Western / Southwestern Ireland Itinerary

Hi - your vacation is the west - why fly to Dublin? If you fly into Shannon you will save huge amounts of driving time and free up arrival and departure days.

Estimated driving times in Ireland are notoriously "optimistic". If it says 2 hours....plan on 3+.....for numerous reasons. Unless you risk life and limb and get insanely lucky you won't do that drive in anything close to 2 hours. So, that being said your itinerary is very driving heavy leaving little time to really explore an area and a chance to really see Ireland.

Connemarra is beautiful....Well worth visiting.....but not in conjunction with Dingle and the Ring of Kerry. Each of those peninsulas you could spend a week in and barely cover them. They each contain all the history, insane beauty and exposure both to real wild Ireland and its people you could ever ask for.

One night stays are a prescription for a hectic rushed feel to a vacation. Consider two bases.....one in Dingle the other on the Ring of Kerry. You will end up seeing far more and experiencing far more. Otherwise much of the trip will be occupied with check-ins and check-outs and the inside of a car.

For example the Cliffs of Moher are stunning and beautiful.......but.....if you are visiting the Ring of Kerry and the Skellig Ring (near Portmagee) you will be right at the far more wild, just as beautiful and FAR less tourist overrun Cliffs of Kerry. So instead of driving 2 hours from Moher to Limerick and then around 4 hours out to Slea Head on the Dingle peninsula....and another 3 hours over to Portmagee....skip Moher - spend time at Slea Head and later at the Cliffs of Kerry. You miss nothing, save huge amounts of driving and open up huge amounts of time for other things.......take an eco boat tour around the Skelligs, visit standing stones, deserted castles, ring forts, have time for a leisurely lunch and stroll through a great town like Ballyferriter or Waterville or Sneem.

And there are great places to stay close to Portmagee.......Cahairseveen, Waterville, Derrynane.

Anyway, just some thoughts for what it's worth. Eliminate one night stays, cut down a lot on driving and soak up the wonderful wild Ireland, you'll gain FAR more in experiences and memories. And seriously consider flying into Shannon instead of Dublin.

Hope you have a great trip !

Is there any way you can fly into Shannon and out from Dublin (or vice versa)? If so, I would try to do something like this:

9/9 - arrive Dublin, afternoon/evening there

9/10 - day in Dublin, stay night there

9/11 - either visit Newgrange or Glendalough in the morning, drive to Kilkenny in the afternoon, night there

9/12 - day in Kilkenny, night there

9/13 - drive to Rock of Cashel in the morning en route to Dingle, stay night in Dingle

9/14 - drive the Dingle Peninsula, stay second night there

9/15 - get an early start, drive from Dingle to the Cliffs of Moher (take the ferry from Tarbert to Killimer). Drive through the Burren in the afternoon, and then stay near the Shannon airport that night.

9/16 - fly home from Shannon

In the event you can't fly either into or out of Shannon, you could do the same itinerary as above, but 9/15 would be a very long day of driving. I get the allure of wanting to see both the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula - western coastal Ireland is among the most beautiful places in the world. But given all that you are trying to cram into a week, I would strongly advise you to pick one (and in my humble opinion, Dingle offers more, especially the pub and music scene in the evenings).

And I agree with the previous commenter, avoid one night stays where possible. My proposed itinerary has 3 two night stays and one one-nighter at the end (just to accommodate your flight).

