Hi! I just wanted to get a sanity check on the itinerary we have planned for our trip: We are leaving for Ireland on 5/18/06 and staying for 9 days. We don't want to be running around the entire time and don't plan on trying to see everything. so we have planned the following: Fly into dublin and pick up the rental car at the airport. The first day drive down through the Wicklow mountains and stay the first night in Kilkenny. The second day drive to Dingle with a stop at the Rock of Cashel. We will then spend nights 2-4 in Dingle. On day 5 we want to get up and start to head back to Dublin but across the middle part of the country so we don't backtrack on the part we drove through already. What is a good place to break up the drive from Dingle to Dublin for one night? We want to arrive back in Dublin on the evening of Day 6, returning the car at that point and staying there for the rest of our visit - days 7-9 - flying out of the Dublin airport on the morning of Day 10.
And something that keeps bugging me, are we crazy for trying to see some of the east and the west coast of ireland in 9 days? We would be better off just sticking on the east coast for this trip?
Welcome to the forum. You sound like you are open to some straight talk about your planned itinerary.
First, will you be arriving off a transatlantic flight into Dublin? If so you will be jet-lagged. I would suggest either driving to the Wicklow area or Kilkenny, not both. That is too much driving for arrival day. Plus I assume that you want to sightsee in Wicklow? You need time to do it all.
You are doing a lot of driving because of wanting to see Dingle. Is there any way to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon? That would solve your itinerary problems.
If you can't change flights it would make more sense to stick closer to the east coast. In Ireland you don't get anywhere fast. You will average 35 mph on small winding roads. The only motorways are near Dublin and a few other cities. My motto for Ireland is "Less is more".
Thank you so much for your reply. I think we are of the same frame of mind. So yes, we are flying non-stop from Philadelphia to Dublin. So it sounds like we should just spend the first few days in Dublin without a car, and then expore some more of the East Coast of Ireland via car. We plan on keeping the flight back out of Dublin to keep the airfare cost down.
Have any suggestions on a few overnight trips if we stay on the East Coast and fly in and out of Dublin? We want to see some country side as well as the city. Assuming we do the first couple of days in Dublin. Would including a visit to Belfast be too much travel as well?
I love this website, it is packed with useful information!
I have discovered that flights into Dublin and out of Shannon are not necessarily any more expensive -- since most flights that you would take out start off in Dublin, and stop by Shannon on the way out, like a bus :)
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