10 days in Ireland
2017 was our year of traveling with extended family!
In September, we helped my grandmother check off an item on her bucket list – staying in a castle in Ireland! That wasn’t the only exciting part, we had four generations traveling together, from my grandmother to my daughter. We are fortunate that we are all healthy and able to travel, it was a trip that we will cherish forever!
Here is our 10 day itinerary for driving through the southern part of a very beautiful country. (I’ve included approximate driving times in the parenthesis!)
Day 1 & 2: Arrive and Explore Dublin
- Arrive in Dublin
- Overnight in AirBnB
Day 3: Drive South to Kilkenny
- National Stud & Japanese Gardens (1 hour)
- Rock of Cashel (1 hour)
- Amazing to walk around right before closing time, the grounds were empty and the sunlight superb!
- Be careful, they’re super strict about their last admission which is 45 minutes before closing time! The downside of coming this late was the bathrooms in town were closed.
- Overnight in Kilkenny (1 hour) at Newpark Hotel
- Awesome hotel if you have toddlers or children – they offer family rooms, have a huge outdoor playground which includes a go-kart track, Fairy Trail and Wildlife Farm; they even have playrooms on the various hotel floors designed for children of different ages!
- Biggest downside is it’s outside the city center
Day 4: Explore Kilkenny and drive to Cork
via Blarney Castle
- I had wanted to stop in Cobh, but the timing wasn’t going to work out if we wanted to stop at the Blarney Castle without rain.
- Blarney Castle (2 hours), we didn’t kiss the stone but the grounds are AMAZING! Read more here!
- Overnight in Cork at The Kingsley
- a nice hotel, but also somewhat outside of the city center
Day 5: Drive to Killarney
- Walked around Cork in the rain in the morning
- Awesome experience at the Kissane Sheep Farm (2 hours)
- Drove along part of the Ring of Kerry on our way to Killarney (30 min)
- Overnight in AirBnB
Day 6: Explore Killarney: Dingle Peninsula
- Dingle Peninsula Scenic Drive, click for more information!
- If we had more time I would have loved to do the entirety of the Ring of Kerry, including a side trip to the Skellig Islands – but with a toddler and a octogenarian, it wasn’t in the plans!
- Overnight again at AirBnB in Killarney
Day 7: Drive north to Galway via Cliffs of Moher
- Pitstop in Adare (1.5 hours) for lunch – which was pretty, but we ended up missing the thatched roof houses which are just outside of town!
- Cliffs of Moher (1.5 hours), an iconic Ireland Vista, not to be missed
- Overnight in Galway (1.75 hours) at The House Hotel, cute hotel with a perfect location!
Day 8: Explore Galway and continue north to Ashford Castle
- Walked and shopped around Galway
- Drove to Ashford Castle (1 hour), check out our full Ashford Experience!
- Falconry and Clay Pigeon Shooting
- Dinner in the Dungeon
Day 9: Enjoy the morning at Ashford, stark to make our way back east
- Early am golf tee-time
- Drive to Wineport Lodge (1.75 hours)
Day 10: Drive to Dublin for early afternoon flight (1.5 hours)
Next time we’re in Ireland, I’d love to get a little more remote exploring the Aran Islands and make our way up north to Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland! Any other suggestions?!