Ireland Itinerary

You need to give us more to go on. Does your five days include the day you arrive and the day you leave, or do you have five full days in addition to those two? What are your interests? What time of year are you traveling? How many people are traveling? Do you want to rent a car or rely on public transportation? If you give us some specifics we can offer better suggestions.

Sorry - two adults traveling in mid-August. Five days does include travel but coming from London, so assume fairly early arrival on Day 1. Interested in historical sights, as well as beautiful scenery. Planned on renting a car unless public transportation is considered sufficient.

Actually, I mis-spoke - we arrive Thursday and leave Tuesday, so really 6 days including travel days.

Dublin and Dingle.

If you arrive on Thursday and leave on Tuesday, that only leaves you four full days, and parts of two others. Rather than drive as far as Dingle (though it's nice, too), you can find plenty to see and do closer to Dublin. To the south are the Wicklow Mountains, where you can see Glendalough, an ancient monastic settlement, and Powerscourt, with its beautiful gardens. Kilkenny isn't far, or you could spend time in the Cork/Blarney/Cobh area. North of Dublin is Newgrange and the Boyne River valley, or you could take a day trip by fast train to Belfast. You might be better off to end with Dublin, rather than starting with it. That way you could turn in your rental car when you arrive back in the city (you won't want or need it), then use public transport. If your flight out is in the afternoon (they mostly are), you would have a little time on the last morning to finish your Dublin sightseeing before heading to the airport.

Nancy has good suggestions. And it depends so much on what you're looking for, your travel style (do you like to take it easy and soak up the atmosphere or pack as much in as you can?) You can take plenty of day or overnight trips out of Dublin. Check out Irish Rail; Over the Top Tours. Through Irish Rail there'st a day trip to Galway, then a bus through Connemara, then train back to Dublin. Have a friend who took that one and she said it was quite nice. Or if you just want to see Galway without Connemara, there are very frequent busses on Bus Eireann, Citylink or gobus as well as the train. It is a very walkable place (as is Dublin). Belfast and surrounds definitely worth a look. And don't overlook Dublin proper. It really is a very cool city with lots to see and do. Avoid: Killarney, Limerick Happy trails!