Hello! My husband and I are booking a trip in April, with 6 nights in Ireland from 5-11 April.
With such a short trip we want to be able to enjoy ourselves and soak up the culture without trying to fit too many stops and attractions in.
We are interested in culture, history and natural sights, and really want to visit different Irish towns such as Kenmare and Dingle rather than just stay in larger cities the whole time. Dublin is a must visit for my husband as a long-time Guinness lover, and we’ve allowed two days as we are unsure if everything will be open on the Easter Monday public holiday.
Our plan is:
Sunday night: Arrive in Dublin (from Brussels)
Monday - Tuesday - Dublin
Wednesday- leave early to drive to the Rock of Cashel, lunch in limerick, drive to Dingle, spend the night there.
Thursday - Ring of Kerry inc Kenmare, and then drive to Cork that evening.
Friday - Cork
Saturday- early flight to London.
Are we making a terrible mistake missing the Cliffs of Moher, Galway and Aran Islands?
Cork is an easier base to fly out to London, and we feel like with the time we have it’s not realistic to do both the west of Ireland and also the Ring of Kerry etc, hence our draft itinerary but I am worried we will regret not seeing the west (or Northern Ireland for that matter!)
Should we try and squeeze in the west, or will that just be too much time in the car and not enough time exploring?
Also interested in whether our driving days are too long, particularly driving from Dingle to Cork via the Ring of Kerry
This is a lot for 5 days, and you're going to run yourselves ragged. Move the second day in Dublin to the end. It will keep you from having to rush to the airport.
Try to just focus on Kerry and do the Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry. Otherwise, you'll be rushing around like maniacs and not have time to really enjoy anything. It's about a 5 to 6 hour drive from Dublin to Dingle, so you're wasting a lot of time just going betwen those two places. Trying to smash in Rock of Cashel, Limerick, and Cork on top of that is going to be crazy.
Thanks for the feedback! We were planning on flying out of cork rather than Dublin to save having to drive down and back as there appear to be direct flights. So you’d suggest dropping the Rock of Cashel, Cork and Limerick?
Skip limerick anyway. Cashel can be a stop on way to dingle.
Dingle is a long drive but visiting kerry is worth it.
Cork is cool but as its a short stay just aim to see Dublin and Kerry.
If you can fly out from Cork, that should be easier than going back to Dublin from Kerry, but I would just focus on getting in your Kerry activites, and then spending the night in Cork instead of trying to do a full day of activities in Cork on top of the Kerry stuff.
Do Galway and that area on another trip. You are packing a lot in as it is. Lots for the history buff in Dublin, like the GPO and Kilmainham Jail, which you need to book early.
It's good but:
Thats 5 and a half hour driving alone from dublin, Cashel, Limerick and Dingle. If you're going to Cashel, forget limerick. I'd pick somewhere along the way for lunch, or Cashel itself after your tour of the castle. You'll be driving through towns like mallow.
Make sure you put each journey into Google maps to see if you're ok with that journey time. Stopping for photos adds a lot of time onto journeys
I did a similar route to this last summer but in the opposite direction had 2 weeks.
The Guinness Storehouse is just a bar/tourist attraction so no brewing but if he is a fan go. It will be open on Easter Monday.
Dingle was one of my favourite places but think for your trip a bit too much to do.
I suggest dropping a day from Dublin have a Guinness or two on Sunday night then on Monday do the Guinness Storehouse and Kilmainham jail and have a walk about town.
Tuesday drive straight to Kenmare with a short stop at Rock of Cashel/lunch and use Kenmare as your base for the ring of Kerry.
Do go to Cork and try some Beamish and Murphys to complete the main Stouts. Each is subtly different.
The cliffs of moher is a over done tourist attraction, you can see cliffs on the ring of kerry
You say you want to see smaller towns, but then only plan to overnight in Dingle and stop in Kenmare briefly. You could drop one of the Dublin or Cork days and add a night in Kerry (Kenmare?) to make the sightseeing road trip less rushed.
I wouldn't recommend adding a Galway-Aran Islands/Cliffs of Moher leg to the trip, it's already a lot.
Since no one has said it, when you go to Rock of Cashel, save an hour to walk down to Hore Abbey - very cool ruin I enjoyed even more than RoC
Thanks for the tip!
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I think that's realistic. You can't do everything in that short time. And to be honest, the Cliffs of Moher are overrated and full of tourists; the Kerry Cliffs are not as big but equally spectacular, and a small detour on the Ring of Kerry
It seems like a long ride to Dingle just to sleep there and leave, IMO. Why not stop along the Ring of Kerry if thats your plan the next day?
Thanks - that seems to very consistent feedback! We need to have a more of a think and maybe drop a day in Dublin or Cork to add another day for Dingle, or stay in Kenmore / another ring of Kerry town and drop Dingle from the plan. Haha I thought I was being more measured with this trip but as we come from so far away, I do have a habit of squeezing in as much as possible to our holidays
Imo leave Dublin out, fly in and out of Cork, tell hubs he is a Murphy’s fan now…
Haha might be a hard sell! We did look at flying into Cork but unfortunately there aren’t any direct flights from our previous destination (Brussels)
Way too packed. Dingle or ring of Kerry, not both. And even at that you’re trying to do so much you’re missing out on the heart of these lovely places by not staying to enjoy them. Also no need to go into limerick for lunch just lunch in Cashel and keep going
Thanks - seems to very very consistent feedback so will have a think and edit! We are looking at staying in Kenmore and either dropping a day in Dublin or Cork, or leaving Dingle for another time, as we do want to be able to experience these destinations properly
Too much time in Dublin. You can get Guinness pretty much anywhere in Ireland.
I don't think you realise what the roads are like in Kerry. The driver is going to be tired after driving from Dingle to Killorglin, then around the Ring of Kerry, and then on to Cork. Okay, well from Killarney to Cork will be the easier bit, especially if you avoid Killarney altogether and go via Kilgarvan to the main Killarney-Cork road.
You do realise that The Rock of Cashel is a good hour away from Limerick and you can visit King John's Castle in Limerick city, as well as several other castles in Counties Clare and Galway? If you really want to see the Rock of Cashel, have your lunch in Cashel and then contine on to Dingle, but be advised that the road from Tralee to Dingle is quite twisty in places and you'll be quite tired. And why would you go to Dingle and not do the Slea Head Drive?
Can you fly into cork or Shannon at all? If not, I'd do Dublin, Kerry if you're heart set on flying out of cork.
Unfortunately we couldn’t see direct flights so all flights would pass through Dublin anyway!
You are definitely not making a mistake limiting your trip, I found the Kerry cliffs a very enjoyable mini Cliffs of Moher. That drive from Dublin to Dingle on Wednesday seems REALLY long though - consider staying in Kenmare instead. Galway was the least enjoyable part of our trip, Kenmare and the Beara peninsula was the favorite.
Thanks - considering staying in Kenmare as we do want to be able to enjoy ourselves and not just be exhausted!