jason8612

I and a buddy of mine will be in Ireland and we wanted to drive around and sitesee. We arrive into DUB Wed evening (July 6th) and depart Monday morning from DUB (July 11th)

Our thoughts were:
Overnight in DUB airport. Rent a car Thursday AM.

Thursday - Drive DUB to Limerick. Along the way see the 1 of 2 distilleries (Tullamore or Kilbeggan) and see the Cliffs of Moher.

Overnight in Limerick

Friday - Limerick to Kilnarey via Dingle (See the Dingle distillery) and ring of Kerry.

Overnight in Kilnarney

Saturday - Kilnarney to Cork. Visit the Blarney castle.

Overnight in Cork

Sunday - Cork to DUB. swing up North/North East via Rock of Cashel.



Thoughts?
How does it sound? What other sites/attractions along the way is worth to see?

lwildernorva

My first thought: that's a lot of driving. I was in Ireland in late April and followed approximately your route--in reverse--but over the course of ten days. And on a trip in November 2012, I spent three days in Dublin with a fourth driving about one hour to Tullamore for the distillery tour and felt that I had a busy trip.

If you've never traveled to Ireland or outside of Dublin, there are a whole lot of issues to consider. First, Ireland shows two different aspects. There's Dublin, urban and by far the highest concentration of people in the country with 1.8 million in the metro area in a country of 4.5 million--to compare, the metro NYC population would need to rise from 20 million to 120 million to equal the percentage of Irish who live around Dublin.

Then, there's the rest of this beautiful country. There are a few more population concentrations. You're hitting two of them, Galway and Cork, both of which I like. But I've had a fair amount of fun in towns of less than 1000. Hit Dingle Town at the right time, and I suspect you'll have as much fun there as you would in Dublin. Outside of the cities and towns, the scenery is tremendous even before you consider well-known sites like the Cliffs of Moher.

Second, driving around Ireland can present challenges. The road system has vastly improved, and there'll be certain stretches that you can drive at US interstate highway speeds. On the other hand, you'll be hard pressed around Dingle and west of Cork to maintain much more than 45 miles per hour although the posted speed limit is 62 mph--and that's before the inevitable photo ops that will make you stop along the side of the road multiple times during your drive. Plus, if you're unfamiliar with the auto insurance issues in Ireland, look here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...-confused.html. The TL;DR version: don't assume that the typical advice about waiving full insurance coverage when renting a vehicle in the US holds.

Third, you're going during the middle of the summer when tons of other tourists have the same idea. When I did the Tully tour on a day trip from Dublin in 2012, and despite the fact that the distillery was nearly empty, we still chewed up an entire day. I'm sure that getting on a tour will take longer during the busy tourist season. Cramming in a second distillery tour and finishing the drive to Galway? Doable maybe but pretty ambitious.

The parking lot at the Cliffs of Moher was slammed full when I drove by in late April--it won't be any less crowded in July. And although I don't think the Dingle Peninsula is yet overrun by tourists in the way the Ring of Kerry is, I saw tons of tour buses when I was there in late April--again, this will only increase in July and once you're stuck behind a tour bus, you're not likely to make good time or find it easy passing on the narrow, twisty two-lane road that runs around the Peninsula. Whatever you face on Dingle, double it for the Ring of Kerry. In addition, the drive with the stops you're proposing from Cork to Dublin will pretty much take up an entire day.

Fourth, you're a seasoned FTer so I'm going to assume that you've handled jet lag before and that this isn't probably an issue, especially if you're traveling into Dublin on an intra-European flight after having adjusted to the time change, but if it is an issue, you may find that first day on the road awfully taxing.

If you've never been to Ireland and you don't anticipate returning, I guess the itinerary you're proposing makes some sense. You are hitting a lot of high points that probably meet your interests for whiskey distilleries and scenic views. But you're going to spend a lot of time in a car in only four days in a country that's best seen and savored a day or two at a time at each stop.

In other words, I wouldn't consider adding anything to your itinerary, and I'd consider revising your plan--maybe one of the two distilleries between Dublin and Galway, dropping either Dingle or Kerry, and doing the most direct route from Cork back to Dublin.

jason8612

I've been to IE before (DUB and north) and drove quite a bit. The roads for me are just fine (coming from PL) and we won't have any jetlag.

I modified the route a bit in my original post.

UAPremExecflyer

To add to what lwildernorva says: that's a lot of driving.
I drive a lot in Ireland, but your itinerary makes me tired thinking about it.
I hope you're renting a decent vehicle.
Also, what are you staying in Limerick for? The place has no redeeming features.

lwildernorva

Tag teaming with UAPremExecflyer here, I wouldn't revise my schedule to take Galway out and put Limerick in. Galway is a far superior town. Your itinerary can definitely be completed in four days--it's just that you won't have much time to stop and smell the roses.

Ber2dca

I think when in Ireland one should generally minimize the time spent in urban environments because they're probably the weakest aspect of the country.

