9 DAYS IN IRELAND

Public transportation to and in Dingle leave a lot to be desired. I'm sure someone will pop in and tell you how to take the bus from Tralee but once in Dingle you don't need any public transportation unless you want to do the "ring." Here I would recommend one of the private tour buses. We tried to do it but there wasn't enough people to go the day we had available. There are also taxis but I have no info on them. I'll commit heresy and say that on a 9 day trip I'd skip Dingle and do an overnighter out of Galway to the Aran Islands.

With nine days you could easily do everything you planned and also visit the Aran Islands as Ken suggested.

Depends. Does the 9 days include your arrival & departure days (as those really are not full sightseeing days)? Are you flying open jaw into Dublin & out of Shannon or Cork, or do you need to backtrack to your starting point? Dingle can be accessed via the bus, but you will want a day tour to really get around if you aren't renting a car or hiring a private driver/guide. Should you decide you have enough time, The Aran Islands are easy to get to via ferry and once you are there you can use a shuttle van or bikes to get around. The only thing you want to watch for is the ferries from Doolin are often canceled (even in sunny weather) if the seas are too choppy. It's often better to leave from Rossaveal, north of Galway. If you book Aran Island ferry tickets from Galway, the price includes a bus ride to Rossaveal.

I took a great tour of the Dingle Peninsula with Tim Collins. He's one of the recommended tours in Rick's book. The tour was beautiful, and Tim was the best guide I had on my entire trip. I booked the tour by going to Eileen Collins Kirrary B & B.

I took a good tour of Dingle from Killarney just this week Deros Tours. Kilarney is a cute little town, if you want to stay there at all? The driver made a good comment: it is easier and less stressful to see Dingle w/o a car because 1.) you will be concentrating so much on driving you'll miss the scenery 2.) In the coach you are up higher and have a better view. Dingle was by far my favorite place you will LOVE it! Take the tour for sure!

Katherine, we skipped Dingle BECAUSE we weren't going to drive. The amount of time it would have taken by bus was insane. We thoroughly enjoyed Galway and its surroundings (we visited the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher). But, we also went to the Antrim Coast and found it stunning. Perhaps someone who has visited both Dingle and the Antrim coast could compare the two. But if Dingle is prettier than there, I guess we'll have to try to get there someday....

We did rent a car on our trip to Ireland and drove nearly the entire circumference of the island two years ago. Our route included 2 nights in Dingle and a night along the Antrim Coast. Both were places we would LOVE to visit again! I cannot imagine making it to Dingle and the sights there without a car, however. The peninsula is gorgeous! There is so much to see, but you need transportation. We drove to Dingle across Conner Pass. Amazing. The Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland is also gorgeous. The Giant's Causeway should not be missed! And the other sights along the coast are also beautiful. I believe public transportation might be easier there, but it is mostly small towns and I don't remember seeing any trains or public buses. This was our first experience driving on the left. While there were several scary moments because of our inexperience (mostly) it really went well.

We stayed on the Antrim Coast, Portstewart to be exact, and there are buses. We utilized these to get to the sights in Bushmills, Giants Causeway, etc. In fact, there's a route that's dedicated to the sights. The B&B we stayed at was right across the street from the bus stop which was great!