is worth more than a quick drive-by if you have the time.

Going by bike, we took each day based on mileage and our energy level, and for places we hadn't pre-booked before leaving the USA, some days we phoned a few towns ahead down the road and reserved a room for that night. We didn't have vouchers, but with our open itinerary before reaching Dingle, reserving one day at a time allowed us the flexibility to not have to be in a certain town on a certain date.

Sporter-looking at this, I'm concerned that you won't have time to see what you came to see! With SIX people moving from place to place nearly every day, this is kind of insane, imho. Dingle is worth two full days, Dublin too.
Do you want to rethink this? You may have to concede that you don't have two or three weeks and pare it down to your top priorities. A full day in a place is two nights.

Sporter50: Ahhh.... Your plans remind me of my "stop & click" tour in '94. ... Your itinerary is ambitious to sat the least. I'm guessing your traveling by rental cars - with a group of six. Please be sure to rent automatic. I'm going to frank - as I have driven all of the areas you have listed - many times. Since you are flying out of Shannon - and to eliminate the ping pong driving - this is what I suggest:

15 Sept: from "Aran" (not clear what this means - I'm guessing from Doolin) to Dublin - spend 2 nights: you can do Dublin & Newgrange.
17 Sept: leave Dublin south thru Wicklow to Kilkenny (1 night in Kilkenny)
18 Sept: early morning - you can head to Cashel then down to Waterford the only backtracking you will be doing.... Then onto Cork via Middleton & Cobh ( 2nights in Cork)
19 Sept: Cork & Blarney
20 Sept: leave cork via Kinsale, then Mizen Peninsula and head to Killarney - don't miss Torc Waterfall on your right before you get to Muckross house before Kilarney. (Stay over in Kilarney 1 night)
21 Sept: head off to Dingle (stay 2 nights) tour & enjoy.
23 Sept: leave Dingle early -head to Limerick - toward Shannon Airport - enjoy time at Bunratty Folk park - stay night at local hotel or B&B - fly out next day.

One thing I have learned on my trips over (- I've gone over with family and friends , as well as, for a family wedding in Co. Clare) - is that EACH day have a list of THREE things you/your group would like to do or SEE - The most important one First... Etc... Keeping in mind that if all,you get done in a day is the first thing on the list it was a SUCCESSFUL day - even if you don't get to the second or third choice. BUT if you get all three done - Whoo hoo!

Second thing l learned is that sometimes you have to scrap a day and just chill.

Good Luck and enjoy your Holiday!

Sporter50: Ahhh.... Your plans remind me of my "stop & click" tour in '94. ... Your itinerary is ambitious to sat the least. I'm guessing your traveling by rental cars - with a group of six. Please be sure to rent automatic. I'm going to frank - as I have driven all of the areas you have listed - many times. Since you are flying out of Shannon - and to eliminate the ping pong driving - this is what I suggest:

15 Sept: from "Aran" (not clear what this means - I'm guessing from Doolin) to Dublin - spend 2 nights: you can do Dublin & Newgrange.
17 Sept: leave Dublin south thru Wicklow to Kilkenny (1 night in Kilkenny)
18 Sept: early morning - you can head to Cashel then down to Waterford the only backtracking you will be doing.... Then onto Cork via Middleton & Cobh ( 2nights in Cork)
19 Sept: Cork & Blarney
20 Sept: leave cork via Kinsale, then Mizen Peninsula and head to Killarney - don't miss Torc Waterfall on your right before you get to Muckross house before Kilarney. (Stay over in Kilarney 1 night)
21 Sept: head off to Dingle (stay 2 nights) tour & enjoy.
23 Sept: leave Dingle early -head to Limerick - toward Shannon Airport - enjoy time at Bunratty Folk park - stay night at local hotel or B&B - fly out next day.

One thing I have learned on my trips over (- I've gone over with family and friends , as well as, for a family wedding in Co. Clare) - is that EACH day have a list of THREE things you/your group would like to do or SEE - The most important one First... Etc... Keeping in mind that if all,you get done in a day is the first thing on the list it was a SUCCESSFUL day - even if you don't get to the second or third choice. BUT if you get all three done - Whoo hoo!

Second thing l learned is that sometimes you have to scrap a day and just chill.

Good Luck and enjoy your Holiday!

Sporter50: Ahhh.... Your plans remind me of my "stop & click" tour in '94. ... Your itinerary is ambitious to sat the least. I'm guessing your traveling by rental cars - with a group of six. Please be sure to rent automatic. I'm going to frank - as I have driven all of the areas you have listed - many times. Since you are flying out of Shannon - and to eliminate the ping pong driving - this is what I suggest:

15 Sept: from "Aran" (not clear what this means - I'm guessing from Doolin) to Dublin - spend 2 nights: you can do Dublin & Newgrange.
17 Sept: leave Dublin south thru Wicklow to Kilkenny (1 night in Kilkenny)
18 Sept: early morning - you can head to Cashel then down to Waterford the only backtracking you will be doing.... Then onto Cork via Middleton & Cobh ( 2nights in Cork)
19 Sept: Cork & Blarney
20 Sept: leave cork via Kinsale, then Mizen Peninsula and head to Killarney - don't miss Torc Waterfall on your right before you get to Muckross house before Kilarney. (Stay over in Kilarney 1 night)
21 Sept: head off to Dingle (stay 2 nights) tour & enjoy.
23 Sept: leave Dingle early -head to Limerick - toward Shannon Airport - enjoy time at Bunratty Folk park - stay night at local hotel or B&B - fly out next day.

One thing I have learned on my trips over (- I've gone over with family and friends , as well as, for a family wedding in Co. Clare) - is that EACH day have a list of THREE things you/your group would like to do or SEE - The most important one First... Etc... Keeping in mind that if all,you get done in a day is the first thing on the list it was a SUCCESSFUL day - even if you don't get to the second or third choice. BUT if you get all three done - Whoo hoo!

Second thing l learned is that sometimes you have to scrap a day and just chill.

Good Luck and enjoy your Holiday!

I agree with the thoughts above--your schedule is both aggressive and optimistic. I'd suggest you go to one of the online driving time estimators. I seem to recall that the Irish equivalent of AAA had a good one. And then increase the driving times by around 20%. It takes longer to cover miles than in the US or much of Western Europe. Also, with 6 people, you'll move no faster than the slowest/least organized person.

How are you planning to handle 6 people w luggage? Two cars? Or a van? I think a van would be really challenging at many sites in Ireland, and would slow you even more.