West Coast Itinerary Feedback
My husband and I are heading to Ireland in October for 9 days and would love some feedback on our itinerary. We don’t love bouncing around hotels much, so our plan is to stick to two hotel bases and do day trips from each. We enjoy road trips/driving, but I’ve also tried to build in a couple of no/low-driving days so we don’t burn ourselves out.
We’re pretty outdoorsy and are much more interested in scenery, wildlife, small towns, good food and fun experiences than checking off every major tourist attraction. Everything below is open to feedback, but I put ❓ next to the things I’m especially unsure about.
We’re staying in Cong the first half because we have a Chase hotel credit to use and the rate was surprisingly reasonable. For the second half I’m leaning toward staying in Dingle and basing our activities in Dingle, but would love opinions on whether somewhere else in Kerry would make a better base.
Here’s what I have so far:
Day 1:
- Land 930am at Dublin, pick up car
- Drive to Cong, check in to hotel
Day 2:
- Chill day around hotel area, ideas:
- Falconry
- Afternoon tea
Day 3: Day trip to Sligo
- Benhulben, Gleniff Horseshoe, Sligo Town, Mullaghmore Head
❓Could use recs for anything we shouldn’t miss or can skip
Day 4: Connemara area
- Kylemore Abbey, Killary Fjord, Clifden, Doolough Valley, Sheepdog Demo if the demo is worth it ❓
Day 5: Achill/Westford
- Morning/Afternoon: Achill island & seaweed baths
- Dinner in Westport
Day 6: Travel day to Dingle / Kerry
- stop at Cliffs of Moher
Day 7: Whale watching tour from Dingle
- Spend day in Dingle town / no driving
Day 8: Around dingle
- Drive around Dingle peninsula and visit archeological sites
- Also open to joining a tour to avoid us driving
Day 9: Gap of Dunloe / Departure
- Gap of dunloe in morning
❓Is a Jaunting car worth it
- Fly out of Cork at 630pm
- OR we would drive to Dublin this day and fly out next morning. We wouldn’t see much of Dublin anyway so not sure if it’s worth it.
Many thanks!