We will be returning in early August to Ireland for the first time in 25 years. Both my husband and I have seen quite a bit of the countryside on two previous trips, but this time we will have our 21 year old daughter and 24 year old son with us. We have 2 1/2 days booked in Dublin at the end before we fly back, but we will fly from France into Dublin late Friday morning and with a car will have until Monday night out in the country. Kinsale, Kenmare, the Rock of Cashel (which we have not seen) and Dingle(which we also have not seen) all are of interest. We are open to other suggestions.Where should we spend our time without all the time spent driving, and where in the countryside do you suggest we spend the first night after arriving in Dublin at 11:am and picking up our car.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
You could spend that first night in Navan or Trim. Both are within an hour of Dublin airport, and it would put you in a good position to see Newgrange first thing in the morning. If you want to avoid a lot of driving you will need to save Dingle for another trip. Kinsale and Kenmare should fit into your timeframe (see Cashel on the way to Kinsale).
Posted by
Ocean Shores, Wa, USA
124 posts
I positive Newgrange is located north of Dublin, and both Donegal and Sligo Counties would be way out of the way to the west. In my estimation ,anything west of The Rock of Cashel would be very ambitious for 3 days in Ireland. Dan
Posted by
OP
Oak Park
6 posts
Those are good suggestions. I have been looking a bit more at the maps and guide book. What if we picked our car up around noon after we arrive at the airport and drove to the Irish National Stud farm for a couple of hours and then stayed overnight in Kilkenny. Then the next day we could go to the Rock of Cashel and then on to either Kenmare or Kinsale. If we went straight to Kenmare, I was thinking we might spend two nights there, so that we could see Muckross House, Killarney National Park,the Ring of Kerry or Beara, etc. Then the 4th day we could leave early, drive to Kinsale, spend a few hours and drive back to Dublin in the afternoon, arriving by dinner. If we went to Kinsale before Kenmare, we would stay night two in Kinsale and night three in Kenmare. It would probably only leave us time to do the Ring of Beara, since we would have less time in Kenmare. We would then drive back to Dublin from Kenmare on the 4th day. Any thoughts?
Posted by
New York, NY
319 posts
Judy,
That's a good start. I love Dingle but with 2 days/3 nights you just don't have time to do it right. One note I have is that either the ROK or Beara is basically a full day. So if you want to do one, then you should block all of Day 3 for that. If you end up with some extra time, great. But plan to spend all day. The whole point of traveling the coasts is to enjoy the beautiful coastline without all the rushing about of typical tourism. So I'd make Day 3 EITHER Muckross/Killarney Park, OR ROK OR Beara.
Also, Kenmare's a nice little town, but Kinsale is special. I'd rather spend my nights in Kinsale even if that meant a bit of an extra drive to get to wherever you're headed on Day 3.