Draft itinerary- Land in Dublin in am. Rent car drive to Kilkenny, is it possible to stay there for 2 days and see Kilkenny castle, Waterford, Blarneys Castle, Rock of Cashel and Murckross House? Day 3, Ring of Kerry, Staigue Fort, stay in Killarney Day 4 Cliffs of Mohr, The burren Day 5, Galway, Day 6 Clonmacnoise, Bru Na Boinne Day 7 Dublin I have 3 days to play with and stay in an area for awhile longer.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Muckross House is near Killarney, not Kilkenny. Are you planning on driving from Kilkenny to Killarney via the Ring of Kerry on Day 3? You don't say what time of year you are planning to travel, but if your one day to see the Ring of Kerry turns out to be rainy/foggy, driving the Ring would be a waste of time (speaking from experience here). Have alternate plans for that day. Ours were to spend the day in Kenmare, seeing the lacemaking, the standing stone circle, and doing some shopping. If you are traveling during peak tourist season and won't get to Bru na Boinne until afternoon, you might not get in to see the tomb. You get a ticket for the shuttle bus to the actual tomb, and there are only so many per day. If tour buses or other travelers use up the slots, people arriving later in the day are out of luck. It's not as much of a problem during shoulder season. But even in February, arriving mid-morning, I had to wait for about 45 minutes for my shuttle. Use your extra time in Dublin. If your timing doesn't work out for Bru na Boinne on your way from Galway, you could always take a half-day tour to it on a later day, and there is lots to see in Dublin itself.
Posted by
Omaha, NE
134 posts
Hi Holly. I'm currently planning a 10 day trip with two friends as well. We're going in September. Here is our very tentative schedule. We may be crazy. Day 1 travel Day 2 arrive, Dublin AM. Explore Dublin. Day 3 Bru na Boinne, Drive to Belfast, stay in Belfast Day 4 Antrim Coast: Giant's Causeway Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge Dunluce Castle? Drive to and stay in Derry Day 5 explore Derry after lunch drive to Galway, stay in Galway Day 6 Galway, Cliffs of Moher to Dingle Day 7 Dingle Peninsula, stay in Dingle Day 8 ?
Day 9 back to Dublin, all day Day 10 leave for home
Posted by
Omaha, NE
134 posts
oh, so if you have 3 days to play with, have you considered Northern Ireland and the sights along the Antrim Coast? or were you asking where to spread out those days among your already listed sites? We've decided to put less emphasis on Dublin and spend the majority of our time out in the rest of the country.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
The OP has expressed a desire to be able to "stay in an area for awhile longer". Using your extra days in the Galway area (to maybe explore a bit of the Connemara region), or Dublin (you haven't allowed adequate time there for a first visit) would make the most sense.
Posted by
OP
Chicago, IL, USA
4 posts
We are planning to go in the fall, september/october. We are trying to make the trip realistic and have decided to do southern ireland rather than northern. I was trying to knock a few sites out with being able to stay at a hotel/B&B for more than one night. I also would like to stay in a castle; the Dromoland castle mucho mucho bucks! Thanks for the input everyone this is my first trip across sees and can feel very overwhelming as I am a planner and not really a go with the flow kinda person (something I am working on).
Posted by
Downingtown, USA
2450 posts
You should have no trouble getting any b&b this time of year, relax, Ireland is wonderful and mostly very laid back you will enjoy