We will be in Ireland for 7 nights, first time. We are a mom, dad, and 10 and 14 year old (all very experienced eurotravelers), arriving into Shannon early and spending nights 1 and 2 in Dingle, that part is set. Nights 4,5,6,7 are in Dublin, pretty set.
Thinking about night 3:
ORIGINAL PLAN. Drive Dingle to Rock of Cashel and sleep there or in Kilkenny, off to Dublin the next day, maybe detouring through Glendalough, and drop the car in Dublin for the rest of the trip.
ALTERNATIVE PLAN. My main question is would it be easy/a struggle/horrible to drive from Dingle to Rock of Cashel, see that (& skip Kilkenney/Glendalough), then drive to Trim (or thereabouts) for that night? The reason would be so that we can get up early and see Bru Na Boinne/Newgrange (we love old stuff) first thing the next morning from Trim, then drive to Dublin after lunch and drop the car. Under "original plan," we would see Bru Na Boinne area via a day trip from Dublin while sleeping in Dublin. However, our original plan blows 1/2 to 2/3 of one of our 3.5 Dublin days on that day trip, and we would benefit from more than the usual tourist's time in Dublin for max flexibility for meeting cousins and visiting old familial haunts. Thanks in advance for your advice.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
135 posts
Hi Monica
Your original plan sounds the better of the two options, in my humble opinion. Plan B is not impossible, but the Dingle > Cashel > Trim route is typically 250 miles; at the reasonable assumption of 40mph average, that's six-hours non-stop driving - and doesn't allow any time for sightseeing (both Cashel and Trim need a while). So, using your language, the alternative plan would be 'a struggle / horrible' !
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Having driven in Ireland on four trips, I would suggest you stick with your original plan. No matter what, you just can't see everything. I could easily skip Kilkenny, but not Glendalough. Your priorities may be different.
Posted by
Massachusetts
404 posts
For what it's worth, we did your original plan, but in the opposite direction (Kilkenny to Dingle, with a stop on the way in Cashel). We thought the plan worked very well. Kilkenny is a nice place to stay too.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles
2 posts
Thanks to all who responded! I think we'll stick with original plan.
Posted by
Oak Park
243 posts
Monica,
We did a very similiar trip to your alternate plan a few years ago. The big difference is that we drove to Kinsale and stayed there a few nights after we left Dingle. Then we stopped at the Rock of Cashel before traveling on to Trim. This was a significant day of driving and do this trip from Dingle would be too much in my opinion. Trim was a nice one stay before going to Bru Na Boinne and we stayed right across the road from Trim castle. As others have said, you cannot do everything, but do not miss Newgrange if you like "old stuff".