Ireland 10-day Itinerary advice

Kate, You will not get a chance to see much if you try to do the Connemara/County Mayo loop, Newgrange and Trim all in one day.

Try breaking it up and doing Newgrange and Trim the same day and then head back to Dublin.

I have used Enterprise Drogheda location to hire cars and it is close to Newgrange. You can either catch a bus or the train to take you back to Dublin.

Newgrange can take half a day by itself, by the time you arrive at the visitor center, catch the bus to the site, and see the tomb and surrounds. You can do the Connemara/Co. Mayo loop in a day, or the Newgrange/Trim one, but not both. In the Connemara area you should stop at Kylemore Abbey. In the Newgrange area, you might want to see Monasterboice.

The best place to drop off your rental outside the city is at the airport. Then take public transport into the city.

EDIT: Because you are traveling during peak tourist season, you will want to get to Newgrange as early as possible in the morning. There are only so many visitors allowed each day, and it would be a shame to get there too late in the day to get a seat on the shuttle bus.

I agree that you will not get a good viewing of Connemara if you are then going to cross the country the same day.

We just returned from Ireland, and spent 1/2 day from Galway to Westport through Connemara, and then most of the next day returning to Galway, and that wasn't nearly as much time as we would have liked. No time for any real walking around and taking in the views.

But then we enjoy the wilderness areas more than the tourist stuff. Could have easily spent several days in Connemara area, and another several in the Burren area just wandering.

Here are some alternatives for your consideration.

Day 3: Skip the ROK in favor of enjoying the beautiful drive along the edge of the national park as you drive from Kenmare to Killarney. Explore a bit of the park itself, and head to Dingle for the night.

Day 5: This will be a very long day so hit the road early.

Day 6: Spend some time at Ashford Castle as planned, but also see a bit of Connemara.

Day 8: Drive from Galway to Newgrange. See Trim Castle if time allows. Sleep in Trim.

Day 9: If you couldn't fit it in on day 8, see Trim Castle. Otherwise spend your whole day in Dublin.

Hi Friends,

Thank you so much for all of your replies. I've reworked the itinerary using much of your advice. We have decided to save Connemara for another trip.

Does this updated Itinerary sound more reasonable?

One other change: My husband very much wants to go to Cobh to search his family's history (a friend of his went there and loved it). Is it feasible on our Day 2 to do Rock of Cashel, Cobh, and arrive in Kenmare that night?

Day 1: Arrive at Dublin airport at 8:00am, pick up rental car, Glendalough, Kilkenny Castle, sleep in Kilkenny

Day 2: Rock of Cashel, Cobh, sleep in Kenmare

Day 3: ROK, sleep in Dingle

Day 4: Dingle Peninsula, sleep in Dingle

Day 5: Cliffs of Moher (skipping Limerick/Shannon as Rick suggests), Burren, Ashford Castle, sleep in Ashford Castle

Day 6: Day at Ashford Castle to enjoy grounds, sleep in Galway

Day 7: Aran Islands, sleep in Galway

Day 8: Newgrange, Trim Castle if possible, sleep in Trim

Day 9: Trim Castle (if we didn't make it yesterday), Dublin, sleep in Dublin

Day 10: Dublin, sleep in Dublin

Day 11: Travel home

Thanks so much in advance again for all advice!

Yes, your proposed Day 2 is perfectly possible. They aren't far from each other, and Cobh is a very small town. Be sure to see the Queenstown Story museum, located in the old train station on the waterfront.

Since you plan a day at Ashford Castle, I highly recommend including a cruise on the Corrib to Inchagoill Island. It leaves from the dock just below the castle (and you get a FABULOUS view of the castle from the lake). Check www.corribcruises.com for details. My parents and I did the round-trip cruise from Oughterrard to Cong and back in September and it was a highlight of our trip to Ireland.