u/cindjmadd13

Hi all — my husband and I are wrapping up a driving and hiking tour through Ireland and flying into Lisbon for the second half of our trip, mid-September 2027. After a week of long drives and hikes, we're looking for the opposite pace here: walking, easy culture, beach time, nothing that requires another rental car or another itinerary to manage.

No mobility issues, but we're intentionally not renting a car in Portugal — trains and local transport only, partly to force ourselves to slow down. We haven't booked accommodations yet.

Here's what we've got so far:

Day 1: Arrive Lisbon from Ireland.

Day 2: Lisbon, no fixed plans, mostly wandering neighborhoods.

Day 3: Train to Lagos.

Day 4: Lagos, beach day.

Day 5: Lagos, more exploring, coastal walking, wine.

Day 6: Train back to Lisbon.

Day 7: Lisbon, fly home via TAP.

A few specific things I'm hoping people can weigh in on:

• Is 3 nights in Lagos too much or too little for a slow, beach-and-wander pace, or does it read as either rushed or padded to people who've actually stayed there?
• Any specific beach or coastal walk recommendations for the Lagos area for people who want easy, not adventure-sport-beach?
• Is one night back in Lisbon before an international flight enough buffer, or should we build in more cushion?

Thanks in advance!

Hi All,

My husband and I are heading to Ireland for the first time, flying into Dublin and out of Cork, mid-September 2027. No mobility issues on our end, we're comfortable with full driving days and multi-hour hikes, so feel free to suggest anything ambitious.

We haven't booked accommodations yet, so this is still adaptable. We’re getting a rental car for the whole Ireland leg. Our priority is nature and hiking over checklist sightseeing. We would rather have a couple of good wandering days than cram in five towns we barely see. We also want real downtime built in for pub culture, not just driving from trailhead to trailhead.

Here's what we've got so far:

Day 1: Arrive Dublin from the U.S.

Day 2: Stay in Dublin, no real plans, just recovering from the flight and walking around.

Day 3: Drive to Dingle, roughly 5-6 hours.

Day 4: Slea Head Drive, full day. Chill time at night.

Day 5: Either Blasket Island or a Dingle sea safari, and possibly the hike up to Lough Doon via Conor Pass if we have the energy.

Day 6: Drive to the Beara Peninsula, about 4 hours, with a stop in Listowel to see St. Mary's Church, where an ancestor of mine was baptized.

Day 7: Exploring West Cork and Beara. Still deciding between the Beara Wildlife Sanctuary in Allihies, Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve, the waterfall in Gleninchaquin Park, and the Tragumna tidal rock pool. We don't think we can do all four.

Day 8: Drive to Cork and fly out to Portugal.

A few specific things I'm hoping people can weigh in on:

• Is the Day 3 and Day 6 driving: are those realistic in terms of the timing I have listed or it is longer?
• Of the four options on Day 7, is there a clear standout?
• Are two nights in Dingle and two in Beara enough, or does this itinerary read as rushed to people who've driven this route?

Thanks in advance for any input!