1

Dear holy christ: because lets face it, the glorious part about this country is that everything is 2 hours from each other!! Brilliant! No, not at all. Ever. Think that way and you'll be screwed. It is more than two hours from Dublin to Galway alone. The large N roads and motorways are okay, but once off those you will struggle to get above an average of 80 km/h.

Ahem.

Your itinerary looks good. IMO drop Blarney Castle, perhaps rethink Limerick, certainly not for two or three days. Alot of people like the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula which would be a diversion from your planned route but might be worth considering as the itinerary might be regarded as soft.

2

I agree, do not expect to get to places in two hours. Like most trips, it depends on what you want to get out of your visit. With some notable exceptions (especially Connemara) the scenary is OK but the real joy of going to Ireland is the people and music. One tip I would suggest is stay at Irish Bed and Breakfasts. You can book them through the Irish Tourist board site. The standard is quite good, its econmical and the landladies know where to eat, whats going on in the area and where you can have a good evening in a pub. Your list does not include Connemara and if you have any interest at all in beautiful scenary then you must go to Cong and tour the Connemara National Park.

Don't miss Dublin and Galway is a nice place. You mention that you are going to Belfast? So a suggested round route might be:

Dublin
Newcastle (for the Mountains of Mourne)
Belfast
Coleraine (for Giants Causway and Bushmills Distillary)
Sligo (via Derry and Donegal)
Ballina (for the"Céide Fields" 5000 year old archaeological site and Salmon Fishing)
Cong (Cong and tour the Connemara National Park)
Doolin (via Galway City)
Killarney (which is a bit touristy) for the Killarney Ring
Fermoy or Mitchelstown (via Blarney)
Dublin via the Wicklow Mountains.

3

I'm exhausted and stressed just thinking about you attempting this in 2 or 3 days. I would take about a week to do it. I agree with Mark on Blarney and Limerick and although the ring of Kerry is touristy Kerry is definitely one of the prettiest parts of Ireland. In Doolin the Doolin cave is expensive but worth a visit IMO, the nearby Ailwee cave is not IMO. #2's route is also good as the northern coastline is very beautiful as is Connemara and for scenery don't miss the Wicklow mountains/Glendalough.

4

#3, that's what I thought at first. She is suggesting two or three in each place which gives her the fortnight. God, I hope so anyway.

5

Just to clarify, the round route suggested #2, allow minimum of 2 days in Dublin and one day/night in each other place 11 days in all. You will need this minimum amount of time to see and experiance Ireland.

6

Lmao ok, call me crazy. I know NOTHING about Ireland, and when I google mapped it, it said most places were in a few hours from each other, so I thought they were all like, day trip places. (Don't know if anyone is from Manitoba Canada, but like a Winnipeg - Gimli) thing.

Anyways, thanks for the advice, I guess it will take longer than I thought.

I'm going to look into all those newly suggested towns, thank you! And thank you Miconew for the new itinerary idea, I will look into it!

7

simple leave out Limerick and from Doolin drive south
along the N67 to Killimer -
see...SHANNONFERRIES.COM / see the map
if you have time drive to Kenmare, County Kerry.
and swap Blarney for COBH

Edited by: yofletch

Edited by: yofletch

8

have you already booked a rental car ?
and are you intending to drive yourself ?
for some driving tips -
see ROTR.IE /
and ....AAROADWATCH.IE
buying fuel.....PUMPS.IE /
July and August is the busiest time of the year
so book your accomodation soon.

9

I've only been to Dublin, Doolin and Galway but Doolin in particular was by far my favourite place. The hike from Doolin along the cliffs of Mohr was amazing. It's a full day and a lot of walking but it's so good and the views are spectacular.

I suppose you could just drive to the peak and take a look from the top but the hike from Doolin is the way to go if you really want to soak it up and remember the experience forever.

One full day in Doolin is the minimum I think. An early start is important for hiking to the cliffs of Mohr so either arrive in Doolin the night before or early morning to get started. It's a fairly easy hiking and there's a trail right along the edge that we followed all the way up, and this way takes longer. The weather doesn't always allow for this trail to be used but i walked it on a bright sunny day with no wind, otherwise we would have taken the main trail that's quicker and safer. We walked back along the main path. So yeah, i highly recommend Doolin and hiking the cliffs of Mohr.

As for the Castles, I've been to many and they don't get boring to me but I like that stuff. I like to look through all the various archer slots and try to picture what a battle might have looked like. I guess i have an active imagination but that's why I go to places like that. I'd say you should go to at least one Castle and if you like it, go to another, if you don't, go do something else...

10

Thanks for all the suggestions! Pictures of Doolin look amazing, the real thing must be mind blowing! And thank you for the links about driving! I will check those out asap!