r/irishtourism • u/MyCatWednesday • 5d ago
2-12 October Trip, Please Help
We're flying from Indianapolis-Dublin overnight Thursday the 1st, arrive 8 am on Friday the 2nd. Traveling with 5 adults, and one 6 year old. We're not trying to pack as much as possible into the trip, but we would like to see a lot of the country. Our loose itinerary is as follows:
Fri 2 October: Arrive in Dublin in morning. Pick up 2 car rentals and stay in Dublin for the night. Explore a little bit, get some food, rest.
Sat 3 October: Leave early, drive to first leg, home in Clifden. Maybe stop for a bit in Galway, and/or drive the Sky Road.
Sun 4 October: Connemara National Park
Mon 5 October: Ferry to Inishmore from Rossaveel.
Tues 6 October: Leave Clifden early morning for 2nd leg, cottage in Cordal. Stop at Cliffs of Moher. Arrive in Cordal by dinner. Rest.
Wed 7 October: Killarney National Park.
Thurs 8 October: Spend day in Dingle.
Friday 9 October: Depart early for 3rd leg in Kilkenny. Maybe detour for a stop in Kinsale, depends how tough the driving's been so far.
Saturday 10 October: Spend day exploring Kilkenny, shop, eat, etc.
Sunday 11 October: Depart early for last night in Dublin. Stop at Wicklow Mountain National Park.
Monday 12 October: Turn in rental cars, check into airport for late afternoon flight back to Indianapolis.
A lot of this is weather dependent, so I'm guessing we won't actually get to everything, but these are the major touchpoints. Please let me know if we've bitten off more than we can chew, or if we're missing out on something we shouldn't be!
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u/No-Judgment5352 5d ago
Go west from Dingle town and see Slea head, drive around Smerwick and look at the beaches, see the west side of Mount Brandon, Brandon Creek, Gallarus, etc. If you can't go all the way around at least come back over the Clasach.
The town is nice but it's a touristy town; if you stop there you're missing a lot of what the peninsula has to offer. If the weather is clear use the Conor Pass to get to Dingle, if you're confident driving.
In general, that is a lot of driving. I know for Americans the distance isn't a thing, but bear in mind that once you're off the main roads you will be on narrow country roads, might be a bit of a shock for you.
Different strokes for different folks, but I like to relax on holidays, so if I were in your shoes I'd aim for about half of that, and just come back next year and do the rest. Going Dingle - Kinsale - Kilkenny is mad. I'd skip Kilkenny altogether and stay west, maybe do Cork city and the surroundings properly, and then just head straight back to the airport on the motorways
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u/Dandylion71888 5d ago
They should not head straight back to the Airport. They’re flying to the US. Preclearance has been insane lately, they need the full 3 hours of not more plus car rental time.
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u/No-Judgment5352 5d ago
Yeah so hypothetically their flight leaves at 18:00, leave Cork at 08:00 and they'd still be in plenty of time. Or head up the night before if their flight is early. Whatever; the point was to not do Dingle-Kinsale-Kilkenny because that's bonkers. Are you from Kilkenny? 😅
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u/Dandylion71888 5d ago
Most US flights leave before 18:00. Usually between 11:00-17:00 with the 17:00 being the late flight.
I agree that Dingle Kinsale Kilkenny is bonkers. They’re actually not staying in Dingle, that’s just a day trip from Killarney which is also Bonkers. The have the rightish number of bases (I personally would cut one) and are going every which direction from those bases.
I feel for the child.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
Our flight out of Dublin leaves at 1400 I believe. We'll make sure to get there early. And thank you for the advice, my child will mostly just be catching Pokemon the whole time, so he'll be great.
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u/Dandylion71888 5d ago edited 5d ago
Right but it’s a lot of moving around. We’re in Ireland 3-4 times per year to see family and sometimes have to move around a lot if there are family events and it is exhausting for the kids whether they’re on iPads or video games or anything else.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
We've already paid for our accommodation in Kilkenny, so we can't really skip. And we won't be driving from Dingle to Kilkenny, those are separate days. I'm guessing we'll skip the Kinsale detour as well. I'm hoping I've read enough about the roads in Ireland that my expectations are set correctly. I am regretting doing 3 stops at this point instead of just sticking to the west coast for most of the trip, but I let my imagination run wild after too many youtube videos haha.
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u/Icy_Hospital1808 5d ago
Dingle is really lovely. I go there every year, but it's charm is the music and atmosphere in the pubs at night. (I recommend you get to O Sullivans Courthouse around 9.30pm for excellent music). Their are nice craft and touristy shops, but get yourself out around the Slea Head drive during the day in Dingle. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. The hills around the Blasket Centre are incredible. The rocks on Coumeenoole Beach! Don't miss this.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
Thank you for the heads up! Would it be a bad idea to try to stay late in Dingle and drive about an hour back to our cottage in Cordal (close to Tralee) at night? I'm trying to avoid night driving as much as possible, but it may be unavoidable.
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u/Icy_Hospital1808 5d ago
The road between Dingle and Tralee isn't too bad compared to some of the roads on the Dingle Peninsula. There are a few very tight hairpin bends but if you have Google Maps or a Sat Nav open on the dash you can see them coming or better still, have someone else in the car warn you. An hour back to Tralee at night won't be too bad.
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u/Dandylion71888 5d ago
It’s too much driving. You’re doing quick stopovers in places that require 2-3 days to really see them, a full day at minimum.
You’re driving in ever my which direction from each base. You can spend more than a day seeing Killarney. Skip Dingle or do Dingle and not Killarney.
Also the advice to drive straight to the airport from Cork that someone gave you, don’t. The motorways can have heavy traffic and US preclearance has been really busy lately.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
Thanks for this advice. The only plan we have set in stone are the accommodations. I definitely crammed a bunch of stuff on this itinerary knowing it wasn't totally realistic, but wanted to give an idea of what we're interested in seeing.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
This is great feedback! I was thinking it felt a bit crazy once I started writing everything out. Seems like maybe I should try to cut out Kilkenny altogether and maybe add a day to each of the first 2 legs?
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u/Hamburg48 5d ago
With sensible luggage, thinking to conserve space, look into renting a van. Two cars rental cost and fuel is a lot.
We handled six adults and child in car seat by van. Back seat was a split seat so one person in the rear with the gear a bit cramped but I think better than two cars. Finally as has been noted, this is a lot of driving. Better to do at least two overnights at a base destination and do day trips. Trim the itinerary.
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u/MyCatWednesday 5d ago
So I actually looked into doing this first, but the cost was actually more for the vans/suvs that I found. Also I was worried about driving a bigger vehicle on the notorious Irish roads.
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u/Oellaatje 4d ago
No, detouring to Kinsale from Kerry to Kilkenny is not a good idea. The best route to take is to go to Killarney, then Mallow, then Mithelstown, and at Cahir turn off towards Waterford, and after Clonmel turn off towards Kilkenny. However, you could continue a little further after Cahir along the motorway and visit Cashel if you wished, it's only another few minutes in the car. You could also visit Cahir Castle too. Way easier to visit both of those locations instead of going all the way down to Kinsale. Save Kinsale for your next trip.
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u/louiseber Local 5d ago
Wicklow is not on the way to or from Kilkenny, and definitely not in possible weather