Ireland – the 10-day road trip edition

 “Ireland is not just a place; it’s a poetic blessing. Its landscapes, its people, and its stories are woven into a tapestry of beauty and inspiration”. 
-William Butler Yeats

At the end of a vacation in the Bahamas, some newly made friends asked us if we were coming back to the Caribbean the following year. “No,” I said, “we’re going to Ireland!” I have no idea where that boldness came from, but once the words went out into the universe, I felt committed to making it happen.
My third great-grandfather, and a fifth great-grandfather and fifth great-grandmother, were all Irish. Those are distant connections I know, but still I’ve always felt drawn there, and Ireland was at the top of my bucket list. Our best friends and travel buddies have an even more direct connection to the Emerald Isle, so they were all in.
So many decisions to be made! Go with an organized tour? Stay in Dublin and go on a few excursions and bus trips to see the sights? Instead, we decided to attempt a self-driving road trip, and truthfully, I think that is the absolute best way to experience all Ireland has to offer.
Yes, it is a little scary to rent a car and drive around a foreign country, especially when they drive on the opposite side of the road, but you do get the hang of it, I promise! A road trip gives you freedom and opportunities you can’t get otherwise. We stayed in a wide-ranging variety of lodgings, visited ancient ruins and famous cathedrals, and strolled through manicured gardens and along clifftops. We lingered over cappuccinos at small sidewalk cafes, and we would randomly jump out of the car for pictures of sheep.
There were four of us on this trip, and it took about a year to plan and save for it. Ten days was a perfect amount of time – we focused mainly on the southern and middle parts of the country, and tried to throw in a little bit of everything. I hope this itinerary inspires you to plan your own Irish road trip!

Day 0

This is the travel day. Nearly all flights to Europe are overnight, so we packed our travel pillows and blankets in our carry-ons, had a glass of wine, and tried to sleep as best we could.

Day 1

We arrived in Dublin late morning, tired but excited. After retrieving our luggage, we headed to the rental car counter, and that’s when the adventure started. I had reserved online a compact, automatic car, but when we arrived at the counter the only vehicle they had left was a BMW 535i: automatic – yes, compact – no. But beggars can’t be choosers, and it had all the bells and whistles, including being a hybrid, so we figured everything would be fine. For more information about rental cars and other things we learned on our journey see my post : Ireland – tips and tricks | The Sunnydaze Diaries
We familiarized ourselves with the car, set the hotel in our GPS, and ventured forth. And about 15 minutes from the hotel the car began to sputter. Lights were flashing. Then it died – out of gas. There was no charge on the battery, which meant the hybrid part wouldn’t work. There are no shoulders in Ireland, so we are now sitting in a lane of traffic, hazards on, stuck and slightly frantic. I begin trying to call the rental company, when two ladies stop and ask if we need help. We explain the situation and they offer us a ride to a nearby petrol station. It is decided that I should stay with the rental and Barry goes off in search of petrol. So now I am sitting blocking traffic in a foreign country, my husband gone with two women who are hopefully helping him get gas and not kidnapping him. A police officer shows up and starts directing cars around me, and I call our travel buddies, who have been at the hotel for an hour already and are wondering what in the world happened to us. Finally, Barry returns with the petrol (not kidnapped), and we make it to the hotel. Phew! 😅

The rest of our day went so much more smoothly! We checked in at the Iveagh Garden Hotel, grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant, and began exploring. The streets were lined with redbrick mansions and Georgian architecture from the 1700’s, at once both elegant and charming. We were near Grafton Street, a pedestrian-only area that is Dublin’s premier shopping district. Filled with flower sellers and music, colorful shops and pubs, it is a feast for the senses! We sipped our first (of many) Irish-style cappuccinos at the roof-top cafe of a department store, window-shopped, people-watched, and just soaked up the atmosphere. After dinner we headed back to the hotel for some much-needed rest.

Day 2

Today was Dublin Day! We had tickets for the Hop On Hop Off City Tour bus Dublin Sightseeing Tours; City Tour Open Top Bus – Book Now! which is a simple way to get to all the main tourist attractions. There are 25 stops along the route, and it runs all day, so you can get off when there’s something you want to see and catch the next bus whenever you’re ready.
We visited the Trinity College library, the Book of Kells exhibit, Christ Church cathedral, and St. Patrick’s cathedral. Next on the agenda was a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. We learned about the brewing process, and the history of the company – which has been around for over 250 years. One entire floor of the storehouse is dedicated to Guiness’ ad campaigns through the decades. Finally, when you get to the 7th floor of the building, you get to enjoy an expertly poured pint and take in the views from the rooftop bar.
You could easily spend a week in Dublin and the immediate area, but since we were moving on the next day, after Guinness we rode the bus back to Grafton Street for a little more shopping and some dinner.

