Hi all,

My boyfriend and I are an American couple who will be traveling to Ireland in June! We are very excited and I would love to get some feedback on our itinerary. Our goals are to have a healthy mix of driving along beautiful areas of Ireland and seeing some small quaint towns, learning about local history and culture, and seeing "must see" attractions without being too touristy or rushed. My boyfriend is a folk/bluegrass musician, and I enjoy knitting/crafting so we would to experience trad music and Irish knitting/wool/handicrafts as well!

This is our current plan:

Day 1: Land in Dublin very early in the AM. Spend the day in Dublin

Day 2: Pick up rental car in AM. Visit Bru na Boinne en route to Galway

Day 3: Day trip to the Aran Island from Galway (Inis Mor), spend the evening in Galway

Day 4: Drive to the Cliffs of Moher and stop by Doolin on the way to Dingle

Day 5: Slea Head Drive around Dingle Peninsula, spend in the evening in Dingle

Day 6: Make our way back to the Dublin area

Day 7: fly home from Dublin in the afternoon

Would love your thoughts on the following:

- Any towns/site you recommend stopping by on our way back to Dublin from Dingle on day 6?

- Will we regret not driving through the Ring of Kerry/seeing Killarney if we are planning to do the Slea Head Drive and see Dingle? Alternatively, would you prioritize Ring of Kerry/Killarney over Dingle?

- Does this itinerary seem too rushed?

- we would love any recommendations for seeing trad music or local wool/yarn/handicrafts in these areas!

Thanks for your help :-)

  • Your trip is fine and Dingle is a good choice. I would take the ferry from rossaveal to Inis mor. It's a shorter sea time and you can organize it to maximize time on the island.

    Take the ferry from Killimer across the Shannon, the drive along the coast is lovely.

    On the way back to Dublin do a short stop on Adare. Cashel is worth a stop also.

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  • Go to the cobblestone in smithfield, Dublin on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night for trad 

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  • We have are doing something similar. Night 1-2Dublin Night 3-4 Killarney Night 5 Dingle Night 6-7 Dromoland castle/inn

    I was going to do both Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula but thinking it’s too much driving. Planning on just doing a driving tour in Dingle.

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  • so you're here in JUNE which is peak tourism and you want go Galway to Dingle , which is also Peak Tourism (tourists lovelovelove the WAW). The rest of the country is blissfully uncrowded while there are traffic jams at 7am with all the bus loads of tourists

    Kerry is over rated. Tourists go there because other tourists went there because other tourists went there. The rest of Ireland (in particular Cork) is far better. Poor research causes tourists to go whether other tourists go but Irish people wouldn't be seen dead on the Ring of Kerry.

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  • I would prioritise ring of Kerry and Killarney over dingle, much more visually striking. Dingle is a tourist town that is chaotically busy over the summer

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    And Killarney is peaceful and empty is it? 😆 It’s worse than Dingle, the traffic and the people everywhere.

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    I didn’t say that. Killarney is larger than dingle and in my view less chaotic as there is more room when driving and walking as well as more choice of restaurants

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  • I think your post is relevant and helpful also for other tourists that are doing the same trip. Ty!

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