Dublin to Waterford

Lexi1818 · Member

Dublin to Waterford

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

While a lot depends on your touring style and interest level, I can't imagine that you could 'DO' all four sites in one day. Even assuming that you only spend one hour at each location (and I personally think that is WAY too short), that consumes 4 hours -- exclusive of meal, photo and bathroom breaks. According to: http://www.theaa.ie/routes/ that trip is 121 miles (194 Kilometers) and would take an experienced, Irish driver about 3 1/2 hours of drive time. I would estimate it taking you closer to 4 or 4 1/2 hours. LOTS to see and do along the way, too!

If these four places are 'Must See', you could tour your way to New Ross (Dunbrody) and spend the night there. Then, if you arrive too late to visit the Famine ship, you have the option of visiting it the following morning, before heading to Waterford, enroute to Cork.

Some ideas along the way: The first few days of this trip report: http://ireland.activeboard.com/t49038325/scenes-from-a-wedding-april-2012/

Also, some info, here: http://ireland.activeboard.com/t44203126/abbeying-ireland-again/

murphy · Guru

I agree with Bob. For our first trip to Ireland, We arrived at the Dublin Airport about noon, cleared customs, secured a car and headed south. Stopped at Powerscourt and had a decent 90 minutes to take it all in. Then on to Glendaloch. Arrived just as the visitors center was locking up. Spent about an hour wandering around the area nearby the center, then had to leave to get to our B&B near Avoca for the 6PM check-in. We were disappointed because we would have liked to spend more time there. (We are returning this fall and will allow at least a half day for Glendaloch!) The next day we visited Avoca Hand Weavers, Dunbrody Famine ship, and the old Waterford Crystal factory. That took the whole day and we got to Dungarvin about 6PM. We always figure about 3 main tourist attractions per day is about the maximum, providing they are close together. With the 4 you mentioned, maybe doable, but you better depart about 6AM and figure to go 12-14 hours. Not my idea of a vacation! We have found after returning to Ireland another 4 times: "Less is better!". We've learned to slow down, somewhat, and prioritize our stops, so if time runs out, and we have not gotten to the bottom of our list for that area, we figure to return someday! Regards, Dan

Lexi1818 · Member

Thank you both so much! This will be my first trip to Ireland with my husband for our 10 year anniversary so we are definitely newbies:) It is hard to judge driving time by the distance since in the states we would be able to get to a location much faster, so it helps so much to hear the estimated drive time. We want to see a good bit of Ireland while we are there but definitely don't want to feel too rushed so I think we will try to pick only a couple of activities that day so we can enjoy them. Thanks again for your help!
-Alia

Michele Erdvig · Host

Any chance you can spend a night in Glendalough/Laragh on your way to Waterford? Keep in mind for your trip that each sightseeing stop will take time. Sometimes you can see a place in half an hour, and at others it is half a day. Just depends on your interest and the venue.

Lexi1818 · Member

I will look into that Michele. Thank you!