Hilda_Bell

We arrive from Toronto on July 7 into Dublin. Our itinerary is as follows:
Pick up rental car at airport on arrival in afternoon and drive to Kilkenny and overnight
there.
Day 2 drive to Kinsale for overnight..
Day 3 drive to Dingle for three overnights. My husand will golf one day and we plan
to drive ROK the other full day. Is that a good idea for ROK or should we do
it en route north?
Day 6 drive to Ennistymon area (take ferry from Tarbert to Killimer) for overnight.
Day 7 drive to Galway area for two overnights. One day we plan to take the ferry
to Aran (don't know which is the best island though). Should we stay in Galway
or is there somewhere else more interesting?
Day 9 drive back to Dublin where my husband has a conference for 3 days (accom-
modation already arrranged for that). We have two extra days post conference to
explore Dublin.
Is this too ambitious and are there any suggestions for small hotels or B&B's for our overnight stops? We are hoping to soak up some local culture in a few interesting pubs. Thanks so much!

jent103

I actually like it, except for doing the ROK from Dingle. To me (and this is just personal opinion), that's a very long day in the car - it's about two hours just to the start of the ROK. Are you planning to drive the Slea Head loop in Dingle? I didn't do the entire ROK, but I much preferred the Dingle peninsula to the parts of the ROK I did see (between Kenmare and Killarney).

Otherwise, kudos for not trying to do too much - a common theme with these Ireland itineraries!

Hilda_Bell

Hi - Thanks, jent103. I will look at the Slea Head Loop. The ROK was recommended by an Irish relative who visited a friend in Canada not long ago. He also mentioned the Cliffs of Mohar - are they spectacular?

jent103

Sure! The Slea Head loop is a drive around the very western end of the Dingle Peninsula. It's gorgeous. Here are my pictures from our trip so you can see a bit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenthom...7600688039183/

The Cliffs of Moher are great; if you've seen the Princess Bride, they're the "Cliffs of Insanity" in the beginning of the movie. You can easily see them on your way to Galway.

irishface

You can do the Ring of Kerry from Dingle. When I stayed in Dunquin which is out farther on the peninsula, we did the Ring of Kerry, had plenty of time to stop for picture ops, exploring, etc. We stopped in Waterville for snack break, explored the Staigue Fort, had lunch in Sneem, stopped for another snack before Killarney. Trust me, we didn't start early (if you knew my sister, you'd know why. We were back in Dingle for supper at a reasonable time.

I think the Ring of Kerry is beautiful (have done the drive many times). I know many here pooh-pooh the ROK as overly touristed, but I think it is a wonderful spot. Jent103 bases his humble opinion (and I am not trying to be nasty here really, just giving my humble opinion) on the part between Kenmare and Killarney, but there are spots at the end of the peninsula and on the southern side that have spectacular scenery.

You could do the Slea Head drive in an afternoon on the day you arrive in Dingle.

irishface

Jen, just looked at your lovely photos. Later will go back and look at some of the others from your Irish trip. I apologize for making you masculine; I took your screen name to be a form of "gent", but I see that it is Jen T. Sorry!
Caed mille sorries!

jent103

Well, just to clarify, I did think the ROK was beautiful. I just preferred Dingle, and of the two would choose that one based on what I saw. The ROK from Dingle would be a really long driving day *for me*, but that's just my opinion. Thanks for the nice words on the photos.

Hilda_Bell

Thanks Jent103 and Irish Face. Awesome advice from you both. We'll do the Slea Head Loop the day we arrive and then the ROK the day my husband doesn't go golfing. He loves to drive so he'll enjoy the day nagivating the narrow roads and I can gawk!!! I'll mark Sneem down as a good lunch stop. Thanks again for taking the time to help!

colormeirish

Try Achill Island Co Mayo ...I am attaching a picture vid of the island which i took when holidaying there ihn Sept. 2007
to the music of Sunlit Streams a piece I wrote In 2006...
Enjoy your stay in our beautiful country
regards
Pat


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEKGFzWigA

Hilda_Bell

Hi Colormeirish,
Wow, what a composition! Just beautiful with the photos. I will look into that as Archill Island looks amazing. Can it be done as a day trip? I feel honoured that you took the time to send it! ....Hilda

Itallian_Chauffer

While I agree that the ROK is quite do-able from Dingle - in July -- any thought of doing Achill on one of your two days in Galway are extremely unlikely. Last June we incorporated that visit with a drive to Belmullet -- from Westport. You would have to RACE THROUGH entirely TOO much beautiful and interesting country to even GET TO Achill from Galway.

As a single daytrip, nearly everyone just visits Inish Mor (the "Big" Island).

Driving from Kinsale to Dingle and THEN touring Slea Head is also a bit much, in MY humble opinion, particularly if you take the time to enjoy a liesurely trek along the N71, through West Cork. Enroute is Drombeg Stone Circle, Bantry, Glengarriff, Kenmare (be SURE to visit the Stone Cirle there), Moll's Gap, Ladies View and Torc Falls.
There are also numerous temptations in Killarney -- Muckross House, Gardens and Traditional Farms and the very nicely restored (and incredibly picturesque Ross Castle. Further along, Inch Strand, the shoreline drive and the Three Sisters will all combine to use up the better part of your travel day.

The ROK is gorgeous in its entirety -- but given your time restraints, if I were you, I would settle for seeing the parts from Kenmare to Kilorglin on THIS trip. If you STILL have time to 'burn' consider the walk/ride through the Gap of Dunloe, either with, or without, the boat ride through the Lakes. See http://www.derostours.com for details/info.

The Cliffs are enroute, more or less, from Dingle to Ennistymon, when traveling via the ferry, and yes, they ARE well worth a visit.

Just my 1 Euro cent's worth ...

Bob

Hilda_Bell

Thanks, Bob. When I looked at a map Achill Island did seem a long way north. I'll certainly make a note of all your suggestions and hope we can incorporate them into our itinerary. Your advice re the ROK is well taken. I am wondering if we should overnight at Ennistymon or Doolin. Doolin sounds very interesting, especially with lots of music in the pubs!