Day 3

After an early breakfast, we checked out of the hotel, and the road trip began. It was 2 hours to our first stop, a nice stretch to become accustomed to driving on the opposite side of the road. We spent the morning wandering around the Rock of Cashel, which, by the way, is not a rock, but an iconic grouping of medieval buildings including a Gothic cathedral, a Romanesque chapel, and a centuries-old tower house set on a hill. Legend says St. Patrick visited this place and converted the King of Munster to Christianity.
Next, we traveled about an hour to the town of Waterford, the oldest city in Ireland. It is home to cathedrals, abbeys, museums, and a castle, but the main draw for us was the iconic Waterford Crystal Factory. I love the art of glasswork, and I was not going to miss this! We took a tour of the factory, and watched artisans blow, sculpt, and cut the glass. They were busy making wine glasses, and there was a display of “just for fun” and practice pieces, which were incredible! The precision and creativity was truly remarkable. A lot of time might possibly have been spent in the retail store at the end of our tour!
Another hour or so of driving brought us to our resting place for the night, the city of Cork. I was especially excited to stop here, since this was the port from which my ancestors boarded their ship for the New World. Our hotel here was less than stellar, but the front desk clerk did suggest a great spot for dinner, and after eating we called it a night.

Day 4

The original plan was to spend the morning exploring Cork. There is an indoor English market, a fort from the 1600’s, and even a butter museum. However, after a disappointing hotel stay, and discovering the market was closed, we decided to move on and headed toward Blarney Castle.
You may heard of the Blarney Stone, and the legend that claims kissing it gives a person “the gift of gab”. Yes, it sounds a little crazy, but you better believe Barry and I stood in line and climbed the steep castle steps (127 of them!) to participate in this Irish tradition. The stone is on the exterior wall of the castle keep, and to kiss it you have to lie down on your back, hold on to a guardrail, and lean your head WAY back. No worries, though, there are two assistants – one to hold on to you and help you up, and one to clean off the stone between kisses. There is also a photographer, and for a small fee, you can bring home the most awkward photo of yourself you can imagine. 😂 It’s all in good fun though. Did kissing the stone work? Who’s to say? 😉We spent some time exploring the castle and the beautiful gardens, then continued on our journey to the town of Killarney.
Killarney is a small, friendly town with lively restaurants and shops, and instead of a traditional hotel, we opted to stay in a bed and breakfast above a pub, something I highly recommend! We grabbed a pint and enjoyed the singing of our fellow patrons, explored the town a bit, and found a great restaurant called Cronin’s for dinner. For recommendations and info on where and what to eat, check out my post: Ireland – a note about pubs and restaurants | The Sunnydaze Diaries

Day 5

Killarney was the perfect launching point to drive the Ring of Kerry. After breakfast at our B&B, we got an early-ish start, because this is an all-day activity. At 179 km (111 miles), it skirts the Iveragh Penninsula and is filled with stunning coastal and mountain views. It is also one of the most popular scenic drives in the country, so depending on the time of year, you may be facing a lot of tour busses and crowds. Pro tip: if you leave before 9 am, you’ll be ahead of the busses. Also, be aware that the roads are narrow and curvy, and you may encounter sheep, so go slowly! I pulled our list of stops from this site: Ring of Kerry Route Ye’ll LOVE (+ Google Map With Stops). This has descriptions and maps and helpful tips! Here are a few of our highlights:

• Killarney National Park: We stopped here to explore Ross Castle. Muckross House and Abbey are also very popular, but because of time constraints we did not stop there.
• Torc Waterfall: We got a little drizzly rain here, but it was a short and relatively flat hike to the waterfall, and totally worth it!
• Ladies View: A beautiful overlook, with a small cafe and shop. Time for a cappuccino, and falling in love with an orange tweed hat. 😊
• Kenmare: It was lunchtime, which meant getting fish and chips from a seafood shack!
• Derrynane Beach: The weather had cleared a bit, so we took our shoes off and splashed around in the east side of the Atlantic Ocean.
• Kerry Cliffs: Not quite as famous as the Cliffs of Moher, but at 1000 feet above the ocean, they are breathtaking. Any Star Wars fans out there? From the Kerry Cliffs you can see the Skellig Islands, which were home to Luke Skywalker in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
  
  By the end of the day, we had completed the loop and returned to Killarney for dinner and a few pints!