EAR111pt2

When you drive the Ring of Kerry, I would suggest doing it in a clock-wise routing. I was on a day-tour of the said route last year, and the tour buses go in a counter-clock wise direction. Just a tip to save your sanity. And take your time on that route!!

jason8612

Limerick is just for an overnight stop - nothing more. We plan to maximize the day so probably just a late arrival at the hotel and then onto the next day in the morning.

Clint Bint

Do you mean Killarney ?
My one observation chimes with others on here in that it's a LOT of driving and you're staying each night in a city/large town which won't really give you a feel of the real Ireland which is essentially rural.
Dingle is well worth an overnight stay particularly after a few pints in Dick Mack's pub and some traditional music.Much more preferable to Killarney and you can still make Cork next day in a reasonable time.
When visiting Ireland less is more.Slow down and mooch about rather than hammering around the country like a demented Japanese tourist.

jason8612

Hmm. OK.
What should I exclude, or how should I modify the itinerary?

lwildernorva

I'd reverse the route and head to Cork first. The Blarney Stone is nearby as well as the Old Midleton distillery where Paddy whiskey is made. Spend the night in Cork.

Leave Cork the next morning and go to Cahersiveen on the Ring of Kerry. Cahersiveen gets you about 2/3 of the way around the Ring going clockwise, which as EAR111pt2 has suggested gets you out from behind the tour buses (be aware that a GPS will probably try to route you counterclockwise as this is the shorter trip by distance but not perhaps by time)--although you'll still encounter all of them almost head on. Why Cahersiveen? This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, and one of the early proponents of Irish independence, Daniel O'Connell, was born nearby. The Catholic church in town bears his name as well as one of the major thoroughfares in Dublin with many more namesakes and statues all over the island. There's an old barracks in Cahersiveen that now serves as a heritage center: http://www.oldbarrackscahersiveen.com/. You might as well drink in a little history as well as a little scenery and whiskey.

Finish the Ring the following morning and then head to Dingle Town, either completing the drive around the Peninsula that afternoon or the following morning. Plenty of pubs, restaurants, and live music in this little town with the prices in some of the restaurants high enough to rival restaurants in Dublin.

From Dingle head to Tullamore and do the distillery tour. Depending on the time of your flight departure the following day, consider staying in Tullamore for the night, and then head straight to Dublin Airport, a little more than an hour away, the following morning. If you have an early morning flight or want another night in Dublin, then obviously, you'll want to head back to Dublin after the tour.

This is still a lot of driving, with trips of between 1.5 (Cahersiveen to Dingle) and 3.5 hours (Dingle to Tully) each day. On the other hand, you're still hitting most of the benchmarks for your trip with scenic drives, some representative Irish small towns while keeping Cork, which I like better than Limerick, on your itinerary, and visiting a distillery or two. Plus, there's a dollop of the rich history of this small nation, and you won't come out of your four full days in Ireland with the feeling that you were stuck behind the wheel of an automobile the entire time.

jason8612

Interesting. I'l have to take a look and see if it works with the hotels.

so thurs drive to Cork with stops and overnight in Cork.
Fri drive to Cahersiveen with the Ring of Kerry and overnight there.
Sat drive to Dingle via the Ring and overnight there.
Sun drive back to DUB via Tullamore.

That can work. I was hoping to use some chain points for he bookings. theres Radisson in Cork which would work, but the rest don't seem to have a change (kinda the reason why Limerick and Killarney were picked). also, it seems the cliffs of Moher are missing.

Clint Bint

The Radisson in Cork is way out of town and with nothing nearby.Forget about trying to earn points and stay in a city centre hotel.Cork is a nice small city to wander around and do a few bars.
And what time does your flight get in to Dublin ?

MADPhil

The cliffs are a great sight but they are a bit remote on roads that will be very busy in summer and it's a zoo when you get there. They would consume quite a bit of your time. The whole Shannon to Galway area is well worth a visit on its own if you can consider a future trip.

lwildernorva

The Cliffs can be worked in, but that means a detour. You've got to decide whether that detour is worth it. If you're trying to use hotel points, then, yes, you'll need to stay near cities. You'll see less of Ireland in my eyes, but in that case, I'd consider Dublin, Galway, Killarney, and Cork, in that order, as your four stops with Tully done the first leg and the Cliffs done on the second leg.

Galway is included over Limerick because it's a great pub town that's simply better than Limerick. There's a Radisson Blu there that's a short walk from the city center. I'd drop Dingle, not because it isn't worth seeing, but because you're probably going to want to do the Ring of Kerry if based in Killarney. There's a Holiday Inn in Killarney that's within walking distance of the city center.

I agree with Clint Bint on the Radisson Cork--in Ireland if you're going to concentrate on cities, you want to stay in the center. There are other chains in Cork, including Choice with a very nice Clarion right along the River Lee that will go for 8K Choice points. I stayed there in April, and it's much nicer than most Choice properties in the US.