19 Day Itinerary Help
My friend and I are flying in and out of Dublin 24 May – 12 June arriving before noon. Renting a car from airport on 28th, staying B&Bs. Interests, in no particular order, ancient sites, historic sites, nature/scenery, good food, good conversation, good music.Our main concern is whether or not this is a reasonable itinerary in the 18 1/2 days we have. We've looked at the aarouteplanner and think most of this is doable but would like to drive no more than 4 hours on the long days leaving lots of time to see the sights and be able to stop about 5 pm so as to enjoy the evening. In particular day 5 and 6 look long to us as well as day 13. We have already dropped out the South and Southwest in favour of Donegal. Priorities would be The Burren, Connemara, and Donegal. The 4 nights in Dublin are not flexible as we are meeting others for the weekend. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
1-4 Dublin with bus tour of Newgrange on Day 2.
Decision – do we go out to Howth / Malahide for the day, spend a second day visiting the city, or take a bus tour to Glendalough during one of the remaining 2 ½ days? (see below 5). Shopping is not a priority.
5 Pick up car at airport and head to Kilkenny. We are considering driving to Kilkenny through the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough and on to New Ross then to Kilkenny. Is this doable or is it better to do the bus tour and drive straight through?
6 Leave Kilkenny stopping at Rock of Cashel, side trip to Cahir and then across country to Co. Clare. Is it possible to drive as far as Doolin or Ballyvaughan area leaving Cahir about 12 – 1 pm? Or should we stop earlier – suggestions??
7 Day on the Burren, evening in Galway
B&B booked for 30 & 31st near Spiddal so need to drive there – could we go to B&B and then back to Galway for evening?
8 Ferry to Inish Mor then back for dinner & evening in Galway.
9 Drive to Connemara- depending on weather we are hoping to drive the Sky drive to get there. Will this leave us a couple of hours to visit the park?
10 Stop at Connemara for night or drive on to Westport that same day?
11 Westport and area - possibly Achill Island.
12 Westport to Aughris via the Ceile Fields
13 Aughris to Ballyshannon / Donegal. Would like to stop at Carrowmore then head across country to Enniskillen (family emigrated from area in 1840’s). Tour around Lough Erske and up to Beleek and Ballyshannon/Donegal. Is this drive doable in one day or are we pushing it? Is it better to stop in Ballyshannon or drive on to Donegal?
14 West Coast of Co. Donegal - Killybegs. Slieve League, Dungloe towards Glenveagh Castle possibly Letterkenny. Any suggestions on places to stay?
15 Day in Northern Donegal – any suggestions of drives and / or places to stop for the night?
16 Drive to Coleraine stopping in Derry and then on to Bushmills area
17 Giant’s Causeway, Portstewart, Bushmills
18 Travel south inland via Co. Tyrone (family origins) to Drogheda/Slane area or would Trim be better to start in the morning to see Co. Meath prior to ending near the airport?
19 Day in Co. Meath and return car to airport by 9 PM. Lodgings booked already near airport with shuttle bus for morning.
20 Fly out midmorning.
Thanks to all for any help.
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1-4 I would do the tour of Glendalough from Dublin5 Drive straight to Kilkenny. By the time you pick up hire car, drive down and get to accomodation it'll probably be midday and you'll easily spend several hours wandering around the historic sights in the city.
19 I would stay overnight in the Trim area, see the castle in the morning and the other sites in the town, then head to the Hill of Tara, Slane and Newgrange before going to the airport. I just noticed you're doing a bus tour of Newgrange from Dublin. Is this flexible? You could visit it on your own with your rental freeing up one of your Dublin days.
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I would advise spending the morning in Derry, maybe taking a tour of the city walls and after lunch head through Limavady towards Castlerock stopping beforehand at Benone Strand (one of the best beaches in the area and near Downhill hostel.)I would give Coleraine a miss unless your'e stopping for shopping or for something specific and head straight to some form of accommodation between Bushmills and Ballycastle.
Next morning head to Carrick-a rede rope bridge(1-2 hours), Giants Causeway( 2hrs) and then Bushmills Whiskey Distillery(1-2hrs) in the afternoon(Portstewart Strand is also nice if time allows.) A mini railway line operates in the area in Summer I believe along a section of the coast.
Alternatively you could press on past Derry and drive straight to Bushmills/Causeway area and take in Derry on the way to Omagh via Strabane.
From Coleraine Head towards Cookstown and over to Omagh from here and spend the night, visiting the Ulster American Folk Park/museum( the best Irish/American immigration museum on the Island) the following morning which could take a half day.As far as I know it's open late in summer as daylight lasts to 9.30-10.00pm.
From Omagh head via Armagh ( ancient capital of Ireland and visited by St Patrick,) Newry, Dundalk and on to Dublin. Or from Omagh through Monaghan to Dundalk.
Marble Arch caves near Enniskillen are definitely worth a visit too as are the Fermanagh Lakes in good weather.
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- 1 Newgrange is totally flexible and we will do the Glendalough tour from Dublin and move Newgrange to end of trip. Appreciate the suggestion of driving straight to Kilkenny - it was looking a little busy trying to fit everything in day 5.
#2 We'd really like to see the Fermanagh Lakes area and were looking at doing it on Day 13. Thought we could go from Sligo area, across country to Enniskillen (have added the stop at the Marble Arch caves on the way), then drive the north side of Lough Erske, thinking of ending in Donegal. Is this too much to do in one day? Should we consider going direct from Sligo to Donegal Day 13 and do the tour of the Lakes the next day?
Thanks both for your help.
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We'd really like to see the Fermanagh Lakes area and were looking at doing it on Day 13. Thought we could go from Sligo area, across country to Enniskillen (have added the stop at the Marble Arch caves on the way), then drive the north side of Lough Erske, thinking of ending in Donegal. Is this too much to do in one day? Should we consider going direct from Sligo to Donegal Day 13 and do the tour of the Lakes the next day?From Sligo town you would hit Marble Arch first just before Enniskillen. From Enniskillen you can visit the Lakes. If you have to go to Ballyshannon you can take the A46 from Enniskillen and then you have a straight road up to Donegal. This can be done in one day though I'm sure you will sleep well that night . Caves in the morning, lakes after lunch and drive to Ballyshannon or Donegal late afternoon/early evening.I believe you can take boat trips. Daylight will be until at least 9pm on your dates so perhaps you could try to make your accommodation before this as driving in daylight in strange places is always much better than darkness.