I agree with ewewoolknit. Unless you want to spend time in Dublin (it was a pretty cool spot) and if you can book your flight to Shannon that would be the easier way to go, I didn't fly into Shannon but drove past the airport on my way up from Dublin to Cong (Ashland Castle hawkwalk) and it is a less congested easier navigated area. We enjoyed Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher but as ewewoolknit stated the Cliffs of Kerry were less visited and awesome to view. If the Cliffs of Moher are a must do for you it makes sense to stay in Doolin. www.dalys-doolin.com Dalys was a great B&B and she helped us plan other days in the Doolin area and helped direct us for the shortest drive to Dingle from Doolin. I like ewewoolknit's idea of Portmagee for a few days, with the eco boat tour around Skellig, and also few days up in Dingle. We stayed at Kenmare for the Ring of Kerry part of our driving tour and it was great for the RofK and also allowed us to drive around the Beara Penins which was less traveled and a really fun day. If I return I will stay out there near Portmagee a couple of days, Kenmare a couple of days, and stay in Dingle and do the Dingle Penins. the rest of the time. There is a lot to see on the Dingle peninsula and Slea Head and Dingle town has great pubs, restaurants, hikes, and music. While in Kenmare we hired a driver/tour guide for the day of our planned ring of Kerry tour and it was the highlight of our 10 days in Ireland imo. Paul Brown of www.kenmaretaxitours.com was awesome and his van would be great for 3 persons or more! We traveled from Doolin south to Dingle and as Steve suggested we took the ferry, Killmer to Tarbert (the reverse of Steve's plans) and it worked out great.

If you absolutely have to fly into Dublin, and since you only have a week, I would actually skip Dublin at the beginning and head west when you arrive. To go from the Dublin airport to, say, Connemara National Park, takes about three hours and forty-five minutes. To me, this makes more sense:

9/9 Arrive Dublin, pick up rental, drive to Galway..stopping at Trim Castle, Athlone Castle & Visitors Center and Clonmacnoise. Stay in Galway.

This would set you up perfectly for visiting the Connemara area on 9/10

9/10 Connemarra area (Ross Errily Friary, Ashford Castle, Cong, Kylemore Abbey, Connemara National Park, Clifden Castle, Aughnanure Castle…to name a few). Stay in Galway a second night.

9/11 Drive Galway to Bothar nA hAillite in the Burren, Doolin (Doonagore Castle), Cliffs of Moher, Kilkee Cliffs, take the ferry from Killimer to Tarbert, stay in Listowel.

This would put you less than an hour’s drive to the Dingle Peninsula.

9/12 Drive from Listowel to the Dingle Peninsula…going through Conor Pass, Dingle, Slea Head Drive, loop around back into Dingle for lunch, Minard Castle, Inch Beach, Gap of Dunloe, stay in Killarney.

9/13 Drive Killarney to the Ring of Kerry….stopping at Ballycarbery Castle, Valentia Island, Kerry Cliffs, Waterville, take the Ballaghisheen Pass to the Ballaghbeama Gap, Molls Gap, Killarney National Park, stay a second night in Killarney.

9/14 Drive Killarney to Blarney Castle, The Vee (Graigue, Co. Tipperary), Rock of Cashel, stay in Kilkenny.

At that point you’re only 90 minutes from the Dublin airport.

9/15 Visit Kilkenny Castle, then drive to your hotel near the Dublin Airport (I suggest Howth)….stopping at Glendalough, Glenmacnass Waterfall, Lough Tay, Sally Gap. Stay near airport.

9/16 Return car, depart.

Yeah, it's a busy itinerary, but you'd get to see a lot of Ireland in a short amount of time. Also, you may or may not have heard of some of the places I've mentioned. Just go to Google images to see if they interest you.

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Joy,

Your comment about finding it hard to get accommodation for 3 in Portmagee worries me. It shouldn't be difficult at all! There is The Moorings; lots of B&B's and many AirBnBs in Portmagee. Do you want 3 adults in the same room? or are you looking for 2 + 1 or 3 rooms separately? There are many houses for rent, too - they would be listed as "holiday home, Portmagee" as that's what they would be called, here. September shouldn't be remotely full at this time ----

Be sure to check out (if you stay in Portmagee) The Kerry Cliffs (better than the Cliffs of Moher say every single one of my visitors). Also The Skellig Experience (just over the bridge at Portmagee) and there are some wonderful walks in that area, too..... I assume you're not thinking of a Skellig boat ride? It sounds like you're rushing it if so......

You do know that Blarney & The Rock of Cashel aren't really close, especially if you're staying in Kinsale?

Susan Baughman
expat in Waterville/Skellig Coast
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