South/West Ireland in 6 full days--Assistance Please

Can you clarify your question: are you asking if you can do all of these--Dingle Penninsula, Cobh, Adare, Kinsale, Killarney Nat'l Park, Ichigeelagh Bantry Bay, Glengariff,Tralee, Kenmare, Kilrush, Kilkee lighthouses, Doolin, Lisdoonvarna, possibly Lismore--in one day on Wednesday?

I am Landing on Wednesday and returning the following Tuesday. Is it possible to experience these areas in that timeline? Is there someplace I should not miss?

The total miles for your Thursday circle route aren't terribly high, but your driving time will be. Go to www.viamichelin.com to get distances and estimated driving times for each leg of the route. Then increase the total estimated time by at least 50% (or even 100%). Driving in Ireland is slow, particularly on secondary roads. And you'll want to stop frequently to admire the view or take a short walk.

Viamichelin is a good source of information after you have looked at a map to see where everything is. As Tim says, driving IS slow, but many of these places are very close together. Once you get an idea of your route and check the travel times you'll have a better idea of what is possible. A good guidebook will help you narrow down what you want to see in each place.

Gail,

I think that we could provide more helpful advice if you could organize your thoughts and let us know what are your priorities. Doing Dingle right takes at least 1 1/2 days, if not 2. Killarney Natl Park is pretty much a day in itself.

Many of the other areas could be seen quickly, but at some point you'll need to decide if you'd rather hit everything on your list but not spend much time anywhere or see fewer places more thoroughly.

I prefer the latter approach, but it's your preference that matters.

Best of luck. Enjoy your trip!

Gail,

It's clear you and your brother have a lot of interests, and want to have lots of Ireland experiences. You might not be able to do everything on this list, but you can do a lot of them. And maybe even discover some new "want to do's". You will undoubtedly have enough left on your to do list to want to return.

Arriving and departing via Shannon is a good idea for what you want to see and do. But if you're spending every night in Cork, you'll be doing day trips to all destinations, and that's tough. Driving distances in Ireland aren't that great, but driving times are. Multiply by 2 the time you think a route it will take, add 10%, and then add in time for getting lost and stops/meals due to the unexpected driving time.

I find Cork an odd (sort of end of road) location for your base. I recommend mapping out your route and choosing 2-3 places along the way to stay.

Regarding your brother's interests, the natural setting and the locals will exceed his expectations. Not so much in terms of archeology and topography as natural geography and botany. Architecture isn't like what you might find in other "world cities" like Paris, Rome, or more modern cities like Chicago, though there is an interesting mix of old, older, ancient, and some newer in the south/west.

Your interests: Dingle Peninsula, Cobh, Kinsale, Kenmare, Doolin, etc all great places. Several of these and others you can see on a (long) day's drive. We spent 2 nights in Dingle, 3 in Kinsale, 2 in Kenmare, and drove through most others you mentioned. And that was on our 3rd trip. I could have spent a month or two in every one of them.

Your itinery is ambitious, but go for it. Just don't overdo it. Do what you can and save the rest for another trip or two or three. Ireland isn't large quantitatively, but it's huge and deep qualitatively. You'll have a wonderful time, I guarantee it.

Have a great trip!

Gail, why are you basing yourselves in Cork? Personally, it's the last place (along with Limerick) that I would stay in Ireland. Why not do the B & B thing and give yourself more time to try and do the things you want??

You have way too much planned for your limited time. take a look at a map and note the distances.

Then devise an itinerary showing, by days, what you expect to do each day. Allow time for every activity: eating, finding rooms, driving, seeing sights, resting, etc.

Remember that you can average only about 30 miles an hour driving the narrow, winding roads and passing through villages.

For that reason, rent the smallest car you can with automatic trans. Shifting gears is difficult with your left hand.