Ireland Road Trip

Here’s our insanely jam-packed road trip schedule – we did it in 9 short days, but I really suggest you slow it down and take 2-3 weeks instead!!!

Driving around the whole island, based on advice from guide books, locals and fellow travelers, we saw an epic amount of things by day and joined in the famous Irish craic and live music at night. Ireland is a country steeped in history, magic and beauty, just waiting to be discovered! (note that the 2019 prices listed here will have changed, but the locations and sights are still there, ready to explore)!

Day 1 (Dublin)

• Airport bus to hotel (€23 paid for round trip for two people, Air Coach Bus 700 to/from O’Connell)
• Check into Hotel St George, 7 Parnell Square – 3 min walk from airport bus, 2 nights, breakfast not included
• Optional idea: next to the Hotel is the famous Hugh Lane Gallery (free, 9:45-5 pm, closed Mon – quick look at Monet & Bacon)
• Lunch (close to hotel or next site we are visiting) – Hatch & Sons in Hugh Lane Gallery (€8 sandwich/ €12 stew) or Brannigans Pub (€5.50 toasted sandwiches/€8 smoked salmon/€12 fish & chips) 
• Grafton Street (10 mins walk, free, street musicians, Francis St Antiques, people watching)
• Saint Stephen’s Green (free, anytime, park)
• National Museum of Ireland: Archaeology (free, 2-5 pm Sun, 10-5 Tues-Sat, closed Mon) – a fantastic history primer for all of the upcoming trip sites with quick explanations on passage tombs, vikings, golf, bog mummies, the Ogham language code stone and more!
• We ran out of time to see the Guinness headquarters, but if you’re a fan, you should make it a priority!
• Rest/Supper (The Church Pub-side (€9.50 sandwich, €17.50 burgers, €15 pasta), Brannigans Pub (seafood chowder €8.50/ salmon €9), Temple Bar or Celtic Night music/dance/dinner €35 8:30pm O’Connell Bridge)

Day 2 (Dublin)

• Hatch & Sons at Hugh Gallery have quick breakfast (oatmeal for €5)
• 9:30 am Book of Kells at Trinity College (prebooked €11 – 1 hr long)
• Optional idea: Merrion Square houses (free, anytime)
• Optional idea: National Gallery of Ireland (free, huge, European Art, 9:30-4:30 pm daily)
• Optional idea: walk through Temple Bar Square – free street theatre, CD store for driving tunes
• Optional idea: Irish Emigration Museum (€14,daily 10-6:45)
• Optional idea: Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship & Famine Museum (€10, daily 11am-3, 50 min tours on the hour except 1 pm, book ahead)
• Chester Beatty Library (free, in castle garden, illuminated books, treasures)
• Lunch at Silk Road Cafe in Chester Beatty Library
• Dublin Castle (€10, 1-hr guided tour, 10-4:45)
• Optional idea: St Patrick’s Cathedral Evensong Choir (€6.50, 3:15 Sun or 5:30 weekdays)
• O’Connell Street Tour (free) with GPO Irish Uprising exhibit stop (€14 cheaper online, 10am-5:30 pm) – follow the walking tour in the Rick Steves’ guidebook or join a free yellow umbrella 3-hr walking tour (meet by the big Needle tower at 11 am (southside) or at 3/3:30 pm (northside)
• Supper and rest
• Traditional Irish Music Pub Crawl (€19, reserve ahead, discount with Rick Steves’ book, beer extra, 7:30-10 pm, Gogarty’s Pub in Temple Bar)

Day 3  (Dublin, Kilkenny, Rock of Cashel, Dingle)

