First time to Ireland. Need itenerary help!

Try inputting your proposed routes into this site for estimated journey times:
http://www2.aaireland.ie/routes_beta/

It's all doable, though a lot of time driving. Not sure why you are heading for Ennis, my recollection is that it's a rather grim and unfriendly little town and you could perhaps stay somewhere more pleasant in Co. Clare easily enough, say Doolin or Miltown Malbay. But others may disagree - maybe I was just unlucky when I went there.

If you are flying out on Day 7 then it would certainly make more sense having another day in Dublin. However, I would suggest eliminating Waterford rather than Kenmare. I've never been to Kenmare but I'm told it's very nice. It's also close enough to Dingle, so getting there doesn't involve too much time, and you get to spend a bit more time in Kerry, which is very scenic.

If you want to explore Cork City, you might be better off staying the night there rather than in Kinsale. I would think it would make more sense to visit Kinsale during the day, perhaps have lunch there, and then return to Cork for the afternoon and evening. The AA site suggests you can get from Kenmare to Kinsale in just over 2 hours.

You've got a lot of destinations on this trip and I think you ought to be looking at reducing them.

As #1 says, Ennis is not an obviously attractive place. A lot of posters here also suggest that Blarney is an over-rated tourist trap (I've not been there myself but I bet they're right...).

Also be aware that the traffic in Cork city can be really horrific and you could spend quite a lot of time getting in and out. Fond as I am of Cork - I prefer it to Dublin personally - I'd actually suggest you drop it from your itinerary here, concentrating on the smaller places for the first part of your trip and getting your urban fix from Dublin at the end.

Kenmare is a nice town and worth visiting if you're in the area.

agree with pps.

I'd drop Kenmare and waterford..and maybe ennis.
I would spend 2 nights in Dingle.
I don' t know cork city well but people seem to love it.
Clonakilty is a lovely town.
Aviod wasting your holidays on the road...many of these small towns have a similar vibe so stick to a smaller area and chill more

Google MAPS and use the MY-MAP feature
forget Blarney and go to Cobh say COVE
more info : WIKIPEDIA.ORG / COBH.
visit the towns heritage centre.
Have you already booked your flights ?
as you wanted to go to Ennis why fly to Dublin
when you could have arrived in Shannon
for irish weather updates see....MET.IE /
If your going to the cliffs of moher
make a pitt stop in Doolin to gus o'connors public house
in the evening for a trad music session.
then cross the shannon estuary with SHANNONFERRIES.COM / MAP
15 minutees away in Foynes Co, Limerick see....FLYINGBOATMUSEUM.COM /
enjoy your stay

Thanks so much for all the advice!

The reason we were thinking Ennis is because it's close the the County Clare attractions and seemed like not TOO horrible of a drive from Dublin.

We were wanting to get Authentic Ireland through I drive around the coast back to Dublin, but #3 said it becomes all a little of the same. Is it reasonable to drive straight from Dingle to Cork/Kinsale and spend an extra night in Dublin? We want to enjoy and take in Ireland on our way, but we also don't want to be bored OR rushing our way through the countryside on the way back.

So does this sound better AND feasable without spending 6 hours a day in the car? Every website I look at gives me different drive times..and it'll be in March...so...?

Day 1: County Clare either Doolin or Ennis
Day 2: Dingle (night in Dingle)
Day 3: Drive to Cork/Kinsale area and spend night
Day 4: Drive to Waterford and spend night
Day 5: drive to Dublin
Day 6: Dublin
Day 7: Dublin

I really do appreciate all of your advice and help!

Use the aa website provided, it is a good measure of travel distance and not bad on travel time. However, aa can't take into account lashing rain, a tractor or a biddy in a bitsy Suzuki so I always consider it will take longer and at worst it doesn't.

I like your second itinerary far more than your first and Kinsale is a gorgeous coastal town and I think, if Dublin is your thing, you have done the right thing to add more time. Dingle is also a great choice.

March is in the colder, wetter, darker six months - on half the days you are here (on average) you can expect rain and there may even be some snow (although this is more likely in higher places). And you can expect one or two of those days to be heavy rain.

Ennis is on the surface a very ordinary Irish town, with not a great deal to see. But people go there because it has one of the very best Irish Traditional Music scenes in the whole country. So only go there if that is what interests you.

From one extreme to another, Doolin is tourist resort that those allergic to tourist traps might find a bit too much. It also tends to be a bit closed up out of season, because there isn't much else there.

If you want somewhere that is nice for the tourist, but with less of a tourist trap feel, and convenient for the Burren, then I think Ennistymon is really nice. Other options might be Liscannor, Lisdoonvarna, and Lahinch.

I agree with the advice #3 gives, but it seems to be a piece of advice many visitors to this forum seem very unwilling to accept. Driving in Ireland is mostly rather slow and you end up spending all your time in the car on itineraries like this, unless you force yourself to stop somewhere a few days.

Maybe I was unfair on Ennis. It's one of the few places in Ireland that I couldn't wait to get out of, but quite likely I was just unlucky in my experience of it. Sounds like Iviehoff knows it better, so I'll withdraw my reservation on that score. (Though Iviehoff, is Lisdoonvarna not a tourist trap par excellence? at least that's my recollection, from a brief visit on a school trip.)

It really depends on what you want to do. If your main thing is to drive around the coast and you're not bothered about seeing Dublin, then maybe your original plan is OK. Just do bear in mind the varius remarks about how much time you could be spending driving. Also, if you do try and drive along the coast much of the way, which may not always be possible, you'll be on minor roads and the driving will take even longer compared to the quickest routes between the points you have mentioned. The main road between Dublin and Waterford is well inland, and even if you head east from Waterford to Rosslare and Wexford, the main road back up to Dublin (N11) along the east coast is also actually well inland for most of its route, and probably not a very interesting drive, so I'm going to stick to my position that Waterford does not add much to your trip. The night in Kenmare on the other hand would indeed let you spend a bit more time in the countryside without driving around frantically every day. The west Cork coastline on the way between Kerry and Kinsale is very nice.

I would suggest seeing if you can get good maps of Ireland and comparing them to what you can see in a guidebook in terms of places of interest, you could map out an interesting road trip, and get an idea of where would or wouldn't be near the coast. Google Maps is not really very convenient for looking at small country roads. Have a look at www.irishmaps.ie . The regional maps available at http://www.irishmaps.ie/productlistingM.cfm?SeriesID=10 might be best for you; the more detailed 'Discovery' series is also available but you would need quite a lot of them to cover the various areas you are planning to visit and it might not be worth your while.

If on the day you return to Dublin you have the time, you coulld consider going through the Wicklow Mountains, if possibly stopping at Glendalough and heading back to Dublin via Sally Gap. Very scenic, but it would add at least an hour to your journey if you were coming via the coast and if you're coming all the way from Waterford at the end of a long road trip you may not be in the mood.

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