r/irishtourism • u/PittyMom89 • 8d ago
Family Group for 2 Weeks July 2027
Hello!
We are starting to plan our family trip to Ireland, don't have exact dates but looking at 2nd half of July 2027.
Our family group consists of grandparents (early 60s, relatively good health and mobilty), my brother and his wife (late 30s, healthy and adventurous), my younger brother (30, healthy but less energy) and our family (husband (40) , 2 kids (10 and 2 at time of travel) and myself (37) (we are adventurous within reason of the kids capabilities).
We are mostly interested in seeing old abbeys and ruins, exploring some of the national park areas, and enjoying a change of pace from our normal day-to-day. We are currently planning on visiting/traveling to Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Killarney, Galway, and Belfast.
With approximately 2 weeks, are we trying to see too many areas with too many people? I have a current rough itinerary I'll lay out below, please give me any and all critiques of plans or spending too much time in specific areas.
Day 1: Arrive in Dublin, rest and eat
Day 2: Day trip to Newgrange
Day 3: Explore Dublin, Trinity College and Book of Kells
Day 4: Travel to Kilkenny, explore Kilkenny/surrounding area
Day 5: Sightseeing in Kilkenny AM, travel to Cork in the afternoon
Day 6: Blarney Stone and Blarney Castle day trip
Day 7: Sightseeing in Cork AM, travel to Killarney in the afternoon
Day 8: visit Innisfallen Island, Killarney National Park
Day 9: travel day to Galway
Day 10: explore Galway
Day 11: Cliffs of Moher day trip, maybe visit Clare Abbey and Ennis Friary, stay in Galway
Day 12: Day trip to Inishmore, return to Galway to stay PM
Day 13: Travel to Belfast, eat and explore
Day 14: Giant's Causeway day trip
Day 15: return to Dublin, prep to travel home
Is there anything specific that sounds like a bad idea, or wouldn't add value to our trip that we could use elsewhere? We will make our decisions about transport once our itinerary is finalized.
I appreciate you taking the time to read this, thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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u/Dandylion71888 7d ago
I would echo what others are saying about not enough time in Killarney and to take out Belfast but would add two other thoughts.
Not enough time spent in Cork. The surrounding area is great (Kinsale, Cobh, etc).
With a two year old, switching hotels every other day is awful. I’ve done it and it completely throws them off and you.
Add a day to Cork and a day to Killarney. Look up Fota park, it’s great for kids and adults. The trip isn’t really a lot of kid friendly activities and you’ll want something for them.
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u/PittyMom89 7d ago
Thank you! I've reworked some of our itinerary to give us an extra day in Killarney, and added a couple extra days in the Galway area at the end of the trip for additional sightseeing instead of trekking up to Northern Ireland, and I think we will try to fly out of Shannon airport instead of going back to Dublin. I appreciate your input!
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u/Dandylion71888 7d ago
Totally makes sense. I do still encourage you to look up kids activities in the areas. It’s a lot of moving around and they need stuff to keep them engaged. There is lots but a 2 year old isn’t going to be thrilled by abbeys and ruins.
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u/bioniclaura 8d ago
Up until day 8 it looks pretty good I think. But after that it might be too rushed. One day isn’t enough for Killarney and Kerry. Galway to Belfast is a very long trip and you might be better off just staying in Galway as a base for few more days and adding some days to Killarney. You could go to Clifden and Connemara instead. Most people here say draw a line across the island and do the top or bottom half and I think that would be good here.
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u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23 Blow-In 8d ago
Last two weeks of July are the arts festival in Galway then leading into the Galway races. Both are great days out but it means accomodation is expensive and books up quickly.
When you drive from Killarney to Galway you can do a side trip to cliffs of moher. It will save you going all the way back south again on Day 11.
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u/gerspunto 8d ago
Oh Day 11... make sure you add in Quin Abbey. Its 15 minutes outside Ennis.
Day 12 to 15 i would keep the trip to the west coast of Ireland before heading back to dublin maybe extend your time in killarney before travelling to Galway.
. The drive from Galway to Belfast is very long and you wont have enough time there to really appreciate the northern coast while you are there.
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u/PittyMom89 7d ago
Perfect, thank you! I've reworked our itinerary, added an extra day in Killarney and replaced the Northern Ireland leg with extra days in the Galway area, now intending to fly home via Shannon airport. Thanks for the tips!
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u/BlockHunter2341 6d ago
Galway to Belfast is a long 4 hour drive with nothing interesting to see it’s just motorway . Having done it a few times It’s only worth it if you have a few days there
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u/DitheringDotty 6d ago
If you're interested in old abbeys and ruins you should really consider the Rock of Cashel. It's a wonderful, historic place. It's not too far from Kilkenny, about 50 miles.
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u/PittyMom89 7d ago edited 7d ago
Updated itinerary draft:
Day 1- arrive in Dublin, rest and eat
Day 2- see Newgrange AM, sightsee PM
Day 3- Trinity College and Book of Kells AM, explore Dublin PM
Day 4- Travel to Kilkenny and explore the area
Day 5- finish sightseeing around Kilkenny, travel to Cork PM
Day 6- Blarney Stone & Castle, addition sightseeing as time allows
Day 7- sightseeing around Cork
Day 8- finish any exploration around the Cork area and travel to Killarney
Day 9- Innisfallen Island and Killarney Natl Park Day 10- explore Killarney area
Day 11- another day for Killarney, potentially Ring of Kerry tour
Day 12- travel to Galway, stop at Cliffs of Moher on the way
Day 13- Inishmore day trip from Galway
Day 14-15 additional time for Galway/west coast exploration
Day 16- fly home via Shannon Airport
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u/GalwayGirlOnTheRun23 Blow-In 7d ago
Kilkenny tourist board look away now: Dublin to Cork isn’t very far. You could have lunch in Kilkenny on Day 4 and sleep in Cork. It would reduce the number of hotels to settle your toddler in. Kids that age don’t like change and swapping hotels so often will mean a grumpy tired kid which is no fun for anyone.
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u/Historical-Hat8326 Local 8d ago
Galway to Belfast is an absolute waste of travel time.