• Airport bus back to the airport (€23 paid for round trip for two people, Air Coach Bus 700 to/from O’Connell) to pick up a prebooked rental car (requested the very smallest car we could rent as the roads are narrow & we just had carry-on luggage) at airport so we didn’t have to drive in the chaotic Dublin city centre (Flzzr through AutoEurope.eu) and drive to Kilkenny (1.25 hrs) – note that the driver is on the right (similar to UK), not on the left like Canada
• Kilkenny Castle (€8, open until 5:30 pm)
• Optional idea: St Candice’s Cathedral (€4, stained glass, carvings)
• Lunch (food-hall across street from Castle in Design Centre food hall until 6:30 pm, or grab a picnic to eat at Kells Priory)
• Jerpoint Abbey ruins (€5, 20 min drive, opens at 9 am)
• Kells Priory (free to wander, 11 min drive)
• Rock of Cashel (1 hr drive, €8, 9-5:30 pm, visit early or late, bring a coat, €4.50 parking, guided tours 45 mins long, every half hour, if good weather, beautiful skyline sunset) – we arrived 5 mins late and weren’t able to go in (times are strictly adhered to), but, Ireland is full of wonders, and just down the hill behind the Rock of Cashel we discovered the ruins of a castle and cathedral in the field that was open (and free) to wander (and take a million photos!)
• Supper (Cellar Pub under Bailey’s Hotel or stop by the SuperValu grocery to make a quick picnic)
• Drive to Dingle Town (3 hr drive)
• Check into Dingle Harbour Lodge, on The Wood street just past the aquarium – 2 nights with breakfast and free parking

Day 4 (Dingle Peninsula)

• Dingle Town walkabout (free), lots of little cottage craft industries, small lanes, friendly people
• Harry Clarke Stained Glass Windows (€3, open 9-5 pm)
• Lunch (SuperValu grocery picnic on Harbour Pier)
• Drive the Dingle Peninsula (3-4 hrs, €13 for optional stops – see the Rick Steves’ guidebook for the best places to check out along the drive)
• Supper and rest
• Join the evening Irish craic and amazing live music (9:30 pm, no covers – pick the pub based on the music you hear!): Small Bridge Bar, Court House Pub, O’Flaherty’s, John Benny’s

Day 5 (Dingle, Galway)

• Ferry and drive to Cliffs of Moher: cliffs site is now all fenced off so you can’t go to the edge anymore and it takes 3.5 hrs there & another 1.5 hrs to Galway, or 3 hrs direct inland to Galway (watch for Limerick rush hour) – we decided to skip the Cliffs of Moher and go direct to Galway, as we’d see similar cliffs at Dub Aengus Fort on Inishmore (Aran Islands)
• Pick up ferry tickets in Galway, have lunch and drive 1.25 hrs to Clifden (out of the way, but it has an affordable CASTLE to sleep in!!!)
• Drive the Sky Road by Clifden for spectacular views any time of day
• Check into Abbeyglen Castle Econo Room 67, 2 Sky Rd, Clifden, with breakfast, be sure to enjoy the grounds and explore the castle (starts with a lovely tea when you arrive!
• Splurge on supper in the fancy castle dining room (silver service) and then settle in for interesting chats, music and dancing with an aged whiskey in the lounge

Day 6 (Galway & Aran Islands)

• Aran Island Inishmore: if taking shuttles – check in 1.5 hrs before ferry, or drive direct to Rossaveel Ferry and park with 30 min check-in (this is what we did). Ferry takes 45 mins for the crossing, €34, book online to save 10% and pick up tickets in Galway (online booking is not a ticket, it is a reservation, have to pickup ticket in-person). Oct ferry at 10:30 am over (shuttle at 9 am) and return at 5 pm. Flights may also be possible.
• Check into Mary Joe’s BnB, drop off luggage, 1 night with full Irish breakfast
• Minivan tour on island (€15), or horse and cart tour (about the same as the mini-van tour cost: meet the drivers when you get off the ferry and discuss a price – it takes longer but you hear wonderful stories as you go and they’ll swing by the BnB to drop your luggage on the way to the fort), or rent a bike
• Dun Aengus Fort (€5, 2 hrs – hike up 30 mins included, busy after 11 am, last entry at 3 pm, perch let’s you sit on the edge of the cliff, not fenced like Cliffs of Moher)
• Irish lessons from Gearoid (€5, 1 hr, cafe behind Aran Sweater Market)
• Supper in Innishmore at Joe Watty’s pub for chowder and fresh caught fish and chips (they’ll even tell you whose boat the fish is from that day)

