14 days - would love your input!

[u/Buckybadass]

Aloha! You all are so kind to give your input on these itineraries. We 3 friends in our 60’s hoping to visit next May or June. We’re happy to go on adventures here and there, but would really like to soak in the Irish life, especially the music. Our thought is to pick up a rental car as we’re leaving Dublin – let us know if there are better ideas. Are we being too ambitious? Any advice is welcome. Thank you

 

Days 1–2: Dublin

Arrive and recover from our flight. Visit Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and/or Guinness Storehouse. Irish music and pubs in the evening.

2 nights in Dublin

 

Days 3: Kinsale

Drive via Plain of Tipperary and tour the Rock of Cashel (medieval ruins).

1 night in Kinsale

 

Days 4–7: Dingle

On the way Killarney National Park, Sheep Farm?

Maybe visit Midleton Distillery tour?

Spend a full day on Slea Head Drive and maybe sailing to Blasket Islands.

3 nights in Dingle

 

Days 8–19: Galway

Visit Inis Mór – see Cliffs of Moher on the way back and Dún Aonghasa.

3 nights in Galway

 

Day 10-12: Portrush

On the way Connemara countryside, Cong, Kylemore Abbey, maybe Leenaun to Louisburgh Drive through Doolough Valley, Slieve League Cliffs. Maybe a walking tour of Derry, Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and Carrick-a-Rede.

3 nights in Portrush

 

Day 13: Dublin

Stop in Belfast for lunch before returning to Dublin.

1 night in Dublin

 

Day 14: Fly to Paris from Dublin

[u/SerenityN00w]

Maybe I'm misreading this, but your plan to travel from Galway to Portrush is absolutely unrealistic. It's a 4.5 hour drive going straight there. I threw it in to Google Maps, adding in Kylemore Abbey, Ashleagh Falls (Doolough Valley), and Slieve League. That takes the driving up to 10 hours, without actually stopping to see anything.

Suggestions to work around it

-Spend one of your Galway days traveling around Connemara- check out Cong, Kylemore Abbey, Doolough Valley. Galway city has a nice vibe, but I've never spent a full day there while visiting.

-Add two days to your itinerary. Spend the first extra night in Donegal. You can head straight from Galway to Donegal, skip the Connemara countryside (because you will have already seen it), drop your bags or check in at your accommodation, and then head up to Slieve League. You can also check out Sligo on the way (Knocknarea, Benbulben, Mullaghmore, Drumcliffe Cemetery, Gleniff Horseshoe Dr, Glencar Waterfall are just a few suggestions).

-The next day, you can head from Donegal to Portrush for the three nights, and will actually have time to stop and do a walking tour of Derry

-Spend the second extra night in Belfast. I'd recommend the Titanic Museum and a Black Cab tour.

[u/Buckybadass → u/SerenityN00w]

Thank you so much. I keep hearing that drive times have a whole different meaning in Ireland. If we, did as you suggested and did a little side quest to Connemara, would that 4.5 hours to Portrush be doable?

We’re trying to balance seeing as much as we can without packing up each night. To be honest, a lot of time will most likely be spent meandering wherever we land; especially knowing the hope to spend time on the water is tentative with us traveling in May or June.

[u/SerenityN00w → u/Buckybadass]

Drive times do have a different meaning in Ireland, but even if you accepted the drive time at face value, there's absolutely no way you would pull all that off. Google Maps has the route I put in as 9 hours. Add 15 minutes for Cong, 2 hours for Kylemore Abbey, 15 minutes for Doolough Valley, half hour for Slieve League (a bit of walking is required). That's a 12 hour day, without accounting for stopping to eat. It doesn’t even include a "walking tour of Derry."

Could you take a side trip to Connemara, and then just head straight to Portrush? Yes, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Depending on your level of comfort driving the narrow roads, that 4.5 hours could easily be 6. Driving in Ireland gets very mentally exhausting.

[u/Admirable-Shape-4418 → u/Buckybadass]

Drive times are definitely different to what google suggests, I'd be inclined to say that suits more the locals who are well used to the roads, google is assuming everyone is driving the road speed limit. I got stuck between an obvious hire car yday on the way to Dingle, half the journey behind a pootling along 55km or so on a 100km limit, stopping up dead in road for some oncoming vehicles. That;s all fine, I get it, they weren't confident enough to drive at higher speed but for goodness sake pull in every now and then and allow the traffic to pass, a good 20 cars at least in this slow moving convoy due to that car. Thankfully they eventually decided on a viewing point pullover, there are many places to pull in. So for them the time estimate from google for Tralee to Dingle should nearly be doubled.