Hi everyone! I'm working on planning a trip to Ireland for about 8 people in August. This is going to be a surprise trip for my dad's birthday as Ireland is his biggest bucket list item. I'm early on in the planning, but I want to ensure that we're able to see as much as possible (without overloading us) since it's likely that my parents won't be taking a trip like this again!
I'm thinking we stick to the Republic of Ireland (since it seems like trying to hit Northern Ireland would be way too much for one week) and book lodging in 2 different areas to split our week. Tentatively, I was thinking we get one place in Galway for 3-4 days and then one place in Killarney, Cork, or Waterford for the remaining days. We would stay in Dublin when flying in/out. If we were to commit to Galway for 3-4 days, what location would you recommend for our other main lodging spot? As I mentioned, we want to see/do as much as possible without being unrealistic. We will be renting cars so do not need to rely on public transit. I would love any advice or recommendations that you're able to give!
Editing to give an idea of tentative week plan (but as mentioned, I am VERY early on in the planning and haven't nailed down many specifics):
Day 1: Dublin (traveling in)
Day 2: Dublin/Galway
Day 3: Galway
Day 4: Galway
Day 5: Galway/Killarney
Day 6: Killarney
Day 7: Killarney/Dublin
Day 8: Dublin (traveling out)
With Galway as the jumping off point, we'd look to hit Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Aran Islands, Connemara National Park, Pubs/Live Music.
With Killarney as the jumping off point, we'd look to hit Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park, Cork.
Would love to see if there's any rugby games that we could attend, but I honestly haven't looked into that potential at all yet.
For the Killarney part, you don’t have time for all of those activities. In reality you have one full day in Killarney plus an afternoon the day you arrive, and a morning the day you leave. The Ring of Kerry may look like 3-4 hour drive, but when you add in photo stops, lunch and exploring some of the attractions like the Kerry Cliffs, it’s an all-day thing.
Killarney to Dingle is closer to 2 hours each way than what Google Maps says. If you want to add in driving Slea Head, or a boat trip or even lunch in Dingle Town, that’s 6-8 hours at least.
You could stop in Cork on the way to Dublin, but there won’t be a ton of time to see too much. Or just use that time for Killarney National Park and leave later in the day.
I always use 1.5-2x the driving times suggested on Google Maps, and I have a lot of experience driving on those tiny twisty roads.
Thank you for this!! I did end up adding an extra Killarney day after I posted this- do you think one extra day would be enough or should still plan to cut down on activities?
Appreciate your insight!!!
Definitely add a day for Killarney
With 2 full days, one for the Ring of Kerry, one for Dingle, you will be in much better shape to do them all. It will still be a lot of driving, but you have a better chance. You could also consider doing the Ring of Kerry via a bus day trip, that way everyone can enjoy it without the drivers in the group being exhausted for the Dingle day trip.
Edit: or drive the Ring of Kerry and do Dingle as a bus day trip.
I was thinking about looking into tours for one of those so that’s good to hear. Thanks for your help!
Galway to Killarney is the only part of that where you need a car. You will not need a car in Dublin itself. Dublin is a compact and relatively flat city, so it is easy to walk around. A car would just be parked up for your time there. You can get a bus or train to Galway from Dublin, so no need for a car. You could do public transport from Galway to Killarney, but it is more awkward, so a car could be useful. Killarney to Dublin by public transport is easy, so no need for a car on that leg of your journey. Sit back, relax and enjoy your holiday, and let someone else do the driving.
Great, thanks for your input!!! Super helpful
You could stop off at the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren National Park on your way to Killarney, so Days 3 and 4 could be Connemara and/or Galway Bay or one of the Aran Islands. You'd need to get up early though on Day 5, and hopefully you'd have decent weather - but if you have a couple of hours, wait and see how it changes.
I wouldn't bother with Cork from Killarney. There's enough closer to Killarney to keep you interested.
Regarding sports - rugby is all very well, but have considered Hurling or Gaelic football instead? They're very popular in Counties Galway, Kerry and Clare.
This is great info, thank you so much!
No, I haven’t! I’ll have to look into that now!
We did this exact itinerary and then did a lot of day trips and it was great. Bravo on not overloading!! The drive back, Killarney to Dublin has castles along the way. Leave early and plan to stop. And we love the Aran Islands. Take the tour that brings the boat by the cliffs and the tour bus takes you to hike around the cliffs. That way you don’t have to drive there on another day. Also, we loved Galway and Killarney and we loved the countryside. Dublin was a lot of fun too!! This will be a memorable trip.
Ahhh yay! Love to hear other people having a good time with a similar itinerary haha and oh that sounds great, I'll have to check that out!
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No rugby in August, season starts end of September/ early October.
Okay, great to know, thank you!