Road Trip overload?

Hello,

We are a couple traveling to Ireland for the first time in early October and will have a rental car.  Can someone please tell me if the following sounds too ambitious for a driving trip?

Day one:  Pick up a rental car at Dublin Airport.  Drive to Kilkerry with arrival around 10 AM.  Tour and stay for lunch.  Drive onward to Cashel to visit the Rock of Cashel.  Continue on to our first hotel in Kinsale for the night.  

Day two:  tour highlights of Kinsale and make our journey to Dingle for the night, stopping at sites along the way (any solid recommendations for "must-see" attractions en route?)  Overnight in Dingle

Hello Chris,

How exciting that you're about to embark on an adventure to the Emerald Isle! It's like diving headfirst into a book filled with captivating tales of castles, coastal cliffs, and charismatic towns.

Looking at your itinerary, it's ambitious but quite feasible. However, I noticed you mentioned "Kilkerry," and I'm wondering if you meant "Kilkenny?" 

Here are my thoughts on each day:

Day one: This is a big day, particularly given potential jet lag after arriving at Dublin Airport. Starting in Dublin, driving to Kilkenny by 10 AM should give you enough time to explore the city and have lunch. Afterward, visiting the Rock of Cashel and driving to Kinsale for the night is manageable.

Day two: Kinsale is a charming town known for its colorful streets and culinary scene. As for the journey to Dingle, a detour to Mizen Head, Ireland's most southwesterly point, might be worth considering. The scenic drive towards Dingle will also take you through Killarney National Park, which is stunning.

Day three: The journey from Dingle to the Cliffs of Moher, and then onto Galway is quite a long drive. Do consider the time spent at each location as well. The ferry ride to the Aran Islands from Doolin is indeed a charming experience, offering a view of traditional Irish life. Inis Mor, the largest of the islands, is known for its ancient fort, Dun Aonghasa.

Day four: Touring Galway and then driving back to Dublin is more relaxed than the previous days, giving you a chance to take in Galway's vibrant arts scene and historic Latin Quarter. The drive back to Dublin will take approximately 2.5 hours, so ensure you leave enough time for this.

Overall, your itinerary is packed but doable. It would be a whirlwind tour of Ireland, but it depends on your pace of travel. Do make sure to have some contingency time built in, as unforeseen delays can always occur. And most importantly, have fun and enjoy the Emerald Isle!

Safe travels!

Hi Chris,

That's a lovely itinerary - you'll be able to see so much in just a few days! 🤩 If you're an early bird, two activities per day sounds reasonable to me. It really all depends on when you start your day and how much time you'll like spending in each place. I personally would recommend allowing plenty of time to explore and enjoy any place, but I do think it can also be enjoyable to focus on one or two highlights. I would also recommend leaving spare time in case something takes a little longer than expected - for example when renting or returning your car, or waiting times at attractions. Where possible, it's a good idea to book tickets in advance to speed this up.

Kilkenny is a lovely smaller town that you can explore well on foot, soak in the atmosphere and find a nice lunch spot. You could even join a guided walking tour to learn about the city as you go!

Kinsale is another fantastic choice! After exploring the town, you could stop by the Old Head of Kinsale and also explore Killarney National Park. There are several walking trails of different lengths and difficulty grades, so you could easily pick one that suits your schedule for the day by the time you arrive.

The Cliffs of Moher are an absolutely stunning site, where you could easily spend a couple of hours. There are paths along the cliffs in either direction when starting at the Visitor Centre and I highly recommend taking a longer walk here to fully grasp the magic of this place. Of course it is also a wonderful experience to visit the Aran Islands. If you want to see both attractions in one day, you could consider joining a boat tour that takes you e.g. to the island closest to the mainland (Inis Oírr) and along the Cliffs of Moher in one trip.

Concluding your holiday in Galway is a great idea and I'm sure you'll have plenty of wonderful impressions and memories to take home. Have a read here for some useful tips about driving on the island. If you're taking the M50 ring road to reach Dublin Airport, be aware that you'll be required to pay your toll before 8pm the next day online or in branded Payzone outlets.

I hope these tips are helpful!

Best wishes,
Rebecca ☀️

Thank you both!

Arvind H...you're correct!  I mistyped the correct city...our first proposed stop is Kilkenny.  And fortunately, we will have arrived in Ireland three days prior to the start of our drive, spending our first two nights in Dublin before heading to the airport to pick up the rental car.

Again, thank you both for the wonderful information and confirmation.  Please let me know if you have any additional info.  

Thanks Rebecca & Arvind for jumping in!

I hope these suggestions already help you with your upcoming road trip, Christopher.
As Rebecca said, focusing on a few highlights every day would be beneficial (and it wouldn't feel like you are driving all the time)

Here are my two cents: for your second day, you could pick selected stops along our Southern Peninsulas. Mizen Head as said earlier, or maybe Bantry Bay on the Beara Peninsula, if you are looking to go off the beaten track. if you want a "must-see", then I can suggest the Gap of Dunloe on the Ring of Kerry. Since you come off-season, it will be more enjoyable

The Aran Islands ferry cruise is definitely worth it for a half-day tour. This will allow you to see the Cliff of Moher from the water and from above on the same day, as well as the islands themselves! 

