5 weeks driving

Masterplan · Newbie

5 weeks driving

murphy · Guru

After 6 trips to Ireland/Northern Ireland, I can give you my humble opinion. I would divide it up thus: Option 1: 6-7days/nights in NI, and the balance in the Republic. The 2nd option, more specifically, would be 2 nights Belfast, 2 nights in Portrush, and 2 nights in Derry. From there 2 nights in Westport or Donegal, 2-3 nights in Galway and then at least overnight in Ennis for the Shannon car switch (suppose you are upsizing for additional people or downsizing after dropping folks off at SNN.) You can probably see a pattern here, 2 or more nights stopovers...so you aren't packing up and moving every day. You might want an additional night in Ennis due to the Buren/cliffs of Moher, or catch the cliffs on the way south to Dingle 2 nights, then I would give either Killarney or Kenmare 3-4 nights since there is a lot to do/see in that area. From there 2 nights choosing between Cork City/Kinsale/Cobh, 2-Kilkenny/Cashel, on up to Dublin for 2-4 nights. You could see Glendaloch and Powerscourt Gardens on the way to Dublin, or take a day trip to see that area while in Dublin. Another day trip from Dublin would be Newgrange (Unless you stop there enroute between Dublin and Belfast). That still leaves you a few nights to play with, so you could add on to the above choices, or add 2 nights for Sligo and/or Donegal, in between Westport and Galway. See my "Bucket Lists" lengthy summary of a 4 week trip last Oct under "trip reports" on this forum. Hope this helps
Dan

tony2phones · Guru

Dublin to Shannon is 10 days to 10 weeks depending on what you want to do and see. same for Shannon to Dublin.

It depends on your Travel style, you could have key points for a week at a time and days to get between them or you could have a mix of 1 to 3 night stays at various points. Some locations lend themselves to be Touring Bases, with enough surrounding them to fill a week easily, Other places some people chose on hype might have you driving 30 miles to get to a road that takes you somewhere else.

Read Dan's trip report and others, decide where you would like to see, what you would like to do? The more information given in a question (within reason) the better and more focused the answers can be.

Welcome to the forum :)

Michele Erdvig · Host

Do you have any ideas of what you want to see and do in each area? Generally, I like to do a two or three-night stay in strategic areas to cut down on packing, unpacking and moving on. At times this can be broken up by one night stays when you are merely wanting to get from place to place along your line of travel. If you want a more in-depth experience, you could do 3 or 4 weeks in 3 or 4 different rental cottages around Ireland. It all depends on your travel style. Can we assume you will have a car in Ireland? Or will it be public transport?

Tell us some more so we can help you refine your trip.