Too much driving in Ireland

Laura -

THat does sound like too much driving and too aggressive of an itinerary for such a short trip.

First - for route/trip planning, I prefer www.aaroadwatch.ie - it's the AAA of Ireland, so to speak. They've got a great route planning feature - on the left side menu on the home page. Check it out for routes/times. Note that driving in Ireland is much slower paced that almost anywhere else I've been. So - trips tend to take a bit longer than expected.

If you're arriving in Dublin (via plane?) at 8pm, you likely will not get to Cashel much before midnight - at best - likely later. You've got to clear customs, get your rental, and get out of the airport.

Arriving that late - I would get a hotel near the Dublin airport - and make your way west in the morning. You'll be well-rested and can get a good start - and enjoy the drive.

This would leave you a good part of Day 2, and of Day 3 to explore the Burren. The Cliffs warrant an hour or two, in my opinion.

Now - which of the days (4, 5, or 6) is St. Patrick's? The reason I ask is that I might suggest another day in the West and 2 days in Dublin. After having spent a couple of days in Dublin last March - and nearly two weeks in the West - I enjoyed the west considerably more. I'm headed back with the family in a couple of weeks and will be in Tralee for St. Patrick's, on to Dingle for a week and Doolin for a week.

The best way to enjoy Ireland, in my honest opinion, is to slow down a bit. Enjoy your trip.

Have you already bought your tickets? Or can you fly into Shannon and out of Dublin?

If Cashel isn't important to you, then why drive so far out of your way when you want to end up seeing the Burren?

You could drive straight west from the airport to Athlone (about two hours) and spend the night there. The next day you could drive to Ballyvaughan, go straight south through the Burren, go west to the Cliffs of Moher, and then go north to Doolin.

Laura,

I would spend the week in Dublin, and take day trips outside the city to enjoy "the beautiful countryside and natural areas." You can see the Burren, the Cliffs, and other areas of the west coast on a future trip where you're not tied to Dublin and can fly into and out of Shannon.

Tickets are already bought. Because of where we will fly into or out of Shannon is not possibility now or in the future (unless we move basically out of the country). Budget airlines fly from AMS to Dublin (our tickets with taxes and fees we about 20euros each - to fly into Shannon costs around $200 each way).

Dan - Thanks for the travel planning site. We will actually be arriving in Dublin at 7pm (I already gave us an hour to clear customs and get the rental car). Also, this is only an hour and half flight for us - so I am not worried about being tired. I checked the website and it gave us a travel time of 2 and half hours - do you still think it will be before midnight when we get there? How much time in general would you add to the suggested times online?

Tim - Thanks for the suggestion; I think I will look into this route.

Micheal - You didn't mention what your day trips might be.

Day trips from Dublin have been mentioned many times recently. You can take a day trip to Newgrange and the Boyne River Valley area (north of Dublin), or the Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, to the south, among others. There are lots of varieties of these trips. Check with the Tourist Information at Dublin airport when you get in.

I see flights from Shannon to Dublin as low as $53 right now. Well worth the money if it can add an entire day to your itinerary and it coincides with your flight home.

I agree with Kim.

Dublin, with the exception of some of the circle tour stuff is no big deal. Loaded with tourists and expensive and dirty in my opinion.

Cashel is one of the better monastic ruins in Ireland. It's worth the drive. Cliffs are nice, but once you see them, you're done.

try St. Patty's in Kilkenny. Pretty lively and traditional.

If you are at all interested in the political,cultural and ancient history of Ireland then you should see Dublin. The National Museums,Kilmainham Jail,Irish Writers Museum,Hugh Lane Gallery,Chester Beatty Library,or for live theater the Abby,Gate,Gaiety and several other theaters. Granted you will find many tourists at places like the Guinness Storehouse but try St. Michans Church for something different.

Granted Dublin will probably never win the "tidy town" award but after all it is at least a thousand years old and I have found it to be no more expensive,excluding the Temple Bar area, than any other part of the country.

If you want to see tourists try Killarney,Dingle,Ring of Kerry,Aran Islands,Cliffs of Moher,Blarney etc. during the summer. March is a good time of the year for you to go as there will be far fewer visitors.

I guess what I am trying to say is you will get about as much out of Dublin as you put into it so please,please, do not blow it off as just another big city. Maybe if you live in a large city they all seem the same but for someone from a largely rural area who is interested in history it is a mandatory destination.

We are going to Dublin 1 and half days to site see and 1 day for St. Patrick's Day. There are so many things there to we are interested in seeing I can't imagine skipping it.

I cannot change the days and we are already have a rental car (plus I can't find the tickets you are talking about - remember this is St.Patrick's Day weekend - and I don't see how flying will really save us any time).

So I think we are going to take Tim's suggestions and overnight is Athlone on the way to the Burren/Cliffs. Maybe we will hit Cashel on the way back to Dublin depending on time - it seems to fit better that way.

I know it isn't a perfect itinerary, but I though it was a good mix of Dublin/the Burren & Cliffs/ the countryside/St. Patrick's Day. We are in a unique situation where we can't take two or three week long trips around a country, but we do have the opportunity to take weekend trips and a long weekend trip every month all over Europe. I am sure we will be back someday to travel more in depth in the countries we fall in love with (our wish list grows with every trip).

Thanks for the help.

Tim,

We just completed this trip and it was wonderful. Thank you so much for the Athlone suggestion. It was the perfect driving distance for the night and we enjoyed having a pint at Sean's (the oldest pub in Ireland according to Guinness).