driving in ireland

Your driving time from Dublin to Cork will be "about" four hours. If you are in a hurry to get to Kenmare and want to avoid some of the driving you can fly into the Kerry Airport. It is about half way between Killarney and Tralee. Kenmare is then only about a one hour drive from the airport. Cork airport is about a two hour drive.

There is a 7:35A.M. flight leaving Dublin to Kerry that is only 50.00 Euro for the two of you. I would estimate the cost of gas from Dublin to Kenmare would be a minimum of 30.00 Euros.

I guess what it really comes down to is do you want to take your time and see the sights between Dublin and Kenmare, spending a good part of one day doing so or have more time in the Kenmare area having a more in depth look at the sights?

It's not necessarily the volume of traffic that is the problem. Mostly it's the narrow roads.

It takes a lot, lot longer to travel round in a car in Ireland than it does in the US.

Small cars keep you out of big trouble on Irish roads, particularly if you're not familiar with stick shift gear changes and driving on the left hand side.

Driving in Ireland is a very pleasant experience, once you're out of Dublin, but it just takes a little longer.

Seeing Ireland by car is a must! It's not hard to catch on to driving on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car. Once out of Dublin, it's pretty pleasant. Driving is times two. If you're driving 60 miles, it will likely take 2 hours.

You can't rush or you'll miss a lot

I agree with other posters. It looks like everything is close on the map but because most Irish roads are not superhighways, you need to count on more time. If you are in the mountains, you have to go slowly or you can come around a curve and meet a sheep in the road. One of the great joys of being in the west is to drive through lovely mountains and peat bogs and go slowly enough to enjoy it. It's not hard to get from Dublin to the West or to the South, the roads are double lane highways in each direction but once you are off the very main roads, the smaller roads require a slower pace. Just hum "to the left, to the left, to the left, left left" to yourself to remind you to take the roundabouts in the right direction.

I agree with other posters. It looks like everything is close on the map but because most Irish roads are not superhighways, you need to count on more time. If you are in the mountains, you have to go slowly or you can come around a curve and meet a sheep in the road. One of the great joys of being in the west is to drive through lovely mountains and peat bogs and go slowly enough to enjoy it. It's not hard to get from Dublin to the West or to the South, the roads are double lane highways in each direction but once you are off the very main roads, the smaller roads require a slower pace. Just hum "to the left, to the left, to the left, left left" to yourself to remind you to take the roundabouts in the right direction.