Suggestions for a 12 day itinerary to Ireland

Your pacing doesn't look too bad to me, except for maybe Day 5. Driving the peninsula will take some time, particularly if you stop to take photos, visit the heritage center, have lunch, etc. Then the drive to the Cliffs of Moher will take upwards of three hours if you take the ferry across the Shannon instead of going around through Limerick. A couple of other comments: 1. Glendalough is an ancient monastic settlement. As I recall, there isn't much in the way of lodging in the immediate area, but there are small towns close by, and B&Bs are everywhere. Arklow, for example is about an hour from Glendalough, and there are lots of B&Bs there (I would recommend one called Pinecrest). Driving on to Kilkenny that first day would be tough after visiting Glendalough. It's another 2+ hours from there, and you will be tired early in the evening. 2. You'll have an easier time finding places to stay if you spell the towns correctly (Kenmare, not Kenmore, Kinsale, not Kinsdale). 3. Have alternate plans for the day you want to drive the Ring of Kerry. The day we allotted for it turned out to be misty/rainy/foggy and we couldn't see anything at all. We gave up and spent the day in Kenmare.

I wonder what "elderly" means. Does it mean mobility issues? I would start my trip in Dublin. That way you will not have to drive in a sleep deprived state after a sleepless night on the plane. don't pick up your car then as parking in Dublin is hard to come by and uite expensive. Do your two days of Dublin first, then pick up car and head south to Glendalough. Do visit the Visitor Center. It has clean bathrooms and great information. There is a diorama of the area and a short film about the geology and history. Take a short walk down through the ruins and to the lake. Longer walks if you want. I would push on to Kilkenny that afternoon. There would probably be time to explore some of Kilkenny when you arrive as the days are long in May. (Think 10-10:30 sunset--probably not as long as your Alaskan days, I know.) Day 4 Kilkenny, ROC and Kinsale Day 5 You do realize that Kinsale to Cobh is backtracking, I hope. I found that bit of road a real pain, but perhaps it is better since my last visit a couple of years ago. Kenmare Day 6 ROK to Dingle Day 7 Dingle to Doolin. As mentioned above, a longish day.

Day 8 Inisheer. First of all the ferries from Doolin are weather dependent. If the sea is rough, it is a no go. Inisheer is lovely; I found it incredibly peaceful. But to get around, you walk or hire a bike. there is a tractor with a rine-in cart which meets the ferry and the driver will give you a tour of the island and tell a bit about life today. But after the tour there is quite a bit of time to wait for the ferry trip back. there are only a couple of places to eat lunch. You might reconsider and go to Inishmore instead. It is a longer trip, but there are minivans which meet the ferry and will give you a good tour, with plenty of stops for photo and a longer stop at Dun Aengus (time enough to hike up to the prehistoric fort and have lunch.) When you get back to town, there is time to poke around and also a choice of eating places, and a visitor center. The ferry gets back fairly late in the afternoon so you may want to spend the night in Doolin. Day 9 head off to Northern Ireland for your stay with friends. (It could be a long drive to NIdepending on where the friends are located) Last daydrive back to airport stopping at Newgrange (might want to check out Monasterboice or Mellifont Abbey on the trip, depending from whence your trip commences. Trim is also a pleasant town with an interesting castle) ditch the car and spend the night at an airport hotel ready to fly out early the next day. (f your flight is not early and you keep the car, run over and check out Malahide.)

How much energy do your parents have? This is a pretty demanding schedule for elderly travelers. Your first six days are a series of one night stands. That means getting up, packing, and checking out every morning and then a long day of activities. That can be tiring. As Nancy said, day 5 is a long one. Day 6 will be rather long too. After ferrying to and from the Inisheer, you won't have a lot of time to spend in the Burren, though even a quick drive through it is interesting. Also, you don't allow any time to recover from jet lag. I like the idea of starting with a couple of days in Dublin. That way, if you or your parents are really tired from the trip, you'll have some time to rest and get acclimated to the new time zone. I really can't answer your question without knowing how much experience your parents have traveling, what their health is like, etc. Just wanted to give you some things to think about. I hope you have a wonderful trip.

Thank you so much. You have given me a wealth of information!! I didn't fully explain "elderly". My parents are in their late 80's and although they can walk, they can not do long distance walking. Spending the first day in Dublin may be the best option. Thank you for your advice. My parents are traveling from West Virginia (10 hours) but we have a 21 journey. However, coming from Alaska, we are used to sleeping on planes. Either way, we will both be experiencing jet lag. Thank you again. I will relook at the itinerary. Jane

May I suggest "googling" driving times between your daily destinations. I am planning a trip to Ireland too and have found a wealth of information by googling phrases such as "driving time from dublin to killarney", etc. The driving times are usually longer than I thought.

As Carroll said, this is a pretty demanding schedule for anyone and especially 2 people in their 80's. Getting up and packing for another city each day will take it's toll. My suggestion is to use you itenerary as a guide at the least and play it by ear, take a couple days in one town and just enjoy Ireland, with this list you'll see mostly roads.

Don't know how your parents do with jet lag but you might just want to settle in and spend your first nights in Dublin and then start on your trip. I personally would skip the Ring of Kerry, I think Dingle is much prettier and more "wild" but see what others say.

I agree with Gail on spending the first night in Dublin and also about skipping the Ring of Kerry. Instead of driving from Cashel to Kinsale and then back to Cobh why not just stay in Cobh? In fact I would skip Kinsale and go on to Dingle so you can have more time there, at least in my opinion the only difference between Kinsale and Dingle is that Dingle has much better scenery and Kinsale is larger.
The way you have day 5 set up, driving the Dingle Peninsula and then on to the Cliffs of Mohr is going to make for a long day if you take time to do the Dingle drive justice. Travel time will far exceed what you expect.