Day 6

The original plan was to drive the Dingle Peninsula on our way to our next stop, but we were all feeling the need for a break, so after a leisurely breakfast, we checked out of the B&B and walked around Killarney. We visited cafes and shops and art galleries, and really just had a relaxing day. Mid-afternoon, we left Killarney behind and drove a little over an hour to the perfect, rustic village of Adare.
The streets of Adare are lined with stone cottages – complete with brightly painted doors and fences, quaint gardens, and topped with thatched roofs. Surprisingly, it is also home to one of the best championship golf courses in the world at Adare Manor. We wandered through the heart of the village, admiring adorable houses and an ancient monastery. We found an ivy-covered boutique restaurant for dinner, and our home for the night was a 100-year-old gardener’s cottage just outside of town. For more details on our accommodations read my post: Ireland – Places to Stay | The Sunnydaze Diaries

Day 7

Today’s adventure centered around visiting the Cliffs of Moher – one of Ireland’s most famous attractions. They are also known as The Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride, and they were featured in Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. We are huge fans of both movies and that made this even more amazing. Located just over an hour from Adare, you could spend quite a while here. The cliffs reach heights of 700 feet and stretch for 5 miles of coastline. They are truly “inconceivable”! 😉 A visitor’s center provides shelter if you encounter a random rain shower, and a lookout tower from the 1800’s is situated at the highest point of the cliffs for epic views. There are hiking trails along the top, and if you go to the town of Doolin, you can take a boat tour and see them from the bottom up!
We hiked for a while and took a ton of pictures. After we left the cliffs, we drove along the coast to Galway, then west to Ballynahinch Castle. Some castles in Ireland have been turned into hotels, and if you get a chance to stay in one, you should, as often as you can! We changed clothes and had dinner in their fine dining restaurant to celebrate a milestone birthday for my bestie. The rest of the evening was spent just basking in the fairytale.

Day 8

Today after breakfast we took a ferry to the Aran Islands. This is a grouping of three tiny islands with a total population of about 1300 primarily Irish speaking locals. Inis Mor is the largest and most populated of the three, and it was the site of our exploring. You can walk the island, or bike it, but we chose to tour it by trap and pony with this company: Thomas Faherty Tours. It was such a fun way to see the island, and it really felt like we had traveled back in time. Ancient ruins, small farms, horses penned in by hand-built stone fences, and never far from the salty breezes of the sea. We learned a lot about the history and culture of the islands, and had some photo ops, with a longer stop at Dun Aengus, a prehistoric fort. The men went on a side quest to see the fort and the cliffs, and the ladies stayed in the tiny village of Kimurvey for some snacks and shopping. While at the Aran Sweater Market, we even ran into a shopkeeper we had befriended back in Killarney! Eventually, our husbands rejoined us, and our driver took us back to the ferry dock. We had time for a bowl of seafood chowder before heading back to “the mainland”.
Dinner that night was at the castle again, this time in their more casual restaurant. We were starting to feel the trip winding down, and just spent a chill evening hanging out… in a castle. (I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of saying that!😂)

Day 9

Suitcases were repacked this morning, but before we checked out of the hotel, we spent a few hours admiring the grounds and gardens. It was only mid-September, and so the gardens were still filled with life and beauty. We had so much fun taking pictures here – close-up shots of fat bumblebees visiting exotic blooms, and recreating classic couples poses from romance novel covers. 😂 Too soon, we had to take our leave of the castle and begin our drive back to Dublin.
It is a 4-hour trek from the west coast to the east coast, and we had one more stop planned. Halfway across is a little town called Athlone. And in Athlone is a little place called Sean’s Bar. Out of all the bars in all of Ireland, why stop there, you wonder? According to the Guinness Book of Records, Sean’s Bar is the oldest pub in Ireland, and possibly the world. (They haven’t found an older one yet.) It has a documented history all the way back to 900 AD, and there are pieces of the original wall made of “wattle and wicker” on display in the National Museum and in the pub. On a trip that was filled with rich history and quintessential Irish wonders, it seemed only fitting that we stop here for a pint on our last day.
We arrived in Dublin mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel near the airport. It was Barry’s birthday, so we celebrated at a steakhouse in the Temple Bar area of the city. Dublin looked a little unusual – Garth Brooks was on tour and it was his last night in the city. All of downtown was a sea of boots and cowboy hats – we felt like we were in Nashville!

Day 10

Not much to tell for this day – we had breakfast at the hotel, turned in our rental car, and waited for our flight home. We had hundreds of pictures to sort through, and we just might have started browsing Irish real estate sites.

We all fell in love with this small, incredible country and we can’t wait to return. Our best friends actually already went back, less than two months after we got home! The stunning landscapes, fascinating history, outdoor adventures, vibrant towns, delicious food, and friendly locals all made for a life-changing experience.
This is a pretty long post, so if you’re still reading this – thank you! If you want some more details check out my other posts where I give travel tips, hotel options, and restaurant recommendations.
Whatever your dreams are, wherever you are hoping to travel – I want to encourage you to be intentional, make a plan, and go for it!