6 - 8 day, first time in Ireland, Self Driven can't miss sights. Please help!

Hi All,

I am planning a trip to Ireland with my wife. This will be our first ever trip and I want to try and see as much as possible. I have chronic kidney disease and may not get a chance to go back. I understand more time would be better, but it is what it is as they say.
I would like to start in Dublin and see as much as possible driving from one destination to the next. Touristy stuff is OK, hidden local sights are better, avoiding busses is best. I plan to come towards the end of April and have hotel points to utilise for a chain that begins with a Big M, if that helps. Also looking for advice on driving and rental.

Thank you all!

Tim

Hi Tim,

April/May is a super time to visit, the days are getting longer and the weather is pretty nice too!

A wonderful route from Dublin would be traveling up Ireland's Ancient East, plenty of history and legends to fill your time as you make your way up towards Belfast and Northern Ireland.

The Causeway Coastal Route was voted one of the best drives and it certainly lives up to it with some lovely coastal scenery, places to visit and of course Game of Thrones locations too, including visiting some of the doors made out of the two trees that fell down in a previous storm.

Carrying on into The Republic of Ireland and the start of the Wild Atlantic Way takes you past some more wonderful coastline and lots of places to stop and take in the views. Head down towards Galway and take in the delights of this city and surrounding areas.

An alternative route, as you have a limited time with us, would be down from Dublin towards Cork, around the coast to Killarney, County Kerry and then up towards Galway again before returning to Dublin.

For accommodation, with have an approved accommodation search page which would be useful, enter a destination and a type to see what is available. I have preselected Belfast and Hotels but please feel free to change the type and destination to best suit your needs.

Regarding vehicle rental, please take a look at our information on driving on the island of Ireland, we do drive on the left, most cars are a manual drive but you can choose an auto option, check with any supplier for availability and their terms and conditions regarding insurance and deposits as these vary. 

I hope this gives you lots of inspiration, and I'm sure your fellow members and some industry partners will be able to add to this list!

If you need any more help, just let me know!

Martin

Hi Tim,
If you are travelling northwards from Dublin, on your way to Belfast, may I suggest you make a stop off at the Navan Centre & Fort, just outside Armagh?
This is an archaeological site dating back to 95BC, found to be the ancient capital of Ulster and seat of the High Kings. We have links to St. Patrick, Brian Boru and the O'Neill Clan and an abundance of history to explore. In order to bring this to life, you have the option to visit our Iron Age dwelling which is a recreation of an original Celtic dwelling place, where our real life characters show you how the Celtic people would have lived, including interactive demonstrations of cooking, battle and hunting skills, craft-making, etc.
We have free onsite parking and a coffee shop serving freshly made scones. Our website, www.navan.com, will provide you with further information and some images of what we have to offer.

Best wishes and we hope you have a fantastic trip,

Matthew

Hi Tim, 

I noticed you said you were interested in renting a car yourself while you are visiting here in April, but if you were exploring different options you should take a look at our website.
Vagabond tours is the perfect small-group vacation for people who don’t want a large group coach tour, but still want to fully experience the grand country they are visiting. We have two types of tours Vagabond and Driftwood. I would recommend a Driftwood tour, if you want a relaxed paced vacation.
Our tours specialise in showing our visitors the hidden gems of Ireland by going off the beaten track as well as some of the more touristy places. 

Our range (6 to 11 days in length) of fully guided vacations combine imaginative mixtures of breath-taking scenery, historical sites, local culture and cosy accommodation. Instead of large coaches we use smaller 16 seater mini coaches, so our group sizes are smaller and more flexible and more personal.

Here is a link to the different tours we provide around Ireland if you wish to take a look. Even if you are not interested in a guided tour you can still get some ideas from our website on where to visit while you are here as we have our full itineraries posted. https://vagabondtoursofireland.com/our-tours-of-ireland-2/small-group-tours-of-ireland/

We hope you have a fantastic trip to Ireland!

The Vagabond Team