Dublin in a day

This will probably be the first of several questions. We are taking a 6 day trip, flying into Dublin on an overnight flight, arriving early on 9/30/19.
We have our hotel booked for the night before and the night on the 30th. Never having dealt with jet lag, we are not sure what to really expect. I hope that we can sleep on the plane so we will be ready to eat breakfast upon arrival at our hotel. I do not want to sleep, as I am afraid we will waste the day.
Should we plan to use the Hop On Hop Off bus, or taxi's to where we want to go? Walking may need to be limited. But my list of must's include Trinity College, Book of Kells, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Grafton St. shopping, Temple Bar, St. Stephens' Green are definite. We are staying at The Shelbourne. I would like to add Christ Church, The Brazen Head, Epic Emigration, probably Jameson tour.
I am afraid Guinness tour will be too much time. I hope to head back to our hotel during the afternoon, possibly take a nap, then dinner at our hotel. Hoping to have something left to go back to Temple Bar or somewhere else.
I just turned 60, and tire easily. In fact, I am tired reading this all, thinking there is no way we can do this. I am open to thoughts, ideas, etc. I would love to add Howth to this, but another trip has to be in my future!
Thanks for any feedback!

Hi Mary-Ellen,

You certainly wish to hit the ground running when you arrive over with us in Dublin!

The DoDublin, hop on hop off bus is a great way to get around all of the main attractions in the city. It will take some time to actually visit each location so you may not manage to see them all on your expanded list.

The Shelbourne Hotel is right by St Stephen's Green and one of the stops on the bus route so this would be a great place to start your tour.

Congratulations on becoming 60 years young, plenty of time to visit us again and definitely visit Howth a wonderful place to see just outside of the city, super seafood too!

Where else will you be visiting on your 6-day trip?

Martin

Thanks, Martin! I am worried we have too much planned, but there are so many "must see" places! Do you know how long the DoDublin bus takes if we start at one spot and stay in the whole time? A good way to see where everything is. What mode of transportation do you suggest from the airport? 
We have considered taking the train over to Galway on Tuesday, but now thinking of getting the rental in Dublin, instead, so we can stop at one of the towns and maybe Sean's Pub on the way. Is spending just a couple hours in Galway, maybe lunch, a waste of time? From there, it's Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher. Still needing to book something in that area, as I hope to be at the cliffs for sunset. 
We then have a night in Kenmare, 2 nights in KNP, so hope to do the Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry (hope to include the ecotour during this drive), a jaunting ride through KNP. Pubs in town with music and dancing as many nights as possible. Or, at our hotel, maybe.Then, possibly over to Cork for a short visit. We stay at Powerscourt Hotel on Saturday, leaving on the 6th. I am not an "on the go" type of person, unless on vacation. Then, I want to do everything and nothing all at the same time. Crazy, I know..just hope we can fit it in. Oh, and my husband has to learn the roads!

Hi Mary-Ellen, 

That is an impressive list, It is good to see you are making the most of your time with us.

The DoDublin loop averages about 3 hours to complete but it is traffic dependant so sometimes as short as 2 hours and sometimes as long as 4 hours. If it were me I would be hopping on and off, to at least tick some places off the list, especially if the traffic is slow.

Getting from the airport, there are a few options, There are plenty of buses heading all over the city and they are fairly regular. There are also a few taxi ranks and if you want to do it in style you can even book a Chauffeur. There is more info on transport from the airport here.

I fully support the idea of getting a rental and making your own way to Galway, the drive is very pretty and there is loads to see along the way. Here are some suggestions for that drive. As for how long to stay in Galway, you could get a taste in a couple of hours but you will more than likely feel like you are leaving too soon, Galway's nightlife is fantastic, if you can squeeze it in I would do an overnight.

The rest of what you have described sounds like a grand plan,  I am glad to see Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher on that list, 2 of my favourite spots.

