Hi all!

My gf and I are planning a trip to Ireland in May from 16-26 and I need some sanity check on whether it’s possible to see everything I’ve planned so far. We don’t have a license so we’ll be moving by train/bus depending on availability. The plan is not complete yet and I might add some activities for days that are not that busy (if there are any 🫣), but here’s everything I’ve got so far:

May 16-17: Dublin We arrive early in the morning and plan to explore the city (Trinity College, churches, museums and just walk around) On the 17th we have a concert in the evening, so I’ll be keeping that day mostly free.

May 18-20: Galway We plan on visiting Cliffs of Moher and one of the Aran Islands (still deciding between Inie Oírr or Inie Mór). Plus walking around Galway itself.

May 21-22: Killarney Walk around town and National Park. Also thinking about Ring of Kerry day tour but not sure whether it’s realistic or not.

May 23-24: Dingle Town, Pier, Beach and boat/whale watching if the weather allows. I also wanted to go pet lambs (Hold Baby Lamb) but afaik it’s difficult to get there without a car (would love to hear if there are any options)

May 25: Dublin Guinness Storehouse + anything we might have missed during the first day

May 26: Early Morning flight back

Is this itinerary reasonable without a car or are we trying to do too much? For the Aran Islands which one would you recommend? Is it possible to reach a goat farm without a car? Also, how humane are they in that place? I’d love to pet a lamb or a sheep, but wouldn’t want to cause any potential stress for them or support a place that allows this.

Thanks so much in advance!

  • You need to do the open top bus tour in Dingle, it’s the only way you’re going to see a beach and pet the lambs without a car/driver. Perfect way to experience Slea Head. They’re very humane places for the animals, most are small family run farms. There’s a lovely pet farm and ringfort on Slea Head too but I don’t think the bus stops there, it does stop at the baby lamb holding one though.

    It does stop at the ringfort/pet farm, or it did last summer anyway.

    Cool that’s perfect so.

  • As always. Ill suggest Howth. Try the Howth Cliffwalks. You can do it half a day.

  • Seems pretty good. And you can always skip some Stuff and chill if you feel you’re over doing it

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  • Just make sure you give yourself enough time to get to Dublin to Galway, Galway to Kerry, Kerry to Dublin and don't plan to do too much on the travel days in case of delays. Book the trains as soon as you can, and try book flexi fares that will allow you to reschedule if you need to. 

  • When in Dingle, I highly recommend (if feeling active) renting bikes and riding around the coast. It is a long bike ride, but absolutely stunning views along the way! It was one of my favorite experiences when I studied abroad in Cork for 6 months.

    Whatever you do, you will have a wonderful time as the country and people are amazing 🧡

  • I did 12 days in Ireland completely by transit in July. * I flew into Shannon, * Limerick (cliffs of Moher tour from here), * Galway (day trip from limerick ), * Killarney (ring of Kerry and national park) * Dingle (wanted to do wildlife tour but weather was bad. Was able to do cliff tour with rocky seas as it was in the cove. They will swap and /or refund if needed) * Cork (hoho bus, Blarney Castle) * Dublin * flew out of Dublin (technically day 13)

    Your ideas are doable but may need some fine tuning.

    Dublin first days. No issues. I would probably get the HOHO bus it’ll take you most places you will want to go. But the city is mostly walkable if you want to go somewhere next that is close to your current location.

    For Galway. I would get the earliest bus/ train option and do the Galway walking tour the day you arrive. I managed to see what I wanted within about 4-5 hours including stopping for food. I would probably do the Aran islands first and then cliffs of moher. Not sure of drop off time but for Limerick I was back by 4pm which would work for…

    leaveing Galway on the latest bus possible on the last day and have an extra night in Killarney so you can get an early start. Do the national park first - I did it in one day. Ring of Kerry Tour on the second day.

    Dingle. The bus is limited so it does need planning but it is very easy to get around. For me this was a last minute add on so I only had the 1 day /1 night and missed out on a lot (I will be going back to do more next trip)

    Dingle to Dublin will be around 6 hours and you will need to be on the first bus (around 7am if I remember) out of dingle if you want any time to do stuff in Dublin on your last day.

    What you could do if you choose to leave Galway at night like I mentioned, would be to switch dingle and Killarney. Galway to Killarney (or another small town commutable from Galway and to Dingle for one night). Go to Dingle and then Killarney on the way through to Dublin at the end ( that will knock two hours off your commute to Dublin and give you a bit more time for any delays etc.)

  • I would recommend Inis Mór over Inis Oírr for a first visit to Aran. There's a lot more to do and see.

    On the other hand, if you've only a short time Inis Oírr is gorgeous and you'd see most of it very quickly. I've a great soft spot for them there, plenty Gaeilge to be heard and lovely people. 

  • Get a car, as a person who has been to these places a few times you'll need it to make up time in busy spots like dublin, plus tour buses make you stay too long or leave roo early from some places, at least with the car you are in control of time.

    They don’t have a driving licence.