Let us know how your plans are coming along!

Talk soon,
Antoine

Thank you, all for the wonderful ideas and inspiration.  It's becoming difficult to choose!  

I think we're set on our Day One itinerary.  

Day two creates some need for decisions, so I'm hoping you can offer more thoughts/opinions about our proposal.

Day two would have us start in Kinsale (but we will have arrived the night before, too late to see the town).  This leads to my first question, which is, how much time would you recommend spending in Kinsale?  We'll certainly need time for breakfast.  And maybe a walking town tour (hopefully in under two hours).  So, theoretically, this would have us departing close to noon, with our final destination being Dingle.  

We looked at the Ring of Kerry and it looks great!!  We used the following website:

https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/ring-of-kerry-drive/

It's very informative!  And in quickly reviewing it, the Ring of Kerry drive would not be feasible to try to "squeeze" in, as much as we'd like to!  (We want to have time to explore Dingle when we arrive in the evening since the following day will be long if we try to fit in the Cliffs of Mohr on our way to Galway).  

Would anyone be able to recommend a driving trip, between Kinsale and Dingle, departing Kinsale at noon, and having us arrive in Dingle by 3 or 4 PM?  It appears that the drive time from start to finish is 2 hours, 30 minutes.  Also, is an arrival time in Dingle in the mid-afternoon feasible to be able to tour the town and see highlights?  I'm guessing not...

Our Day Three is pretty well set up, which is Dingle to Galway.

Day four is Galway back to Dublin airport to drop the car off.  On this day, would anyone be able to make any recommendations as to highlights to see between the two cities?  We would be leaving Galway early afternoon (the car doesn't have to be back until 9 PM, so, with dinner, and accounting for the two-hour drive, I'm estimating we might have about 3-4 hours of available touring time.

As for our interests, we enjoy historical architecture, quaint towns with shops, and places to eat that either have in them or nearby, those historical sites.  We aren't looking for a multi-hour-long, in-depth historical perspective (our attention spans are too short! :) And our time is limited).  

Thank you again in advance!!

P.S.  I clearly know very little about Ireland!  Feel very free to correct any misperceptions I might have.  Or to suggest alternate locations, routes, or even destinations.  While we have hotels reserved already, they are changeable/refundable.

Thanks!!

Hello Christopher, 

I am very impressed with your travel planning! It seems like with that you will be able to fit in a lot of things into your road trip across the island and get to see some of the highlights of the Emerald Isle.

Let me share my thoughts on your current itinerary. 

Day 1 - It sounds like you're set.

Day 2 - There are a few different walking tours through Kinsale and it might be indeed the best option to get to see the highlights of this charming little town in a short amount of time. Kinsale Heritage Walks for example, currently start at 10:30am and last for a bit longer than one hour. There is a contact address on the website, so you could even send them an email and find out more details on what the tour entails. 

As for the drive to Dingle, I agree with Arvind here. Take in the stunning scenery of Killarney National Park along the way, but don't necessarily plan any longer stops here. This should get you into Dingle a little bit earlier and allows you to settle in and enjoy this little port town on the afternoon/early evening of day 2.

Day 3 - Again, it sounds like you're set.

Day 4 - You mentioned that you have some time in Dublin before you are starting this road trip. I would therefore suggest to spend the morning in Galway. A lot of the sights in Galway are actually free to visit, which might give you a wee bit more flexibility in deciding when it is time to make your way to Dublin? 

This is a great trip you have scheduled out there for yourself. Personally, I would allow a bit of time in places like Doolin and Galway for example, rather than fitting in another stop along the way. That way you have the time to truly experience Ireland while giving yourself some room for contingency, like the others already suggested. 

Please keep us posted in how you are getting on with your planning!

Thank you again for the wealth of information!  I think we are going to adjust accordingly, and leave Kinsale after a walking tour and maybe lunch, make a relatively quick drive to and around Killarney National Park, and just head straight over to Dingle.  

I will look in to what Doolin has to offer.  On Apple Maps, it appears to be quite small with lots of hotels.  But again, I know virtually nothing about Ireland.  So thank you again for all of the advice and tips!  Should any more occur, please feel free to let me know.  

With much appreciation!

Chris

Hi again Chris!

Sounds like you've got a great itinerary so far.

Doolin is indeed a small village but it has excellent pubs for traditional music and I found it really pretty (Fisher Street for instance). It's usually worth a stop if you are visiting the Cliffs of Moher anyway. Maybe it could be your lunch break for the day?

Before reaching Galway, I'd also suggest a small detour through the Burren if you can spare some time. 

Cheers,
Antoine