Advice on First Trip??

lyssamae01 · Newbie

My friend and I (both females in our early 30s) are traveling from the US to Ireland for the first time at the beginning of April and have come up with the itinerary below. I would really like suggestions as to what you would change, whether we are trying to do too much, where to eat and stay in the towns, etc. Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me! We are so excited for our trip!

Day 1 - arrive in Dublin at 5:45 AM and rent our car. Drive to Glendalough to see the monastic buildings on our way to Kilkenny. Overnight in Kilkenny.

Day 2 - Visit the rock of Cashel and the Holy Cross Abbey, then drive onto Cork to see the Blarney Castle. Drive to Killarney or Kenmare for the night. Which of these would you suggest???

Day 3 - either visit sights in Killarney, or drive the ROK. Which would you suggest? Overnight in Dingle.

Day 4 - do the Slea Head Drive and eventually make our way to Ennis via the Connor Pass. Overnight in Ennis.

Day 5 - see the Cliffs of Moher and the burren on our way to Galway. Overnight in Galway.

Day 6 - Drive Connemara. Overnight in Galway or Connemara somewhere.

Day 7 - see more of Connemara, and make our way back to Dublin. Overnight in Dublin.

Day 8 - see Dublin in the morning and get ready for our 3:45 flight out of Dublin.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Wow! Where to begin? confuse confuse

CAN you do this trip? Yes, BUT I can't imagine it will be all that enjoyable.

You have planned an overly-ambitious, but sadly, atypical -- first draft of a trip. It's what Michele refers to as a 'Green Blur'. cry cry

You will see a LOT of Ireland -- through the windshield -- and you will gain an INTIMATE knowledge of your Rental Car and each other, rather than of Ireland and the Irish people. hmm hmm

If it's any consolation, MOST of us have made the same mistake -- on our first 'Go Around'. aww

Ireland is a small country -- only a couple of hundred miles, East to West -- and not a whole lot further, from North to South. But, it is a DENSELY compact country -- FILLED with visual distractions that will slow you significantly. Michele suggest that you divide the planned miles to be driven by 35 -- As in, expect to average 35 MPH. For First Time visiters, I usually suggest an even lower number, of 30 MPH. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't, or won't be able to drive faster -- It means that your AVERAGE speed will probably work out to something in that area.

Let's break down some of the problems:

Day 1: Arrive Dublin and drive to Kilkenny, via Glendalough. The SHORTEST route for this runs about 100 miles -- and EXCLUDING the time you spend IN Glendalough, will take 3-4 hours -- MUCH of it on small, windy, and narrow 'Back Roads'. See details here: http://ireland.activeboard.com/t56817756/driving-from-dublin-airport-to-kilkenny/

After an over-night flight, that's 'do-able', but probably too much. I would skip Glendalough and head straight to Kilkenny. You'll want time to see the sights THERE and Day 2 doesn't allow time for that.

Day 2: I would visit either Cashel OR Blarney -- NOT both. Each will take and hour, or two, to explore, PLUS your drive time. www.theaa.ie says Kilkenny to Cashel to Killarney is 130 miles and 3 hours. It will take you closer to Four -- plus your time at Cashel. If you are on the road by 9 (and it often could be closer to 10), you won't arrive in Killarney until mid-to-late afternoon. That won't give you much time to see the sights or enjoy the town. If you opt for Blarney instead of Cashel, that's 155 miles and 4 1/2 to 5 hours of drive time. Destining for Kenmare will ADD between 45 minutes and an hour to your drive time.

Kenmare/Killarney is the ETERNAL debate, as both have their fans and their own, unique charms. With the time allotted, though -- and the time of year -- I think Killarney is probably the clear choice.

Day 3: Driving the ROK and ending in Dingle will require 7 - 10 hours, with stops. Instead, you could choose, instead, to consider from options like a to drive to Kenmare, see Torc Falls, Ladies View, Ross Castle, or Muckross House and Abbey and/or walk in the National Park, before making the 1-2 hour drive to Dingle.

Day 4: Quite 'do-able', but LOTS of distractions along the way -- Slea Head, Adare, Bunratty and Limerick.

Day 5: If you want to see some of Connemara, it would best serve you to drive THERE from Ennis, on this Day and spend the night of Day 6 in Galway. That puts you closer to Dublin (about a 4 hour drive) on Day 7. It also allows a bit more time for Connemara -- which is WELL worth as much time as you can spare.

-- Edited by Itallian Chauffeur on Saturday 22nd of March 2014 12:18:27 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Welcome to the forum. Bob's advice is spot on. When making an itinerary those who have never visited Ireland before do not know the realities of travel in that country. The first - even second and third attempts at - itineraries usually have to be worked on to pare it down to manageable size. Here are the things to keep in mind:

Jet-lag can impact your first day (if arriving from a trans-Atlantic flight)
If you are used to driving on the right, you must get used to driving on the left.
Each sightseeing stop takes time.
Average speed on roads of 30 - 35 mph.
You will rarely depart from a B&B before 9 am.
Sightseeing attractions in Ireland generally don't open till 9 - 10 am and on weekends maybe 11 - 12.
Choose a section of Ireland to visit instead of trying to fit it all in.
You won't miss what you don't see. Instead you will enjoy the things you see much better if you have time to actually see them.

Having said all that, everyone has their own travel style. Many people think they will visit Ireland only once in their lifetime. They have the attitude "we will sleep when we are dead". They will definitely need a "vacation from their vacation" upon returning home. There is nothing wrong with doing that, if it is what you want. It is our job here on the forum to guide people to the best outcome for their travels in Ireland and to alert them to the reality. Then they can make an informed decision as to their travel style.

We are only here as guides. The trip and the decision is yours.