rough draft of final itinerary for Ireland. Too much?

If you are going to Dingle from Galway, you might do better to skip Limerick (nothing there to see, really) and take the Killimer-Tarbort ferry across the River Shannon. It will save some driving time. But when do you intend to actually see Dingle if you are arriving late one day and leaving the next morning? And do you really intend to see Dingle and Killarney and Kerry in one day? Again, you will be arriving later in the day in Cork, but plan to leave the next day. Because of your limited time, I would skip Dingle. You just don't have the time to devote to it. I would also skip Galway and stay in Doolin for music. It doesn't make much sense to drive all the way there only to leave the next morning. Have you looked at www.viamichelin.com to see how long the driving times are from place to place? Add 25% to their time estimates to get a more accurate picture. Do you have an idea of what you want to see in each place so that you can allot adequate time to those places? You don't want to spend all day driving somewhere and have no time to see it once you arrive.

Nancy, I appreciate your suggestions. I guess I'm thinking there's just as much to see on the roads between the towns as there is on a stop, but that just comes from photos I've seen and it all looks beautiful. I've not looked up the site to see what actual driving time is. I've just input cities/sights into Google maps and it tells me one to four hours of driving. There's not any ONE thing I'm dying to see, but not knowing the areas well enough, I can't say one spot is worth two or three days of our limited time. I've chosen spots that I see pop up repeatedly on web searches of visiting Ireland, as well as off this board. I threw Galway in there for the language, and they mentioned they were big on music. It seems to me any of those seaside towns would be beautiful.

You are back-tracking by landing in Shannon, going to Galway and then turning around to go to Dingle. The roads south of Galway are the worst (IMHO) roads in Ireland so I'd not recommend driving them twice if it could be avoided. Your whole trip is 5 days? That doesn't seem worth the trouble but that's your choice. You didn't say when you were going. If it's in the next few months, the daylight is pretty short. Trying to drive as extensively as your itinerary says would be hard to complete in the daylight hours. I wouldn't recommend any tourist driving the back roads of Ireland in the dark. Personally, I'd drop Dingle from your trip. It's pretty remote and not worth going to if you aren't going to spend at least 2 nights. Also, I'd go either towards Galway or Killarney but not both. Your best bet for finding "trad" is probably in Dublin. If you go towards Galway, Doolin has traditional music in the pubs but the customers are primarily tourists. However, almost any pub could have live music (trad or not)and they would have it posted somewhere.

I like to move around, too, so I understand that. But Galway is out of the way for an overnight. Not sure I understand the comment about "for the language" - they speak English there. It's actually a small city, a university town. Doolin is considered the center of Irish traditional music in the west. It is a tiny village on the coast. You could easily get there on your first day, then stay there before continuing on. While it is true that there is a lot to see along the road, it would be a shame to just drive around and not really SEE anything, except as a drive-by. In the west, you will find that driving is much slower than ViaMichelin or Google will tell you. You can often encounter sheep in the roads, farm equipment, and narrow places that will slow you down. Do check out www.viamichelin.com, and add 25% to their time estimates and see what the drives look like. Remember to factor in time for photo stops, meals, etc.

I too would leave Dublin for another trip. Would stay on west coast, maybe down to Kinsale and around that area then back to Doolin which I seem to remember is hour north of Shannon, near the cliffs, you could stay there that Friday night, see cliffs next day, then head to Shannon. Enjoy the scenery, it is wonderful country.

Hi Tamara, In my opinion you're just going to be looking at the countryside through the window and not actually enjoying Ireland. Driving here is different as others posted. Some of the roads are great, others not so good. I would personally stay on the west coast and leave Dublin for your next trip. What time of year on you traveling?
Enjoy, Sherri

Sherry, I leave for Ireland Monday. I'm in the UK right now. I understand what you're saying about just driving, and after doing a bit of that here in England, I might have to agree with you and cut Dublin off. Have to decide by tomorrow. Thanks so much!

Hi Tamara, Since you're coming here now it's easy to get accommodation so you can play it by ear. I wouldn't book ahead and just see where you want to stay as you go. The best part of Ireland is the people first and then the sights. Enjoy your trip!