itinerary suggestions

blondie · Member

itinerary suggestions

gsmith · Veteran Member

We stayed three nights in Killarney and spent one of the days seeing Inch Beach, Dingle and Slea Head Drive. Easily doable.

-- Edited by gsmith on Friday 7th of November 2014 03:24:16 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Welcome to the forum. You have plenty of time for planning and we are here to help. A few good spots for day tours are Killarney, Galway and Dublin.

I suggest you sign up for newsletters from your airline of choice and monitor their website to see what airfares are.

Here are a couple of articles that will help with your trip and planning:

http://irelandyes.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/plan-your-trip-to-ireland-in-ten-easy-steps-2/

http://irelandyes.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/how-much-does-a-trip-to-ireland-cost/

Let us know if you have any other questions as you proceed.

tony2phones · Guru

I might suggest land Dublin and Express bus to Galway. Leave Dublin to the end before you fly out from there.

Inis Mor in October will be weather dependant and I would advise against a night over there unless the weather is on a good spell (which you won't know until you get here) its not just a case of going over, its being able to get back the following day. Not a problem October is off season and you can be flexible with accommodation.

Down through Clare and collect a car from Shannon if you decide not to rent a car whilst in Galway and just use available tours. Ennis always gets my vote for a night but there are options. Even those who have only read about Ireland want to go to Dingle.. In October you might even meet some locals.

Killarney is a great base for the whole of Kerry and north Cork. There are some good tours but to get the most of Kerry you might want to get off piste a little.. Beara just lower on the Kerry/Cork border gives more bang per mile than Dingle and despite being the same size gets only a minor % of the visitors,, (too remote for tour bus's)

Blarney is not about snoging the rock, the Castle grounds are really good even off season and the Mills are a good shelter and gift shop if the weather is a little off.

Between Cork and Dublin there is the direct route via Cahir and Cashel or a detour by Kilkenny which would also make a good overnight option.

blondie · Member

What if we did the opposite, landing in Shannon and ending in Dublin? Maybe we could stay in Ennis for at least one night. My thought is we don't rent a car for a couple days until the driver gets over jet lag. So maybe you guys could fill in the blanks for me. Day 1- land in Shannon, overnite in Ennis Day 2- Ennis Day 3- pick up car, go? Day 4- ? Day 5 ? Day 6 ? Day 7 galway Day 8 galway Day 9- Dublin Day 10- Dublin Day 11- fly out of Dublin How would you fill in the spaces? I mentioned Kilarney mostly previously because I liked the idea of using a shuttle bus to get to some attractions. Is there enough to do in Ennis for 2 days without a car or should we cut one night out and go elsewhere? As you can see I'm very open to most anything. I'm sure we will be happy wherever we go.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

If flying into Shannon, your best option would be to bus up to Galway and spend your first couple of nights there. Galway, Killarney and Dublin are the key 'Touring Hubs'. You will find far fewer options in other towns.

Ennis was mentioned as an 'easy-pace', interim stop between Galway and Killarney, that affords the opportunity to visit some of the 'Top Ten' Irish spots, like the Cliffs and the Burren. There's SO much more in Clare that's worth seeing, too, but you really don't have the time, this trip.

From Killarney, you could take the train right to Dublin in about 3 1/2 hours. Driving will take between 5 hours and all day, but it's mostly all on great roads and will afford the opportunity to visit a number of sites: Blarney, Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Rock of Dunamase and Kildare town ( a personal favorite!) are just some of the attractions that are possible stops -- but you won't have time to visit them all.

blondie · Member

Ok what do you think of this? Arrive in Dublin, stay 2 nights, train to galway for 2 nights. Weather depending we could do a trip to Aran Island or day trip to Connemara. ( what would be anyone's here preference?). Rent car, drive to Doolin( 2 nights?),Killarney 2 nights, one night, Cork area, ( suggestions?) Last night in Ennis. Fly out in am from Shannon. Does this seem reasonable? Are these good choices? How would you change it?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Doolin is a very small place. Depending on what you want to do in the area perhaps one day would suit you. It is not too far of a drive from Galway. If you decide to only do one night in Doolin you could consider adding it to Killarney since there is lots to do in and from there. What are you planning for Cork?

tony2phones · Guru

Consider
Dublin 2 nights
Bus/Train to Cork for the night.
Collect Car from Cork airport, drive to Killarney over the Heally pass. 2 nights Killarney.
Up into west Clare, Ennistymon, Lahinch? or up to Kinvara? Doolin if you must for one night. (not my taste for a night out sorry)
The spare night use in the Connemara, Clifden for the Connemara, Spiddal for the Aran ferries (from Rossaveal) possible overnight Inis Mor?
Ennis for the last night, or two if you fancy exploring east or south Clare.

blondie · Member

Thank you for your responses. I will definitely rethink 2 nights in Doolin and adding a night in Killarney. I like the idea of spending several nights in a place. I had no plans for Cork area. Maybe we could leave Killarney and go straight to Ennis for a couple days and explore there before we leave?

blondie · Member

After talking to my friend who had volunteered to be the driver, she is feeling alittle hesitant about driving, so we are considering doing the trip by bus, using the Open Road pass. We would basically follow the same plan but take day tours,or hackneys from the towns we stay in. What do you all think? I m still thinking 2 days, Dublin, 2 Galway, 2 Killarney, 2 Ennis, . That gives me 2 extra days. Should I just add on a day to one of those cities or go somewhere else? Do they have enough day tours from them to take up 3 days?

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Let me begin by saying that MY personal preference would be to self drive. Never-the-less, what you propose IS very much do-able via public transport.

You could EASILY spend 3-4 days in any one of those three towns, between available tours and sites IN the town. With a 2 Dublin, 3 Galway, 3 Killarney and 2 Ennis trip, you should be more concerned about what to choose from, rather than if you will have enough choices!

Galway: A day trip (or overnight) to the Arans, A daytrip through Connemara, A daytrip to Westport, Croagh Patrick and Castlebar, PLUS, all that there is to see IN Galway: Spanish Arch, Shop Street.Quay Street, Eyre Square, etc......

Killarney: Bus tour of the Ring of Kerry, Daytrip to Dingle, Gap of Dunloe Tour, PLUS Torc Falls, Ross Castle, all the different aspects of Muckross -- (House, Gardens, Traditional Farms AND Abbey!), the National Park.

Day Tours / Coach hire from Ennis:

The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Loop Head, Lough Derg, Limmerick and Adare are some of your options.

http://alltoursireland.com/20-day-tours-from-ennis

http://www.bushq.com/find/find/region.asp?Cols=Location&Fields=Ennis

http://www.4tours.biz/tours/day/

Dublin, of course, offers plenty of options -- Daytrips to Wicklow, Kilkenny, Belfast and Newgrange -- but the city itself is FILLED with museums, shops and historical sites, as well.

Michele Erdvig · Host

Excellent advice from Bob. One thing to keep in mind is time of year. Some of the tours from Limerick/Ennis start winding down in the fall. Best to contact the tour companies to find out if they are operating in October. You should be fine with the tours from Dublin, Killarney and Galway.

murphy · Guru

FYI. Muckross Farms was only open on weekends this past Oct Dan