Ken,

You may be trying to cram a bit too much into your trip. Remember it is a vacation not a marathon. Avoiding the "green blur tour" will add greatly to your enjoyment of Ireland. The country does look tiny on the map but when you consider averaging 35 mph on the roads you will understand that it takes a lot of time to drive from place to place. You must also add time for seeing things, photo ops, lunch, finding B&Bs, etc. However, if you only want to zip through the countryside and that is your preferred style of travel, more power to you.

As for your itinerary, currently you are zig zagging all over the place. Try for a smooth route that circles through the various places you want to see, rather than darting here and there. You might also consider a base for the southwest where you can spend a couple of days and do day trips from there. Killarney and Kenmare are good towns for that.

Many B&Bs are closed in February. Sometimes even if it says in the various books that they are open they will close down at will in the off-season. Consequently, it will be just a bit more difficult to find B&Bs in Feb. Pubs with rooms are a mixed bag. Some are fine and others are not. Take a look at my "Lodging" page for a list of great places to stay in Ireland. You can just knock on the door of B&Bs and find lodgings but that takes time. I suggest you start looking before dark if you want to wing it.

As for early breakfast, generally B&Bs serve between 8 - 9:30.  You might get it earlier if you ask and it fits into your hosts schedule. Otherwise, your hosts will leave you something to snack on by yourself before your quick departure. If you will be leaving before breakfast or extremely early, be sure to pay for your B&B the night before.

Planning a good itinerary takes time and practice. People rarely get it right on the first try. I suggest sitting down with a map, your "must see" list and your calendar to see what you can come up with on your next try. Keep at it and you will get one that works out perfectly for you.

Michele

Hi Ken:

I agree that your plan does some zig-zagging but it wouldn't be hard to correct. Her's an alternate that gets you to the same places and slows the pace just a bit.

Dingle,  Kemare (2 nights), Kinsale, Cashel, Kilkenny, Dublin (2 nights).

You could switch the early two night stay in Kenmare for any of the other places. Dingle would be my first choice just because you'll be arriving there early. I like it from Kenmare because there is so much to see from there. From Kenmare you could easily see Beara and it's a big enough town with a number of good restaurants to handle you in the off season. It may be difficult to find many choices that are open on Beara, especially on the fly.

Bill