Certainly others can chime in on what to see/what not to see, etc. I have been to Ireland 5 times, but will only say in this post to slow down


WHY would you only want to stay one night in each city? You are going to spend most of your time driving. Have you ever driven in Ireland before? It may look on the map like it's an hour drive, but may well (usually) end up taking much longer.

IMHO: Way, way, WAY too much.. Quite frankly, it's ridiculous.

Ireland is a lovely country, especially the small villages. Why not just pick two places and really enjoy the relaxed pace of Ireland? Also I'd skip the Medieval banquet. You'd have more fun in a pub meeting locals.

All of this in 9 days? (actually 8, as you are flying out the 9th day) *= Overnights

Shannon
*Galway
*Doolin
The Burren (Cliffs)
Ballyvaughan
*Bunratty
*Dingle
Adare
*Killarney
Youghal
*Ardmore
Blarney Village (Blarney Castle)
Waterford
*Kilkenny
*Cahir
Cashel
*Shannon


This is your itinerary on a map --- >http://i.imgur.com/S9sF1.jpg

It's really a lot for only 8 days. I was in Italy for a month and didn't go to this many cities. (nor would I want to).

You can't blame people for wanting to 'See It All' -- It's a natural, human ideal. Ireland looks so SMALL, on the map and distances are relatively short.

That's highly unlikely, though.
Here's a way to REALLY assess your plan:
Just as an example --
"day 6. Do Gap Of Dunloe then drive to Blarney Castle. Continue on to Ardmore with a stop in Youghal. Spend night in Ardmore."

According to AA http://routes.aaireland.ie/# the drive is 104.5 miles (168.14 Km)and their historically OPTOMISTIC drive time lists 2 hours and 42 minutes. Call it 3.5 hours - Minimum - and you would be CLOSER to accurate. The typical Tourist can expect to average 30-35 MPH on N and R roads, according to most experts. Personally (with 16 Visits to my credit)believe that a First-Timer will likely AVERAGE closer to 25-30 MPH.
There's just so MUCH to see -- So many reasons to stop for photos -- at practically every bend of the road!

Still, it still might SOUND like it COULD be done -- But the Devil is in the DETAILS ...

The full Gap of Dunloe Tour (with travel through the Pass and the Boat ride across the lakes begins about 10:30 AM and ends around 4 PM -- see: http://derostours.com/new/all-tours/gap-of-dunloe-tour/

Blarney has beautiful grounds, an interesting Manor House and a picturesque Castle Keep (Plus, the Rock for snogging -if you are into such)that will take a MINIMUM of an hour to visit -- IF it's not crowded.

The N25 misses MOST of Youghal, so assuming you want to see more than just the outskirts, you'll need to add (at minimum)another 1/2 hour.
So, after Touring the Gap, depart Killarney about 4:30 or 5 PM and drive to Blarney -- arriving around 6:30 PM (Being Optomistic- distance is approx. 60 Miles) Assuming they are still open, Spend 1 hour.
Depart Blarney at 7:30 and drive to Youghal (Approximately 40 miles -- call it an hour and a half, as Cork traffic can really slow you down) and arrive at 8:30. Spend 30 minutes seeing/doing whatever and resume driving at 9:00.
The drive into Ardmore is under 10 miles, but the R 673 is slow going -- I would allow 1/2 hour and call it 9:30 PM.

What I've laid out provides MINIMUM stop times for attractions, but you would also need to factor in at least one more stop, for a meal -- minimum of 1/2 hour, but more typically (in Ireland) it will be AT LEAST one hour.

That adds up to in excess of a 12 hour day and assumes that what you want to see is available when you are. It also assumes good weather -- something that is NEVER guaranteed.

I would STRONGLY suggest that you revisit your 'Must See' list and determine what is REALLY essential.

Good Luck!
Bob

shaizme, I hope you will listen to the last couple of posts. I have not been to Ireland in a long time, but we did your proposed first 6 days, albeit in reverse, in about a week and a half. That was pre-children, when we still did not mind jumping in the car and going every day, but we found that it was really, really nice to stay at least two nights in one place when we could. (We alternated between B&Bs and small hotels.) The distances on the map are quite deceiving.

In September you will still have a good amount of daylight for driving, which makes it a little easier, IMO, to base yourself in the same place for more than one night.

I won't make any specific suggestions because it's been so long, except for this - we did not stop for Bunratty mid-trip, but since we were flying out of Shannon, we planned to have our last dinner there. Several friends had said it fell into the "touristy but lots of fun" category. As far as the itinerary went, it worked out well to do that - we drove to our last hotel, checked in, and I had time to go walk around the grounds of the Folk Park before it closed. Alas, we had to cancel the dinner plans, because my husband had food poisoning stemming from an unfortunate breakfast choice the day before (leading to our non-negotiable "no black pudding while traveling" rule). Since your time is somewhat limited, I would suggest leaving that for the end rather than stopping there at the expense of some of the other places on your list.

Thank you Italian chauffer (Bob) and Barbara. Your replies are what I was looking for. I knew I had too much and I was looking for opinions on "tweeking" it. Maybe that was "ridiculous" of me. lol So with your suggestions so far, I have cut Galway and Kilkenny with adding one night longer in Killarney.

I was also thinking of cutting Bunratty. But would that make it too long to drive straight thru from Doolin to Dingle? the only "must haves" are The cliffs, Waterford (unless theres an equivalent somewhere closer to the West Coast?) and Blarney Castle. Yes, I know they are a great deal apart. As far as 12 hour days, thats not a problem. I'm not on vacation for a "relaxed" time. So I know I still need to work on my itinerary, specially in the Waterford area. Still a work in progress. Thanks for your input! Any further are greatly appreicated!

Ok - I'll ask - why Waterford? It is certainly OK - but IMO not worth the time to get there plus it cuts time you have in other/better areas. (I'd keep Galway over Waterford any time.)

You really do need to take more than just the drive times into account. Everything will take longer for three than someone traveling alone.

Try to arrange two night stays most places. If it takes most of a day to get someplace and then you leave first thing in the AM, you won't have spent any time 'there'.

One of my companions "must have" is Waterford. The only thing she definately wants to do. So I have to work it in there. I figured it would be better to just stay a night there then a day trip from somewhere else and double the driving?

There's Kinsale Crystal where you can see the cutting but not the blowing; they bring in blanks from somewhere else. A mom and pop operation but pop used to work for Waterford.

Thanks jaja. I did find out about Kinsale last night while searching alternatives. It looks good. I think I've got my companion convinced. So the "tweeking" continues. What I'm looking at now is:
# 1 fly in to Shannon and go to Doolin.. spend one night seeing the burren & cliffs.
#2 & #3 nights spend in Dingle.
#4 & #5 nights spend in Killarney.
#6 & #7 nights spend in Kinsale.
#8 head back up to Shannon and leave on Day #9.

So my question now: Can I still "cram" Cashel in on the way back to Shannon. I know thats a long haul from Kinsale..