My wife and I are putting the finishing touches on our itinerary for our trip next week. I believe we are doing a "green blur" tour. We don't have any dinner or night life plans as of yet. Any comments, criticism or advice is welcome.

Day 1
-Arrive in Dublin. Transfer to our hotel, The Westin.
-Site seeing and lunch
-Viking Splash Tour
-Dinner, early night

Day 2
-Take bus to Powerscourt
-Back to hotel after lunch. Finish seeing what we can of Dublin.

Day 3
-Early start. Pick up Car. Drive to Glendalough, spend a couple of hours?
-On to Avoca. Lunch and touring the Mill. Spend some time in the town at Fitzgerald's, the church, etc. (Wife is a Ballykissangel fan)
-Drive to Wexford.

Day 4
-Depart hotel. Pickup items for packed lunch.
-Drive to the Rock of Cashel
-On to Blarney Castle
-On to Killarney. Check into B&B
(Is this itinerary too ambitious? Originally we were going to stop in Waterford and tour the crystal factory before heading on to Killarney but decided on these stops instead. We are very open to suggestions)

Day 5
-Enjoy Killarney National Park

Day 6
-Depart Killarney for the Cliffs of Moher
-spend about 90 minutes at Cliffs of Moher?
-Lunch in Doolin
-Drive to Ashford Castle

Day 7
-Daytime open. Grand finale dinner someplace nice?

Day 8
-depart hotel at 5:00 a.m., drive to Shannon airport, drop off rental, flight departs 9:15 a.m.

I appreciate any comments or suggestions.

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Posted by CaptainJ47

Gonzales

Member since Nov 2007

7334 posts

Posted on 5/29/17 at 6:47 am to bz11

Whatever you do, the Waterford Crystal tour in Waterford is a must. We did the last tour of the day and had a lady named Caroline as our guide. It was the highlight of the trip.

We stayed at the Westin. Nice place and very good location. Our first night we were spent and we went to The Larder for dinner. The wings were amazing. Honestly some of the best ever. Steak was nice as well. From there we walked through temple bar on the way home and had a pint. We then capped the night with a drink at the mint in the basement of the Westin. It was a nice evening and an early night to settle into the city.

I also really liked Newgrange (just north of Dublin).

I just got back and need to post a review.

This post was edited on 5/29/17 at 6:57 am

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Posted by tccdc

Washington, DC

Member since Sep 2007

3570 posts

Posted on 5/29/17 at 4:14 pm to CaptainJ47

Here are my two cents for a Dublin to Shannon tour:

Day 1 and Day 2 - Trinity College (Book of Kells), Guinness Tour (yes it is overpriced, but the views in the bar are worth the admission), Christchurch, St. Patricks, Kilmainham Gaol (this is a must), Brazen Head (oldest Pub in Dublin, yes it is touristy, but lots of regulars still go there and you get a true feeling of old Dublin), stop in for a drink and look at the fancy folks at the Shelbourne, then had down to Baggot Street for most popular local pubs in Dublin. Also, if you want Irish Sport, the tour of Croke Park is worth the time

Day 3 - like above, the Waterford tour is worth it, and I am not usually into it. And if you are looking for an alternative to Ashford castle, the Waterford Castle is a great place (you can throw in Blarney Castleif you want that day)

Day 4 - go to Middleton and do the Jameson tour and get yourself a personalize bottle, then off to Cobh if your significant other likes Titanic, as they have a nice little museum and finish up in Kinsale for best food in Ireland in my opinion. (go for a pint in the Greyhound)

Day 5 and 6 - go to Dingle which is much more beautiful than the ring of Killarney with half the crowd and the town is wonderful. You can leave Dingle by the Gap of Dunloe which is tremendous and scary

Day 7 - Go up to the Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands

Day 8 - Go home

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Posted by AUFANATL

Member since Dec 2007

3853 posts

Posted on 5/29/17 at 6:33 pm to bz11

Day 2: I would do Kilkenny (or maybe even Belfast)over Powerscourt, but that's just me. I think it would be better to visit Powerscourt on the way to Glendalough on day 3 if it's a must see.

Day 4: I did Dublin --> Rock of Cashel --> Blarney --> Killarney in one day so it is doable. Don't spend too much time at Cashel as you will want that extra time at Blarney (lots more to do there than kiss the stone).

Day 5: I would either drive the Ring of Kerry (go counter-clockwise with the buses) or do the Gap of Dunloe (you can hike it, about 7 miles. or do a horse-n-buggy ride). Remember, it gets dark late, so when you get back there is still time to explore Killarney National Park - It's about a 20 min scenic walk to Ross Castle)

Day 6: tough call. There's a lot more to see between Killarney and Galway than just the cliffs (which 90 mins probably isn't enough for). On the other hand, you're paying for a night in Asheford??, which is a sight and experience in itself. I would stop in the town of Adare on the way.

Day 7: I would do the Cliffs / Burren / W. Clare on this day, making my way towards Shannon

Where are you staying the final night? I would recommend Ennis, it's a quaint little town with plenty to see and do and it's 25 min from Shannon Airport. It can be difficult to get to Shannon on weekday mornings from places further away. For a final dinner, I know some people do the banquet at Bunratty Castle

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Posted by soccerfüt

Location: A Series of Tubes

Member since May 2013

65533 posts

Posted on 5/29/17 at 8:43 pm to bz11

I'll throw out a couple of sites I enjoyed that you might consider*-

Kilmainham Gaol (Dublin)
Adare village
Newgrange
Clonmacnoise
Drombeg Stone Circle
Béal na Bláth
Kinsale
Cobh

If any of those work out for you, I'm happy for you. Happy travels.

Wexford on your itinerary is a head-scratcher. That's way out of the way and not much bang for the buck.

*some already mentioned