First time in ireladnd
Hi everyone!
My girlfriend and I (both 24) are visiting Ireland for the first time and we'd love some advice from locals on how to plan our trip.
Our dates:
26 Aug: arrive at Dublin Airport at 18:00, pick up rental car
29 & 30 Aug: accommodation already booked in Dublin
30 Aug: Bon Jovi at Croke Park at 17:00
31 Aug: flight home from Dublin at 20:20 (we'd like to be at the airport around 18:00)
We'd like to see as much of the beautiful Irish scenery, coastline, cliffs, small towns and villages as possible. Cliffs of Moher are a must, and we'd also like to experience some good pubs/traditional music and traditional ireland.
We originally thought about driving west immediately after landing and spending the first few nights around the west coast. However, we also saw this road-trip route online and really liked the idea:
Dublin → Kilkenny → Waterford → Cork → Killarney → Dingle → Cliffs of Moher → Burren → Galway → Dublin
We realise this is probably way too much for the time we have, so we're wondering if locals could help us create a realistic shorter version.
If you were us, what would you do?
Would you focus mainly on the west, mainly on the south, or combine parts of both? Which places from the route above would you keep and which would you skip?
We'd also really appreciate suggestions for where to stay on the 26th, 27th and 28th, and whether it makes sense to return the rental car at Dublin Airport around the 29th and use public transport in Dublin.
For Dublin, we'd like to see the main things (Temple Bar, whiskey experience, Guinness, Trinity, etc.), but we'd love to know what is actually worth doing from a local's perspective.
We're not trying to see all of Ireland — we'd rather have a great few days with beautiful scenery and experiences than spend the whole trip driving.
Thanks! Any suggestions are very welcome 🙏