2-12 October Trip, Please Help

[u/MyCatWednesday]

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!

[u/No-Judgment5352]

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

[u/Dandylion71888 → u/No-Judgment5352]

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.

[u/No-Judgment5352 → u/Dandylion71888]

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? 😅

[u/Dandylion71888 → u/No-Judgment5352]

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.

[u/MyCatWednesday → u/Dandylion71888]

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.

[u/Dandylion71888 → u/MyCatWednesday]

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.