Day 7 (Galway & Derry: Northern Ireland)

• Drive to Derry in Northern Ireland, pronounced ‘dairy’ (4.5 hrs scenic through Westport with stops from Westport to Derry or direct 4 hrs)
• Scenic route from Westport – Drumcliffe, Belleek Pottery (€5 tours – none on Saturday, 10 km off road, check ahead if closed) 
• Lunch in Donegal or along the way (3.5 hours from Galway, plus stops) – town square eateries, Donegal Castle (€5)
• Remember that Northern Ireland is part of a different country (United Kingdom) than the Republic of Ireland, and it uses Pounds not Euros, if you’re paying cash. The road signs are also different – ensure your car rental allows you to drive here and that it doesn’t incur large extra charges!)
• Drive 1 hour from Donegal to Derry, park at hotel for free or use the Folyside Parking Garage (£3 for 4 hours)
• Walk between the Hands Across the Divide Statue and Peace Bridge (14 min walk between them, or 1 min drive)
• 10 min walk to Bogside 12 IRA Murals from the Bloody Sunday March, that two brothers painted along route
• Supper in pub
• Stay in Bridge BnB in Derry, 1 night with hot breakfast, free street parking

Day 8 (Derry, Antrim Coast & Belfast)

• Leave at 8 am and drive 1 hr to Giant’s Causeway (£12 entry includes parking and audio guide, plus £1 to take a shuttle each direction): go at 9 am to beat crowds, leave at 10:30 (or stay longer and skip the distillery), listen to the audio guide provided as you walk down, explore the incredible and unique landscape (I think I took over 100 photos!) and then hope on the shuttle back up the hill at the end to save your tired legs!
• Drive 10 mins back to Old Bushmills Distillery (reserve £8, 45 min tours, then stay for stay for lunch and a drink) leave around noon
• Drive 6 mins back further to Dunluce Castle ruins on a cliff over the ocean (£5.50, open 10am-4 or 5pm, empty but beautiful) leave around 12:45pm to 1:00pm
• Drive 17-22 mins to Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge (reserve timed ticket, £8, 9:30-6 pm) pre-book required, 1 km walk to ticket-taker, come prepared to walk a lot of stairs (there is an AED onsite!), parking lot is a filming scene from Game of Thrones (if you have a National Trust Membership from your country of origin, you can use it in Ireland!)
• Viewpoint of the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge for great photos is from the Portaneevy Car Park Viewpoint, which is 1 mile further on the main road
• Option: Visit Dark Hedges from Game of Thrones on the way to Belfast (5 min detour) in Ballymoney – free parking lot next to Hedges Hotel
• Drive to Belfast (1 hr, leave the rope bridge before 3pm), and check into ETAP hotel, park close-by in a pay lot (free certain hours/days, ask hotel)
• Sectarian Taxi Tour of Falls Road (£35 for 2 people, 9-5:30 pm, 90 mins) pre-booked ahead for the last tour timeslot of the day at 4:00-5:30pm with Paddy Campbell’s Black Taxi Tour

Day 9 (Belfast, Dublin)

• Belfast City Hall (free, daily 8:30-5 pm, eat at Bobbin coffee shop on the ground floor)
• Walk to Unionist Murals via the Golden Mile (grab an early lunch at the stunning and iconic Crown Liquor which is run by the National Trust)
• 2 hr drive to Dublin, and fly out (if you’re connecting through London, check out my 24 Hours in London Itinerary post!)