I hope you have a fantastic time, If you have any other questions or thoughts, I am more than happy to pitch in.

Good to know about the time frames on the bus. I will look into private transportation from the airport. My original plan was to stay in Galway 1 night, but I am afraid that we will run short on time doing an overnight in Galway, then the next day to do Doolin, the cliffs, and The Dingle Peninsula, then to a cottage in Kenmare in one day. Plus, I think I really want to do the cliffs at sunset, and we don't want an hour or so drive at night back to Galway. After Kenmare, we have two nights in KNP, with the plan to do Ring of Kerry. I take a lot of pictures...how much time should we allow for that drive? I want to include the ecotour in the middle of the drive. Do you think this is doable? 

Hi Mary, 

It looks like your plans are really coming together! :) Are you thinking of visiting Galway, then driving to Doolin, visit the Cliffs of Moher, and from there on drive on to the Dingle Peninsula in the same day? 

At the moment sunset starts at around 19:45, so if you would travel on to the Dingle Peninsula and then on to Kenmare, it will take you over 4 more hours of driving after that. Would it be an idea to not spend the night in Galway, but perhaps somewhere near the cliffs like Doolin, and then follow your way in the morning to the Dingle Peninsula and Kenmare? 

The Ring of Kerry will take 3.5 hours to drive, without stopping, so depending where along the way you would like to stop, you can estimate how much time to spend on this route. Some people spend a whole day or even more here, so it all depends on how many scheduled and unscheduled stops you plan in. :) 

Are you thinking of going on the ecotour around Skellig Michael? There are multiple daily departures, and the whole tour takes around 2 hours and 30 minutes. 

Hi,
We were considering doing all of that in one day and realized it is not possible. So, I decided to just stick to Doolin and the cliffs, but that means we do not stay in Galway overnight. I wonder if iwe can do anything in Galway with just an hour or two. (I may have to plan longer in Galway on a future trip...but never sure that will happen.) We are still looking for a place that night, Tuesday, around Doolin, even Liscannor, etc. 

Dingle and driving to Kenmare would be the next day. I picked Kenmare because I found a cottage to stay in. The next 2 days, we have in KNP. I hope to do ROK, and yes, the Skellig Michael ecotour on Thursday, depending on the weather, of course.

I hope on Friday to visit Killarney, and do a jaunting ride. If Thursday is bad, we would do ROK on Friday. All of these nights I hope to include Irish pubs for music and dancing. 

On Saturday, we are staying in Enniskerry, but wanted to visit Cork, if possible and drive up the coast. Sadly, we leave Sunday morning. 

Any ideas on must see's during this, please let me know. So many, though! Maybe we should just move there for a couple of months. Then, I could add tracking any relatives from long ago. 

Thanks to all for your ideas and links already! Do you have a recommendation for private travel from the airport in Dublin? The link I got does not include that information. Thank you!

Hi Mary, 

I think that's a great decision, and it you can definitely stop in Galway for an hour or two to get a sense of the city, and maybe have a lovely bite to eat. Galway is know for its delicious food! :) 

You can find some recommended places to stay in Doolin on this page. You can choose from all sorts of accommodation, like B&B's, hotels and more. 

The other days until Friday look great! Have you found any pubs you like yet? You'll definitely run into some wonderful ones along the way, but you can find more suggestions by clicking here. 

Are you staying in Enniskerry, County Wicklow? The drive to Cork is about 2,5 hours without stopping. Is there anything in particular that you'd like to see there? 

And it would be great if we could have you over for a few months so you can see it all! :) What have you found out about your ancestors so far? A lot of research can be done from home, and I'd love to see what I can do to help. Feel free to start a thread in our genealogy section about this. 

There are chauffeurs that can take you from Dublin Airport to the city and back, and you can find all available options here.

Hi Mary,

So tell us all about your trip!

Were you able to fit it all? I know you wanted to make the most of the week you had so I am looking forward to reading about your Irish Adventure 🙂