u/phantomists

Planning 8 day no-car trip to Ireland - itinerary feedback?

I'm planning to spend 8 full solo days in Ireland for the first time, and with no car. I want to see some of the city/town stuff, but especially wanna explore the beautiful nature. I also don't wanna plan a really stiff itinerary, and want to keep it mostly flexible so I can swap days if I feel like it or change my plans entirely.

How does this sound? I feel like I'm missing out by not going to Cork and Killarney, but would it be pushing it to explore those too in 8 days?

Day 1: arrive in Dublin in the morning and spend the day exploring it

Day 2: Day trip via tour company to Blarney Castle, Rock of Cashel & Cahir Castle

Day 3: Day trip via tour company to Giant’s Causeway

Day 4: train to Galway and spend the day exploring it

Day 5: Day trip via tour company to Cliffs of Moher (there are 2 tour options I found for this: Cliffs of Moher + Burren or Aran Islands. Let me know which is better!)

Day 6: Tour to Connemara and Cong

Day 7: ????

Day 8: Return to Dublin and do more exploring as I have an early flight the next morning

Should I kick anything out of my itinerary and replace it with something better offered by Killarney and Cork? I want this to be a fun trip full of exploration, but not an exhausting one. If I find a cafe or bookstore I really like I wanna sit there and enjoy it and not worry about a specific thing I HAVE to get to. How can this itinerary be improved?

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u/phantomists — 2 days ago