After 5 days in Ireland, Jon turns to me. “It rains a lot here.” You should’ve seen the look on my face. “You know we are in Ireland, right?” And this was his choice!
I feel like we talked about going on this trip forever. We booked our tickets back in October because we got an awesome deal. Two round trip tickets to Dublin for a little over $400/a person. You can’t fly to some places in the U.S. for that cheap. #BudgetBetty
I always try to cram in so many countries when we are in Europe. It takes so long to get there. My goal for this trip was to spend two weeks only in Ireland. We still didn’t get a chance to see everything. It was our first time to rent a car in Europe and drive on the left side of the road. I use the term we loosely here. Jon definitely did all the driving. I plan to post more stories from our trip. Stay tuned.
Two Weeks in Ireland Itinerary
Day 1: Fly to Dublin – arrive early afternoon check in and walk around the city
Day 2 – 3: Dublin – Dublin Castle, , Book of Kells and the Long Library at Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse (the advertising floor was the best). Favorite restaurant: Queen of Tarts. On the last day in Dublin, we rented a car to drive around Ireland. We heard driving in Dublin was crazy. Plus, it wasn’t necessary. On the way to Kinsale, we stopped at the Cahir Castle.
Day 4-5: Kinsale – Cute little coastal town. Walked around listened to live music. Favorite restaurant: The Black Pig.
Day 6-7: Killarney – National park, Walked around town.
Day 8: Doolin – Cliffs of Moher trail.
Day 9 – 12: Galway -2 days in the city and we took day trips to Connemara National Park and the Aran Islands.
Day 13: Dublin – Powerscourt Waterfall and Gardens. This is south of Dublin and honestly not worth the trip. We needed to kill time and you know it’s my estate and everything.
Day 14: Fly home. At 6 a.m. It sounds terrible but wasn’t that bad.
Things I Would Do Differently
- Skip Dublin. If you go to Dublin, skip the Dublin castle and the Book of Kells and the Long Library, unless you really like books and libraries like me.
- Only spend one night in Kinsale
- Don’t stay the night in Doolin. Spend the night in Galway instead
- Jon really liked Killarney, so maybe an extra day there
- Explore more of the west coast, potentially go to Northern Ireland
- Don’t buy the OPW card. I typically do a ton of research on these things. I bought this one on a whim and it wasn’t a good deal for us.
Favorite Parts of the Trip
- Connemara National Park
- Aran Islands
- Galway and its food
- Old Head of Kinsale cliffs
- Cahir Castle
Click here for a list of recommended restaurants for all these places.
Rainy Day Jon
I’ll be following your Ireland travels! We are thinking of going there in the future, probably for about a week. You did have a nice time to see Ireland in a more leisurely way, which would be a treat. I’m surprised that you say to skip the Book of Kells, as that would be my main reason to visit the country — ha ha! I’ll have to read your future blogs to find out more!
Book nerds shouldn’t skip it! But I think the average tourist would be underwhelmed. Let me know when you are planning your trip! 🙂