Which direction of travel is best

donnajb123 · Newbie

Which direction of travel is best

Michele Erdvig · Host

Donna, Welcome to the forum. How great that your daughter will be in Dublin this autumn for an internship. Great excuse for a visit.

It really doesn't make a difference which direction you go. However, if you list your preferences in order of what is most important perhaps we can recommend the best plan. For instance if Galway is low on your "must see" list maybe save it for last instead of first and if you don't get to it this time you will be okay with that. Does your week include any nights in Dublin?

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Welcome to Michele's Forum! biggrin

Either direction will work fine, if you are planning to spend the first day or so IN Dublin. If you plan to strike out from the airport on arrival day, lots of people prefer to head to Galway first, as the Motorway makes for an easier introduction to driving in Ireland, rather than the back roads and laneways of rural Wicklow or Waterford. If you are planning to skip Wicklow (Glendalough, Powerscourt, Meeting of the Waters), Kilkenney is a suitable, 'First-Day' destination, as well.

You might want to peruse some of the Trip reports that covered your proposed route(s) for ideas about sites and timing.

One thing to consider is day of the week and dates as city stays tend to be costlier on Friday and Saturday nights. It would also pay to determine if there are any special events (concerts, festivals) that might impact crowd sizes.

tony2phones · Guru

The only way it makes a difference is if there is a festival or event you want to catch or avoid? My general advise is to get on the road straight away and put time in Dublin to the back end rather than start and end double hit. However your circumstances might be slightly different to the norm.

donnajb123 · Newbie

We will be arriving in Dublin the morning of Saturday sept 3rd. Picking up our rental car and off to explore Ireland. On our must see list is doolin, dingle, cliffs of moher, Kilkenny, Killarney , kenmare, Waterford and the Blarney Stone. We are open to suggestions as to what to see and what to avoid. Friday September 9 we return to Dublin where we have rented an apartment until the 16th Thank you all for your help Donna

tony2phones · Guru

I try to avoid Dingle and Doolin but then I'm not a tourist smile

Basically you only have the 4th to the 8th for Ireland, with the 3rd being getting from Dublin to somewhere off a redeye (thats assuming you are not going to be spending a couple of days with your Daughter on arrival). And 8th to 9th being a run back to Dublin then the best part of 7 days for Dublin.

I might question Waterford especially if its just a crystal visit, you could though do Waterford from your Dublin base in under 3 hours each way by public transport

Consider getting the bus from Dublin to Cork (For Blarney and other options) as a starting point. Then rent a car from Cork airport before aiming to Killarney via Kenmare. I always say to put a night between counties Kerry and Galway so that you have the best part of a day for Clare. From Killarney you can drive round Dingle figure of eight to a night in Ennis. Then West Clare for the Cliffs and a call into Doolin before a night in Galway and run back to Dublin. The whole thing could be a crush unless you can get on the road day one. (I might have had the week in Dublin before heading out)