Just a quick comment right now. I personally would drop Waterford and spend the extra day in the SW so it isn't so rushed.

Then you can, depending on the timing, fly from Cork to Dublin and catch your flight home.

Thanks Janice I will definitely consider that.

We were in Ireland in October and rented a car and drove to various places that were of interest to us-15 days and excluded Northern Ireland, Galway, and Dublin. We met up several times with a group who were on a Vagabond Tour( you can google for info). A young Irish woman drove them in a sort of converted Range Rover. They had rave reviews on this tour- you might look into that-looked like lots of fun. I think there were 12 in the group and they were all very pleased with the suggested accommodations.

Take it your UK friend is more willing to pay a small fortune for a driver than do the driving themselves.

I disagree with Tony2phones(sorry Tony I think you give great advice) but we had a private driver last October and I think it was worth the extra expense. By not having to focus on driving, I was able to focus on the scenery and the Irish experience. I would have been a nervous wreck driving in Ireland. Quite frankly, we are spoiled in the USA with generally well marked, wide roads. I sat in the front seat with my driver for 5 days and still hadn't figured out how to drive in Ireland(I'm a slow learner too). Back to your original question, the areas around Killarney and Cork would be worthwhile also. We had our driver take us around Dingle instead of the Ring of Kerry.

I do find it curious that the UK friends also don't want to drive, but to each their own.

We spent 3 days in Killarney, 2 in Dingle and 3 in the Galway area (including a day on Inishmore). Here are some photos/commentary in case that is of interest:

http://ukfrey.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/ireland.html

bean11: "By not having to focus on driving, I was able to focus on the scenery and the Irish experience. I would have been a nervous wreck driving in Ireland. Quite frankly, we are spoiled in the USA with generally well marked, wide roads. I sat in the front seat with my driver for 5 days and still hadn't figured out how to drive in Ireland"

Major difference being -- the OP's friends are from the UK. No learning curve, should be totally used to the driving/road conditions. Unless of course the UK friends don't drive . . .

Thanks for all your suggestions. Just wanted to claify that my UK friends are not the ones travling with us as it is another couple from the US. I am just meeting him in Dublin for the day which he knows quite well.


I absolutely agree about not being able to see the sites if you are concentrating on driving. I have driven in countries including the UK that drive on the left side of the road and it was unconfortable and did not really focus on the sites.

Janis, I have two questions:

1) What sites did see during your 5 days?
2) How did you find the driver and vlidate his credentials?

We went in October of 2011 and had all our arrangements made by Tenon Tours (Stephanie). I think they are located in Boston. They arranged for our hotels in Dublin, Galway, Killarney, and Kilkenny. We had a private driver that took us from Dublin to Galway via Knock. We used public transportation to get us to the Aran Islands. Tenon arranged for a driver who drove us from Galway to Killarney. We saw the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Blarney Castle, Rock of Cashel, and Waterford Crystal. The luxury of the driver is that he was able to make suggestions and get us into some places for tours. He made arrangements for us to see Kilbeggen Distillary, Smithwick's Brewery, and Waterford Crystal. He also made many invaluable suggestions for places to eat and things to do. Our driver was Mr. Tom McDonald. He was subcontracted to us by Tenon to an Irish tour group that his daughter(Amy) owns (aruralexperience.com). Tom would call his daughter daily and she arranged the extras(ie, making sure places were open, times, costs, etc). I thought the cost of the private driver was extemely reasonable for the personalized attention we received. I also can't speak highly enough of Tom, Amy & Stephanie.

"Janis, I have two questions:

1) What sites did see during your 5 days?
2) How did you find the driver and vlidate his credentials?"

I didn't hire a driver - that was was bean11, who I was just quoting. But s/he answered your questions in the next post . . .