Hello
Looking at a trip in late September where we would only have 4 nights in Ireland, 2 of which will be in Dublin. If we land in Shannon and plan to rent a car and stay first night in Dingle, where is best place to spend 2nd night that makes for reasonable drive to Dublin for final 2 nights?
Hate to say this but you’ll be spending a lot of this trip in a car.
It’s a 2.5 drive from Shannon to Dingle and if you’ve never driven on the opposite side of the road it will take longer. Google maps driving times are always estimates. Thus the drive from Dingle to Dublin says 4.5 hours but in reality closer to 5 hours. Could even be longer depending on the route you choose, traffic, road maintenance, etc.
I guess you could drive from Dingle to Limerick, stay the night then off to Dublin.
Hello and thank you
Yeah, the Ireland portion will be more car heavy than I would like, but we are crossing to England and have a much more relaxed itinerary there.
The plan is to drive from Shannon to Dingle and stay in Dingle one night (and work off the jet lag)
Looking for a place mid-way between Dingle and Dublin (say, 2-3 hours drive) for 2nd night, then ditching the car in Dublin and spending 2 nights there. So, should avoid any 5 hour stints. As a plus, have driven on left hand side (with manual transmission) several times before
Take a look at Kilkenny via the Rock of Cashel.
Is Dingle that essential to your Ireland itinerary? If so, I would cut back to just 1 day in Dublin. If Dingle is not essential, consider visiting one of the many interesting & beautiful places in the west of Ireland that aren't as far from Shannon.
Adare would work as well.
If Dingle is not that important, Galway might be of interest. There are bus or bus/ferry tours to the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands out of Galway. Unless you want to drive across Ireland to Dublin, you can drop your car in Galway and take a Citylink express bus from Galway Center to downtown Dublin that drops you on the north bank of River Liffy, across from Temple Bar. The buses are very comfortable and have free WiFi. The trip is 2hr 30min with departures every hour. Tickets bought online cost 13 Euros per person.
Hello from Wisconsin,
Dingle is a rugged beautiful place. Quite full of tourists although September may find it less packed.
Instead of Dingle you might consider County Clare. It too is filled with beauty and being a bit bigger has more room for people. The coastal road is nice and there is a north-south road that is great. A short distance west of Killinaboy a road branches off to the north. It soon has a sharp S curve. go north on this road 7 km. Then turn left , then turn right and head for Poulnabrone Dolman. Continue up to Ballyvaughan from there. There is a lot to see along the drive and it is more 'old' Ireland than most. The Irish Tiger years brought a lot of home building. Somehow a good portion of this road missed the Tiger. Clare gets you closer to Dublin. For whence you may launch yourself for the city.
Another thought. Fly into to Dublin and rent a car and tour the Boyne River Valley, Hill of Tara, drop south of Dublin and visit the Wicklow Mountains (not snow capped by any means) and St. Kevins's Church. Rent at the airport and avoid driving in Dublin.
The less you drive the more you will enjoy your visit. Get out of the car as often as you can make the excuse to do so.
wayne iNWI
